Which Honda CB is best?

bradj said:

Xs rd kz h1 h2 gt t sr these are the 70s bike names you should look for

Click to expand...

yup, any of those are good too.


I'm working on two kz750 twins right now (friends bikes), one was $500 running and riding, in really good shape, just missing some lighting, and the other free because it was sitting outside for two years. It had good compression though so I rebuilt it (link in my sig).


anyway, the point of all that is you can get a good bike for cheap, especially if you're going to change a bunch of stuff on it. keep an eye out for those prefixes and my advice would be to get the cheapest running bike you find and go from there.

I see a lot of very happy songs of praise for the Suzuki GS family of fours in terms of both performance and reliability/durability... Is there reason not to use a GS550?

Just their electrical systems- they are well known for being terrible.

Speaking of GS's: dont forget the GS450. 6 speed, can do highway speeds, bullet proof motor, usually pretty cheap, etc. Very similar engine to the modern GS500.

Go for a twin over a four cylinder. A lot less to fix and cheaper to mod. 2 carbs vs 4, 2 pipes vs 4, lighter in general. I have a 350F and it's just been more work overall, plus tracking down a set of 4-2 pipes is hard unless I want to be bankrupt.

Any input on these particular bike?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/mcy/2607405409.html


http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/mcy/2597598907.html

man i ought to buy a couple of bikes around here and ship them to you. thats high prices but im sure geography is playing a part in that. i bought by cb360 for an even thousand, running titled and able to pass inspection with no problems. and a thousand was high. i should have given around 800. even if it was all there. just keep your search up, and always look around if if you have to drive.

bradj said:

becouse there worth more if you take them apart than if you try to sell them together, every motor or front end you find on ebay represents a bike that was not worth fix en .176 pages of cb550 part should say something about quality.

Click to expand...

OK, so you don't like Honda.

There are more 550 parts simply because Honda made more bikes than Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki combined.
There are also plenty of running bikes parted out because other people still ride them and want parts, failed projects, lost titles, etc

CB550 has very few faults but there isn't anything in the same group. (some people had second gear problems)
(it's heavy on gas when you start running 95~100mph)
I've only got 1 now but had K3, F1, F2 at the same time

CB400F variable handling, some are great, some suck big time.
same crappy cam chain tensioner as 360

CB360 bad oiling, cam bearings seize if held at high rpm, cam chain tensioner isn't a good design, (I have 4 360's, plus spare parts ;D )

Suzuki GT 550
it's probably a scrap if you have a crank seal go, (fixable but not cheap) handles like a 3 legged camel, plus, it's real heavy on gas

Suzuki GS (550/750/1000)
Good motors, shit generators/regulator/rectifiers/wiring. cranks fail when over revved (on roller bearing models)

Kawasaki 650
Great bike, but bigger than 550, crappy electrics, shim under bucket valve adjustment, expensive service if you can't do it yourself

Kawasaki H1- 60 hp motor in a weak 250 chassis , fun but not a learner bike, plus same problem with crank seals, fixable but not cheap, crappy electrics

Yamaha XS650 Generator problems, heavy, carbs suck (I have 3 ;D )

Any Italian bike electrics, build quality, parts availability (60's/70's/80's)

I worked on these things when they were new or only a few years old, or still have them
everything has problems, some more than others

name UJM/bike and I'll tell you problems with it (if I've worked on it or it's been in shop )

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! PJ, do the RD350.

ANd Big Rich, that's the reason I like the GS series... Someone has a weak connection or a funky ground somewhere and they panic thinking it's gonna turn into a $600, two-week-long Honda CX500 fiasco to fix what they suspect might be a bad stator, so they ditch the bike in otherwise great condition for $500-700.
Almost makes me wish that the Yamaha XS series bikes had some more flaws...

