82' CB650 Project Bike Update: Brake overhaul, cylinder prep, hone, paint...

[adrianm1972]

After scoping out ebay and craigslist for a few weeks I pulled the trigger and bought an 82' CB650 to turn into a Cafe Racer. I ended up getting a complete running bike with a clear title, a frame with no title, a 2nd SOHC 650 engine w/o carbs, a disassembled engine minus jugs, pistons and rods as well as a ton of small parts for $1200. I think I did ok.

 

[Nojokirk 75cl360]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

you did freakin amazing man! wiah i could have found that on craigslist first lol

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

Thanks man!

I am traveling for work and the stupid Hilton WiFi won't let me upload more pics. I will put more up when I get home Friday.

I am pretty lucky. I am in Tampa, FL so Dime City is local to me. I am heading over next week to get the skinny on some frame mods, get a few parts and check the shop out.

I want to set up the bike to handle well so I plan on working on the suspension and geometry. I want to keep it real looks wise so no crazy colors and wacky tails. I want to get a boxy 70's Honda tank and a simple tail with nice lines.

 

[gentlemanjim]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

I'm builing on the same bike - look forward to your inspiration.

Here's a link to mine. http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=33431.0

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

More pics. Where I am at and some inspiration...

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

Some progress today setting up my shop, organizing and starting the teardown.

Made a trip to Harbor Freight. The latest issue of Motorcyclist had some great stuff in the ad.

I built a shelf to get all the parts that came with the bike off the ground....1 and 2/3 extra engines, tanks, side covers....

I scored an early CB750 tank for $75. It looks rough but it has no dents and the inside is showroom clean! i have a oic of the stock tank for comparison. I think the stock tank is too "chopper"

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

Well my bike is almost down to a bare frame. Before pulling the engine out I wanted to look it over. There was sand in the airbox and I needed to make sure the cylinders we ok. I didn't quite get that far for two reasons.

I didn't like the looks of my rockers and cam. There is some galling on almost all the cam followers. The cam has some pretty bad wear on it too. Anyone have some thoughts on making sure oil gets to/getting more oil to the top end?

Luckily, I got a spare engine and a bunch of parts with the bike. I was able to find a complete rocker plate with no galling on the cam followers. I also had a good spare cam with very light surface rust in a spot or two.

I went on to pull the head off and...cracked my 13mm socket so this is where i am now. Off to Sears tomorrow for a good quality set of sockets.

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

Thanks for the tips Swivel...will do!

I have been out of town for a few days so its been slow going. My bike is fully torn down now. The frame is at Santiago Choppers getting a tail hoop welded on. Talked to the owner Alain Bernard yesterday. Super nice guy. I got to see his latest project.

A sick Kawasuzucati. 140hp 2 stroke Kawasaki Triple, GSXR Frame, Ducati 1098 Forks and swing arm. He fired it up in the garage. It sounded like pure rage! Must be awesome to have the skill and resources to make anything you can imagine. No matter how close you looked it was completely flawless.

I have the cam, rocker and head situation sorted out. Thank God for the parts I got with the bike. Unfortunately I needed some jugs and pistons as there were a lot of broken fins and the second engine had rusty cylinders from missing spark plugs and Florida humidity.

Big thanks to Witttom on the SOHC4 forum for a great deal on some nice used parts. Jugs and matching pistons with honed cylinders and new rings should be here in a few days.

When I get the frame back I have to grind and smooth all the tabs I cut off.

I want to unlace the wheels to clean them up and and paint the rims and hubs.

I have to get the engine soda blasted, get a gasket set then get it back together. Good thing i took it apart though. The rockers and cam were bad from the lash being too tight, the timing chain tensioner was cracking and going to come apart soon. The seller told me the PO was not a "craftsman"....no kidding...lol! A well cared for engine with 41K on the clock should not look line this. Oh well, the bike will be rock solid when i am done.

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

So...its been a couple of frustrating weeks.

