Author Topic: 79 CB 650 refurb turns resto / mod (Read 53360 times)

thrutheframe · « **Reply #50 on:** March 10, 2011, 06:36:57 AM »

I'm coming up on a point where I am going back to work and wont be working on the bike. I leave the 24th of March and I'll be gone until July 17th. I will have 4 or 5 days at home in that period. Next week I'm going to button things up at the shop and make sense of whats what before I walk away from it for almost 16 weeks. The good thing is, I'm going Tuesday of next week to pick up my KZ 750 from Redline in Skokie, IL. I will be able to get the title taken care of and get it registered in the few days I'll be off. That will give me a bike to ride when I'm home and once I get home in July.
Meanwhile last night I decided to blow off painting my hand controls until the weather dries up a bit. Id like to get the forks rebuilt and the front wheel back on the bike before I leave. I pulled the front wheel forks etc off the bike. The fender is sweet like the back, alot of micro scratches and two tiny dings. The fork sliders are a mess, lots of grime that I assume is fork oil. Brake fluid would have damaged every surface on the front end and the wheel spins like a dream so I doubt its the wheel bearing or a leaky caliper. The caliper is very grimy too but the pads are new. I'm going to try to remove the pads and clean the caliper up real nice. If I have to open it up I will (as in inevitably, I'll just tear into it before I re assemble the whole mess)... The wheel needs cleaned up and but looks nice other wise. There's a cheap Chinese tire on the rim now, it has a few mile left on it but I'm sure I'll replace it with a match to the Dunlop 404 on the back. I have all the little bits soaking in simple green right now. I'm going to go in later and try to get the fork tubes out. I did it on my KZ with minimal effort... That means this pair will be a major hassle.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #51 on:** March 10, 2011, 06:46:13 AM »

here are a few pics from last night

thrutheframe · « **Reply #52 on:** March 14, 2011, 07:55:24 AM »

Been working for a couple of days and I have a couple more coming. The bike is sitting in the shop... I did manage to get the fork tubes off and open since my last post. I also painted my clutch lever, It looked nice when I left but I havent been back there since Thursday. I have a vice in the car that my buddy gave me, that should help get the fork tubes apart. I'll be back Wednesday but I'll be busy that day, between getting the KZ inspected and doing some cleaning at home, who knows if I'll get much done.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #53 on:** March 24, 2011, 09:37:34 AM »

I won't be working on my bikes for awhile. I'm heading back out on tour until April 12th, I'll be home for about a week then I leave again until late May. I plan on cleaning my 750 carbs and getting the forks rebuilt on the CB650 while I'm home that week.

I'd love to get the out of state inspection done on the Honda then too. Ohio really is an easy state to get a title for a bike. I went to the title place today and walked out with the new one. They just wanna see the VIN and mileage match and if you bought it from a dealer they want a bill of sale. They check the VIN and mileage at the license place and you take the out of state inspection report, (only tree fiddy!) the old title and the bill of sale to the title office(sometimes right next door)and they give you the title right there on the spot.

Ride safe everyone I hope you all post cool build pics for me to check out from the road.

SG

thrutheframe · « **Reply #54 on:** April 13, 2011, 06:23:04 AM »

I'm back from the first leg of my tour and eager to get back on this project. I stopped by Ones and Zeroes last night just to look around. I ended up putting another coat of paint on my clutch lever. My paint work is starting to look pretty good, I juts need to tighten up my prep work a bit and my "redo" factor will drop off.
I bought a Craftsman 12gal/125psi compressor last night. Later today I'm going to go clean the shop up real good and get the compressor assembled. Then get back on the front end of this bike.

Hopefully someone can answer this question for me.

My steering stem seems to have a "notch" or center indentation and one at each end of the steering travel. Is this normal? On my Kaw's they say its a bad thing and that the steering stem bearings need replaced. I'd rather go ahead and replace the bearings while I have the forks off. Is it safe to assume they are bad or is the "notch" normal?

MoMo · « **Reply #55 on:** April 13, 2011, 09:02:43 AM »

If there is any hesitation in the movement of the stem like you described you need to either adjust, repack or replace the bearings. I had a 750 similar to what you describe and it was merely too tight from the PO, but I installed tapered anyway. Other bikes I have disassembled, cleaned and repacked if the races and balls were in good condition. For the $40 for tapered go ahead and order...Larry

thrutheframe · « **Reply #56 on:** April 13, 2011, 02:00:55 PM »

Thanks Larry, I'll go ahead and order them when I get paid Friday. I have it apart, I hav e the money, its just time I lack.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #57 on:** April 15, 2011, 08:44:34 PM »

I put the last coat of paint on my clutch lever and mount to day. I am waiting 48 ours to clear coat them. I wont get them mounted before I go out of town again but to me the important thing is to make progress.

I dry fitted the parts for my head light today and everything is spot on. I bought a 72 CB750 head light bucket form eBay then proceeded to order the trim and adjustment hardware separately. I got all the stuff over a month ago but didn't get a chance to check it out until today. The trim and hardware are NOS and look super sweet.

If it rains tomorrow I'll be at Ones and Zeroes working on getting my forks apart so I can get a first coat of paint on them or some clear coat if I decide they look good enough once the are cleaned up.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #58 on:** April 24, 2011, 07:51:16 AM »

I didnt get much done while I was home except riding my other bike. I mentioned before that I did get to dry fit my headlight parts....

thrutheframe · « **Reply #59 on:** May 02, 2011, 05:43:01 PM »

I've been away from this project for awhile, working really gets in the way of wrenching and if it hadn't been a rainy day I know I would have been riding. Maybe rain is good after all, I really want to get this bike to the point where I can ride it so I can tear it all back apart and powder coat the frame.

