Topic: so what kind of problems does your bike have but still get you were you are goin

[EdB]

like title says. mine leaks oil from just about every place possible. drips out from the shifter cover, leaks from case to cylinders, cylinders to head. tappet covers has some seaping out. one or two carbs randomly drip out some gas, had a leaky MC but just fixed, carbs need to be re-jetted and the works, front forks need rebuilding(leaky seals and sloppy). every now and then it will lose all power(like key is turned off) long enough for me to pull over, take off my helmet and gloves and get of the bike then it will come back on. i can almost hear it laughing at me. i ride only on weekends but it gets me were im going and its fun to ride. i'm glad its air cooled or that would be something else to leak out.  none of the problems are to major but collectivly add up to an exspensive trip to feebay/online shopping. probly needs some other maintanance also but i dont have much time to ride so i would rather do when  i can.

[andy750]

Ed sounds like a real winner you have there 

My bikes are running great now but wasnt always the case....heres a sample of my K4 adventures....

1. Oily plug with oil coming out one exhaust and that cylinder no longer firing...only 1000 miles from home. Got home at 55 mph on the highway.

2. Sand in my carbs after riding for a month in Mexico. Gummed up the jets pretty good. Gets me back to Boston though in December brrrrr  .

3. Dodgy condenser on my F2 and cant accelerate past 50 mph on the highway....500 miles to get home.

4. The F2 used to cut out in rain and so this was always fun when riding in England....rain...ran crappy...dryed up...ran better.....

5. K4s ignition switch ball bearings were shot and so ignition would cut out at speed on highway. Pull over, jiggle ignition and back on road...repeat intermittently....solution of course...new ignition!

Ah good times...your bike is so much more enjoyable when its all fixed up....but yes it can still keep going despite these little misshaps ;-)

cheers
Andy

[Gordon]

Both my 550 and 750 are in pretty good shape overall, but they do have their problems. 

The 750 is in great shape in all respects except for the wiring harness (picky, picky ).  For the last year I've been chasing down problems as they come up.  The wiring is really showing it's age and the whole harness needs to be replaced, but I'm trying to put it off until I decide it's time for the next disassembly/rebuild/cleanup project. 

The 550 is fine except for the fact that I never adjusted the jetting for this altitude.  It's not too far off, but since I've been riding it more due to the 750 being out of commision more often, the plugs are fouling up faster. 

[Badger 5]

Mine runs fine although it is currently missing the oil filter spring.  Please don't tell me that means it's going to blow up on me.

[Gordon]

Mine runs fine although it is currently missing the oil filter spring.  Please don't tell me that means it's going to blow up on me.

It won't blow up on you right away, but without the spring you may as well not have the filter either. 

[UnCrash]

The 750K in my avatar:

• Headgasket leak
• Gas drips out of #4 Float area if I forget to turn the petcock off
• Front brake draggs a little
• Rear Drum wants to lock up on me if I even look at it
• It HATES the morning and loves to stall at the end of the street, and then at the nearby light even if I warm it up for 5 minutes
• Twitchiest Choke ever
• Turnsignal buzzer is louder than my horn
• Needs a new front tire
• Needs an oil change

Rode her to work this morning and after 10 minutes of riding she's happy as a clam  

[Badger 5]

Mine runs fine although it is currently missing the oil filter spring.  Please don't tell me that means it's going to blow up on me.

It won't blow up on you right away, but without the spring you may as well not have the filter either. 

I figured, it just happened Saturday and the next time I start it will be to take it to a shop to get the oil filter bolt cut off.  That's the reason I don't have a spring in it.  I forgot to put it in and when I went to take the bolt back out to put it in the bolt suddenly turned from metal to the consistency of cheddar cheese.  Needless to say after working on it for a couple hours there isn't much of the head left.   

[silentone]

She leaks oil out the sides and bottom.  Not a lot, but enough to concern all my friends and my apartment manager.

She hates cold mornings with a passion.  If I don't let her warm up for a good 10 minutes, she'll stall at a random red light and then refuse to start until I push her out of traffic.