The jugs pictures above arrived with a bunch of fins broken off due to poor packing.

Set of jugs #2 arrived a week later with perfect fins but bad pitting in cylinder #4. I triple checked with the seller and he said they were perfect. Now the guy won't return my calls or emails. I am filing a claim with Pay Pal trying to get my money back. The good thing was I kept records of all our communication and I was extremely clear about my expectation for the parts and how he would handle any problems.

Right now I am $212 in the hole with no good cylinders in sight. I have two sets of jugs with perfect cyclinders and broken fins and two with perfect fins and pitted, unusable, cylinders.

I am trying to get on the road with a simple flex honing and new rings. I was trying to avoid spending $500 on new pistons and $200 in labor to overbore the cylinders.

Anyone have any advice on how to proceed? Is it this hard to get an honest seller to send you parts?

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

Finally making some progress.

I won an auction for a a set of 78 CB750 PD carbs on eBay to go with my 79 CB650 Head that takes the same carbs.

I got a box of seals, wipers, cir-clips and crush washers for my fork rebuild from Service Honda.

I finally have a set of good cylinders on the way to me. They should be here Wednesday.

I got my frame back from Santiago Choppers with my rear loop installed.

I spent this afternoon removing tabs, grinding and smoothing the frame.

I have to give big thanks to my daughter for her MS Paint skills for this rendering of what I would like to end up with. I will be sculpting a fiberglass tail like this once its further along.

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike - More progress wheels done!

I am working on my CB650 as time and finances allow. This is my first project so I am buying a lot of tools as I go along.

This week I worked on my wheels. I learned a lot and I am very happy with how they came out. To save a few $$ i decided to try the epoxy paint instead of powder coating. Thanks to Do The Ton and the SOHC4 forums I knew exactly what to do.

Prep:

1.Disassemble the wheels
2. Paint stripper to remove the clear coat on the aluminum bits
3. Wash the spokes and scotch brite them to cleam them up.
4. 6" brass bristle wheel on my drill to remove oxidation (They looked so good almost didnt want to paint them after this)
5. Derust the rims with Naval Jelly (The front was rusted through and I had to but another wheel...thanks eBay $85 delivered. Ended up with a spare perfect condition CB750 brake rotor and hub)
6. Scuff the chrome with 120 grit paper on my orbital sander
7. Etching primer on the hubs spokes and rims (scotch brite the primer to get a smoother finish)
8. Black Rustoleum Epoxy on the rims and hubs
9. Silver Duplicolor on the spokes (Spoke nips were buffed with the brass wire wheel.

Here's what I ended up with!

The pics are crappy but the spokes look like fresh sliver Cad plating.

CB750 Donor wheel from eBay. I used the rim and the spokes. The brake rotor is spankin' new it may only have a couple hundred miles on it.

 

[Kanticoy]

Re: Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

Set of jugs #2 arrived a week later with perfect fins but bad pitting in cylinder #
Anyone have any advice on how to proceed? Is it this hard to get an honest seller to send you parts?

Have ya thought about heating the cylinders and removing the liners from the chipped cylinder and putting them into the non chipped jugs? You can heat them sometimes and they'll just fall out.

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike - More Progress Forks Done!

I spent a lot of time on these prepping the lowers and the trees. I had planned to polish the fork lowers but they had some pitting that was too deep to sand out. I ended up hand sanding the lowers with 120/220/320 paper. Then priming and filling the pitting with glazing putty. I lot more priming and sanding later they look better than show room new. The lower triple got stripped wire brushed, primed and painted with black epoxy.

I got new seals, wipers, crush washers and drain bolts from Service Honda.

 

[andycafe]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

Cool work man, I'll be checking this build out for sure, love the design!

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike

Did a lot of work this weekend on the top tree. I will be running clip ons and different gauges so I cut off and reshaped the upper triple tree. I made a heck of a pile of aluminum dust but the results were worth it.

Next up:

I need to order some gaskets, rings and parts to reassemble the engine...

