Topic: Nicklopic's CB650 cafe thing (Top end build with modern suspension)

[Nicklopic]

I absolutely have leaking a leaking fork seal, I just haven’t gotten to them yet. I’ve been putting it off because I don’t feel like doing them and then I never keep it running running long enough for me to drop it off somewhere
It’s definitely something I need to address
As fo the muffler, so far the label doesn’t bother me. It’s not over the top and tacky for my taste. It’ll stay unless it falls off on its own

[Nicklopic]

i have nothing exciting to report but i wanted to share my vented timing cover to try to keep the stupid C5 ignition from overheating.

I started by making a template in autocad. Absolutely unnecessary but i was bored and wanted to look nice. It took me a couple tries t actually get it to print in 1:1 but it worked out really nicely. I cut a few out and taped them where i wanted, just above and below the mounting point on both ends of the cover. Punched the black dots for drilling for hardware to hold a piece of 3/8 unifoam to prevent anything getting sucked in, ill oil it after painting the cover to keep excessive dust out to keep the pick up clean. Then i cut the "cutout" template out while still attached to the cover and blacked the area out with a sharpie. Punched and then drilled 3 holes per cutout to start removing material, started small and went up as to not over shoot the cut out. Cut out and cleaned up the rest with a dremel disc, carbide bit, a sanding bit, and some files. They're not perfect, but pretty decent if you ask me.

As for the rest of the bike, the tank has been at the body shop for paint for.... 4 weeks now so I haven't been able to ride it at all. I found some decent cb360 tank badges which should tie it all in really nicely. Oil change but who cares.  I did take this time to up the main jet again, now to a 128 which should be on the money. I also ordered some suzuki needle shims PN: 13382-44030. Its a PN i found on an old post from mike about shimming PD needles. Each is .020" and should be a "half step" each. I bought 16 to do up to 2 steps up. $50 for some dang washers lol.
i havent forgotten about the fork seals, but renting a trailer to drop the bike off, then again to pick it up is just a hassle so I'll wait until i can just ride to the shop and get a ride home.

[DaveBarbier]

I wish you all the best, haha. I made a vented ignition cover too but replaced the C5 with a Dyna S before I could try it out. I also thought about adding a small computer fan to the end of the crank under the cover to help draw air over the thing.

Actually just bought another Dyna S for my other 650 that I’m fixing up. Stock ignition was melted and the coils cracked so I didn’t even want to mess with it.

[Nicklopic]

Dave how much are you selling those adapter plates for your dyna set up? If you’ll be making another I might just buy it so I have for if/when my C5 fails
And is the dyna S programmable also? Like timing curves and rev limiters and stuff? And is there a tach output? I literally never looked at them past everyone saying they’re king of MC ignitions lol

[DaveBarbier]

Hey Nick, I charge $150. It’s a new plate plus I have to bore out your Dyna rotor, make a spacer for it and reattach the Dyna pickups with heat sync compound. So you’d actually have to buy the Dyna first. If I were you, I would see how the C5 goes and only go this route if the C5 #$%*s the bed. You wouldn’t be able to return the Dyna with a modified rotor. Unless money is no object and you don’t want any down time between the C5 and Dyna swap.

The Dyna S doesn’t have any programmable stuff but the Dyna 2000 does. I haven’t modified that one yet but imagine it’s pretty similar. Another member currently is deciding between the S and the 2000 for his 650 so I might figure that out in a month or so.

[DaveBarbier]

All this being said, C5 nor PowerArc sell this ignition anymore. I assume they still take returns and fix them if they go bad but I’m actually not 100% sure. Maybe contact Paul at C5 and see what the return policy is with these things now.

And with all THIS being said, the cooler weather, which we’re getting into, worked really well for my C5. I bet you won’t have any problems until next summer.

