My CBX1000C Restore Project

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Not in the slightest way was your restoration thread or your results boring. Far from it.
Many of us learn things and take inspiration from even the smallest repair jobs and the big ones...yours included.

[AshishNJ]

Any resto threads I read have always something new and exciting. This one is nothing short.
I also enjoy reading stuff over and over and this is a place for it. All good articles always available .

[heli_madken]

So after what seemed like an eternity waiting for the registration documentation to come through then getting a licence plate I have had my first ride today

First off everything worked exactly as it should absolutely no issues.

I had intended taking it very easy for the first ride but then that NOISE! it turns your character into a vicious animal of some form, enormous fun.

Overall the bike rides and handles like a modern bike, worlds apart from my other 1970's bikes. Hard to believe there is only a few years between them. It is also very comfortable.

To say I am chuffed is an understatement

[NobleHops]

Wonderful project, great bike! Thank you so much for taking us all along. Glad you got a great first ride too!

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Great to hear the first ride went well.
I am sure if you explain to the cops it was the NOISE that made you speed, he will let you off.

[heli_madken]

Had a great day displaying my bike with the Ayr Classic Motorcycle club at the Robert Burns Museum in Alloway today -

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Fantastic display of motorcycles including a GPZ that has only done 1024 miles and looked absolutely pristine. I got caught in some terrible weather driving the 68 miles to Alloway so my bike is filthy but even so it seemed to draw the crowds and I had a lot of requests to hear it running which I obviously obliged Lots of positive comments about the Red colour and scheme.

CBX's do seem to be a real crowd pleaser, fantastic bikes and bad weather, high winds and horizontal rain made no difference to faultless running. Still makes me grin from ear to ear.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Great job representing the mighty six, Ken.

[bikeymikey748]

What Steve said
She’s a looker Ken.

[wyly]

Love the paint!

[Syscrush]

Looks fantastic out and about - it's great to hear that it got some well-deserved attention and that you're enjoying the bike!

The more I look at the finished bike, the more I like it. I'm not a fan of the Comstar wheels generally, but the reverse Comstars with the mix of black and polish look great together with the black motor and the black and silver accents on the CGR paint.

It's just a really nice execution of a carefully thought-out design.

[heli_madken]

Thank you so much for your comments everyone very much appreciated.

Had a good time getting all the crud off today and giving my bike a good clean. Its almost worth going out in foul weather again just so I can polish

[daves79x]

The color did turn out great! A question - are those sport kit throttle cables you are using on the standard throttle housing?

Dave

[heli_madken]

Thanks Dave

I bought the throttle cables here in the UK as aftermarket standard for a Euro spec bike. I realised when I got them that they dont take into account the higher rise US spec handlebars but as UK spec bikes cables exit the housing upwards I was able to make them work even though they are about 30mm shorter then stock US ones. Fitting was a little more challenging but they work nice and smoothly.

Pull version is here - https://www.wemoto.com/bikes/honda/cbx_ ... inky_glide

[heli_madken]

Now I just know this is going to get me in to trouble!

Since I first set eyes on the Prolink version of the CBX I have disliked the panniers. To my eye they are far too skinny and I dont like the spoilers at the bottom of the rear of the panniers.

I know others will disagree, this is just my taste and perhaps a modern trend for wider panniers.

So what to do, I want the carrying capability of panniers. I haven't seen any aftermarket versions I like and so as the panniers that came with my bike where badly damaged I decided to take the plunge and modify what I have got.

Firstly though some caveats, I know Honda will have designed them to restrict the weight being carried and perhaps not upset the aerodynamics of the bike. In my case I do not intend carrying a pillion (wife wont go on the bike) nor do I intend exceeding the 9kg carrying capacity so weight will not be an issue. As for aerodynamics well at my age I aint going hugely fast

So my main reason for this exercise is partly cosmetic but also to be able to carry bulky items like a decent set of warm waterproofs.

First task was to dismantle all the hardware from the right pannier and strip all the paint off the lid. The aluminum surround comes off with some work using Acetone to melt the glue and carefully prying it loose a little at a time. The space where the spoiler was attached was filled in and a couple of dents, cracks and hollows filled -

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This is where the gasps of horror start basically I am adding 75mm depth to the lid so my first task was to add a ring of balsa to the inside of the lid -

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Which is sanded flush then I can then add some 75mm balsa block all fixed in place with CA. I cut a piece of Liteply to the same outline as the lid and fixed this carefully in place -

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Then its a matter of filling over the 75mm block with car body filler and sanding it to the outline of the Liteply template. I spent a lot of time comparing the outline to the aluminium frame to make sure it would ultimately fit. Once done this is mounted to a melamine faced moulding ground and the whole thing is given 5 coats of release wax and a couple of coats of PVA release agent ready for mould production -

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I decided to split the mould into three sections as the model of the lid (plug) is quite slab sided making it difficult to remove from the plug and to make it easier to release the final cast. So I made a couple of fences using Liteply and held them in place with clay. I use a few domes of clay on the fences to help position the three pieces together correctly -

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Then its on to making the fibreglass mould. First a layer of white gelcoat -

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Followed by resin and layers of 200g woven cloth -

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The centre fence is released and the process repeated for the second section then the third to make a complete mould. At this point I drill holes through the joining sections so I can bolt them back together -

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As this is a one off mould I have not made it particularly strong or pretty.

After curing overnight the three pieces came off the plug easy and bolt back together to make the finished mould. This is then flatted off with 800 grit wet and dry just to remove any imperfections and polished with release wax and coated with PVA as before -

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I rolled on a thin coat of gelcoat then laid up multiple layers of 165g cloth with carbon fibre tape around the edge of the lid to add strength -

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[heli_madken]

After 24 hours the finished lid came out easy and I was able to check the fit against the aluminium surround and the case -

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I spent some time temporarily fitting/adding hardware and an initial guide coat of primer.

Fitted the frames, as the chrome was pretty bad I decided to paint them Matt black to go with the rear mudguard. Pretty pleased with how it looks as it tones down the frame -

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Then I could see how the new pannier shape looks -

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I am pretty pleased with how it is going, I think once painted the proportions will be spot on, at present the light colour and photographs make the pannier look much bigger than it actually is.

So next up is to repeat the whole process for the left side I have a few tasks to do elsewhere so it will be a while before I report back.

Let me know what you think but dont be too hard on me