Smooth!

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike More Progress Brake overhaul

Made a lot of progress this weekend.

I ordered a ton of parts from Service Honda (gaskets, orings, brake rebuild kits....) mainly for engine assembly so I cleaned up, flexhoned and painted my cylinders.

My front brakes were not working so i took them apart. The caliper piston was rusted and pitted taking out the seal. What fluid was left was orange from rust. I cleaned everything and while waiting for the rebuild parts to show up I cut off the mirror mounts from the master cylinder, clutch lever and reshaped them to appear they were made that way. I decided to use VHT gold (looks bronze)) engine paint as my accent color on the bike. I painted the caliper, master cylinder and clutch perch this color going for the Brembo look. The levers were worn looking so i gave them a light sanding, etch prime and painted them with Duplicolor semi-gloss black engine enamel. Everything got bakes to give it best chance of resisting the brake fluid (no i didn't paint any areas that contained the fluid).

I am getting a new fluid reservoir. The old one is just on for pics.

I think it all came out great. The bike is going to have a bright red tank and tail, The frame will be a metallic charcoal and there will be very little chrome. I think the gold/bronze will look good.

[

 

[adrianm1972]

Wash your barrels out like three times with very hot water and detergent using a kitchen dish brush.Rinse with hot water.It gets the grit out,solvents don't.Then a thin spray of CRC or WD40,NO oil.....

Thanks for tips. I had read the same cleaning procedure on the SOHC4 forum. I did a quick cleaning after honing with soap and water but I will go nuts on it to make sure it is crystal clean before assembly.

I am traveling next week and have a lot of parts on the way so next updates will be a week from today.

 

[adrianm1972]

I appreciate a positive response with that cleaning method.....I DO know my shit.....Cool.....

This thread should get realer like,in the next few weeks:

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=37578.0

No doubt. I have seen you on a lot of threads and I know you know your shit. I am not a knucklehead and I listen to those that have more experience.

My goal is to build the best bike I can. I want a well finished end result. Everything has to fit right, have nice flowing line and look like its either production or custom. No cobby shortcuts.

 

[adrianm1972]

Well...After all that work on the brakes it turns out the PO had swapped on a 5/8" Master Cylinder on to my single disc CB650. Thats a no go so after spending $100 rebuilding and hours sanding cleaning and shaping they (MC and Clutch Lever) are on ebay now. Getting a more appropriate 12mm MC and a matching clutch lever.

I just got my Chinese/Ebay Clip ons from MotoGP888. $68 and they are great. Nice CNC work on the blocks and stout alloy handle bar tubes. I also decided to cut up my frame and go to straight seat rails. I have some fab work to do next weekend!

 

[adrianm1972]

Re: 82' CB650 Project Bike Update:Frames mods and new brake MC and Clutch leverl

Its been quiet here as i have been traveling for work a lot. I got some fun stuff in the mail and got to work modding my frame today.

CNC Clipons from ebay. They were $79.99 shipped and they look great. I like that I can go to longer or shorter bars by spinning a few screws. They are light and very well made.

Here are the shorty lever master cylinder/clutch lever kit you guys have seen on ebay. I got them shipped for $115. Quality and finish look great.

I never liked the kinked seat rails on the 81 and 82 CB650 frames so I had a Ton'er make a long tail loop and went to town with an angle grinder. I used curved tubing from the old kinked seat rail to make new mitered frame adapters to fit the new rail. There are 7/8" schedule 40 steel tubing inserts that will be plug welded then the butt joints will be welded. I am confident this will be stronger than stock. The overhead shot looks crooked but I measured everything six ways to sunday and its all dead balls straight. Btw, all the tubing was hand mitered with a cut off wheel and a 36 grit flapper sanding wheel....yes it took forever. I messed up on the front right frame adapter but i think it will be ok.I plan on mig welding the crap out of all the plugs and joints...1 or two passes...then sanding them flush. My goal it to not see that there were any mods after painting.