Topic: What did you do to your bike today ?

[spotty]

Today I broke out the oxy welding gear and made the oil tank guard and front sprocket guard.
Used 12mm rod to make the posts and 6mm rod to make the cross bars. Drilled the 12mm out to 8mm for the oil tank and 6mm for the sprocket cover.
Took a bit to get back into the swing of the oxy, it's been years. Still way easier than mig or arc

[scottly]

That looks better. If you want it to handle but don’t want to install the original front fender instal a fork brace or your forks will flex like rubber bands.

Sigh... Terry, the stock front fender brace is rubber mounted, and ads zero rigidity to the forks.
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,82347.150.html

[Terry in Australia]

Well not really what I did to my bike today, but a tool to make it easier to do the messy job of honing cylinders. I'd built a new stand for my old Repco boring bar a month ago, and the usual process of wet honing with cutting fluid/kerosene going everywhere doesn't appeal.

Boring bar mod 2 Jun 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

Years ago I bought an old "Hobbyist" drill press attachment and drill from a swap meet for a few bucks, and carefully forgot about it in one corner of my garage until recently when I watched guys using expensive looking honing machines that basically did the same job as a drill press. I pulled it out and sat a cylinder block under it, but the upright bar that the drill etc is mounted to was too short, so I replaced it with a 1 metre long length of 1" 6061 T6 bar.

I then made a sliding cradle that any of the cylinder blocks (CB750/Z1/Suzuki T500/Kawasaki H1 etc) will fit on. The whole plot will sit in a plastic tub with a bucket of cutting fluid and a 12V submersible pump to pump the fluid into each cylinder as I hone it. I've just got a 3 bladed spring hone in the pic, but I've tried it with my Ammco 4 stone hone and it's replacement (Indian copy) that I bought recently on Amazon and it seems to work fine, with very little mess, or cleanup required.

Honing press build 3 July 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Honing press build 3 July 2023 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Honing press build 3 July 2023 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

[bryanj]

Looks good Terrry, i just ordered some diamond stones as i cant use fluid where i am

[grcamna2]

I like it Terry    The blue table you made and a good 4-stone hone should work well;how do you like the Indian Copy to your ammco 4-stone,does it cut accurate and true ?
I had used just a standard three stone 'glaze breaker' style hone like you have pictured,which is the only one I own so far. I would try my best to hold it as straight as possible.. and w/o fluid,the pads filled up right away;my honing was poor with it and I had many cylinders where the new rings wouldn't 'seat' and they burned oil. 

[Floshenbarnical]

Thanks to this forum, I got my rebuilt clutch working well. It's still a tiny bit on the stiff side, so I think I'll do what the forum user who built that gorgeous red cafe racer did and install a ProTaper clutch perch at some point. Maybe this winter, lol. Don't worry - the cable is lubed.

I also cleaned out my carb passages, readjusted float height, installed smaller slow and main jets, bench synced, and put back on the bike. Upon attempting to install the airbox, i discovered that it is literally impossible due to the lack of clearance provided by the ignition welded in that exact spot, so I guess I will be running pods until this winter when I install an m.unit just to be fashionable. This however meant I had to take the carbs back off the bike and change the main jets, and upon reinstalling THREE of the float bowl holes became stripped, so I had to helicoil those little turds before I could put the carbs back on. I was too damn tired to do a clear tube fuel test, but I'll be doing that tonight in addition to checking valve clearance and adjusting cam chain tensioner.

I also upholstered my seat. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It would look better if it had been done by a professional, but frankly I've put enough money into this bike already.

Tonight I'll be gapping and replacing spark plugs, putting exhaust back on,  vacuum syncing, and hopefully riding it for an hour or two. It's been in the garage too damn long.

