Topic: wheels on CB750F2 1977 (NOT SPOKES AND NOT CAST - NOT SURE WHAT TO CALL IT)

[Niels Bull]

anyone able to tell me if these wheels should be taken apart? they need a good clean, however almost impossible without taken the hub out - can't find anything about in the various workshop manuals.

[Pielz]

Those are the "inside out" comstars, are they not?

[Niels Bull]

Have no idea what they are called - this is my first Honda project - 1977 CB750F2 supersport, they are darn dirty, however otherwise seem in good condition when it comes to balance and bearing tolerance - tire is dry rotten though :-(

[Pielz]

The comstars are cool. No fiddling with innertubes or rim strips! I'm actually meeting another user tomorrow to trade my spoked wheels for his comstars. Mine will be the reversed ones but I really like the way those ones that you have look!

[754]

 You don't take them apart.
 And you can't get rich selling them..

[Niels Bull]

they are not for sale but need to be cleaned / polished - now i know what to  do -  get to work the old fashion hard way with a bit of knuckle bleed :-) thanks

[Pielz]

If anyone has the black reverse comstars a little bit of marvel mystery oil makes those things shine like factory new.

[spotty]

If you can find a local vapour blaster you can probably get away with masking up the bearings and after blasting they'll come up like new
Even pull the bearings, no harm in replacing a couple of $20 bearings
Vapour blasting is much less aggressive than sand blasting and while they're at it they'll clean the mating surface between rim and tyre

[Niels Bull]

thought about vapor blasting too - have one in my shop but i was to cheap to buy one big enough for a rim - mine internal size is only 17x13x13" - fits a lot - but not the rim 

[tlbranth]

I'm about to soda blast my engine. It's mounted on an engine stand. I'm cobbling together a small (5'x5'x7'high) blast booth from 2x4's and 5'6x7'6 tarps from HF. I'm hoping to keep the stuff from getting all over the place and also to recover and reuse it. Engine don't go in a blast cabinet.

[Don R]

 If I remember correctly the early ones had aluminum spokes, there was a recall due to a few sets with the rivets loosening and Honda replaced them with steel spokes. Not all bikes got the recall done, not all owners wanted it.

[low-side]

Don is absolutely right.  Some of the '78 GL1000s even experienced cracked spokes.  I'd test any early comstars spokes with a magnet before using them. BTW, early comstars used tubes, though many people get away with not using them. 

[WhyNot2]

thought about vapor blasting too - have one in my shop but i was to cheap to buy one big enough for a rim - mine internal size is only 17x13x13" - fits a lot - but not the rim 

which blaster do you have?

post a pic?

[BigJimG]

They're not intended to be taken apart, they are riveted.  That being said, there are some threads on some other forums (CX500 for example) where they have been disassembled, cleaned and rebuilt, with they typical caveat that you shouldn't do this.

Cleaning them assembled is a PITA, but doable.  I have a set I need to strip the cheap spray-can paint job courtesy of the previous owner...

[Bankerdanny]

Those are Comstar wheels. Wikipedia has a good article about them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstar_wheel

[Niels Bull]

this is the one i have, http://vaporhoningtechnologies.com/micro-vapor-hone/ ,it works well - however require air pressure at a constant 5-10 psi - which in most cases require an upgrade from most common sold compressors in various hardware stores - i opted for a 4HP 220V single phase from California Air Tools - i tried with my on compressor which feed about 5psi but found that the higher psi gave a faster and smoother result.
the vapor honer use either aluoxide (for hard to clean and pre paint jobs ) and glass beads for polishing alu parts / nuts / bolts etc

thanks for all the inputs.
p.s tlbranth I'm curious to know how your soda blast project turned out - let me know if it's worth a try :-)

[kerryb]

I'm about to soda blast my engine. It's mounted on an engine stand. I'm cobbling together a small (5'x5'x7'high) blast booth from 2x4's and 5'6x7'6 tarps from HF. I'm hoping to keep the stuff from getting all over the place and also to recover and reuse it. Engine don't go in a blast cabinet.

I soda blasted an engine for painting ( no booth) then had to clean the soda off with a pressure washer.  Even though I sealed up all the ports well, I was so afraid of leaving water in it that I put it back in the bike enough to run the engine hot enough to dry it out.  Then put it back on the engine stand and wiped it down with kerosene before painting.  Bunch of time, but the paint job came out nice.

[Pielz]

Off topic, sorry, but I just picked up these comstars from another user today. These are the other version that I've seen on these bikes.

[Niels Bull]

nice wheels, after reading up and followed the previous link to the wikipedia i can see these are the "reverse" costar wheels 3rd generation :-)

[Don R]

 I soda blasted outside the garage and killed a large area of grass. It took all summer to grow it back L0L. The last time I tried it in the center of the driveway and the soda dust attached to our new vinyl siding like powder coat out of a gun. L0L. It did wash off, just an fyi.

[WhyNot2]

so that's where that big bare spot came from in my back yard......


sum beech........

[tlbranth]

Yes the soda does seem to kill grass. I did some minor blasting in the open a few years back using Costco baking soda. Worked well but killed grass. When I did my GL1000 engine, I used sand. I did it on a tarp and reused what I could. Silica sand is great for blasting.
I did a first go-round in my cobbled booth yesterday. I had a bag of medium blasting soda from HF. It's working well but now I need to get the engine & stand out of the booth so I can reclaim the soda. I reckon it'll take 3 or 4 reclaims to finish the job. I'll get some pics here soon.