Topic: Dropped bike, busted off mirror screw-screw hole thing! Options?

[kurtanton]

Hi,

Second day on the road, cafe racer style setup, working out the bugs and I dropped the beast in the garage. It is a 73CB350F, and the nut/hole/screw in ring on the clutch lever housing snapped when the mirror and the holding took the brunt of the force? I am trying to do some WB Weld on it overnight, but I don't have high hopes. Other than that I broke the key too...I guess I got off lucky, no injuries, everything else seems to work ok. Where do I go from here? Should I start looking for a new clutch lever housing? Anyone got one lying around?

Thanks,
-Kurt

One step forward, five steps back w/ this project!!!!

[Phaedrus]

If the screw portion of the mirror is broken off in the threads of the clutch lever, you can drill a small hole in the middle of the broken off portion and use and easy out to take the thread portions out.  Granted you will have to get a new mirror. but at least you have the threads for it again.

eta: never mind, just re read your post more closely.

[DammitDan]

My mirrors broke off when I rode it into a ditch last year (one snapped clean off at the neck, the other broke away some of the right brake lever housing).  By the way, spineboards and CT scans aren't fun.  Avoid ditches while riding at 45mph.

Anyway, I just go without and maintain 110% awareness of all vehicles around me.  And I don't make quick lane-shifts.  And I look over my shoulder quite often.  At least until I can find some decent looking clip-ons

[Geeto67]

I think if I am not mistaken that the part of the perch where the clutch goes into broke off (not the mirror). If you snapped off the part of the perch where the clutch cable screws into, junk the part and go find another. Go to Ebay or your local salvage yard. It is a fairly common part and shouldn't cost to much. if you cant find one for your exact bike, one off of any japanese bike with a cable clutch should work.

From your description I'm not really sure what you broke, was it the cable, the cable adjustment knob (round nut thing) or the cable perch?  None of this stuff is super rare or expensive, so just get cracking on replacing the parts and move on. As for the key there are guys who supply old honda keys, you will need the lock number off the cylinder. If the key broke off in the lock take it to a lock smith and see if he can get it out.

Chances are if your perch took a hit the bars could be bent also. You may want to check that out. Sounds like it fell over pretty hard.

[Bob Wessner]

Other than that I broke the key too...

Try www.hondakeys.com with your key/ign switch number.

[Chris Liston]

If your going cafe style than forget about stem mirrors and go with bar-end mirrors, they look better and you can actually see around you and not your shoulders

[KB02]

I agree. Definately go with the bat end mirrors.They are not that expensive (or they can be depending on what quality you go with) I have them on both my 76 750 and my 2000 Ducati Monster.

#1.) They are so much more effective (ie - You can see more in them that you can in stock style mirrors) that it's not funny.
#2.) They look allot cooler, too. Especially on a cafe`.

Glad you;re okay, though. Those Garage drops are the most embaressing....

[hymodyne]

yes vote for bar end as well. I've finally got them positioned properly and I have a good range of vision behind me with minimal virbration.

hym

[ProTeal55]

Get crazy and go to a 1'' bar , and go with HD controls like I am planning on doing.
Why - Becuase I work at a V-Twin shop , and i get American Parts at cost 

[dusterdude]

proteal,thought of that myself,what are you doing about the risers?

[Geeto67]

If you buy a quality bar with decent thickness, some machinists can turn down the section that will go through the clamps to 7/8 (Depending on the bar bend). It's probably easier to just bore your stock top clamp to 1".

The 70's way of doing it was to either get a set of dogbone risers (bolt one end to piece of straight bar in the stock riser, the other to the handlebar) or to weld 1" sleve to the 7/8 controls section. Some bars used sections of plate steel for the rise.

If you are going cafe racer just get a pair of clipons and forget about it. Pro flo has some nice clipons but I don't know if they offer a 1" bar. but any foreign motorcycle clutch perch should work if you don't care about original parts.

http://www.pro-flo.com/proflo_clipons.htm

[ProTeal55]

DusterDude -

I just took the bars I picked out over to my chassis shop buddy and he turned the center down to 7/8 to fit in the stock clamp.
Looks stock, but I might do something different over the winter , for a cleaner look.

With the way things are going lately ,My CB will be more HD then Honda before I am done with it 

[kghost]

Why - Becuase I work at a V-Twin shop , and i get American Parts at cost 

You don't think all them parts are "made" in America do ya?

[dusterdude]

proteal,good idea i may do that myself,the 1 inch bar market is better than the 7/8 market thats for sure.

[ProTeal55]

- KGHOST -

I am fully aware that not all "American" parts are actually made in the U.S.A.
Pretty much anything out of the Custom Chrome catalogue is not american made .

If it is made in the U.S.A , or Canada , I still get it at cost 

[Geeto67]

correct me if I am wrong but 1" bar stuff seems to be expensive even at cost. Sure it looks all space age and modern (on a cafe racer or a street tracker, you are missing the point) but even the used stuff is over $20 most times, where as most asian bike parts can be had for almost free if you know where to scavenge. Heck I got a kz400 for free last weekend and ther is all sorts of stuff I could pirate of that bike for projects (if I wanted to).

[ProTeal55]

It all depends on what U are after , and where u are going to get it from ......
With the companies that I deal with on a daily basis , the parts I would want/need for my CB are not high ticket items.

Of course I could go and retro-fit a Storz $8500 inverted front end on my bike If I wanted to , but that would be pointless on a bike I paied $600 for.

The goal still remains for the CB project to be cool,reliable,safe, and cheap......

[Alan F.]

The simplest solution is to use the mirror mount from a CB750A, which had no clutch....it's just a little 7/8" clamp with threads for the mirror on top.  E-mail me directly, I have one cheap.