Topic: 1981 CB650C aka "The Titanic's Anchor"

[lucky]

The bike looks very nice.
Good paint job. And thanks for telling us that the 2 part clear did go over the Duplicolor paint. Very important.

It was a 2 part clear right?
Thanks.

[bjatwood]

I think it looks GREAT Dave! And I think the color is right on! I bet the carbs being a bit lean causes the problems over 5K RPMs. That clear coat made those parts smooth as glass! 

[Cheffish]

The bike looks great! The paint came out really well. What did you use to clean your carbs? I want mine to look like that

[lucky]

Did you follow the instructions to the letter on the Motion Pro synch gauge?

[lucky]

Did you follow the instructions to the letter on the Motion Pro synch gauge?
The calibration part is very important.

[F16Viper68]

What process did you go through to clean up the engine cover.  It looks great also did you paint the rims?

I know there are about 4,000 different ways to clean up/polish aluminum. I'm sure there are better ways but I simply used a 2" x 2" piece of gray scotchbrite pad, a bit of Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish, and scrubbed it into a slurry.  I only did about a 2" x 2" section at time.  Then I wiped it off, took it over to the bench grinder that's setup with a spiral sewn buffing wheel, hit it with some medium grit polishing compound, and buffed away. 

Then I repeated the process with a new piece of scotchbrite till I got it where I wanted it.  It's by no mean perfect but it looks a lot better than it did.

I did not paint the rims.  I just cleaned them with simple green and a bristle brush.  The bare metal I hit with gray scotchbrite pad.

Dave...

[F16Viper68]

The bike looks very nice.
Good paint job. And thanks for telling us that the 2 part clear did go over the Duplicolor paint. Very important.

It was a 2 part clear right?
Thanks.

Yes, it's a two part urethane clear (SprayMax 2k Clearcoat Gloss) but in a rattlecan.  But it's unlike any rattlecan spray paint I've ever used before.  You activate the hardener by pressing a button on the bottom of the can, shake, and spray.  The nozzle atomizes the paint so it goes on very nice.  Two cans gave me three decent coats of paint on the tank and two side panels.  It's not cheap, with shipping I think I paid around $47.00. 

I didn't use the DupliColor clearcoat because it will not effectively resist gasoline spills.  I read too many reports of folks ruining all their hard work with a few drops of gas. 

Dave...

[F16Viper68]

The bike looks great! The paint came out really well. What did you use to clean your carbs? I want mine to look like that

I soaked them in Pine-Sol overnight.    I'd post a link but it's on ADVRIDER and they are blacked out protesting SOPA.
 
Dave...

[F16Viper68]

I think it looks GREAT Dave! And I think the color is right on! I bet the carbs being a bit lean causes the problems over 5K RPMs. That clear coat made those parts smooth as glass! 

Thank you very much.  The bikes is in pieces again because I'm going to pull the carb rack apart and install the infamous t-fittings between carbs 1/2 and 3/4.  I have no idea exactly what they do but I've read of folks having engine troubles when they are missing/cracked.

Once I get them installed, I'll re-sync, adjust the air mixture, and see how it goes.

Dave...


 

[F16Viper68]

Did you follow the instructions to the letter on the Motion Pro synch gauge?
The calibration part is very important.

Yep, I followed the directions.

Dave...

[F16Viper68]

Man, that is an excellent job on the bike.  I haven't checked in for a while.  I'm still looking for a brake piston for mine but I got my choke cable yesterday.  I should be able to get on it and ride it to the end of the street this weekend.  Did you get the rideability issues resolved yet?  My bikes will never look that good unless I buy stuff that looks like that.

I feel your pain, I ended up purchasing two new brake pistons ($$$)...along with new o-rings.  I've bought a few things.   

Dave...

[lucky]

Did you make sure you could see daylight through the idle jets?

[lucky]

I'm in the process troubleshooting why my #3 cylinder is not firing and have a question.  Do any of  you know any way to tell if it's firing besides removing the sparkplug wire and observing a drop in RPM's?

Dave....

Just take a clip on DC timing light and clip it onto #3 cylinder (or any cylinder), and you will see it firing.

[lucky]

If the accelerator pump does not work right it will never run right.
If you look into the venturi you should see a brass tube sticking up. fuel has to squirt out of that brass tube. With the engine off turn the throttle and see if fuel squirts out of the brass tubes in the venturi. All 4 of them.

