New to me ‘81. CBXing in Alaska

[NobleHops]

I have had some luck extracting master cylinder pistons with bolt extractors. If the piston is really stuck putting the master in a hydraulic press and pushing in on the piston to break it free can help if you cannot get it to turn with the extractor. Once broken free the extractor should be able to twist it out.

If the piston is not pressed in too far, I like to use these stubby extractors since you can put a wrench or a socket on it.
irwin bolt extractor.jpg

Joe, did you mean, “Caliper” and not “Master cylinder”?

[JoeInTUS]

No I was talking about the master cylinder

[crankwalk]

I stopped on the original rear master and decided to shelf it for now. In other news, mid 90s EBay CBR600RR rear master seems to fit pretty decent. I just had to use another reservoir that went straight down instead of an angle. I ran out of time to adjust the rod and add fluid but this is the closest I've gotten so far and I'm only into this setup $17. Hoping it works out.

I got the idea from Swarrans post on this board from a few years ago.
Link Here:viewtopic.php?t=10394

He used a Gsxr one and tapped the bottom hole , drilled the top. The mid 90s CBR600RR has the correct thread so I didn’t have tap anything but they look pretty similar otherwise .







Edit: The rod in the EBay master is way too long and no adjustment would be enough so I disassembled it and cut the rod down to the stock length on the left. Swap over only the cut down rod as the stock washer is too thick for the eBay master. Fluid added and bled and we have brakes front and rear now! Sure the pads are old but at least this should be good enough to stop me in neighborhood test rides eventually.

[crankwalk]

The CBX is getting slimmed down even more with the front fairing off:


Oh look, I can see things directly in front of me now:




A new H4 8" headlight and bracket has been on the way for 3 weeks so any day now for that and visually, it will be wrapped up for now.

Changed the oil and plugs and everything is looking dandy. Air filter time....goodness. In 3700 miles and 40 years, this filter put in some work.



Fresh filters, oil, plugs, and carbs have been sitting with Seafoam/fresh fuel for a few weeks now so just for fun lets hit the button again. I confirmed it ran on all 6 last month on a huff of starting fluid just to make sure there were no terrible noises but I left it at that. I sort of wanted to put off knowing I for sure have to dissemble the carbs immediately. Regardless, I hit the button and it ran super rich on the choke then half choke it settled down and after a minute it was doing fine.



Disregard the smoke from the liberal WD40 cleaning I gave the front of the motor burning off and the revving is after several minutes of running, not stone cold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph3u0Kt9zUk&t=3s


Had I gotten even more temp in it, it may have idled on its own with no choke and without helping it with the throttle. But it was running and I was excited. So 40 year old OEM Bridgestones and a leaking oil cooler line kept the ride to probably 5 minutes and 10 mph.....but I actually rode it. I'm sure the carbs will need help and they may just get better with putting some more fuel through them but besides helping it slightly with idle off choke, it's incredibly smooth.



I haven't pulled the tank yet to confirm 100% if the oil leak is from the cooler lines but I don't think anything else would be above this:





Valve cover gasket is also crispy from sitting. That will get replaced with the valve adjustment anyway.




If it was May, I'd order a chain and tires today and try to rally to have this going down the road in two weeks but it's late September and temps are at freezing in the morning here already. Highs in the mid 40s-low 50s and losing daylight every day. I'm not going to rush it and just keep slowly plugging away over the winter. I really did not plan on even moving it around under it's own power this year but that has definitely given me some motivation.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Has to feel good to hear it run.
You don't want to ride it much with the choke on.

I do like the look of a Prolink with out the fairing.

[crankwalk]

Has to feel good to hear it run.
You don't want to ride it much with the choke on.

I do like the look of a Prolink with out the fairing.

Yeah I let it warm up and rode it around without the choke it just needed a little throttle to stay idling unless I put the choke back on a bit. It may have just not been 100% up to temp without a real load on it for that period of time. It feels amazing to hear it running and it sounding so smooth. That’s a big relief. I need oil cooler lines, vc gaskets, chain, tires and a battery. Now that I’ve putted around a little bit, all I want is a 6-1 pipe. Haha!

[crankwalk]

Single 8" H4 headlight on with no fairing and now the exterior look I’m going for is complete.





Now the harder stuff comes: oil cooler line replacement, wiring harness repair, etc but until that comes it finally looks cooler (to me at least) in the garage.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

I like the look with out the fairing.
Have you got a link to the headlight?

Site member Tevan makes oil cooler lines.

[crankwalk]

I like the look with out the fairing.
Have you got a link to the headlight?

Site member Tevan makes oil cooler lines.

Both the headlight and brackets were bought separately on eBay but I don’t see listings still up. It’s an 8” H4 for a hornet 900 I believe but it’s pretty generic. I just liked the size and reflector pattern without looking too modern.

