Hey guys,
Moving this post to Project Shop. I've posted a few times before, but it was always when I had some problem I was working through. Thought I'd share the progress of getting this old workhorse back in working order, largely thanks to tips & tricks from the forum. I've ridden for about eight years, though exclusively on small-bore Hondas (CT90s, C70s).
Have you ever developed the bike buying madness? Symptoms include loss of good judgement and inability to identify mechanical issues. I got hit hard. This is the bike as it was when I picked it up.
It certainly
seemed complete! I swear. Turned out that the shredded seat came from an early 70's CB500t. Rear fender was far too wide to fit the frame, tach was off of a CB750 (wrong ratio!), air filter box was actually from some random Suzuki (why???) and it had two ratty front tires. The engine ran pretty well and the tank was clean inside. The carbs needed some TLC. The gas tank was coated in crusty black paint embedded with what I now believe to be a ton of cat hair. Also, pretty much every gasket had been replaced and/or reinforced with that red gasket goop. Odometer was frozen at 36k miles.
Also, oh my gosh the wiring harness was the worst. PO had snipped the fuse box out and twisted the loose ends. A flip switch was wired in place of ignition key, and features such as the kill switch were DOA. Can you see how the 9-pin engine harness connector was basically a fire hazard waiting to happen? What a mess.
Every bike I've owned had mechanical drum brakes...none of this hydraulic hoodoo. The front brake was in a sorry state: the caliper had a firm grip on the rotor and the lever easily pulled all the way to the handgrip. First thing's first: opening the master cylinder and caliper. The horror!
I'll update soon with the fixes I went through. So far so good?
