"Miss Maggie" - V45 Brat/Bob/Chop/Thing

rusche

Been Around the Block
Howdy! Been a browser for a long time. Finally decided now that the snow is on the ground and building season has officially commenced up here in the great northwest, I'd start a build thread.
About a year ago I picked up my first bike, an 82 CB750K, and now I'm beyond hooked. Used to build Toyota trucks to crawl over bus sized rocks, never thought I'd be excited about "lowering" anything in my garage. I'll soon start a build thread for my other projects, a 72 CB350 for the girl, and an 83 V65 for a buddy.
Whoa back to the build. Picked up an 85 V45 Magna this summer, and started making changes immediately.

Bone stock the day she came home
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Hated the red and round headlight, along with those ugly giant horns, and uncomfortable cruiser bars, so I reused some old CB750 parts
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Out with the roommate and his V65
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More turn signals, black paint, and a nice dent
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More pictures to come...
Now that the snows down shes torn into lots of little pieces. Gonna give a test run on some Rebel shocks, and lowered the forks an inch in the triples. Ditched the ugly factory cluster, currently drooling over some DCC gauges. Planning on ditching the forward controls in favor of a higher and tigher set from TC bros (Tired of dragging those ones, and that was before I lowered it)
Lots more pictures and a TON more questions to come later. Thanks for looking.
 
First thing I did when I saw that awful white stuff falling from the sky...

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Sorry for crappy cell pix. I'll get some more recent up.
 
Awesome! hope it goes well, i've had a vf700c for awhile and always wondered if it'd be worth chopping/bobbing. keeping tabs on this.
 
Pulling carbs on these things is like pulling teeth. Damn
I'll definitely take more pictures. I thought she was quick, until I got my roommate to catch the bug and he got a V65, and wow. Not a bike for the corners but an absolute animal in a straight line.
Performance mods for a V45 seem few and far between, so my goal is to keep this thing light as possible.
 
Here's a shot of the V65
 

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Nice! The v-65 is a brute! I have the carbs off mine now. O-rings on the fuel tubes were old and tired. Broke one trying to reassemble (fuel tube). Got new brass tubes off ebay. Hope to finish carbs sunday if i get some me time. Oh yeah. I swapped out the square headlight too. Yuck!
 
I want to keep an eye on this thread as well. Although, I'm hesitant on working on a bike with a shaft drive. Anything I should look out for?
 
The shaft drive is reliable and low maintenence, just makes gear ratio or wheelbase mods harder. Premature cam wear is an issue with the v-45...poor oil flow to the top end at low rpm. There are a couple of mods that can be done to correct this. I just keep my revs up! I've seen a couple v-45's bobbed or brat style...not many though. Great power! I have 2 in my shed! One is my wife's first bike, one is an on hold project!
 
axelcrypt said:
Premature cam wear is an issue with the v-45...poor oil flow to the top end at low rpm. There are a couple of mods that can be done to correct this.

Like what? Can you point me to a resource? Thanks!

Just picked this up for $200. LOL

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This is the most common mod i have seen. It supplies filtered oil to the top end. I have read that Honda replaced some of the cams on warrenty in the 80's. Both my bikes are fine. Like I said, keep your revs up and there should be no problem.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/V65-V45-Magna-Sabre-Interceptor-Oil-Mod-Adaptor-Kit-/140904584539?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20ce91555b&vxp=mtr
 
My cams look flawless at 14k, and its a 1985, so I'm assuming I've got a good set of cams, but the V65 probably needs it so might as well get 2.
 
Shaft has its ups and downs. Might doesn't torque as much, but the V65 (also older shorter swingarm) on a hard left you can feel it lift hard. You get used to riding one. I love low maintenance low noise though. Trickier for serious swingarm modifications, but all I'm doing is changing shocks in the back.
 
When I was working in bike shops out west the old V65 was usually referred to as a Maggot instead of a Magna... if you didn't know what you were doing they'd put you in the ground... Surprising amount of power if you could get/keep the carbs in tune. They were a bit ahead of their time.
 
I've got an '82 V45, those carbs are a piece of work to take off and put back on.
 
Warm up the carb boots befor you reinstal them. I have read some people use hot water, but that didn't work for me. I set them on the plenum for the wood stove to heat them up. Don't melt them of course, but once they are warmed up good, the carbs pop back on fairly easy.
 
I'm having a harder time getting the damn boots off. Everything is off, but the boots are stuck on there good
 
Stuck to the engine or the carbs? If stuck to the engine and its cold in your workspace, try warming them with a heat gun (paint stripper if you have one, your old ladies hair dryer if you don't). If stuck to the carbs, take them in the house. I prefer to do all my carb work on the kitchen table. Nice and close to the fridge!
 
Either/Both, I cant get the carbs off the bike. The boots wont come off the carbs or the motor. All stuck together.
 
So other issue I had, the 3 starter clutch bolts backed out (PO didnt loctite them) ran into the cover, bound up the motor, and cracked the starter clutch. So I ordered a new starter clutch. Mine is an 85 700cc, and the one I bought online is off an 83 750cc. You can see the difference here. I was under the impression that the parts were interchangeable. Will this work? New one is on the bottom.

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