[strynboen]

the 400 four ran like #$%*..pulled the plug vires,,one by one..no thange...så it must be the fuel..so pulled the carbs..and kleaned up the jets..think the fuel is more then one year old..so the lavn mower must eat the rest from the tank..now it runs on all four..and idel..is stabil

(old photo)

[grcamna2]

the 400 four ran like #$%*..pulled the plug vires,,one by one..no thange...så it must be the fuel..so pulled the carbs..and kleaned up the jets..think the fuel is more then one year old..so the lavn mower must eat the rest from the tank..now it runs on all four..and idel..is stabil

(old photo)

Looks good.

[Terry in Australia]

I like it Terry    The blue table you made and a good 4-stone hone should work well;how do you like the Indian Copy to your ammco 4-stone,does it cut accurate and true ?
I had used just a standard three stone 'glaze breaker' style hone like you have pictured,which is the only one I own so far. I would try my best to hold it as straight as possible.. and w/o fluid,the pads filled up right away;my honing was poor with it and I had many cylinders where the new rings wouldn't 'seat' and they burned oil. 

Thanks Bill, I’ve never been happy honing with a 3 stone hone, they obviously have their place, but if you need to shift metal reasonably quickly and ensure that you’re cutting symmetrically, the 4 stone hone is the way to go. My old Ammco hone is as old as the 1960’s era boring bar, and the stones are knackered. For the price of new ones with shipping from the US I was able to buy the Indian hone that came with 4 sets of new stones, and looks to be well made.

It’ll get its first real test later this week. I’m not happy with once cylinder in the 849cc engine I’m (very slowly) putting together for Dion, it feels a bit tight about halfway down the bore, so I need to just take a whisker out of it before I can go any further. With the CycleX 65.5mm pistons there’s not a lot of meat left when you’re taking 4.5mm out of a set of stock sleeves, (installing the pistons is scary with no taper left in the bottom of each sleeve) so it’s a delicate operation. Hopefully this will sort it out and the engine will last for a few more years.

Thanks Bryan, I’m trying to decide what fluid to use, I normally use kerosene (or even spray cans of engine degreaser) but I’m wondering if water based cutting oil that I use on my lathe would work? Anyway I’ll take the cylinder block off Dion’s engine again and set it up in the honing press and see how the new Indian 4 stone hone works.

[grcamna2]

I like it Terry    The blue table you made and a good 4-stone hone should work well;how do you like the Indian Copy to your ammco 4-stone,does it cut accurate and true ?
I had used just a standard three stone 'glaze breaker' style hone like you have pictured,which is the only one I own so far. I would try my best to hold it as straight as possible.. and w/o fluid,the pads filled up right away;my honing was poor with it and I had many cylinders where the new rings wouldn't 'seat' and they burned oil. 

Thanks Bill, I’ve never been happy honing with a 3 stone hone, they obviously have their place, but if you need to shift metal reasonably quickly and ensure that you’re cutting symmetrically, the 4 stone hone is the way to go. My old Ammco hone is as old as the 1960’s era boring bar, and the stones are knackered. For the price of new ones with shipping from the US I was able to buy the Indian hone that came with 4 sets of new stones, and looks to be well made.

It’ll get its first real test later this week. I’m not happy with once cylinder in the 849cc engine I’m (very slowly) putting together for Dion, it feels a bit tight about halfway down the bore, so I need to just take a whisker out of it before I can go any further. With the CycleX 65.5mm pistons there’s not a lot of meat left when you’re taking 4.5mm out of a set of stock sleeves, (installing the pistons is scary with no taper left in the bottom of each sleeve) so it’s a delicate operation. Hopefully this will sort it out and the engine will last for a few more years.

Thanks Bryan, I’m trying to decide what fluid to use, I normally use kerosene (or even spray cans of engine degreaser) but I’m wondering if water based cutting oil that I use on my lathe would work? Anyway I’ll take the cylinder block off Dion’s engine again and set it up in the honing press and see how the new Indian 4 stone hone works.

I'm interested in that Indian 4-stone Terry;I always wanted a Sunnen but don't have Sunnen $..
I want to buy an affordable,quality hone.