[F16Viper68]

Sorry for not posting in this thread lately but I've been over here.  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=100351.0 trying to get the thing running correctly.

Dave...

[F16Viper68]

Well after much pain and suffering I was able to get this thing running smoothly.  I took her for a 70 mile ride today and was very pleased with her performance. 

The past few weeks have been about troubleshooting the poor performance but I was about to get a few things done while fixing the beast.

Disassembled, cleaned, lubed, and adjusted the advancer, set the timing, and set the pluse gap.  I also cleaned up and painted the cover. 









Lots of parts in a single carb huh? 



I have a lot more work to do (e.g. replace the mirrors, chain, sprockets,  head gasket, strip/paint frame, etc) but for now I'm going to step away and ride this sucker!  Plus my V-Strom needs some work. 



Dave...

[weltzing]

when you adjusted the advancer, what did you set the timing and pulse gap at??

[Nashbuilder]

Is there a way of cleaning the slow jet (idle jet) on these VB44A carbs without dipping or dismantling them? I believe this is my issue. Starts up and runs on choke but when I cut the choke off it dies. Also when I rev the engine it stays open and takes a while to idle back down to 1500RPM. With all the research everything points to idle jet. Advise on cleaning?

[weltzing]

Take them out, you will have problems until you take them out and clean them really really good. Had the same problem on my 650.

[Nashbuilder]

You cant take the slow jets out of the VB44A carbs. They are pressed down in the casting about a half inch.

[fmctm1sw]

Yeah, they aren't coming out.  What I did was take an individual strand off a wire brush and feed it down into it.  What I did though was note how far it would go in.  I found one that didn't the strand didn't go down as far as the others.  That's how I knew that one was blocked.  I may have had a post on it a while back, can't remember.

[JimJamerino]

I bought some electric guitar strings to clean out mine.  The pack came with a couple strings that had no serration to them, so I used the smallest one to clean out those tiny little holes.  A can of spray brake cleaner and needlenose pliers to push the wire through did the trick for me.  Be careful not to saw back and forth too much, because you don't want to damage or alter the passages.

[Nashbuilder]

I used a safty pin that was the correct size and cleaned it that way. Those jets are the same size hole from top to bottom correct, its not shaped like a cone? Once I did this I sprayed carb cleaner and then compressed air. I did this over and over again until I could feel the air come out the venture hole in the carb body. Very small hole but I could feel the air come out.

I put the carbs back on using a ratchet strap which worked like a charm. They are on as far as they can go. The boots dont look like they have any holes in them. I started it up and it instantly revved to 7000RPMs. I shut it off turned the main throttle adjuster out all the way and it still did this. 5 times over as soon as I start the bike it revvs to 7000RPM's and does not idle back down. I have to shut it off.

Throttle snaps back and I can hear the plates snap in to place so I know that is not stuck open.

[F16Viper68]

It's been a while since I last posted to this thread because I haven't had much time lately to work on the girl. Work has been taking up a lot of my free time the past few months. Since my last post I've been in no particular order: Houston (2x), Philly, NYC, Washington DC, London, Miami, Tampa (2x), and some other places I'm sure.

 I've taken the bike out for some longer rides and she's still hesitating around 4k RPM in 5th gear. Weirdly enough the hesistation isn't really noticeable 1st thru 3rd gear. I notice it a bit in 4th and quite a bit in 5th. This issue is going to have to wait until the Fall when it cools off.

 I was able to finally get around to restoring the CB650 badges on the side covers. It took me a while to find paint I could work with and a red I liked. Turns out Testors makes a red I like.



I was also finally able to get around to swapping out the chain and the mirrors.

Right now I'm trying to clean up the kickstand via electrolysis and wire wheel.







When the rain finally stops (dealing with Tropical Storm Debby) I'll remove the WD-40 (coated so it won't rust), primer, and paint.

Dave...

[brycegp]

I started looking at the wiring and noticed the wiring had been crushed by the primary cover.  I'll see if it's repairable later in the week.  I can't believe this didn't kill the R/R but it checks good by the DVM.   

This was a problem for both my CB500 and 750...where the three yellows exit the stator...they always seem to fail in that spot.  Simple enough fix...patch...solder...and go.