Topic: Design feature you dislike the most

[eigenvector]

Overall I really like these bikes.  Just so that we're clear on that point.  Generally speaking of all the bikes I've owned/own my little CB550K is still my favorite.  No it doesn't have much power, but it fits me like a glove and now that I have my 4-4 exhaust it sounds MUCH better than that old tinny EMGO I had on there.

That said...

Of all the things I could go on about - there are 2 things I just can't defend
1)  The fuel inlet valves on the carbs.  Uhhgg, those freakin' things jam at the drop of a hat.  Doesn't matter how well you maintain them - all it takes is the wrong motion and one of them will jam in the inlet port either overflowing the carb or blocking off fuel flow.  Of all the bikes I've owned over the hundred of thousands of miles I've ridden -  this is the only one that does that.

2)  The headlight bucket.  What sadist thought that a normal human could jam all those wires in there and not either create bad grounds, bent connectors, and/or bad circuits.

Originally I was also going to toss in the airbox/carb rack - until I realized that every bike is like that.  None of the bikes I've worked on had anything other than a terrible airbox design with respect to removing the carb rack.  If anything the CB is better - try your hand at removing the Nighthawk's carb rack, or adjusting the Sabre's throttle cables without destroying your knuckles.  On a Tiger 1050 you basically have to take half the bike apart just to see the airbox - and there are over a dozen screws to remove to see the intake manifold underneath it.

[754]

Clean your tank..we would go years and years without having carb sticking problems.
 The head light has stuff in it but here is the good part.. It all makes sense.
 But you got to be able to see. .had a buddy had some trouble not seeing it was a 4 wire connector, it looked like a 3 wire..
 Once you try running a smaller light, you gonna have a big wiring lump to hide.

Design flaw. Suzuki. GS sidecovers at rear have a semicircle hanging over the diagonal frame tube...sucks goatballs...IMO...

[Jnel]

"...sucks goatballs...IMO..."

Im going to keep that one. 754

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[TwoTired]

I thought putting the rear turn sigs under the passengers rump was not so good an idea.  You can't put saddlebags on that nice long seat without relocating the sigs.  They did correct that with the 77-78 k models.
The worst design though, was not using gas tight or gas impervious electrical connectors.  This guaranteed eventual electrical issues due to corroded connectors.  Fuse box wasn't very robust either and used soon to be obsolete fuse sizes.  Also improved with later models.

Second to worst was the floating shafts in the early 500-550 rocker covers.  Allowing soft aluminum as a bearing surface against steel was a downright design error.

Third worst was probably mufflers that rusted out rapidly.

A peev is no primary chain tensioner for the 500-550 and the trans clatter that results.

[eigenvector]

On those electrical connectors..

I originally had the same issue - I personally can't stand those style connectors as they generally fall apart over time and if you want to separate them more often than not you crack or destroy something in the process.
I thought I was going to be so innovative and replace mine with water tight connectors - Deutsch I think they're called.     Oh they're definitely water tight, absolutely snug, durable as all get out - and about 5 times larger than the originals, and 10 times more expensive.

They haven't improved much on the original design - just made them smaller.

[carnivorous chicken]

750 -- engine and frame clearance (mediated by kits of course, but still a doozy).

350/400 airboxes.

[pjlogue]

750 -- engine and frame clearance (mediated by kits of course, but still a doozy).

I agree, that's at the top of the list.

-P.

[jonda500]

The way the 'HONDA' plate haphazardly clips rather insecurely to the alternator cover on 500's and early 550's.
John

[halllzy]

750 -- engine and frame clearance (mediated by kits of course, but still a doozy).

350/400 airboxes.

+💯

If you think of what people thought "the future" would bring back in the 70's when the bikes were released nothing short of teleporting new valve seals in to place solves engine removal req'd to get at the top end for the 750's



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[BomberMann650]

Worn out Primary Chains 

[Deltarider]

Worn out primary Chains 

The primary chain is not my concern. As a matter of fact I'm on my way proving how long it can last (now: 135.000 kms). Haven't seen or heard of an oil gally that was actually cut open by it. The morse chain itself is oversized and well capable of handling much more HP than the 50hp the CB550 delivers. No, my concern is the camchain tensioner. It's by far the weakest point in the engine design (mind you, back then this was the case for almost every motorcycle). Ón mine the tensioner was replaced at around 45.000 km and at around 80.000 km and if I'm not mistaken I can now order number 3. The CB500/550 bottom end is practically undestructible.
Carbs: the less you touch them, the better. Cleaning is OK and sometimes inevitable but tampering with floattangs and raising/lowering of jetneedles - I know that manuals like Clymer are happy to fill pages with it - but I'd stay away from it. Bear in mind that we all, looking at these impressive exploded views, sooner or later, fall victim to some degree of delusion of reference. For an experiment I raised my needles but I think of returning them to the 3rd and middle position, maybe with a thin shim. If your floatlevel is not as it should, try to elimenate other causes like non original fuellines, sticky floatneedles and obstructed vents. A sticky floatneedle is hard to detect by the clear tube method, but you will notice it when you check the floatlevels the way Honda described. Adjusting the tangs IMO is only needed if the PO was a reader of this forum.
Use genuine Honda parts and your Honda will remain to be a true Honda, a very reliable and tough bike.
All in all I liked the first CB550K (small blinkers and taillight) best. Only change the handlebar for the euro version and it's a perfect allrounder. However, I don't know if that first model had the improved swingarm bearings yet. K3 and F2 I dislike most. Good things were changed (wiring inside the handlebars, frontfork protectors abandoned) for inferior (PD carbs, horrible oversized blinkers and taillights) and all them tubes all over the bike (K3-4), yecch!

