Topic: Black Friday - a red 1965 CB160 build.

[Alan F.]

Mirrored by request from my build thread at Vintagehondatwins.com

A member there, 12ozPBR named it, Black Friday. A curious name for a red bike. I spotted the CL listing and posted it here on VHT, from the response I was persuaded into calling the seller. I offered $1/cc thanks to 66Sprint instead of the $200 asking price and got a yes right away. I'm not sure if it was Bob's first bike, but he bought it from a friend in 66. His friend had some trouble with it and had it overbored, no other info on that. Bob had a cb350 later on, that's what the chrome fender in the photo was from. He bought this house in 1990 and disassembled the 160 just enough to get it downstairs into the surprisingly warm and dry basement. The bike appears to be 100% complete. I'll be meeting up with Bob later to pick up the Owner's manual and keys, he hasn't located a title yet, I'm optimistic but I can mail away to Vermont for a plate and valid registration. Bikes under 300cc don't require law enforcement vin# verification so one less step.
I'm about to unload it at storage and get some photos of the condition.

[Alan F.]

He's selling the house for about a half million dollars, so finding a good home for it was probably more important to him than getting $200 for the bike, he'd have taken less I'm sure.


But on to the fun part, let's see what I've got here.

[Alan F.]

Tank seems solid enough, I'll probably line it.

[RAFster122s]

Congrats on your find. I am sure it will be a fun build. I always liked the CB160s...
CB175 power ain't bad either...
I am sure you will enjoy it when finished. They are gorgeous bikes, I think, Honda really hit it out of the park in the looks department. Tiddler rides are popular in the NE and the small displacement bikes have a loyal following. It is a different experience traveling at slower speeds when out and about.
Look forward to seeing you work on this one...

[Alan F.]

Mufflers, head pipes and baffles all look ok.

[Alan F.]

Front fender is ok, I've got a shot bag and mallet somewhere to knock those dents out.

[PeWe]

What's your plan?
Clean and polish will make that bike to a good survivor.
Flush engine with good oil after look inside taken the covers off. Then new gaskets if still available.

Line the tank really needed?
I have read too many posts here about lining falling off.

I bought a 2k tank lining kit with cleaner and deruster 2012 when I thought I should use it, still on the shelf. French brand.

[Alan F.]

Thanks Gents, my plan is to just clean and reassemble this one replacing only what is absolutely necessary, and for God's sake not make an art project out of it or get sidetracked learning how to do something I thought would be neat. Too much of that in my past 20 years!

[Alan F.]

Seat just needs a cover, rear trim piece and center support springs are here. Side covers have some rust but are solid and clean.

[Alan F.]

Headlight bucket with speedometer and headlight trim & bulb are in good shape.

I hope that Speedo works, that'd be a real bonus.

[Alan F.]

Tool box is in great shape. Tail light too.

[RAFster122s]

Wonder how a Prep N Etch soak for the chrome parts would come out? The side covers being a critical piece to nice to excellent bike material...

[Alan F.]

Engine, well it isn't turning with the kickstarter. I've put Marvel Mystery Oil in both cylinders and I'll give that all the time it needs. Oil looks clean, but who knows what kind of crud is at the bottom of the sump. At least it was stored indoors. I'll give the manual a read and maybe learn something.

[Alan F.]

Thanks again!

I've picked up a gallon of Evaporust and ordered a 16oz trigger spray bottle of CorrosionX (red label), that's my entire plan. For painted parts I'll get the rust off then hit them with rubbing then polishing compounds before CorrosionX.

[RAFster122s]

Nice condition considering everything… price was right…

ATF and acetone if the MarvelMystery Oil doesn’t work…

[RAFster122s]

So, no paint work at all… truly original condition…

[Alan F.]

Right you are! I'd hoped for a free turning engine, but yes the price is right.

***And it just occurred to me now that I never even made sure it was in neutral. Thank you for discussing that with me and loosening that piece of low-hanging fruit! I want to get out there again later this afternoon to do a few things, and I'll pop the shifter on and give that countershaft sprocket some twisting! Wish me luck on remembering to take the plugs back out and stuffing rags over the plug holes for a change. I can be taught but remembering things at the opportune time is sometimes difficult.

Yes hoping to bring it back to a Super Sport Survivior. It's got tons of character, I'm not even sure if I want to bash out those fender dents, maybe just try to straighten by clamping on the radius, I dunno maybe someone has the answer.

[Alan F.]

They were hard to spot in the seller's photos but the carbs are there, still attached to their cables dangling for 30 odd years. I zip tied them to the frame before carrying the bike out of that basement. The bike only weighs 265lbs dry, 120.5 kilos, so as stripped down as it was I was able to handle moving it solo, Bob is getting on in years but has his share of miles in the rear view and stories to tell. He did carry the front wheel out for me though after I banged my head hard on the low doorway. 2 days later now and I've still got a sore spot and some headaches that come and go. I'm sure I'll survive though, since no bicycles were involved. Bicycles kill good motorcycling folks, they look innocent though, that's how they get you.

[Alan F.]

I read a few threads on different forums about tire selection for this bike, one guy said his had 16" wheels, I don't think that was stock but could be easily acomplished I suppose, front and rear spokes on this bike are all the same 2 part numbers inner & outer which makes calculating and replacing a breeze.
Anyway I'm settling on a full kit from Treatland.tv that includes rim strips, tubes and Sava tires, MC7 2.75 rear and MC11 2.5 front for around $100. They're sticky modern tires that should be good fun. I just have to wait for them to restock.....

[Alan F.]

So Saturday afternoon I began with the goal of determining the overall condition of these rims in order to budget and plan ahead. So armed with a hacksaw, the cardboard backing from my cheap Chineseium hacksaw blades (didn't even break one this time) and my Harbor Freight bolt cutters I attacked head on.

[RAFster122s]

And you leave us hanging on your assessment of the rims…

[Alan F.]

Sorry, She Who Must Be Obeyed (henceforth referred to as SWMBO) needed me to nail rubber stair treads to the outdoor back stairs of our 2nd floor apartment. They're from Harbor Freight and I highly recommend them. We are now much less likely to slip and tumble to the bottom of these stairs, crash through the railing and fall another 4 feet to the pavement needing an ambulance.

https://www.harborfreight.com/self-adhesive-rubber-safety-step-tread-98856.html

20 of those with 14 nails each and I'm typing with 1 finger because everything else hurts now. But they'll withstand snow shovelling for several years to come.

[Alan F.]

Plus I'm having trouble uploading pics from gooble photos, I may have attached too many.

(pause for effect)
Front:

[Alan F.]

Rear:

[Alan F.]

The bad:
2 broken outer spokes on the rear wheel.

The good:
I found 2 NOS outer spokes on eBay and they're on the way. I'll disassemble both wheels to clean and inspect all of the spokes and evenly shuffle them between front and rear upon reassembly.

Wheel bearings are actually really good, no binding or rough spots, no wiggled or wobbles, and they spin for days! I don't think I'll replace them.

Front and rear brake shoes do not appear to be original, the front appears to be a modern gray compound semi-metallic, the rear is modern gray material but regular blend. According to 'Ol Bob they're 30 years old so they'll get tossed and replaced with something recommended by someone.