1969 CL450 US Barn Find Restoration

[sprinta]

Along with fitting a nice new pair of pattern mirrors which arrived from Thailand, It's just about finished, though I still have to play with the flooding carb, if playing with the float level continues to be elusive I may try different combinations of needle and seat, I currently have the original needle and an aftermarket  carb kit seat, with a new float. A real ball ache but I'm sure I'll sort it eventually. At the moment I can get no fuel in the bowl, or dripping out of the overflow. Looking at the Honda Twins forum it seems I'm not alone. Somewhere in between must be a happy medium.

An old post but wondering if these were the mirrors that you were referring to in your post that you got from Thailand:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CB750-CB750F-CB750K-CB-750-F-K-10mm-Chrome-Steel-Metal-Mirror-Round-Pair/302394106514?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3De6d4e7fc7723492bbb7510fe52aaad3e%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D401703099893%26itm%3D302394106514%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Acbeacbe5-0246-11ea-b481-74dbd1801ea2%7Cparentrq%3A4be5971d16e0a9e0f644e485ffff1730%7Ciid%3A1



If so how have you found them and did you get stung for import duty, VAT and handling?

[MrDavo]

Yes they are the same ones.

They took a while to turn up, but hey, free postage from the other side of the planet, fit perfectly and look like OEM quality. No vibration dramas in use either, so much better than the tatty and mismatched pair that came with the bike. No VAT charged, which was a surprise, even the smallest items from the USA seem to cop for it.

My friend in the bike trade came round yesterday, he is going to operate on the silencer by cutting a panel out from behind, and has a cunning plan to secure any loose tinware he finds.

[sprinta]

Yes they are the same ones.

They took a while to turn up, but hey, free postage from the other side of the planet, fit perfectly and look like OEM quality. No vibration dramas in use either, so much better than the tatty and mismatched pair that came with the bike. No VAT charged, which was a surprise, even the smallest items from the USA seem to cop for it.

My friend in the bike trade came round yesterday, he is going to operate on the silencer by cutting a panel out from behind, and has a cunning plan to secure any loose tinware he finds.

Thanks for the reply about the mirrors. You were certainly lucky with no import charges, VAT and handling.

I will see how I get on?

[MrDavo]

A quick update, one year and 600 miles after coming back to life, she's still going strong, lots of fun to ride, and I've met plenty of people who are genuinely interested, never having seen a CL450 before.

I took the exhaust off last weekend, using a torch to look through the hole where the lower header pipe goes into the silencer, you can see a short piece of tube loose inside, causing the awful rattle. I have given it to my mate Mark, before cutting a piece out of the back to get it out, he's going to try and fish the loose bit over to the inlet hole. then try and cut it up somehow, so it can maybe be extracted without invasive surgery.

The bike ran fine despite the rattle, so it can obviously make do without the loose part.

New CL450 exhausts continue to be made of unobtanium, unless you are James, of course. DK had a fairly rough system on Ebay for £400 last week, I passed but it sold quickly. They have a K5 project bike up for sale at the moment, complete with comedy apehangers. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1972-Honda-CL450K5-Unregistered-US-Import-Barn-Find-Classic-Restoration-Project/312936621152

[MrDavo]

Well, as proof that there are still some clever folk around, I got my exhaust system back today, uncut, and the piece of baffle that Mark had extracted from it.

He'd hung the pipe from the ceiling, and coaxed the loose piece to the hole where the lower header pipe goes into the silencer. As the loose piece (a flat piece of steel, no rust so snapped off by vibration) was bigger than the hole it had to come through, he got two long thin pieces of steel and cut slots in them, longways. He attached a couple of bits of steel to the uncut ends at right angles, to make two 'T Piece' type tools. He then, after some trial and error, manged the get both slots over each end of the loose piece, and literally rolled it up, like an old fashioned sardine can lid, the type that came with a key.



