Topic: Black Friday - a red 1965 CB160 build.

[RAFster122s]

Hmmm, I may have the wrong horn?

Same looking horn on CA95 and similar bikes of that era...

You sure it is a 12V bike?

[Alan F.]

Nope, everywhere I've looked up specs it's 12v. This horn was purchased separately from the bike.

All of the battery websites have 12v batteries for this bike.

FSM downloaded from Vintagehondatwins.com shows 12v

[RAFster122s]

Ok, it is a 12v bike...
Shop manual I downloaded wasn't very helpful...

You can get away with the 6V horn if it works...

[Alan F.]

Cool maybe I'll get lucky. Otherwise there are plenty of cheap horns that do work and this one can go in the "box of original parts."

[Alan F.]

I'm going to be installing tapered roller steering bearings and all of the seals in the kit when reassembly day finally comes. They'll need very little maintenance before this bike is parked for the last time.

In the photos you can see the amount of road dirt that got into that bottom bearing, yUck. 'Ol Bob wasn't much for maintenance that required taking anything apart I guess. Plus there were more dirt roads between 1966 and ~1990 when he was riding it, they are much fewer now but I'll find some.

Those forks still pump and rebound, there's old oil in there and not a drop outside. I'll be sure to place my special Honda part numbered special tool clothes-pin on my nose when disassembling and cleaning those.

I'll probably hold off on the horn, as it's not needed right now.

And I may start in on the seat, I've got a piece of foam matting from a VHT member and some adhesive memory foam that I'll be experimenting with, maybe I can find a combination that works for me and looks right.

Other than that I'll continue cleaning up, de-rusting and coating all of the steel and aluminum parts.

I'm beginning to think about fork seals, rear shocks and swingarm bushings.

Hopefully I can reuse the existing fork tubes. Does anyone have any pointers toward finding replacements if needed?

[grcamna2]

I'm going to be installing tapered roller steering bearings and all of the seals in the kit when reassembly day finally comes. They'll need very little maintenance before this bike is parked for the last time.

In the photos you can see the amount of road dirt that got into that bottom bearing, yUck. 'Ol Bob wasn't much for maintenance that required taking anything apart I guess. Plus there were more dirt roads between 1966 and ~1990 when he was riding it, they are much fewer now but I'll find some.

Those forks still pump and rebound, there's old oil in there and not a drop outside. I'll be sure to place my special Honda part numbered special tool clothes-pin on my nose when disassembling and cleaning those.

I'll probably hold off on the horn, as it's not needed right now.

And I may start in on the seat, I've got a piece of foam matting from a VHT member and some adhesive memory foam that I'll be experimenting with, maybe I can find a combination that works for me and looks right.

Other than that I'll continue cleaning up, de-rusting and coating all of the steel and aluminum parts.

I'm beginning to think about fork seals, rear shocks and swingarm bushings.

Hopefully I can reuse the existing fork tubes. Does anyone have any pointers toward finding replacements if needed?

Alan,I've purchased from Forking by Frank before,I hope they're still in business:very good quality fork tubes.
Have you inspected your present original fork tubes in the seal areas for pitting? When you disassemble them you can measure the O.D. to be sure they're 'within specification'.

[Alan F.]

I haven't disassembled them at all just yet. I've had good luck with my past 4 bikes with chucking the fork tubes in my tiny Harbor Freight lathe and dressing the fork tubes in a cross hatching pattern with 320 grit paper followed by 400 grit. Even where rust pits were on one set I eased them sufficiently to put the tubes back into service. So these will most likely clean up from that perspective.

These forks look like they've never been apart in their 18,748 miles, so apart from some normal wear I expect them to look pretty good, and to survive at least to 37,500 miles.

[Alan F.]

There had been some talk about counterfeit spark plugs from China in the past few years labeled as Made in Japan, could someone have a look at these and give an opinion on whether they might be genuine?

https://tinyurl.com/2kbfshud

https://tinyurl.com/3xp6cx55

[RAFster122s]

Your links aren’t working properly… can you drop the item number on them or try a different way?

One solution is to not use NGK plugs… I think they are the most prolific counterfeit brand…

[Alan F.]

Links edited, I hope they work now.


Soichiro forgive me, I just bought a Scorpion brand AGM battery for this bike.

I used one on my CM400C and it behaved wonderfully. So for it's $56 and free shipping I'll accept another Chinese part on this bike, even if I have to pick it up at the Post Office.

[RAFster122s]

I have purchased from Yourtrash mytreasure before with good results...

Scorpion makes good batteries, no shame to be had there...

[grcamna2]

I haven't disassembled them at all just yet. I've had good luck with my past 4 bikes with chucking the fork tubes in my tiny Harbor Freight lathe and dressing the fork tubes in a cross hatching pattern with 320 grit paper followed by 400 grit. Even where rust pits were on one set I eased them sufficiently to put the tubes back into service. So these will most likely clean up from that perspective.

These forks look like they've never been apart in their 18,748 miles, so apart from some normal wear I expect them to look pretty good, and to survive at least to 37,500 miles.