[PeWe]

CB750:
- It would be nice if cam and pimary chains can be replaced without tearing the entire engine apart. At least the rubber tensioners that transform to bakelite and fall into pieces.
-Not possible to lift valve cover without pulling the entire engine. Lift head and cylinder too a good thing. Frame must be modified for this and affect the value for a restorer to OEM look.
- Wrong fuse for rear stop light that blow 15A main fuse if shorted. Bike will stop direct, no light at all. Safety issue when riding on a dark road. It should be fused by the rear light 5A fuse.
- Bad wire routing design of the cabling from handle bar switches. Inside the handle bar that made many to grind openings in the switch housings in a bad way causing short circuits when changing handle bar or only tilting the handle bar that need other angles of the switches. It should have been an outside design from the very beginning.
- Front brake a joke! At least a better disc with stopping grip.
- Rear shocks should have been better.
- Swing arm bearings! Why plastic instead of at least bronze bushings? Needle bearings or tapered roller bearings as alternative.
- Steering head bearing bicycle style, not for a bike enter higher speeds. Tapered roller bearings should been there from the beginning!
- Steering damper missing. Other even older bikes had a steering damper going thru the tripple and possible to adjust the friction.

- Why power down the CB750 while Kawasaki Z1-900 entered the market and continued to do so?
The first CB750 with slightly hotter cam, manually adjusted ports in head, ign setting and open Lotus Rooot 4-4 exhaust should have been kept together with higher CR + more displacement + bigger valves and outpowered the Z1-900! Rods can handle 80rwhp.

CB750F2 came too late and they blew the winning design of the K0-K6 bikes. It must have been desgined to keep up with the Z1-900 that had way better look. It should have had 90hp (on crank) that a hotter cam and maybe better port job should have given it. Honda should have worked together with RC engineering and Action Fours to power up.

I know... the design of the 80's entered the scene and plenty of horrible designs overflowed us... typical 80 design is not anything beautiful or even tough, just bulky, square sized and ugly. Kawasaki gave up the beautiful Z1900/1000 for the real ugly beast Kawasaki 1300.
CB900 DOHC was known to be way too weak direct when it was introduced. Pathetic model, badwill for Honda. That crap embarrassed me as a proud Honda owner. They had at least CBX1000 to save the image.

[ekpent]

 The Cb750 kind of got caught up in a time when like cars of that period were being detuned to try and get better gas mileage during the oil embargo years. Anybody have a Vega or Pinto    They also tried to change the engine characteristics to a more low end torque configuration because of the huge amount of people who were fitting Vetter fairings,bags,crash bars etc. and making them into kind of a first generation open road tour er. Though the Goldwing was kind of a naked hot rod when first introduced Honda realized the massive potential of a dedicated touring model and we all know how that morphed.  Overall they stuck with that SOHC design for a little too long.

[PeWe]

  Overall they stuck with that SOHC design for a little too long.

We all on this forum are stucked with the SOHC and still loving it, right?    There are even guys with several SOHC bikes in their garages! 
A bike with 80-100 rwhp is enough for fun and touring! City bike only, even less hp needed, maybe half...

[flybox1]

350->550 air boxes.  whatapain!
If they made them separate in halves and simpler to install/remove... like the 750s, i'm sure fewer would have switched to pods.

[carnivorous chicken]

If they made men separate in halves and simpler to install/remove... l

I think many women feel the same way!

[flybox1]

Oh geez...corrected 

..but that was funny 

[BPellerine]

top end oiling system,all those small passages,easily blocked,all to reduce external lines,and streamline the look,complete teardown to fix.bill

[NobleHops]

As I read this thread it gets me thinking that we should all go get some Kawasakis!

;-)

[TwoTired]

As I read this thread it gets me thinking that we should all go get some Kawasakis!

;-)

Does Kawasaki provide parts for their vintage bikes?

[NobleHops]

I did not have any problem finding parts for my Z1 project, but that bike in particular is extremely well supported by the aftermarket.

N.

[Stev-o]

....we should all go get some Kawasakis!

Done!

[PeWe]

As I read this thread it gets me thinking that we should all go get some Kawasakis!

;-)

I tested a Kawasaki 1000R -1983 sometimes back in 83-85, engine ran very hard, not as smooth like my CB750 (836+ cam+ported head). Painful to have the feet on foot pegs around 120-130kmh on 5:th gear. Vibrations!

A friend followed me to Italy (Rimini) via Austria (Zell Am See) back on my bike, a tour of 2500+2500km or slightly more. He had followed another guy before on his Kawasaki 1000R on similar trip(s). My Honda was much more comfortable.