[Nicklopic]

Convince the other guy to go with the 2000 so he can play guinea pig for me haha
I didn’t realize there was more than just the plate. I’ll hold off until I have issues then because why bother wasting the money.
I actually emailed power arc about what C5s site claimed asking if it was a known issue and seeing if they had a suggestion to avoid it but have yet to hear back. It still bothers me that this is even a thing but it is what it is. It’s performed better than the GM HEI nightmare I started with so it was still worth it even if it ends up being temporary.
I might email Paul anyway and just ask about some details about the failures for curiosities sake

[DaveBarbier]

Convince the other guy to go with the 2000 so he can play guinea pig for me haha
I didn’t realize there was more than just the plate. I’ll hold off until I have issues then because why bother wasting the money.
I actually emailed power arc about what C5s site claimed asking if it was a known issue and seeing if they had a suggestion to avoid it but have yet to hear back. It still bothers me that this is even a thing but it is what it is. It’s performed better than the GM HEI nightmare I started with so it was still worth it even if it ends up being temporary.
I might email Paul anyway and just ask about some details about the failures for curiosities sake

When it worked for me it was a great ignition.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Hey Nick, I charge $150. It’s a new plate plus I have to bore out your Dyna rotor, make a spacer for it and reattach the Dyna pickups with heat sync compound. So you’d actually have to buy the Dyna first. If I were you, I would see how the C5 goes and only go this route if the C5 #$%*s the bed. You wouldn’t be able to return the Dyna with a modified rotor. Unless money is no object and you don’t want any down time between the C5 and Dyna swap.

The Dyna S doesn’t have any programmable stuff but the Dyna 2000 does. I haven’t modified that one yet but imagine it’s pretty similar. Another member currently is deciding between the S and the 2000 for his 650 so I might figure that out in a month or so.

Dave:
I forgot.  Which ohm coils are you using?

[DaveBarbier]

Hey Nick, I charge $150. It’s a new plate plus I have to bore out your Dyna rotor, make a spacer for it and reattach the Dyna pickups with heat sync compound. So you’d actually have to buy the Dyna first. If I were you, I would see how the C5 goes and only go this route if the C5 #$%*s the bed. You wouldn’t be able to return the Dyna with a modified rotor. Unless money is no object and you don’t want any down time between the C5 and Dyna swap.

The Dyna S doesn’t have any programmable stuff but the Dyna 2000 does. I haven’t modified that one yet but imagine it’s pretty similar. Another member currently is deciding between the S and the 2000 for his 650 so I might figure that out in a month or so.

Dave:
I forgot.  Which ohm coils are you using?

DC1-1 which are 3 ohm.

[DaveBarbier]

Hey Nick, I was just doing the mod for the Dyna on my ‘79 650 and found out that the Dyna rotor doesn’t need to be put on the lathe and turned down. The ‘79 advance shaft doesn’t have two diameters on it like the ‘81-‘82. That makes me think your ‘80 might also not need the rotor turned down which would reduce the price. If you wanted to check to see which your advance shaft is similar to here are some pictures.

‘79


‘81-‘82

[Nicklopic]

So it looks like mine matches the 81-82 advancer you have shown. Maybe it was a 79 only thing, or mine was changed. It was a bit of a bastard so who knows if someone changed it out over the years

[DaveBarbier]

Hmm, or mine could have been changed. I would bet my money it was just a 79 thing like you said though. Interesting

[Nicklopic]

So tank is back from paint after uhhhhh 9 weeks?
It came out really nice I feel. Of course this week is a nightmare and that’s when I get it back. I’m going to call a local shop tomorrow and see about having the fork seals down while I’m away for a few days. I tried that seal mate thing, the little plastic hook. Seemed to work well on the one side that was barely leaking. The other seemed like it was pretty much empty already. I guess that’s concerning and I dont feel like buying tools to do them myself.

Color is dodge destroyer gray, paint code PDN (also called a bunch of different names depending on the year and specific model)

[DaveBarbier]

Yeees, looks great! I like that the bike is pretty much neutral grayscale but with the golden pipes. The stainless exhaust seasons nicely after a few rides.