Other than the two above... she purrs when she's happy and screams when I ride her hard. 

[Double A]

Well, the bike will stall if I even think about turning the lights on in the city, usually as I'm slowing down approaching a light in traffic-lame (although fine above 3k on the highway).  It leaks a little oil from a couple spots.  The front brake drags so bad I've on occasion had to spread oil on the disc to stop the burning/smoking.  The rear brake loves to lock up since it doesn't have it's friend in front to help out, which leaves me the option of either blazing through lots of almost red yellow lights or fish-tailing halfway into the intersection-both options are scary.  Oh, the turn signals won't blink below 3k.  But other than that it's great! 

[OldSchool_IsCool]

- head gasket leak
- squealing front brake
- rusty slip-on megaphones
- butt ugly paint job
- broken after-market right side cover
- home made seat cover
- bent rear turn signal post, gives it a cross-eye'd look
- forks not so shiny

But she responds when I twist the right wrist!     Wouldn't trade her for anything!

[seaweb11]

  A Huge chip in the tank from the valve cover falling on it recently

and all the scratches on the top of the tank after laying magnetic tank bag on iron ore deposit at a gas station and then not cleaning off the crap before placing back on tank.

Did I mention I adjusted the bag many times through out the day

[hoodellyhoo]

Mine leaks oil pretty good from the oring at the bottom of one the front cylinder studs. She runs just fine, and I'd rather pay for a little more oil than take on the time and cost or a full engine rebuild (which I would almost be forced to do because the leak would require splitting the cases)She also has a slight head gasket leak that's almost not worth metioning. My kill switch doesnt work so I just bypassed it. But as said before, she always gets me where I'm going!

[lazyguy400F]

at various times over the years---front brake siezed, no idle below 2500, random kill switch, muffler fell off, clutch lever broke off, (replaced with small vise-grip on cable end, worked so well I used it for weeks), dead coil so actually a twin, and regular operator incompetence.   

[Shenanigans]

The kill switch on my 750 is ridiculously sensitive. Now it has never cut out on the thousands of miles I have put on it but when you do switch it off and back on again there is a tiny sweet spot it must be on. If I want it to be off I move it a very tiny amount. I don't think it has actually pointed to the "off" positions the entire time I have had it. The only way to really know if its "on" is by shading the idiot lights with your hand and looking really close at the oil or neutral light while slighting moving the switch a degree or two. When the lights darken just slightly I know I can start kicking it.

You could call it an unintentional anti-theft device.

[sparty]

1. My biggest problem is my front wheel wants to ride in the air when I shift from 1st into 2nd and into 3rd. 
2. Around town I can't get into 3rd gear. 
3. Everyone wants to race me for pinks.
4. I am not sure what to do with all of these pink slips I won.

Sparty

[cafe750]

4. I am not sure what to do with all of these pink slips I won.

Sparty

Start mailing them to me, so I can help you out with that little problem...

[EdB]

as annoying as some of these little problems are i kind of like them. they add character to these old machines. although sparty's problems sound unbarable. as a friend and fellow cb rider i would be more than happy to remove the machine that is causing you so much trouble.

[754]

Yeah Right, show us the pinks..

Badger, do yorself a big favor. Get a 12mm socket, ride over to a welding shop, get them to weld it on..slowly.. 10 or 20 bux..

 The shop will probably cost 50 or more & it may happen again.. cut down the soocket if you want a cleaner look..

[jgary]

Leaking head gasket's the worst problem.  It wasn't too bad until I cleaned the engine last fall.  Apparently the caked-on oil was like a scab.  There's a leak in the fuel system somewhere that drips unless the petcock's off.  It runs rich-I think there's oil leaking into the cylinders.  Needs new back brakes.  Front brake sticks occasionally.  Hard right turns of the handlebars rev the engine.    I still love that machine.  Spent some time cleaning it last night.  This morning it was above 40 degrees, 30% chance of rain.  Those are my two metrics, so I rode into work. 

John.

