1984 CBX 750 - Build Thread

Figured id start a build thread. I wont be doing much till fall , however, here it is.

What will I be doing:

-Strip the bike to the frame
-Repaint the frame
-Full repaint of the bodywork & new decals
-New windshield
-New grips
-New Seat cover
-Paint the header & mid pipes
-Split the cases and change the starter clutch
-Paint the engine
-Get the starter rebuilt -- may try to find a 3 brush starter that fits this bike
-Replace the missing rear grab bar
-Go through Re&Re the brakes - lever goes to the bar
-What ever else I find along the way

- Bike has new fork seals and new tires already.

- You can tell the tank and upper fairing have already been painted before, the colour is slightly different. Tank has a ding in it and it pushed out a wee bit on the right side, so that will get sorted as well

 

Excellent…. I have my popcorn ready !



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Very very cool. I owned one of these in silver when they were new.

At a guess, is that a Japanese domestic model? I recall they had the seat strap but no grab bar at the back.

I see you are missing the fake alloy trumpets on the carbs as well. Without those (and an HRC sticker) you'll be missing 5 bhp!

Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

Boonstra Parts in Netherlands looks to have some useful bits. I've bought a few parts from them so can vouch for their services.

https://www.boonstraparts.com/en/pa...-grab-bar-pillion-grab-rail-1984/000001177482

 

Noice, popcorn in hand.

 

Straycat's truck musta been out wandering again, look what it brought home.
Nice!

 

And no Ventura rack. Shame. Another -5BHP.

 

Not sure of which market it came from , Are those trumpets/velocity stacks Fake then ? they go over the air box boots ? I wondered about that.

Thanks for the info on the grab bar vs seat strap. I did get a grab bar off eBay, but may not use it now.


EDIT: yep just looked up on CMSNL parts fiche..now to find a set of those "Funnel Covers". hmmmm...

 

Haha , grabbed this one last summer, its been sitting around waiting its turn

 

This thread makes my head hurt. Why can't Honda build and sell bikes that that we love anymore? If Honda put this bike in their current line up it would sell out on the first day.

 

Yea, Boonstra have some good items. I have a grab bar, need to find the fake Trumpets now.

 

Well, not able to leave it sitting, I decided to at least strip off the bodywork. The tank had to come off since ill be soaking it in EVAPORUST for a few months and need to rotate it around a bit to get at all the relevant areas.

The old Northern Pikes song comes to mind "She aint pretty, she just looks that way". Boy that old back-bone style frame is not a good looking design at all.

Now my challenge will be to not get this thing restored before winter hits, its supposed to be my winter project.

Interesting fact. I mentioned before it has an oil cooler, and the oil is pumped through the frame up to the cooler, so in addition to the engine drain plug, there are also frame oil drain plugs !

I think ill have to start looking for new O-rings where the oil lines attach to the engine and frame, seems like a prime opportunity for a leak later if I dont replace them.

 

True the frame on the CBX is not the prettiest, but it is very effective and I thought it was superior to the contemporaneous VF750F, being just as nimble but with much less of a head shaking tendency. Some of that may be due to the front tyre which was a 110 rather than the 120 on the VF, and also maybe a bit more weight over the front wheel from the IL4 layout. My recollection is that the CBX was a bit gruff and gravelly at lower revs, but smoothed right out at about 5 and then happily screeched to redline. Have you ridden this one yet?

 

Not really Terry. I rode it up into the upper shop and thats where it sits. The starter clutch is F'd, I managed to start it once or twice last summer and rode it up to where I needed it to be. Last summer when I got it it wold engage about 20% of the time, now the Starter/Sprague is totally finished, starter just spins and no engagement. I have a replacement item which will go in was part of the restoration.

 

It really shouldn't take much more than 24-48 hours. I wouldn't leave anything in Evaporust for months because it is ever so slightly acidic. I forgot I tossed a pair of needle nose pliers in my Evapo-rust bucket once and it ruined it after like... 3 months. I'll forget things for a week though and it's no issue.

Use some old gasoline or something organic when you rinse it out. You run the risk of flash rusting it if you use water. And then you get to do it all over again. Which is really fun.

 

Yea if it was a new batch of evaporated rust id leave it for less time.

This stuff is re-useable but its about the 4th time I've recycled it, so its lost a bit of potency.

The last tank I did (this is the 4th one) took about 6 - 8 weeks to get all the rust off it, works very very VERY slowly. Im not worried about any eating through the tank.

I check it every few days to see how its progressing

 

Stray, I had a CB700SC (USA version of this bike) almost new in 1985 and I loved it. Great handling bike but that 16" front wheel was a little weird. Almost bit me a few times it steered so quickly. I remember at the time I thought we had a service bulletin (I worked at the local Honda dealer 84-87) that said you had to replace the frame if you blew an engine. Honda Tech said it was impossible to flush all the metal out of the frame after a catastrophic engine failure so the frame / oil cooler had to go. Seemed kind of extreme to me.

Actually one of the bikes I wish I would have held on to but I was young and needed rent money! I made a pretty good profit on that one as I recall.

 

I had the fortune/misfortune of being aboard somebody else's CBX750F when it decided to eat a main bearing. IIRC (hey it was nearly 40 years ago!) the bike was borrowed from my bike shop employer and ground to a rattly halt after a non-spirited motorway ride. As it was then someone elses's problem I don't recall the outcome but I think Jim is correct about where the shrapnel ends up. I suppose it depends whether the filter is ahead of the frame/cooler or after...

 

Yea I could see getting debris out ofr the frame would be a challenge. Not the best idea I have ever seen thats for sure, almost as bad as running coolant through the frame on the Magna

 

well, I checked my tank today and the evaporation rust is doing sweet F&$K all.

its just as rusty as it was 2 weeks ago.

time to empty it and buy a jug of metal rescue I think, or a few new jugs of evaporust if I can find it now