Topic: 79 CBX project

[Stev-o]

Looks good

[BallAquatics]

Cool. Did you get anything done to it in the past 5 years it's not been home?

LOL  Sadly very little.  Did a quick and dirty gas tank intervention so that it would not develop any pin holes.  Also purchased a few odd & ends parts I knew I was going to need sometime down the road in the project.

[BenelliSEI]

Just an FYI. When I restored my CBX the carbs terrified me (it was a while back and I hadn’t invested in an ultrasonic tank. I sent them to Mike Nixon (themotorcycle project.com). Best money I ever spent! He accomplished a level of perfection rarely seen. I bolted them on and the bike ran so well I never touched them again. Invest in your sanity and send them to Mike!

[BallAquatics]

Well, it took a couple of hours, but I got the carbs off today.....

Unfortunately, I'm afraid they are not as clean on the inside as they are the outside.  Going to run them through the ultra sonic tomorrow and see what they look like.

[BallAquatics]

Just an FYI. When I restored my CBX the carbs terrified me (it was a while back and I hadn’t invested in an ultrasonic tank. I sent them to Mike Nixon (themotorcycle project.com). Best money I ever spent! He accomplished a level of perfection rarely seen. I bolted them on and the bike ran so well I never touched them again. Invest in your sanity and send them to Mike!

Thanks for the tip.  I'm still on the fence as to sending them to Mike or doing them myself.  I've got his book and read most of his articles...  Going to run them through the ultra sonic tomorrow and then decide.  I haven't purchased rebuild kits yet.

[BenelliSEI]

You won’t regret it…….

[Stev-o]

Invest in your sanity and send them to Mike!

 I'm still on the fence as to sending them to Mike or doing them myself. 

I've heard it is very pricey.

[BenelliSEI]

Invest in your sanity and send them to Mike!

 I'm still on the fence as to sending them to Mike or doing them myself. 

All the hardware replaced, polished up and OEM parts, all prepped and installed by a real expert. One of the few times I really felt it was a great deal to get outstide help.

[SanDogDewey]

I recommend getting with the guys over at http://www.cbxworld.com/index.php, there is a wealth of information over there.

Carbs are fun! Get an ultrasonic cleaner and a set of 6 carb synchronizing gauges!

[BallAquatics]

Well, I spoke with Mike Nixon yesterday and was told that since Randakk's is now owned by Dime City Cycle in Tampa, FL to still use the Randakk carb rebuild kit.  He said to get the float needle valves from PJ Motorsports, part number 018-880.

Also, he has an updated edition of his CBX carb rebuild booklet which I have on the way.  As I'm waiting on the booklet and carb parts I decided to start work on the brakes.  The masters and the calipers are bound up tighter than $#@!.

Took the better part of a day to disassemble the rear master and caliper.  Ordered all the brake parts from Brake Crafters here in Ohio.

[BallAquatics]

Well, the brakes are done and dusted.....  at least until it rolls down the road.  The rear master was the worst of the lot.  Completely seized.  Put it in the vise and used brake fluid and a bolt wrapped with plumbers tape to hydraulically force the piston out of the housing.

The front master was full of jelly, but repeated flushing with clean brake fluid cleaned it right up.  Will probably remove the housing at a later date and treat it to remove the yellowing of the plastic.  The rear reservoir is tucked up under the seat and is not nearly as yellowed.

I'm really liking the rebuild kits from Brake Crafters.  They come complete with everything you need to do a rebuild whether it's a caliper or a master.  Highly recommended!

[newday777]

You can still order a new cup(reservoir) from Honda

https://www.southsoundhonda.com/--xpartsstream#/s/HOM//45511-463-006//1/y

[BallAquatics]

You can still order a new cup(reservoir) from Honda

Very nice, thanks Stu!  Definitely prefer NOS parts.  Except for the tires and the rear shocks, this bike is completely original.   

[Don R]

 The guy who owned my sandcast for a while also had owned a CBX, he used two sets of 4 carb balance gauges. A lot of the good stuff at his estate sale sold before the sandcast and I was sitting on my money so I could bid on it. I only went home with that one thing.

[HondaMan]

Sure is in nice condition!

[MauiK3]

Huge project, two more cylinders and another cam really add up.
Loving it.

[BallAquatics]

Carbs are coming along slowly but surely.  Should have rebuild kit from Randakk's on Wednesday.  They are pretty well gunked up and taking time to get all the jets removed without damaging them.

While I wait, I polish the chrome and do some general cleaning.

The chrome is really cleaning up nicely.  What do you guys us to bring back faded black plastic parts?  Most of the plastic is okay, but some items like the turn signals are badly faded.

I started using heat on one of the rear turn indicators so I'll give it a day or two and see how that works out...

[Kelly E]

We use Back to Black on the black plastic parts. Sometimes it takes a couple of doses to get it.

[newday777]

We use Back to Black on the black plastic parts. Sometimes it takes a couple of doses to get it.

Same here

[BallAquatics]

We use Back to Black on the black plastic parts. Sometimes it takes a couple of doses to get it.

Same here

Thanks guys, I'll round some up!   

[MRieck]

Just an FYI. When I restored my CBX the carbs terrified me (it was a while back and I hadn’t invested in an ultrasonic tank. I sent them to Mike Nixon (themotorcycle project.com). Best money I ever spent! He accomplished a level of perfection rarely seen. I bolted them on and the bike ran so well I never touched them again. Invest in your sanity and send them to Mike!

Mike no longer rebuilds carbs. I can highly recommend JR (CBX-tras) over on the the CBX World forum. Fantastic work and recommended by Nixon.

[BallAquatics]

Got my kit from Randakk's yesterday, also picked up choke shaft seals & air tee's.....

[MauiK3]

Back to back works
I wonder why he no longer does the carbs.

[simon#42]

carbs are time consuming and can be a proper pain , thats and the fact that people dont like paying for all the time you spent on them is the usual reason people stop doing them .

[BenelliSEI]

Too bad Mike stopped. When I first started restoring Motorcycles, I sent him a few sets. He did really stunning work and was worth every penny. But, he encouraged me to buy an ultra sonic tank and walked me through my first set, after I bought several of his excellent books.  Real gentleman.