CB650C Recommission

[Clunker]

I got a bit carried away prattling on about my CB650C in the New Members section when I first joined so I think it's about time I put it in the right place. I picked this bike up as having a "tick over problem", probably clean the carbs out and service it and she'd be good to go.......ha!. First job strip the carbs, found the problem, inside float chamber on carb 4 the casting where the brass jet screws in had been snapped and repaired (bodged) with some kind of resin. It took ages before a no.4 carb body came up for sale. So in the meantime I set about tidying the bike up, polishing, more polishing and yet more polishing. Also, the chrome on the original spoke wheels was totally shot but the budget of bugger all wouldn't stretch to a rebuild so a decent pair of Comstars were obtained through ebay for £75, that included the postage and really good tyres. The wheels have now been fitted along with new chain and sprockets, the exhausts are back on. Jobs left to do are free off the clutch, ultrasonic clean and rebuild the carbs and tidy up the switch gear, then it should be good to go! The last pic is of the greatest invention known to Mankind since the beginning of Time, an arse shaped upturned bucket, yes I really do sit on a bucket polishing my nuts!

[Clunker]

The head and valve cover were covered in four layers of really thick, crazed paint that took three days to remove, that's how the bucket and my arse became best mates. The frame had hardly any decent paint left on it so I removed what I could then got the Humbrol Gloss black and a very small brush in hand, its not perfect but its a 100% improvement. A replacement seat and chain guard add to its appearance as do the homemade side panel decals, they'll do until I can find some original badges. The new rear shocks were included with the bike but not fitted, stainless washers were needed to beef these up as they were a lot thinner at the top and wider at the bottom. Overall I'm really happy with the old girl but the best part is that my Wife absolutely loves her and can't wait for me to get her on the road.

[Norniron]

Very nice,enjoy mate

[Johnwebley]

the Honda really is looking good,

 keep on the hard work

 

[mike the bike]

Nice looking bike there Clunker,  what remains to be done to get it all road legal?

[Clunker]

Thanks for your comments guys, hopefully not too long before another Honda SOHC is on the road.........then on to the Nighthawk . Mike, as far as I know it should be just a matter of sorting the carbs and clutch, the good news is that Santa came today, he looked a bit like the Postman but he brought me a clutch cover gasket and the long awaited carb rebuild kits from Taiwan. I hope I can find the time next week to get the last jobs done then see Mr MOT man. Be nice if it passes without any problems, all electrics work, tyres and brakes good, new chain and sprockets, fork seals good, no pitting on the stanchions, exhausts solid. R-clips on brake torque arm and rear wheel nut. Can't think of anything else that it could fail on but if you guys come up with anything then please let me know.

[Nurse Julie]

That's looking very nice 

[Clunker]

Thanks Julie, hopefully you will get to see her in the flesh (er...metal) at some point. I'm hoping to take her to Matlock Bath the first chance I get, I haven't been there for years.

[Nurse Julie]

She will look well good cruising up and down the High Street. Went there a few months ago for the first time, in the car unfortunately, very nice place.

[Clunker]

She will look well good cruising up and down the High Street. Went there a few months ago for the first time, in the car unfortunately, very nice place.

You do know that it is only about 4 or 5 miles from the Chrich Tramway Museum? Did you go on a Sunday? It used to be rammed with bikes.

[Nurse Julie]

I think it was a Saturday but still plenty of bikes around. I did work out it was close to Crich as saw the signpost.

[Clunker]

When I left Crich I was tempted to take a cruise through there just to see what was occurring but my belly was getting the better of me, see if it was still busy. If its nice tomorrow afternoon (Sunday) I might just fire up the Zephyr and take a ride up there. I'll have my camera with me if I can get there so if there is owt worth looking at I'll post some pics in Out and About.

[Clunker]

Carbs went in the ultrasonic cleaner this morning, rebuilt this afternoon. The Taiwanese rebuild kits were a bit of a joke, the gaskets for the carb tops didn't fit very well plus a hole for the locating peg was in the wrong place so I had to modify them with a hole punch. There are plenty of O-rings in the sets that don't fit anywhere on the carbs. In the end I decided not to risk using the jets or float needles as I'm pretty sure they'd have caused problems later on. Luckily I bought a partial set of carbs from a CB650Z a couple of months ago so I robbed bits from them to get the job done. I also had to figure out the choke mechanism worked as I hadn't noticed before that it didn't actually work, looks like a PO didn't have a clue either so he just chucked the parts on anyhow. First pic is me operating the choke pulley but nothings moving. Second pic is the top gasket fix and the third is the job done.

[Clunker]

The only parts that I did use from the rebuild kit were the top gaskets, the float bowl gaskets and the mixture screws, springs, o-rings and washers as this bike was a US import, the mixture screws had blank tops that had a slot sawn into each one. When I first stripped the carbs only one screw had the o-ring two others only had the spring and the last one was just the screw. I still have to make an o-ring for the number 1 carb air cut off valve chamber, I figure a tap washer and my hole punch should fix that. Forgot to mention in pic 1 above, can you spot the missing part?

[Clunker]

Carbs took about 15 minutes to put on with the ratchet strap method. Bike fired up straight away but petrol poured out of number one carb overflow, a sharp tap with a screwdriver handle to the float bowl cured that. Petrol dripping from accelerator pump, B*&^%$*£! as the little girl says in the VW advert! There weren't no sodding o-ring in there when I stripped em! I'm really surprised that this bike ran at all when I got it, there were stains on top of the engine case where fuel had been dripping for years. Anyways, back to the story, too lazy to be taking the carbs off (big idle mistake) I opted for a bit of keyhole surgery with my 90 degree screwdriver and loads of enthusiasm (beer). Figured if I could just lower the bowl a bit I could slide an O-ring in with the tip of my finger, I just happened to forget how thick my sausage like fingers actually are. I was trying to not disturb the diaphragm......................well I got the o-ring in and got the bowl back on, slight drip from accelerator pump, think I dislodged the you know what (not spelling it again). Carbs are gonna have to come off again but at this moment in time I just CBA!