My clutch lever was 7 weeks in the restoration (2 hours actual work, 6 weeks 6 days and 22 hours of traveling and messing around) and of course I didnt think to take a pic of it until it was all taped up to prevent scratches.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #60 on:** May 02, 2011, 05:46:27 PM »

I ordered this front master cylinder in March to replace the one I boogered up while trying to extract the brake lever pivot bolt that was seized up. I have all the parts to rebuild it once I get it cleaned up and painted.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #61 on:** May 02, 2011, 05:50:57 PM »

I took my front fork tubes into Western Hills Honda to have the dampers removed. I wasn't successfull despite following the directions in my Clymer manual and the suggestions of several members here. We'll see how they do, I'm not big on the idea of farming out bike work but I want to get moving on this and it wasnt getting done laying around on my bench.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #62 on:** May 03, 2011, 07:31:40 AM »

I made it back to the shop last night and pulled the MC out of the carb cleaner. Im going to go by there today and finish stripping it and get a coat of primer on it. Here is a pic with the old resevoir still in place, I didnt get one of the wad of goo I pulled out of it.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #63 on:** May 03, 2011, 07:34:59 AM »

Here's one with it all cleaned up. Again, I still have some paint stripping to do.

cb650 · « **Reply #64 on:** May 03, 2011, 06:04:51 PM »

FYI on the 650 site a couple guys have replaced theres with universals that are nice looking. going to do that to mine when the time comes.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #65 on:** May 06, 2011, 02:12:28 PM »

No real progress to report but I need to write about the bike some so I can focus on the work I'm getting paid to do. I neglected to take a pic of the master cylinder before I painted it but it was pretty sweet looking. I used a brass brush wheel in my dremel and really polished up the inside of the MC where the reservoir goes in. I cleaned the outside down to bare metal and used gasoline then denatured alcohol to and a small bottle brush to clean out the piston. I put a coat of primer and a coat of satin black on it before I left. I have no idea how it turned out, I literally painted it, put it up to dry, locked up my shop and left.

Good news from Western Hills Honda, my fork tubes are ready to go. I will get them back either Monday or Friday depending on my work schedule. I can rebuild them myself, the parts are in the shop I just need to clean them up and decide if the are going to be painted silver, black or maybe just a little polishing and some clear cote.

I picked up 4 days of corporate audio work next week, so it's straight home from CT on Saturday and Sunday (I'm driving a truck back), then back to work on Monday. Freelancing pays really well but it sure can wreak havoc on one's personal schedule. I can't turn down work but damn I want the rest of May off so I can ride and wrench.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #66 on:** May 09, 2011, 05:55:19 AM »

I got these fork ears and my shop manual while I was out of town. The fork ears came from Parts N More. They are polished stainless, I'm going to polish them up a bit more and clear coat them.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #67 on:** May 10, 2011, 06:35:09 AM »

Put the second to last coat of paint on my master cylinder yesterday. Im going to rebuild it, then put the last coat on, let it dry a day or two then install the resevoir.
I'll be riding the other bikes as much as I can while Im off work. I should be able to wrap the front end up pretty quick. Heres a pic of my master cylinder with wet paint. It looks gloss but it's satin once its dry.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #68 on:** May 17, 2011, 05:57:40 AM »

I just read back thru my post from the last few months and its amazing how fast time flys by when you should be working on a bike project. I can see where I put the first coat of paint on my clutch lever (march 14th) and where I clear coated it. Well for the record the clear coat didnt work out so well. It chipped off of the parts, I ended up painting the stuff twice. Yesterday I did get it assembled and put away in a shipping envelope to protect it from my clumsiness. Here are a few pics of the stuff I worked on last night.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #69 on:** May 17, 2011, 06:05:44 AM »

I'm real happy with how my painted parts turned out. The master cylinder had to get repainted after assembly. Im sure it will look great once it dries.

I seperated the clutch lever pics into this post. Here are pics of the clutch lever, and a couple of pics of the rewards that await patient bike biulders everywhere.

scunny · « **Reply #70 on:** May 17, 2011, 11:45:32 AM »

well done.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #71 on:** May 19, 2011, 06:07:19 AM »

Last night I worked on my forks. I cleaned them up enough that the torch wasn't burning up a bunch of 30 year old grime, popped the seals out and then really had at them with simple green, denatured alcohol, brushes, shop rags and a plunger handle. The insides were pretty sludged up.

thrutheframe · « **Reply #72 on:** May 19, 2011, 06:22:49 AM »

And of course the requisite pics:

thrutheframe · « **Reply #73 on:** May 19, 2011, 06:25:40 AM »

And a couple more:

thrutheframe · « **Reply #74 on:** May 24, 2011, 07:09:47 PM »

I got my little fork parts all cleaned up and a coat of oil on them tonight.

I also got the sliders painted. I zip stripped them, brushed them down with a brass brush, rinsed them with water and dried them with compressed air. After that I sanded them with 80 grit then 180 grit sand paper, blew the dust off and wiped them down with denatured alcohol. I decided to paint them with the metallic aluminum. I'm going to wait til Friday to coat them again then assemble the tubes on Saturday.

My progress is slow and sometimes made even slower by another project, two 30+ year old bikes I have to keep running and safe, a crazy career and a busy social life. My focus is to make progress but do things once. So far the sliders look pretty sweet.

Thanks for looking at my project.

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Author Topic: 79 CB 650 refurb turns resto / mod (Read 53360 times)