Topic: 79 CB 650 refurb turns resto / mod

[thrutheframe]

Worked on painting the brake lever, the clamp/yoke from the front MC and the fork sliders yesterday.  I was going to pull the steering stem apart and try to get the races out but the steering stem nut takes a 30mm socket.  My set goes to 27mm so I blew off the steer stem bearings until today. 

  I did however remove the valve adjustment cover from the #1 cylinder and take a look inside.  Everything looks good except for one odd thing, which is why I decided to take a look.  The motor hasn't been started since January or February but for some reason oil is oozing out of the top end. When I got the bike it had a leaky head gasket or o rings and the trail of oil in the likely spots.  I didn't notice this leak until I had the bike in my shop and had started it a few times.  The oozing is higher up like it's coming out of the valve adjustment covers and or breather cover. I've wiped it off 6 times or more, it keeps coming back.  Here's a bad pic but you can see that it's on the head, not below it.  I guess it doesn't matter so much since the head is coming off to fix the lower oil leak. My question is, how can oil leak from that high up when the motor has been off for months??

[thrutheframe]

I put my All Balls tapered steering stem bearings in today.  The stuff all came apart pretty easily, I heated the neck up and tapped the old races out with a chisel. I did spin the bottom one in the neck and scar it just a bit. The old race nicked a chunk of the neck but it doesn't effect where the new race sits.  The old races came in real handy for tapping the new ones in place. I put it all back together up to the adjusting nut and put a coat of paint on the top tree. 

Here's a shot of the tree right after I pulled it. 



This is some sort of waxy grease, it looks like rust but it's pretty dry and caked on.  Anybody seen this stuff before?





The old races, I cracked the bottom one.  I'm glad I did because it would have really torn up the neck if it hadn't.

[MoMo]

That is what old grease can look like, figure it could be 30 years old...Larry

[thrutheframe]

Rubber mallet tapped the top race in real nicely.





The bottom race I tapped in with the rubber mallet but these set in there deeper.  I held the old race in place with zip ties and tapped it in with the mallet.



You can see the ding in the edge of the bearing seat.  I don't think it's an issue since it doesnt effect how the race is seated. 



Again the old race came in handy to set the bottom bearing on the stem.  I put a lot more grease on the bearings than in the pic.



All buttoned up.  Waitin on paint to dry again.

[thrutheframe]

My top tree looks pretty sweet.



  Getting the forks rebuilt and the steering stem bearings in place are big milestones in my mind. 

  The first bike I (started) building was my KZ1000 and removing the damper bolts and the old races were the two things that really stumped me.  I ended up getting a piece of oak wedged in one of them and had to replace both tubes.

  I took the forks to the dealership this time and used mr torch on the races.  I learned recently (and this doesn't apply to aluminum) that if you heat the parts up until the air around the part gets that heated up convection look and stays that way after you pull the torch off, its ready.

  In so far as the forks go, the dealership guy told me that the secret is to break loose the damper bolt BEFORE you pull the springs out.  I think he felt bad charging me $27.00 for removing 2 bolts and wanted to make up for it.

[thrutheframe]

That is what old grease can look like, figure it could be 30 years old...Larry

Larry, as you can see I took your advice on the steering stem bearings.  I was down right giddy when I put the top tree on the bike yesterday and felt the difference.  Thanks again.

[MoMo]

You're welcome and you will really be happy when you take it for a spin...Larry

[thrutheframe]

I did get to look at my bike today.  When I was retrieving my crimp tool to repair a chain hoist.

[thrutheframe]

  Its been almost two months since I worked on this bike.  I'm incredibly frustrated by the fact that I cant get time to work on the project and that the heat is keeping me from working in my shop.  I have been working on my 360 as things come up and that's all good but I really want to see this project thru til the end.  Are there any guys or girls out there who feel my pain?

[thrutheframe]

 I stopped by my shop at Ones and Zeroes yesterday to pick up my electrical connector kit.  While I was there I put another generous coat of paint on my fork tubes.  My plan is to get the 750 running then focus on the 650 until it's done.

[thrutheframe]

I know that I just said I was going to finish the 750 first but I was reading thru this thread and realized how close the front end of this bike really is to being done, and since the storage space is so crowded and my shop is freshly cleaned up... I figured I'd get back started on this bike too.  If I get it running before the 750, so be it, there are alot of parts already purchased and I feel like I finally know what I want it to look like.

Here are a couple of pics from today.







I also painted the fuse box/handle bar clamp and yes one more coat of paint on my master cylinder.  Any more work on that piece and I'm going to give it a child's name. 

Last night I ordered the two fork wipers and all new nuts and washers for the axle clamps.  My old fork wipers are both hardened on one side and use useable on the other.
  Hopefully I'll get to go back to my shop later to see how my paint dried.

[thrutheframe]

I went to the shop and filled my 650 forks with fork oil, 170cc each.  I'm waiting on a few parts to come before I can really get the tubes back in the triple trees. I put the key switch back on, put the new tach cable on... Guess what that uses and needs the same seal that I just fought with on my 750.  I have the gauges here at the house. All the need is some cleaning and theyll be ready to put back on the bike. Here are some more pics from tonight.









I ordered the tach seal.

[thrutheframe]

I brought my gauges and head light bucket home to clean up the gauges and paint the bucket.  The gauges are in great shape except the chrome rings are micro pitted with surface rust.  I have a buddy who is a jeweler, I might get him to help me clean them up better but for now windex is good. 



I'm using this 72 CB750 headlight bucket:




I sprayed it with semi gloss nice and thick then let it sit in the sun 40 minutes.  After that I misted it with the same paint for a textured look.  I did the same thing with my master cylinder and clutch lever.

