CB450 Summer 16 update

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

Its getting there. Ran into a couple electrical problems that I will post up. All I need now is my exhaust, fuel lines, bleed and fill front brake fluid, and waiting for the signals to come in the mail (probably sitting at the border waiting for Canada Post to get off their ass and pick them up.

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

Im in the process of summer/vacationing/looking to buy a house so progress has been slowed a tad. I have been working on fitting cables, getting my exhaust to fit and waiting for parts.
Somehow the front caliper adjustment bolt broke, I ordered a new one and now it wont go in, so I have to find a tap somewhere this weekend to clean up the hole. stupid. even the old one wont go in.
The exhaust is going to take some finessing to make work. At least I made brackets, just have to finish up the fit and look. I may have to put in some shimming or something to take up some of the space between the pipes and the headers.
After breaking the adjustment knob off the clutch adjuster inside the case, I replaced the parts and the cable, but now it seems like I am at the end of the adjustment limit at the lever and the case and it just barely works. I dont know how to get the slack more out of the cable, I must be doing something wrong. If anyone sees this and has a clue or wants to tell me I am a dummy go right ahead.
Also, my carb idle screws no longer hit the stopper. I dont want to thread them in further because the butterfly wouldnt be closed far enough for a nice low idle. I dont know why that is, i dont see anything obstructing them from closing further. Im at a loss there as well.
It sure will be nice to work on this more then a few hours a week, hopefully when a garage of my own comes along before the end of the year. Any help is appreciated.
oh, also waiting for signals to come in the mail, and a speedbleeder. I successfully tore the bleed valve off inside my front brake, gonna have to extract that piece of crap.
In the meantime have a gander at what I have going on so far.
Thanks!

 

[kwazykid]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

That is Beautiful! Retro and clean! nice work

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

UPDATE
Its been a while, but I bought a house and moved to the bike to its new home for more intimate work. Big bonus
Lets see what we've missed.
-Master cylinder wept, rebuilt it, still wept. Bought a new one, rebuilt the caliper, put in a speed bleeder, bought a vacuum bleeder, bled it out, its all good.
-spent a lot of time on a ground problem. turns out it wasnt anything to do with paint or powder coat, it was the bulb plugged into the speedo grounding out or something in the frame of the gauge. What a pain. Regardless, I think I am dumping the gauges and putting in something special once I get my order.
-once I had that solved, I was trying to start it. No problem. Fired up so quick I had to shut it down as I wasnt ready for carb adjustments and such. Sounds like a champ. I think I need the carbs synched as the idle can get a little shifty. Ill take care of that in the spring.
-the reason I wanted to start it (and couldnt because of the ground issue, it wouldnt turn the neutral light on) was so I could warm it up and try to get the clutch plates broken free. Thats not happening. I need a new battery as well so I gave up on it for now. I am going to remove the side cover and rebuild the clutch. She deserves it, so its gonna happen.
- I finally, I think, made up my mind on some signals, gonna dump the headlight ears, gonna get rid of the fork gaitors, and do something about the exhaust.
- exhaust....well the CB doesnt cut it, so I whipped out the CL exhaust and put that on. SEXY. I was going to cut off the mufflers and mount up some universals but then I felt guilty and decided to not do it right now. The reason being that the whole system is in such good shape that it would be a crime to chop it up. I am looking into building a custom one now, try to mimic or create something different instead, and then probably offering this system up for bids for a handsome amount. Or if I get lazy and carefree, Ill just cut off the mufflers put on a more righteous sounding set of muffs.
I think thats it for now. On tap is waiting for parts, and exploring other exhaust options. Thanks for watching.

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

JAN13 Update

Been busy at work and its cold. Here is what has gone on since last time.
The front end was removed and I decided to get rid of the gaitors. The bike was starting to lean towards a different feel so I took them off. While I did that I put on the dust caps and some new headlight brackets. (I just realized I have no update photo for that, sorry.) Have this shot though.

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

I picked up some new signals. I wanted the smoked ones just to hide them a little bit more and to not distract from the bike itself. I threaded the front into the existing holes for the bucket bolts. While I was at it, I decided to really dig in and clean up the wiring. I had a new gauge coming and I was tired of the jumble in there.

For the rears, I chopped down and then tapped the holes in the stock stalks, it threaded perfectly with the tap and the rear signals screwed right in. Worked great.

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

On to the gauge. I decided on an Acewell. I wanted it to sit really low below the bars and it was tiny to do just that. Wired it up with a little help from hondatwins 66Sprint.

6 connection plug.....
Orange to Honda orange (left turn)
Light green to Honda (headlight) Blue
Light blue Doesn't apply...Honda has NO hazard light
Purple to Honda Green/red stripe (neutral light)
Gray ....N/A on most Honda's...but to oil sending unit IF you have one
White to Honda light Blue...(right turn)

4 connection plug...
Black to Honda Green (ground)
Brown to Honda red (at switch or from battery...always "hot")
Red to Honda Black (power buss when key on)...
Blue...N/A (or fuel level sensor)....