[Terry in Australia]

I like it Terry    The blue table you made and a good 4-stone hone should work well;how do you like the Indian Copy to your ammco 4-stone,does it cut accurate and true ?
I had used just a standard three stone 'glaze breaker' style hone like you have pictured,which is the only one I own so far. I would try my best to hold it as straight as possible.. and w/o fluid,the pads filled up right away;my honing was poor with it and I had many cylinders where the new rings wouldn't 'seat' and they burned oil. 

Thanks Bill, I’ve never been happy honing with a 3 stone hone, they obviously have their place, but if you need to shift metal reasonably quickly and ensure that you’re cutting symmetrically, the 4 stone hone is the way to go. My old Ammco hone is as old as the 1960’s era boring bar, and the stones are knackered. For the price of new ones with shipping from the US I was able to buy the Indian hone that came with 4 sets of new stones, and looks to be well made.

It’ll get its first real test later this week. I’m not happy with once cylinder in the 849cc engine I’m (very slowly) putting together for Dion, it feels a bit tight about halfway down the bore, so I need to just take a whisker out of it before I can go any further. With the CycleX 65.5mm pistons there’s not a lot of meat left when you’re taking 4.5mm out of a set of stock sleeves, (installing the pistons is scary with no taper left in the bottom of each sleeve) so it’s a delicate operation. Hopefully this will sort it out and the engine will last for a few more years.

Thanks Bryan, I’m trying to decide what fluid to use, I normally use kerosene (or even spray cans of engine degreaser) but I’m wondering if water based cutting oil that I use on my lathe would work? Anyway I’ll take the cylinder block off Dion’s engine again and set it up in the honing press and see how the new Indian 4 stone hone works.

I'm interested in that Indian 4-stone Terry;I always wanted a Sunnen but don't have Sunnen $..
I want to buy an affordable,quality hone.

Thanks Bill, I’ve no doubt that a Sunnen hone is better quality than the indian one I bought, but this is just a hobby, not a business so I’m sure the Indian one will do the job. I’ll probably post a video when I hone Dion’s cylinder again later this week.

[grcamna2]

I like it Terry    The blue table you made and a good 4-stone hone should work well;how do you like the Indian Copy to your ammco 4-stone,does it cut accurate and true ?
I had used just a standard three stone 'glaze breaker' style hone like you have pictured,which is the only one I own so far. I would try my best to hold it as straight as possible.. and w/o fluid,the pads filled up right away;my honing was poor with it and I had many cylinders where the new rings wouldn't 'seat' and they burned oil. 

Thanks Bill, I’ve never been happy honing with a 3 stone hone, they obviously have their place, but if you need to shift metal reasonably quickly and ensure that you’re cutting symmetrically, the 4 stone hone is the way to go. My old Ammco hone is as old as the 1960’s era boring bar, and the stones are knackered. For the price of new ones with shipping from the US I was able to buy the Indian hone that came with 4 sets of new stones, and looks to be well made.

It’ll get its first real test later this week. I’m not happy with once cylinder in the 849cc engine I’m (very slowly) putting together for Dion, it feels a bit tight about halfway down the bore, so I need to just take a whisker out of it before I can go any further. With the CycleX 65.5mm pistons there’s not a lot of meat left when you’re taking 4.5mm out of a set of stock sleeves, (installing the pistons is scary with no taper left in the bottom of each sleeve) so it’s a delicate operation. Hopefully this will sort it out and the engine will last for a few more years.

Thanks Bryan, I’m trying to decide what fluid to use, I normally use kerosene (or even spray cans of engine degreaser) but I’m wondering if water based cutting oil that I use on my lathe would work? Anyway I’ll take the cylinder block off Dion’s engine again and set it up in the honing press and see how the new Indian 4 stone hone works.

I'm interested in that Indian 4-stone Terry;I always wanted a Sunnen but don't have Sunnen $..
I want to buy an affordable,quality hone.