[thrutheframe]

I masked off the steering stem at the weld mark and masked off the VIN plate and touched up the paint on the front face and also put a coat on the bottom triple tree.



My fuse box all cleaned up



with the fuse box on and the bars mounted



my world record man hour front master cylinder



front brake caliper (nice screw head)...



I ordered the phillips screw already but I held off on the caliper seals and boots, money is tight so I need to wait to see what Im going to have coming in before I spend any more cash right now.

[scunny]

good work, I wish my tach looked like that. maybe next winter.

[thrutheframe]

good work, I wish my tach looked like that. maybe next winter.

Thanks Scunny, I have to admit the gauges were already pretty sweet.  I just cleaned em up a bit.

[thrutheframe]

Some nice progress this morning.

I'm afraid to pull the remainder of the plastic film off my indactor lights, I'm going to let it wear off



another shot of my front brake MC



my front brake caliper is a complete mess



Just realized I didn't get any picture of all the stuff I mounted.  I have everything back on the handle bars except the master cylinder and I'm just waiting on the paint to dry on the bar clamp. 

[thrutheframe]

  Today was a really good day for this project.  I'll start with the stuff from this morning.  I went to my shop around 11:30am hoping that the clutch cable for my CB 360T would work on my 650 with the low rise bars on it.



The stock clutch cable is about 14 inches too long



I guess it's out of sequence but you can see the CB360 cable worked, here it is in the slack adjuster



Sorry I didn't get a before pic but I had to dremel down the bottom end so it would fit in the lever, it was the same size as the slack adjuster end but turned 90 degrees..  It wouldn't have worked on my 360 like that, the both have the same type of end.  I'm sure the cable entering the top of the case on the 360 really helped me out on this one.  You can see the finished piece in place.



It uses the same slack adjuster too.  Im going to cut down the boot or figure out a seal/wiper to go on the clutch cable.



That was this morning.  I also mounted my front brake MC and finished painting my head light bucket.

[lucky]

Question,

When you put that bottom bearing into the triple tree shouldn't it have a
thick special washer UNDER the bearing ?

The new bearing race is further up into the bottom of the neck and so the
thick washer that comes with the tapered roller bearings keeps the triple tree from rubbing on the bottom of the steering neck?

Or is that thick washer that comes with the tapered roller bearings go on the top to take up the space?

[thrutheframe]

My All Balls set came with 2 spacers and the instructions said to stack up the old bearings and races and measure then stack up the new bearings and races and measure.  If it was different use the spacer that made it come up the correct measurement, if the stacks are the same you don't need the spacer.  Mine were the same.

[thrutheframe]

These shots are from this afternoon.  A shot of my headlight bucket, oh the torture this thing endured getting the wires stuffed inside.



I'm using rustoleum enamel, semi gloss black, spraying it nice and thick.  Where I want a smooth, automotive finish I just let it dry.  Where I want a textured look I let it dry to tacky and spray over the heavy coat, holding the can about 20" away and working very quickly.



I got my fork wipers today, I can mount all the parts I paid for in February thru May.



Getting the forks and ears on.



It's starting to look like a motorcycle.



Grubby axle and speedo gear.



Not quite all cleaned up.



Front wheel on torqued etc... It will have to come off to mount the fender but I like to torque stuff even when its a dry fit.



I put the tank and seat on and rolled it out in the hall to get a better pic.



The low rise bars touched the tank until I rolled em forward about 5 degrees.  Yes I managed to scratch my tank before I got them right.



Time to test my electrical system.



I ended up getting the headlight bucket mounted and some of the wiring rehabbed from where a PO had put a Vetter fairing on the bike.

[scunny]

your just about there, carry on the good work.

[thrutheframe]

The first time the key has been in the bike since February



Oil Light and High Beam Indicator, I cant hit the start button because I have rags shoved in the exhaust and intakes.



For whatever reason this is how the PO redid the head light wiring.



I put the turn signal switch leads on this two pin and added the pig tails to connect the switch to the front signals.  My 750 bucket is a mess and Im going to consolidate alot of the bullet connectors into multi pins



The two light blue and two orange from the rear signals carry 12 volt DC so I made that side the female.



I'm not sure if this is a Honda or Kawasaki horn, the horn button makes it honk.

[thrutheframe]

  I ordered my stainless steel brakeline today.  I had a buddy there to help me move two of my othe bikes into my shop and he held the brake line in place while did the ciphering.  I lined the top up with the hole on the master cylinder and routed it thru the bars correctly.  Luckily the mounting bracklet and rubber sleeve are still in place on the old brake line.  I was able to measure from the center of the mounting hole on the fork leg to the center of the old mounting bracket hole to get the amount that it needs shortened to acommodate the new bars.

[thrutheframe]

  Today I finished mounting my headlight.  I actually bought this hardware for the 750 but scavenged it because at this point the 650 is the focus, plus iteasy to get from smalls pro hardware... I love that place



A peek at the nut on the inside



headlight ring all assembled



I love new hardware



shiny



stainless steel m6 .80 x 16, more goodies from small's



getting there



my next project is cleaning the engine up.  I bought these rubber stoppers to seal up my exhaust ports.  I have them in there pretty good but what happens if I get engine cleaner in my cylinders?



when I got homw today I had two packages on my doorstep.  one from bike bandit with my front brake caliper seals and one from Classic Connections containing a fresh batch of bullet connectors and such.  Ive always bought my electrical stuff ofrom Oregon Cycle and been happy with it but I noticed right away how much heavier the ziplock baggies were than when I get the stuff from OC.  I haven't used any of them yet but I think they are more heavy duty.