Hi Alan and Merry Christmas 
I just want to mention that telescopic fork tubes should keep as much of their outer dimensions as they possibly can so they continue to fit snugly inside their fork 'lowers',otherwise it can affect the handling of the bike,rattling around inside those lowers:a tight fit in there is always best.
I have found many fork tubes with pitting in the seal-travel areas and I would take some very fine(700-1000 grit)sandpaper or even traditional red Crocus Cloth and tear off a small strip then I would use just my index fingernail and lightly smooth just the sharp edges of each little rust pit-hole/scratch mark without sanding-down any other areas of the tubes around those small marks.This would resist the new seals from getting cut as they slide up and down those small,sharp little scratches/rust pits in the tubes;the object I had was to just soften the small sharp edges rather than sand down the entire sections of the fork tube.
I had sanded down fork tubes along their length in certain areas in the past before w/o realizing I was causing the O.D. of the fork tubes to become undersize and they would rattle around inside the lowers while I was riding which caused shimmy in my front end.I recommend checking the factory service manual for the specs on the O.D. of your fork tubes,then measure what you have to be sure you're not below the minimum O.D. dimension. 

[Alan F.]

I agree, that's one reason why I wouldn't use the words sanded down to describe what I did.

I found clearances could easily be checked while assembling dry and wiggling every which way. I forget which bike I felt a knock on both forks while checking this way, after measuring the fork tubes carefully I concluded the wear must have been in the Lowers only. I reassembled with the fork tubes rotated randomly and filled with ATF. There wasn't a problem to be found at that point.

[grcamna2]

I agree, that's one reason why I wouldn't use the words sanded down to describe what I did.

I found clearances could easily be checked while assembling dry and wiggling every which way. I forget which bike I felt a knock on both forks while checking this way, after measuring the fork tubes carefully I concluded the wear must have been in the Lowers only. I reassembled with the fork tubes rotated randomly and filled with ATF. There wasn't a problem to be found at that point.

I think suspension components work extra hard especially on all our rough roads:those roads aren't getting any better..
Alan,you know the benefit of changing the oil in your vehicles.I hope manufacturers will someday make rear shocks rebuildable and describe the procedures in the factory service book as they do for front suspension units;if nothing else but being able to change the oil in them.
I only hope more folks who purchase bikes will also Want to freshen-up the oil at regular intervals;Alan,was it you that mentioned in one of your earlier posts about not looking forward to the smell of the used fork oil when disassembling the forks? I remember that someone yesterday mentioned it:that stuff can be Nasty. 

[Alan F.]

Yup that was me, first and only time with that smell was about 20 years ago and I'll never forget it. Now I always drain/dump forks into a disposable aluminum pan so I don't have to thoroughly clean out a drain pan.

[grcamna2]

That's one of the reasons I use synthetic fork as it doesn't break-down as fast as standard fork oil,imo.

[Alan F.]

I've used ATF, Honda fork oil, and in my CM400C I mixed several partial bottles of a few brands of fork oil and called it good, it was good. I can't really tell the difference between these alternatives. Maybe side by side in identical bikes I would or maybe I just don't ride that hard, or maybe I'm an ok rider and I can adjust? I don't think I'm more talented than anyone else, maybe less...

I'm through with using cheap parts in bikes I intend to keep. Whether I keep them or not I should just use reasonable quality parts. That's what I've been doing lately, not always OEM parts, but not always Chinese parts either. I think those are two of the best lessons I've learned this year, use quality parts and don't get sidetracked!

[Alan F.]

After some back & forth with the guys at Vintagehondatwins.com I decided to ditch the idea of buying those D9H and D10H plugs in favor of a box of ten DR8HS and a pair of non-resistor plug caps. These should keep it running for a while and add some value.

[Alan F.]

And I took a look at the Scrambler bars this afternoon, they're in fine shape now. I shifted the front fender position in te Evaporust too, it's coming along nicely and should be done in a few days. I'll rinse it off and hit it with some rubbing compound before coating it with CorrosionX, it won't be perfect but it'll have character.

I noticed today that a lot of the restored (looking) CB160s with the steel fork lowers have them painted silver. Mine are red, I wonder what that indicates?

[RAFster122s]

I think most of the red bikes were that way...with red lowers...it just looked better to Honda I think.
Some colors lIke the reds were highlighting the red in more places than the other colors offered for the bikes of those eras...
Silver and red with the Cloud Silver being the common color shade used on fenders and other areas of the bike, especially scarlet red bikes.

[Alan F.]

Scorpion AGM battery arrived this morning from batterystuff.com unlike the last one I ordered a few years ago this one was delivered to my door and I didn't have to go pick it up at the P.O.

[Alan F.]

And good news, I tested my "as-is non-functional" horn with it and it works. I just need to keep adjusting the 'volume adjust' screw until the correct tone is found, but I don't have any idea what it's supposed to sound like. Can anyone recommend a YouTube video to refer to?

[grcamna2]

And good news, I tested my "as-is non-functional" horn with it and it works. I just need to keep adjusting the 'volume adjust' screw until the correct tone is found, but I don't have any idea what it's supposed to sound like. Can anyone recommend a YouTube video to refer to?

Glad you have it working Alan.

[Alan F.]

Thanks, I'll have to adjust it to a good MEEP-MEEP tone.

[grcamna2]

Thanks, I'll have to adjust it to a good MEEP-MEEP tone.

The 12vts. going into a 6 volts horn(do you have the battery and horn installed in the bike?)also raises the pitch of it.
I remember doing that with the adjustment screw and the small screw loosened-up from my efforts;I put a little Loctite on the threads to keep it from backing-out from vibration later on.