Honda-SOHC

Hi Oddjob
Yes I am lucky enough to have a 1979 CBX Z Super sport the original twin shock type, mine is a silver one, I understand what you are saying about the candy red ones, it is a beautiful colour for a motorbike and looks great on the CBX,  I like to think of the silver ones as less common and more elegant than the red 😂. There were only the two colours although you have probably seen some black ones as well, the black was for the A model which came out slightly later and was detuned to sub 100 BHP for the German market.

I decided I wanted one and got mine as a stripped to the last nut and bolt inc the engine basket case in 2003. It’s a common tale, it had been stripped down 15 years earlier by the seller with the intention of rebuilding it which never happened.  Fortunately over the years he had been buying parts for the rebuild and these came with it. It took me about 18 months to rebuild it, I had the frame painted and did a nice job of the rebuild, it’s a beautiful thing and a nice bike to ride. Engine is smooth with plenty of torque, standard brakes are crap and suspension very 70s.

It’s lucky to have survived as another person had made an offer on it which was excepted but he then lowered his offer, this pissed the seller off, I found out it was for sale and offered the full amount.  I got to know the guy that had made the offer via the CBX community and that he just wanted it to sell as parts. He dropped a bollox by being greedy because there was some expensive new parts with it. 

If you decide to get one, join a CBX club first, The CBX Enthusiasts club is very active. good bikes  at realistic prices do come up within the two CBX clubs and that’s the best place to buy one from.

Hi Mick yes I am pretty sure it will be the same as the 500 it would be good if you can measure it for me, length is the most important, it’s bobbin shaped so just the diameter at the end will be ok.
Thank

Hi Oddjob thanks for the info, fortunately I have got a lathe and just happen to have a piece of SS bar that should be long enough so will be able to make one. 
However I did look on CMSNL to see if their parts diagrams had any dimensions, they didn’t but I did notice that the wheel spacer was in the region of £59 and were out of stock, so your friend could be a life and money saver for someone.

I am not sure your readings mean a great deal because it sounds like you used a different ring in each bore, the rings may have different degrees of wear or even gaped  slightly different when first used.
At The very top of the bore,  top 1 to 3mm, there should be virtually no wear.  Use one ring for all bores, take the reading at the top most edge, then about 3 readings down the length of the bore. The variation between the reading at the top and those further down the bore will indicate bore wear. As the same ring is used in each bore an indication of difference between the bores can also be seen.

All that said, having seen the photos of your bores, plus the fact you need new pistons anyway, I would just go for a rebore.
The piston to bore clearance are very small 0005 to 0008 thou as I recall, there is plenty of past posts about this on the site, so Get someone that knows about boring these engines to do the rebore if possible. If not, then tell your machine shop what you want and don’t be dissuaded when they try to tell you the clearance are too small.  Check this out further though.

The switch has had 50 years of use and abuse ☹️ and although it is nice to repair things and keep them going I have replaced mine with after market ones from David silver.  It’s  not the cheapest option but will help give you the best chance of reliability.

I would also order a new fuse box while you are at it, the one you have has already had a bypass so is probably knackered, as they tend to be. 
Also give the harness a clean, pull the connectors apart to make sure they are clean, check and clean all the earth connections. Then sort of take it from there, checking, cleaning and redoing parts of the electrical system as needed. 

The electrical system is the part of the bike that has the greatest ability to leave you sat at the side of the road waiting for the AA.  it’s worth spending some time and money on if you are going to use the bike.
Good luck with the project, they are nice bikes to work on.

The clear plastic reinforced tube tends to go as hard as rock in no time and as you say doesn’t look good.
I got fuel tube from planet silicone, which was recommended by Nurse Julie and a few others,  they have a lot of sizes and it is nice flexible tube, I can’t comment on haw long it will last though as I have only had it for a year.
 
I can’t imagine anything will last as long as the original Honda hoses that were put on when the bikes were made. Maybe the Honda hose that Bryanj got has the best chance.

If you have a bit of a disparity of fitting sizes, try using the smaller of the sizes and putting the tube in hot water to get it flexible and see if you can get it on the larger spigots, some silicone grease might help.

Mind you, whenever I use silicone grease I end up with it all over my fingers and then can’t grip anything🙄

Thanks for the replies.
Ash,  thanks for the part number, they are not the ones in the photo you posted but are the 50413 -310 ones. I looked on The DS site today and they do not have these listed on the 550K1 parts page but a part number search showed they did have them in stock so I bit the bullet and ordered 4.  A bit expensive for what they are but now I can get on and fit the mudguard and front wheel and make progress.
I really struggled to find any else where, though they are common type things so they must be around some where.

Ken I did find some slightly bigger ones on eBay which were quite cheap, I  thought I would alter them to suit and after my successful arts and crafts repair to the crumbling plastic on my horn I was pretty confident.  Well I spent hours in the cold garage sawing, cutting and filing them, I thought I had it cracked but when I fitted them they looked rubbish. I gave up and went in and managed to make a far better job of drinking some Rum to help me warm up.

Florence,  I like your idea of using old inner tube rubber and can see how that could work, I will have some old inner tubes when I change the tyres on the 550 so will give it a go just to see.

Well what a thing but just the sort of thing we get ‘not quite right’ after market parts I guess.
So if you want to get on quickly then it looks like the bushes are the option.

I have been looking for shocks for my 550, DS has the cheap copies which are cheap but from reports don’t last long.  CMSNL also have original copies which are around £300+ , they look good but I can’t decide whether they are just the  same as the DS ones at a higher price or actual better quality ones.  So if someone has bought some and can report on them that would be good. The YSS ones are probably ok shocks but of course don’t look correct if you are trying to keep originality.

The shocks you chose from Hagon looked like a good option so such a shame they haven’t got them quite right. If they have got a 1000 plus wrong bodies in stock I can’t see them changing any time soon either.