Thanks Bill, I’ve no doubt that a Sunnen hone is better quality than the indian one I bought, but this is just a hobby, not a business so I’m sure the Indian one will do the job. I’ll probably post a video when I hone Dion’s cylinder again later this week.

I realize there is value in honing while using a cutting fluid spigot which circulates over the work and hone;it must keep the stones clean.

[Floshenbarnical]

Well last night I adjusted the valve clearance (I hope I did it properly - all the videos show how to do it but like, not how it should “feel”), adjusted cam chain tensioner, finished cleaning the tank, installed new petcock, filled with ethanol-free gas, by which time the July 4th fireworks were popping off all over the valley so I had to abandon work and comfort my golden retriever who was not having a good time.

Hopefully it starts this morning so I can sync carbs, do idle drop proc, and ride the snot out of it

[MD]

Went on a 3000 mile ride last year and the CB550F started leaking oil from the heads.  In preparation for ordering a top end gasket set performed a compression test on a cool engine,  119, 111, 120, 119.   

Question, should I order new rings?   Who sells the best kit for the '75 CB550F?

-Thanks.

- MD

[grcamna2]

Went on a 3000 mile ride last year and the CB550F started leaking oil from the heads.  In preparation for ordering a top end gasket set performed a compression test on a cool engine,  119, 111, 120, 119.   

Question, should I order new rings?   Who sells the best kit for the '75 CB550F?

-Thanks.

- MD

Have you ever opened-up this engine before ?
Do you have a compression gauge with a short hose? heat the engine up and test it hot.

[MD]

Went on a 3000 mile ride last year and the CB550F started leaking oil from the heads.  In preparation for ordering a top end gasket set performed a compression test on a cool engine,  119, 111, 120, 119.   

Question, should I order new rings?   Who sells the best kit for the '75 CB550F?

-Thanks.

- MD

Have you ever opened-up this engine before ?
Do you have a compression gauge with a short hose? heat the engine up and test it hot.

Never have had the head off before.  (owned the bike since '88)  About a 12" hose on the compression gauge.

-MD

[grcamna2]

Went on a 3000 mile ride last year and the CB550F started leaking oil from the heads.  In preparation for ordering a top end gasket set performed a compression test on a cool engine,  119, 111, 120, 119.   

Question, should I order new rings?   Who sells the best kit for the '75 CB550F?

-Thanks.

- MD

Have you ever opened-up this engine before ?
Do you have a compression gauge with a short hose? heat the engine up and test it hot.

Never have had the head off before.  (owned the bike since '88)  About a 12" hose on the compression gauge.

-MD

A shorter compression gauge hose(Snap-On)and a hot engine make a difference when checking compression;it'll give a more accurate reading.
I would consider pulling the cylinders and measuring the top-end parts/cylinders to see if it needs to be freshened-up,if it was mine.
I imagine you would rather enjoy the rest of the season before that. 

I've always enjoyed running Vesrah gasket sets;they're mostly equal to OEM.
I've even re-used Vesrah (clutch gasket,etc.)gaskets by carefully un-seating a cover,etc.;on some occasions I removed a part and reinstalled it a few times and it still has integrity to seal.
 I tried the same with China gaskets.. no way.

[MD]

Went on a 3000 mile ride last year and the CB550F started leaking oil from the heads.  In preparation for ordering a top end gasket set performed a compression test on a cool engine,  119, 111, 120, 119.   

Question, should I order new rings?   Who sells the best kit for the '75 CB550F?

-Thanks.

- MD

Have you ever opened-up this engine before ?
Do you have a compression gauge with a short hose? heat the engine up and test it hot.

Never have had the head off before.  (owned the bike since '88)  About a 12" hose on the compression gauge.

-MD

A shorter compression gauge hose(Snap-On)and a hot engine make a difference when checking compression;it'll give a more accurate reading.
I would consider pulling the cylinders and measuring the top-end parts/cylinders to see if it needs to be freshened-up,if it was mine.
I imagine you would rather enjoy the rest of the season before that. 

