Topic: 35 years old, 98.2 original miles...

[gggdds]

I'm new to the Owners Club....Just found a 1981 CB650 (standard) with the above miles...Story was an engineer bought it in San Jose, rode it to his home in Pleasonton, CA, parked it in his garage, and never touched it again.  Had a bit of a time with the front brake: The brake fluid had evaporated/congealed into a gooey mess, and I rebuilt the master cylinder to get the front brake to work--bleeding it is quite a process.  I'm looking for any other advice on rehabilitating the bike to operation....I'm planning on replacing the fuel lines, draining and cleaning the fuel tank, checking the carb jets and bowls for gunk, changing the oil, replacing the battery, and the big one, replacing the tires.  It' s the last one that hurts the most; the tires still have their injection "teats" showing--they're Bridgestones, and show zero cracking and of course, no wear, but do I trust them?  Any advice is appreciated.  I know little about Honda 4 bangers; previous bikes have been an S-65, a Dream 300, CB-160, and a CB-450 Black Bomber (my favorite)  I currently own, in addition to the 650', an 09' Harley Sportster.  And I've got an interesting record:  Not once, have I ever bought a working motorcycle...

[CycleRanger]

Howdy! Welcome!
Sounds like you have a plan. 

[ekpent]

 Gotta be the lowest original miles I have seen on here.   Welcome to the forum  and give us a picture of the 650 and the Bomber 

[navydad]

Don't trust the tires, they have hardened with age and may be slick especially in wet conditions. Replace the brakes lines with stainless ones. If you don't trust rubber fuel lines or tires why trust rubber brake lines. Oh yeah WOW, GREAT FIND.

[NobleHops]

I'm new to the Owners Club....Just found a 1981 CB650 (standard) with the above miles...Story was an engineer bought it in San Jose, rode it to his home in Pleasonton, CA, parked it in his garage, and never touched it again.  Had a bit of a time with the front brake: The brake fluid had evaporated/congealed into a gooey mess, and I rebuilt the master cylinder to get the front brake to work--bleeding it is quite a process.  I'm looking for any other advice on rehabilitating the bike to operation....I'm planning on replacing the fuel lines, draining and cleaning the fuel tank, checking the carb jets and bowls for gunk, changing the oil, replacing the battery, and the big one, replacing the tires.  It' s the last one that hurts the most; the tires still have their injection "teats" showing--they're Bridgestones, and show zero cracking and of course, no wear, but do I trust them?  Any advice is appreciated.  I know little about Honda 4 bangers; previous bikes have been an S-65, a Dream 300, CB-160, and a CB-450 Black Bomber (my favorite)  I currently own, in addition to the 650', an 09' Harley Sportster.  And I've got an interesting record:  Not once, have I ever bought a working motorcycle...

You might consider selling that bike more or less as is. They are only original once...

[BomberMann650]

Gotta be the lowest original miles I have seen on here.   Welcome to the forum  and give us a picture of the 650 and the Bomber 

Yeah, thats a helluva find.

[gggdds]

An update....never know what you'll find on a 35 year old, NOS bike...cleaned the fuel tank..not a speck of rust.....took multiple rinses with propryl alcohol before it drained clear....checked the jets--clean as a whistle...not a drop of fuel in the bowls....found the in tank filter kind of soft and shriveled up...removed it and placed an inline filter till I can find the proper one...began a new post asking where to find them...can't find them on the internet, just entire, new petcock assy's with the filter, but not individual filter by itself.  Drained the oil, just because it was 35 years old, but it came out crystal clear....removed the battery...the electrolyte had completely dried...haven't put fresh oil in...was going to use just a standard 10-40 because I'm going to have to change it at 600 miles....if I decide to run the clock up that far....next weekend I'll put the oil in and hook up the new battery and fire it up.  Comments are welcome....

[BomberMann650]

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PUT "Regular oil" in your vintage bike!!!!

Motorcycle wet clutch safe oil only.  You can thank me later.

Honda GN4, Castrol 4t, others like risolene diesel as mentioned here.

I keep it simple.  Get my oil where i get my filters.  The honda store

[thirsty 1]

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[thirsty 1]

I'm new to the Owners Club....Just found a 1981 CB650 (standard) with the above miles...Story was an engineer bought it in San Jose, rode it to his home in Pleasonton, CA, parked it in his garage, and never touched it again.  Had a bit of a time with the front brake: The brake fluid had evaporated/congealed into a gooey mess, and I rebuilt the master cylinder to get the front brake to work--bleeding it is quite a process.  I'm looking for any other advice on rehabilitating the bike to operation....I'm planning on replacing the fuel lines, draining and cleaning the fuel tank, checking the carb jets and bowls for gunk, changing the oil, replacing the battery, and the big one, replacing the tires.  It' s the last one that hurts the most; the tires still have their injection "teats" showing--they're Bridgestones, and show zero cracking and of course, no wear, but do I trust them?  Any advice is appreciated.  I know little about Honda 4 bangers; previous bikes have been an S-65, a Dream 300, CB-160, and a CB-450 Black Bomber (my favorite)  I currently own, in addition to the 650', an 09' Harley Sportster.  And I've got an interesting record:  Not once, have I ever bought a working motorcycle...

You might consider selling that bike more or less as is. They are only original once...

Or twice as in this case. I say get it riding and do a it justice with a road trip across the state and back or across the USA!

[HondaMan]

What a find!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Great find.  Sounds like it is in amazing condition, too. 

Definitely do NOT trust the tires.  They harden with age, and will not have very decent traction.

[cb650]

sounds like a sweet bike!!!   Time to get out the torch and the flat black paint.  LOL