Here is the pipe as returned, with a partly unrolled offending loose piece of baffle. Once i get a couple of new copper exhaust port gaskets I'll be back on the road, but without the eyebrow raising rattle that made most people fear the worst was about to happen.

[taysidedragon]

Good work! Is he a part time gynaecologist as well? ☺

[MrDavo]

Is he a part time gynaecologist as well? ☺

Funny you should say that, indeed he does have a keen interest in that field, but strictly on an amateur basis. 

[JamesH]

That’s a seriously good save. Nice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[taysidedragon]

Is he a part time gynaecologist as well? ☺

Funny you should say that, indeed he does have a keen interest in that field, but strictly on an amateur basis. 

Ha ha! 😁

[MrDavo]

I'm giving her a first service after a year on the road. There are 666 extra miles on the clock since her return to life, so I should be able to  remember the number of the beast for future reference. I's had a bit of an oil leak recently, not sure where from but somehow the sump plug had worked itself loose, I didn't need any torque at all to move it, it was practically finger tight. That could have had a very bad outcome, something to check in the future. 

When I took the cover off the oil filter, I was disappointed to see that the spinner part had a crack around the top, the circlip was still in place.



 I have no idea how that could happen. The spring loaded part in the cover seemed stuck, though, so maybe that had cracked the spinner rather than retract against the spring as it should. A quick pry with a small screwdriver freed it off, I cant see how or why it had got stuck in the first place, maybe it was a bit cockeyed.

I'm off to search the net for another one, probably from a breaker as I can't see that being a normal service item, unless anyone here has a spare one on a shelf somewhere?

[Bryanj]

Might be worth checking part numbers as 250/350K twins had a similar filter

[MrDavo]

CSMNL had just one in stock, at a reasonable eu20, but the postage is (as usual) at least that, I also ordered new O rings for the sump plug and oil filter while I was at it.

DS also listed the part, £65 plus P&P!!! Feck that.

[MrDavo]

While waiting for the oil spinner and O rings, I decided to take the tank off and get on with the rest of the service. I can’t find my multimeter though, so checking the timing didn’t get done, I use it to see when the points are opening.

I did do the valve clearances though, and found to my horror that the left inlet valve adjuster spindle was 180 degrees out, with the ‘T’ facing inwards. I hadn’t noticed any rough running, but apparently it doesn’t do them any good to have them the wrong way round, the geometry is different, so just as well I decided to service the bike early. I was relieved to see that the cams are still pristine, with no scuffing, I readjusted the clearance as when I built the engine, at the size if my smallest feeler gauge, .005 mm. I think the book says .003, but it’s better than running it tight. Looking at the forums some of our US cousins do that, others set it by ear, which sounds like a stupid idea to me.

A couple of the inlet valve cover screws barely tighten - there is a metal plate as well as a gasket, I think a previous owner hasn’t taken into account that the screws are longer because of this, mixed them up and buggered the threads. It looks an awkward place to try and get a helicoil inserted in situ, though, so hopefully it will wait until some time in the future when the motor has to come out anyway.

[Bryanj]

When you are doing valve adjustments every day 2 thou you can just feel movement and 3 thou you just hear a click

[MrDavo]

Ah, right Bryan, I thought they were suggesting setting the gap by ear with the engine running! Though I have seen posts from people who do their timing like that. Using my smallest feeler gauge I got it so I could just feel movement but not really hear anything so that seems about right.

My multimeter arrived in the post, so I checked the ignition timing too, it was firing a little late so I adjusted it.

Out for a test ride, all ran well, but the most noticeable difference was running from a cold engine. Previously the bike had misfired badly going up our hill with a cold engine, running on 1and a half cylinders, and not really run right until I’d done a mile or so. That’s all gone now, so the neighbours won’t raise an eyebrow and think ‘God, that sounds rough’.

I’m wondering if having the left inlet cam adjuster eccentric the wrong way round would have been affecting the valve timing enough to cause that?