I've always enjoyed running Vesrah gasket sets;they're mostly equal to OEM.
I've even re-used Vesrah (clutch gasket,etc.)gaskets by carefully un-seating a cover,etc.;on some occasions I removed a part and reinstalled it a few times and it still has integrity to seal.
 I tried the same with China gaskets.. no way.

Thanks for the suggestion on gaskets.

What temperature do you want the head reading for testing?   

-MD

[Terry in Australia]

Went on a 3000 mile ride last year and the CB550F started leaking oil from the heads.  In preparation for ordering a top end gasket set performed a compression test on a cool engine,  119, 111, 120, 119.   

Question, should I order new rings?   Who sells the best kit for the '75 CB550F?

-Thanks.

- MD

Have you ever opened-up this engine before ?
Do you have a compression gauge with a short hose? heat the engine up and test it hot.

Never have had the head off before.  (owned the bike since '88)  About a 12" hose on the compression gauge.

-MD

A shorter compression gauge hose(Snap-On)and a hot engine make a difference when checking compression;it'll give a more accurate reading.
I would consider pulling the cylinders and measuring the top-end parts/cylinders to see if it needs to be freshened-up,if it was mine.
I imagine you would rather enjoy the rest of the season before that. 

I've always enjoyed running Vesrah gasket sets;they're mostly equal to OEM.
I've even re-used Vesrah (clutch gasket,etc.)gaskets by carefully un-seating a cover,etc.;on some occasions I removed a part and reinstalled it a few times and it still has integrity to seal.
 I tried the same with China gaskets.. no way.

Thanks for the suggestion on gaskets.

What temperature do you want the head reading for testing?   

-MD

The engine just needs to be warm, take it for a short ride or leave it running for a few minutes and (carefully) do the test with the engine switched off. Make sure you hold the throttle wide open while doing the test, or your readings will be in accurate.

[grcamna2]

Went on a 3000 mile ride last year and the CB550F started leaking oil from the heads.  In preparation for ordering a top end gasket set performed a compression test on a cool engine,  119, 111, 120, 119.   

Question, should I order new rings?   Who sells the best kit for the '75 CB550F?

-Thanks.

- MD

Have you ever opened-up this engine before ?
Do you have a compression gauge with a short hose? heat the engine up and test it hot.

Never have had the head off before.  (owned the bike since '88)  About a 12" hose on the compression gauge.

-MD

A shorter compression gauge hose(Snap-On)and a hot engine make a difference when checking compression;it'll give a more accurate reading.
I would consider pulling the cylinders and measuring the top-end parts/cylinders to see if it needs to be freshened-up,if it was mine.
I imagine you would rather enjoy the rest of the season before that. 

I've always enjoyed running Vesrah gasket sets;they're mostly equal to OEM.
I've even re-used Vesrah (clutch gasket,etc.)gaskets by carefully un-seating a cover,etc.;on some occasions I removed a part and reinstalled it a few times and it still has integrity to seal.
 I tried the same with China gaskets.. no way.

Thanks for the suggestion on gaskets.

What temperature do you want the head reading for testing?   

-MD

I think having the engine fully warmed up is plenty;then hold the throttles fully open with all plugs out(imo)as you spin the engine over,checking each individual cylinder. I recommend beginning with a fully charged battery. 

[RAFster122s]

MD,
With a long hose or one that might have a bit of loss due to the hose volume and the bulge of the hose 110-120 is not a terrible reading. You would gain 5% or was it 10% that Mark , HondaMan, indicated was lost due to the metal in the cylinder block allowing the cylinders to drift off axis a bit when the motor broke in. The cheap aluminum casting metal allows the cylinders to misalign slightly robbing the motor of a little bit of HP. An align bore of the cylinders up a size can restore that loss permanently.

Just a re-ring & hone of a motor isn't going to give you a long term rebuild, lasting around 10k miles I Believe was the figure before a decline again.