Edit: Here’s the eBay link while it lasts

https://www.ebay.com/itm/8-12V-Motorcyc ... 632-2357-0

I’m dreading removing those things. Sounds like you have to lower the motor a bit to access them on the bottom. I’d love to have them rebuilt with all stainless so they will never seep oil again.

[NobleHops]

You can replace the oil lines without tilting the engine. And Terry’s will be the last ones you buy, ever ever ever. The right side is the trickier side, but made easier by removing the clutch cable and backing the clutch adjuster all the way out so you can move the clutch actuator lever far enough out of the way to cram the oil line past it. This will make sense when you do it. The rest is pretty straightforward, just take the tank and seat off and take a good look at the routing before you remove the old lines.

Great project!

N.

[Larry Zimmer]

Great work!! Looks good. Long Winter project. Do stay tuned here and look/ask for any info you might need.

[crankwalk]

You can replace the oil lines without tilting the engine. And Terry’s will be the last ones you buy, ever ever ever. The right side is the trickier side, but made easier by removing the clutch cable and backing the clutch adjuster all the way out so you can move the clutch actuator lever far enough out of the way to cram the oil line past it. This will make sense when you do it. The rest is pretty straightforward, just take the tank and seat off and take a good look at the routing before you remove the old lines.

Great project!

N.

That is good to know. I haven't pulled the tank back off since I rode it around the yard last week so I'm hoping that oil didn't make too much of a mess on top.

Great work!! Looks good. Long Winter project. Do stay tuned here and look/ask for any info you might need.

I'll definitely be checking in and asking a ton of dumb questions I'm sure. This place has been a great resource and I've picked up several parts I needed on here already. I paid for a membership so I'm not just the freeloading new guy.

[crankwalk]

And this is why I wanted to get all the body pieces on and get my pictures because the bike is about to look like this for a little while:





Exhaust dropped to get to the bottom oil cooler line fittings on the oil pan. Now that this stock is exhaust is off it's going to be hard putting it back on. It's just too quiet. I'm on the fence about getting it down the road with the current stock exhaust but I know I want a 6-1 pipe later. We will see.




Fittings going out in the mail for new lines to be made up shortly.

[crankwalk]

Got the oil lines back from Terry on here.Excellent quality and turn around time. I had him leave off the fittings on the oil cooler side so I could snake it through the frame easier. Rather than having the oil cooler side crimped on, I pushed it through and added my own Earls fitting once it was by everything. I have the crimp on fittings here in case my setup leaks and I need to redo it then I'll just get it crimped here. I just don't want to lower the motor until it's carb rebuild time and I'm not looking to completely dismantle this thing right now. I know there are ways around it but this was quick and painless for me. I still want the possibility of riding this around a little bit and see how the carbs are as they sit.







As I was putting the bike up last time it was running, I noticed it dropped down to 4 cylinders then back up. I knew what it was. The wiring that was chewed up from either mice in storage or being rubbed through with the seat movement. I'm thinking mice.








When it started running on 4, I was down on the 1 and 6 cyl. That's the coil with the blue wires and....yeah I see why.





Everything is color coded except for three pink wires. Break out the masking tape:




Cut out all the old stuff:



This is where the book comes in handy:





New stuff spliced in:




I never had rear turn signals so I know the electricity is making it back there:








Wrapping up the wiring with a little overkill on the sleeving just in case it was wearing through on the seat:







The moment of truth and I hit the starter button and the bike runs off the fuel in the bowls for about 15 seconds and I'm getting spark on all six (confirmed by pulling every wire). I got all the pinks right I suppose. I didn't want to run it longer than that anyway with no exhaust on but I wanted to make sure I had spark and oil didn't spray everywhere. So far no leaks but the real test will be when the oil gets hot and thin. I added the new non-asbestos gaskets and I couldn't bring myself to put the factory exhaust back on.







For nothing besides sound and ease of maintenance, the 6-1 would make things a little easier to access stuff but I know I'll lose the center stand depending on the brand. I know they lose power most of the time. I'll think about it for a bit and do some shopping before I fit this heavy, quiet, perfectly presentable and functional factory exhaust back on. Let me know if you come across a good deal on a gently used 6-1.

Side note: I picked up a lightly used Goldwing cover from a local guy on Craigslist a few weeks ago. He started talking Goldwings and I said “oh no this is going on my 40 year old CBX”. He honestly and sympathetically replied “That’s nice maybe you can trade up one day”. It was hard not to laugh as I was leaving.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Nice work on what looks like a clean and tidy harness repair.
Electrics and wiring are my personal Kryptonite so i keep putting off the one i have that needs some attention.