[Nicklopic]

Thanks man, it’s exactly what I want. I really wanted something really shuttle with only a few little accents hear and there. I think everything matches really well. The exhaust is really just beautiful and I can’t wait to get rid of the ugly extension pipe for the wideband lol

[DaveBarbier]

Thanks man, it’s exactly what I want. I really wanted something really shuttle with only a few little accents hear and there. I think everything matches really well. The exhaust is really just beautiful and I can’t wait to get rid of the ugly extension pipe for the wideband lol

Oh damn I totally didn’t see that, haha. Forgot it was still on there. Is that easy to use and to translate to carb adjustments?

[Nicklopic]

Yeah, I only plan to use it for tuning so I didn’t want to drill into the header just for a temporary thing, I made it out of 2 different exhaust connectors welded together so the sizing was perfect for the slips. Couldn’t find what I needed so made it instead so all the slip joints are consistent.
So far it’s worked great and it’s easy to install and remove if the need ever arises to change things up gain.

[DaveBarbier]

Yeah, I only plan to use it for tuning so I didn’t want to drill into the header just for a temporary thing, I made it out of 2 different exhaust connectors welded together so the sizing was perfect for the slips. Couldn’t find what I needed so made it instead so all the slip joints are consistent.
So far it’s worked great and it’s easy to install and remove if the need ever arises to change things up gain.

Oops, I meant to say is it easy to use to make adjustments, haha. But yeah, that’s a nice thing to have.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nick,

What's on your punchlist (signals, fender, etc.) or, are you "complete" for now?

[Nicklopic]

Other than some little things I’m pretty much done I guess. All the major stuff is done. Really just odds and ends now. Maybe a fender if I can think of something aesthetically pleasing. The tank badges, Some new stainless front brake lines at some point. Repainting/powder coating some things over the winter and stuff.
It’s really cool to see what it’s become from what I started with. I’m proud of this little POS lol

[Gurp]

Nick it's a great looking machine and the thread is a pleasure to read.

[Nicklopic]

@gurp thank you I really appreciate it man!

After putting a few miles on it and checking AFRs I’m confident my main jet is good. With the cooler temps Im seeing high 11s to low 12s which points me in the ballpark I was looking for especially when the last time I was checking ambient temps were above 90* F
Last night it was time to get rid of the dead spot and ridiculous lean part throttle mixes. I used the Suzuki needle shims above to raise the needle .060” which equates to 1.5 notches on normal needles according to people lol (each shim is .020 so I used 3) The needle still is retained by the emulsion tube/main jet holder thing, whatever it’s called lol. It’s can still move freely as it does stock.
I also vacuumed synced the carbs this afternoon before a 45 minute ride.
Part throttle AFRs are low 14s. Pretty much right at 14:1. It’s a night and day difference. I can actually cruise at part throttle without constantly rolling into and out of it. Previously I was seeing 16 to 17:1 mixes and getting lean misses. It’s so much happier now and has manners there so I can actually cruise around.
With cooler temps idle AFRs are a bit nicer so I’m not sure if I should step down a jet size there. I only have the mixture screw a half turn out so I really can’t do anything else there. A decision for another day.
I also added some more preload to the rear and that made things feel a bit nicer too.

[Nicklopic]

Forgot to attach pictures so here’s that

[Nicklopic]

so weird issue as popped up.
Started last night where down shifting into 3rd was a problem. just would go without a couple tries. Today same thing but also with first. Seemed to just not wanna go. It was better if i would pick my foot up and actually kick it down.
I had adjusted the clutch as per the manual the other day and all was good for a while. i need to adjust the cable a bit but just so I'm not using so much adjustment at the lever. The chain has a bit of slack to it that i definitely need to take up but im not sure if that would be a cause. I'm running 10w40 Valvoline MC oil, nothing fancy. Everything has been good for 2 or 300 miles so far so i dont think its an issue with the throw of the rear sets or anything.
Anyone have any ideas?