Single plug (yellow)....To the pick-up wire you wrap around the spark-plug lead

I wired in the brown right at the ignition key, before the connector. I have the speedo cable adapter for the gauge as well which plugged in nicely. The tach wire I wrapped like 10 X around the spark plug wire. I wired in the resistor that came with the gauge. I have not tested the tach yet, as the tank and carbs are all off now for the winter (and to make the wiring easier)
I made a nice little bracket and it sits perfect now.

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

The current thing I am working on is this nice little dohickey from Pamco.

Plops right in. Its just been cold and I am about 90 % done putting it in. Actually if I spent 5mins in the garage instead of right here it would be in. Anyways...

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build

Ha, just realized I posted a picture of the stock points. OOOPS. Heres a link to what is in the bike...
http://www.cb450ignition.com/



The next mission is my deliberation of opening up the crank case and cleaning out the oil strainer, putting in new fiber plates and springs. I deliberate it because I know its running, I just wont shift into gear with the clutch lever pulled in. (stay in neutral while in gear) It is probably because the bike has sat too long, or because the cable is not adjusted well enough, I can never seem to dial in these clutch cables. When it goes in to get the carbs synched up and a once over by a mechanic I was going to let him put his magic hands on it to fix it. Plus if it needs anything tuned he can do it all in one shot. I am no expert on engines as of yet.
The other reason is because my kick lever is a little stripped and I cannot kick it over fully every time. I did not want to make a permanently fixed kick lever temporarily just to cut it off because we need inside the crankcase. I am going to have to get a professional opinion on that one.

Other then thank, that carbs will get cleaned up, the tank back on, carbs back on and it will sit until she goes into the shot in the spring.

Thanks for watching thus far.

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build (January update)

Progress report.
An updated photo with all the wiring finished. I left the Acewell sensor yellow wire and area only partially wrapped up, in case I needed access to it later when there are potential wiring problems. Once the bike is ready to go Ill bundle it all up.

When I disassembled the stock CL exhaust I found some issues with the mufflers. Unfortunately they could not be used. I am working on a bracket and positioning and overall length of the headers. Here are some dry fit photos.

The heat shields are in perfect condition. I will probably use the smaller one instead of using the header wrap I planned on in the beginning.

 

[Vintage Junkie]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build (January update)

What kind of the dog is that? Is it a Schnug by any chance? Lol ;D

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build (January update)

Border terrier.

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build (Feb update)

Been bust shoveling snow and redoing the bathroom. Also started taking things off and replacing more things on the Bonneville, but finally I got to the CB.
-Solidified the exhaust, made a bracket template to be fabbed up at work.

-opened up the right crankcase. Changed out the clutch springs and friction plates. It was a good thing I did as the springs were almost half a mil out of tolerance.

old

new

Overnight the carbs will soak in cleaner and then be reinstalled tomorrow. Will also soak the clutch plates and reinstall all that stuff tomorrow, including the cleaned out centrifugal filter.

...And a Bonny glory shot to finish

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 "The Doctor" First time build (July update)

After the timing was dialed in with a strobe I got quite frustrated from burning myself on the headers 12 times so I wrapped them up with mummy wrap.

I finally got the chance to do a compression test and it came out to 140/145, which I hear is good for a dry test. The bike still does not run optimally, might have something to do with the carbs not being synched. In the meantime I got rid of the inline fuel filters. They were bulky and a pain to route in with the fuel lines. I just bought a new petcock and called it a wrap.
The next mission is to check the clearance on the valve tappets. Then the "final" event of carb set up and safety.
On a brighter side, my gf one upped me and just bought her first bike..81 gs400.....jealous

 

[Adamantium]

Re: CB450 Summer of 16 update

Well, lets see.
Since I lasted posted I have moved twice, married, had a kid and bought 5 other bikes...so thats why I am late.
Anyways, short story. Got the bike running, took it around the block then ran out of gas as I approached my driveway. Turned it off filled it up, went to restart and POOF, cam chain gone. Looks like it was worn teeth on the tensioner. Lost cam chain, tensioner, main roller was destroyed, valves, and cylinders. Which is in a way good news.
I have a good relationship with an excellent mechanic. Actually built 450 engines for Ted Sturgess Jr, when he was racing. So Cb got new tensioner bits, valves, cylinders and kick shaft spline, as the teeth were worn off of it. I traded a KZ1000 basket for the labour and now have a SOLID engine. Runs amazing.
Have a new seatpan in the mail, so I can make a bench seat. Also, the led tail light vibed all the resistors out so I have a replacement in the mail, Threw the stocker on for temporary use.
I am running 145 mains with this setup. Runs awesome, so much fun. Will continue to tweak it here and there but this is essentially it.