[Soos]

1. My biggest problem is my front wheel wants to ride in the air when I shift from 1st into 2nd and into 3rd. 
2. Around town I can't get into 3rd gear. 
3. Everyone wants to race me for pinks.
4. I am not sure what to do with all of these pink slips I won.

Sparty

OK Sparty... We are all envious of the gem of a bike you have already....
That list just makes it worse!
Except for #1 I don't see a problem!


l8r

[Dave Wyatt]

I finally broke down and fixed the oil leaking from the head gasket after 8(?) years of living with oil everywhere.

I may have cured the wet weather woes, that had gotten to the point of not riding when wet.  The ignition upgrade and new carb clamps seem to have done the trick.

The new ignition switch cured the hit and miss switch that would fail once in a while, requiring dissasemply to scrape the melted plastic off the contacts.

It still pops a main fuse once in a while, in spite of the new switch, so I carry spares.

The M/C has started leaking near the lever, but if i keep the fluid level low, its not too bad.

Living with cracked/repaired side covers until I hit the lottery and can afford nice ones.  That makes fuse replacement interesting each and every time.  Gee, will it break again or not???

Had to cut off the side stand so I could fit new pipes.  CB750 pipes don't quite fit the frame of a 750A.

Getting rid of the side stand and relying on the center stand has lessened the carb seepage.  New gaskets might fix that, but I turn off the fuel a few moments before the engine.

The fuel gauge quit, but I never trusted it anyway, and use the odometer.

The forks used to leak, but I refilled them with ATF and they softened up and quit leaking.

I did break down and recover the seat a couple of years ago.  The original cover was letting too much water in, and out.

I guess I really can't complain about a 33 year old bike, that I ride everyday.  It only had 6000 miles on it when I bought it, so it was like new mechanically.  The age related problems from sitting so many years are the only things that have been any real trouble.  Now it has 33,000 and its like a Timex, "it takes a licking and keeps on ticking."

[CB750R]

ok so after I had a broken valve punch through the engine and I did my first engine rebuild, my bike went from japenese oil free, to english self lubrication system for the engine case, chain, swingarm....

had to complete a ride with a paper clip in the wiring harness because the key switch failed. (guessed the right wires with out blowing a fuse!)

constant battle between jets, plugs, timing, coil? my bike will pull super strong sometimes and bag othertimes, getting real tired dinkin around and not getting anywhere!

oh and I've given up repairing those freakin non stock K7 side covers, and I'm not too keen on dropping 200 on a set of 77 F stock ones, so its JC whitney to the rescue soon!

Some days a VFR looks pretty tempting!

[754]

Dave wyatt.. oil the prongs on the sidecovers..
they should do the in/out...like buttah..

I think a shorter list for mine would be what des work properly..

[nickjtc]

It's nearly two years since I got Sophie. Bought her on sight, with no mechanical inspection and rode her over the mountains to my home. No problem......but, hey, she's a Honda.  Since then I've had new air cut-off diaphragms put in the carbs, new plug leads (the infamous Honda four 'wet weather misfire'), chain and sprockets (+ Scottoiler) and a new Spitfire rear tyre.

In 18000kms the only issues are things that I will get around to fixin', one day: leaky O-ring scenario, mainly on the left side of the barrel. A regular clean-up with Simple Green keeps that under control. And she takes an age to warm up and requires deft manipulation of choke and fast idle. I live with it, but know that a carb clean will be needed at some point. The choke cable corroded solid over last winter so I have whacked the end off and now have to hold it open while she gets those first few degees of warmth in her.

I live with the brakes, or lack of. Upgraded to stainless line at the front, which didn't make much diff. Looks spanky though.

[smccloud]

Problems while riding?  Head gasket leaks, exhaust will probably start leaking soon when the metal that was welded onto the colletor (4 into 1) rusts, rear tire could stand to be replaced, wiring harness needs to be replaced, headlight switch broke (wired in a switch rated at 25amps @ 120v from the hardware store).

Problems preventing me from riding, rear wheel needs to be trued (just installed new spokes), need a new rear tube, need a new drive chain master link clip.