The pucks in the head are a common failure point for oil leaks, be sure you get the properly sized thicker ones from Parts N More as the gasket kits and Honda are selling ones not thick enough for modern gaskets increased thickness.
The crusin image piston kits or another eBay sellers kits of new pistons in 3rd oversized are a good value for a rebuild.

My $0.02 on the subject...
David

[MD]

MD,
With a long hose or one that might have a bit of loss due to the hose volume and the bulge of the hose 110-120 is not a terrible reading. You would gain 5% or was it 10% that Mark , HondaMan, indicated was lost due to the metal in the cylinder block allowing the cylinders to drift off axis a bit when the motor broke in. The cheap aluminum casting metal allows the cylinders to misalign slightly robbing the motor of a little bit of HP. An align bore of the cylinders up a size can restore that loss permanently.

Just a re-ring & hone of a motor isn't going to give you a long term rebuild, lasting around 10k miles I Believe was the figure before a decline again.

The pucks in the head are a common failure point for oil leaks, be sure you get the properly sized thicker ones from Parts N More as the gasket kits and Honda are selling ones not thick enough for modern gaskets increased thickness.
The crusin image piston kits or another eBay sellers kits of new pistons in 3rd oversized are a good value for a rebuild.

My $0.02 on the subject...
David

Thanks for the reply,

When I saw Hane's said the compression should be 140-150, I got really worried.  Then I remembered Youtube post of compression test on cold engines being north of 100.   I'll do one more test on a warm engine using the solid tube with the hard rubber end.   

-MD

[Terry in Australia]

Well I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more bikes, but, well, today I couldn't help myself. Back in 1983 I bought a 1981 Yamaha XT500 trail bike, and absolutely loved it. I rode it to the Bathurst Easter Motorcycle TT in 1983, and had a ball cutting under bigger faster bikes in the corners, and trying to catch up to them in between. It was also my daily commuter, and was a fantastic bike in traffic, as I could zip in between the cars, ride up the footpaths, jump it over railway crossings and speed humps, etc. I sold it when I bought my Kawasaki Z900, and have missed it ever since.

XT/TT500's have become one of the most expensive "collectable" dirt bikes (not that they were any good in the dirt, apart from just riding them on dirt roads, they were too heavy for real offroad work) and I've seen really nice examples go for silly money recently. I had a 1983 Honda XR500RE which was arguably a better bike, but it just didn't do it for me like my old Yam, so I moved it on a couple of years ago. This morning, while trawling through FB Marketplace ads, I saw a 1980 XT500 in pretty much original condition, for such a "Sofa King" low price, that I immediately contacted the seller, told him I'd take it, and offered to send him a deposit via EFT. He replied that he'd had some enquiries, but would sell it to me if I sent him a larger deposit. He sent me pics of his drivers license, fishing license, phone number, a picture of his house, and another pic standing at the front of his house with the bike in his garage, so I felt pretty confidant that he's not from Nigeria. I sent him the deposit. He's in Wodonga, 200 miles up the road from me, so I'm collecting it on Saturday, and am looking forwards to punting around on that big torquey single again. It even has the original quiet exhaust, so when the weather warms up, I might even ride to work on it.

Terry’s new XT500 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry’s new XT500 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I also fired up my honing machine that I've been building over the last couple of weeks. Tested it on an old cylinder block out of the garage, and gave the machine a go. Not too unhappy at all.

[grcamna2]

I like your XT500 Terry !    Looks like a nice survivor 
The seat looks comfortable for street riding.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bill, yeah I’m stoked to find a good one in original condition that I could afford, I had a terrible day on Monday when something at work went terribly wrong that turned out to be something that someone else had fcuked up, so it was almost like the gods had taken pity on me yesterday.

They are a comfy bike, and almost bulletproof, they did have one issue with poor top end oiling but I can see that there’s a kit available to fix that, that only takes about 15 minutes to install so I’ll buy one, and anything else that it needs to make it as reliable and enjoyable as my first one was. I’m excited!