Blueandy, in the south Chicago suburbs there was a CB350F going for $600... I read up a little more on the engine and it sounded... Weak.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
RD350 (air or water cooled )
Actually pretty good bikes (doesn't mean I particularly like them, though they are a LOT of fun ;D )
Air cooled, wheel bearings, fork legs rust /seals leak all the time
Both crank seals and main bearings (one end or the other on a regular basis, usually generator side goes first)
Throttle/oil pump cables rust up real quick (although that's fault of owners/poor maintainance, same as seizing because oil tank wasn't topped up : )
Center of crank has labyrinth seal which is way more reliable than Suzuki two stroke twin/triple)
If crank bearings are allowed to get too worn the bearing bores in case distort/wear, Loctite 'Bearing Fit' doesn't work for more than 2,000 miles
Bearing behind final drive sprocket can fail, need a new case if that happens (or a real good weldor+ machinist)
Steering bearings, swing arm bearings, reeds split, bottoms breaks off piston (somewhere around 8~12,000 miles. 3,000 or less if modified)
All need rewiring, late models are much worse than early ones (late 70's through mid 80's)
Handlebar switches fall apart
Some of the specs in service manual are incorrect (forget what offhand)
Good aftermarket and a lot of Banshee quad engine parts can either fit or be adapted
When they are fixed properly they will easily do 30,000 miles with 'routine maintainance' (changing pistons and rings is routine on two stroke motors ;D )

My father used to worship the RD350 when he had his in the late 70's, and I always thought his accounts of the RZ350 piston and port-stretching and what the bike would do were typical bantering and traditional fatherly exaggeration... until I heard the same thing on some of these cafe sites.

I wasn't particularly keen on the fact that most of those sites also said that it was one of either A. A ticket to the winner's circle in a race against 750's or B. A ticket to the hospital, depending pretty exclusively on rider's skill, and the fact that my experience on bikes is limited to a slightly dorky DT250 drug-farmer bike I've been dirting around on at puttputt speeds since I was 17, means that... I fall *far* from what most would consider an "experienced rider".

COnsidering safety and convenience respectively, the only two things keeping me from doing a sort of hybrid cafe-motard (cafetard?) build on *that* bike are 1. Not really enough speed to be safe on the highway and 2. Two-strokes are a dark art and I'm still working on getting my soul out of hock.

RD350YPVS was good for almost 130mph and had good but not great handling
It was light enough that it wasn't a problem though
The old air cooled bikes were very 'interesting' if you tried to accelerate in a bend (the 400 even more so, particularly with TZ pipes and carbs ;D )

RZ is the archetypal cafe racer right out of the box. Light fast, wheelie prone. It's not noisy if you have good pipes and pipes that make power are all quite quiet and distinctive. Handling is light years aehad of air cooled 400s ( I had c, d e and f models) RD400 are fun but don't hold a candle to an RZ350. IMHO.

At one stage I had a perfect VFR750 Honda and a super clean RZ350 and the time came to sell one. The VFR was as close to perfection as any bike can be and it had no soul. The RZ is different. It's got a wickeed personality. Come on over to the dark side.

I'd trade my left teste for an RZ.

Though that's just it... I don't have enough money to trade for one.

Anyone know why they were RZ everywhere except Britain/Europe?
We had some from Brazil badged as RZ, they were slugs compared to Euro models

okay, I'll bite... pj: electrical issues aside, what do you think of the DOHC CB750 motors? I hear tell that the 15mm wrist pin on the con rods is a big weak point.

DOHC 750s are great bikes. Not without some parts that tend to fail and an odd long stroke design, but they work fine. A buddy of mine found a barn fresh CB last year and has ridden it all this season having a lot of fun.

Owning two, I'm obviously a fan... but the decision to get them was more budget limitations and circumstance than anything else. Still, that being said, I have no regrets.

Long stroke means torque! And torque is French for "Fun".

Uh oh,
I pretty much specialised in them for about 3 yrs (1985~88)

DOHC Honda 750/900
Motor is actually pretty good if maintained PROPERLY (MOST are not)
The biggest issue has nothing to do with pistons or rods.
The problem is the long run cam chain
The adjuster is at back of motor under carbs. (the one at front between 3/4 exhaust only adjusts 'short' chain)
It sticks and doesn't adjust chain so I wouldn't do them without removing cam cover
Hyvo chain doesn't rattle but destroy guide blade at front of motor, then starts sawing a slot in cylinder block (900 is worse than 750 )
I've never seen anyone have any success welding block so only alternative is replace it
Generator brushes last OK but will need changing sometime but should last 50~60,000 miles
If you leave ignition on with motor not running, the ignition modules overheat and burn out
Mechanical ign. advancer can stick/rust closed
Engine has to come out of frame and it's HEAVY

Ah yes, I've heard of the Cam Chain woes... but not that other stuff. Duly noted. I've also heard about issues with the starter clutch. Mostly benign, but it will cause a rattle in neutral.

Thanks!