Complete newbie from Indiana, going on a journey.

[JCrimson]

Yeah, it looks pretty gnarly. I cleaned up the sleeves a bit to get the sludge off. What should I use to clean them up, I don't want something too abrasive. Do you think these can be salvaged? The parts for the motor will probably reside in my room for the rebuild of the engine, should I do anything to maintain the parts to protect them from moisture in the air?

 

[trek97]

a tub and a couple gallons of evaporust.

 

[teazer]

Those liners are pretty bad, but they can either be cleaned up or replaced. Run a hone through them (available at Sears) and measure the bores to see what size they really are. There's a couple of sellers of stock OEM type pistons and 64mm big bore pistons are also available but really need larger liners.

Early model CB and CL 72/77 used a friction plate made of phenolic resin and they rarely broke, but later style aluminum cored plates are better. Clutch plates are available. If the clutch drum is badly worn, they can be replaced or repaired.

That gasket set looks good. It even includes the paper gasket that sits between the two halves of the oil pump.

Those pistons can be retired to a shelf, but the real question is how is the crank. They are hard to repair because the big end pins are fporged integrally with the main crank wheels and have not been available for decades and were never available in teh US. I sould a few of them with my last bike in Australia.

The motor is basically the same as a CB72 and many parts interchange. The CB has a tacho that the CL does not IIRC, so the cam end is different and so is the end cap, but they are interchangeable. I have good used cams if you need one or both halves.

That bikes is a real late build 67 or 68 and has the alloy fork sliders and steel flanged wheel rims and they are fairly rare. It also has larger CB77 style hubs and brakes , which is good. The motors are very simple and need few special tools but there are some tricks. For example the inlet and exhaust rocker arm pins look the same but are 0.5mm different in diameter and must go in the correct spots. Any 215 cam chain will work but it must have the correct (matching) connecting link. I use BT05 chains for an SR500 with matching links because they are less hard on the cam chain rollers. There are a few different chains that are all 219. They come with different pin diameters and different side plate thicknesses and all fit the same applications, so the link must match the chain if you lose or damage the one that comes with a new chain.

Primary drive chains tend to crack side plates so check those carefully. They are not available AFAIK.

Try not to hack up the frame until you are really sure what you want the bike to look like. Te geometry works best with high bars, so hold off on the clubmans for now. As to powder or paint, we all have different opinions but to me a 12 buck rattle can beats a $300 powder job hands down. For the swingarm, you can install needle rollers and the steering head bearings are the same as many other Hondas, so they should be easy to source. Or go with bronze bushes from any Honda specialist.

What might work is a general clean up and get it running with a better paint job but with a more or less stock look and ride it before you plan on irreversible surgery. Maybe a set of Fat Bars to clean up the front end.

Get over to honda305.com and introduce yourself. There are some crusty older guys there (like me ) but they have parts and knowledge. Ed Moore (Loud Mouse) has more CB/CL parts and experience than anyone else on the planet when it comes to stock bikes and keeping them running. He's not into modifications as a rule.

Good luck with the project

 

[JCrimson]

Trek97 - I will definitely look into evaporust. I want to try and salvage as much as I can.

teazer - Thanks for the response and wealth of information. I'll try to address your information by paragraph.

My uncle may have a hone that I can use to clean up the liners. They don't seem to be scored or anything, just pretty dirty and a little corroded.

I've included a picture of the clutch basket, and the sides of the clutch plates, I'm not sure if you can tell what they are from the picture? The pistons per the markings are .75 over and are for a CB77, so to my knowledge the engine has been bored a bit, what is the next step up? I assume the CB77 pistons are interchangeable with the CL77? I have some pistons in my spare parts box, but I'm betting that they are the stock pistons.

The cam chain was replaced 10 years ago, it still is greasy to the touch and seems to be in great condition. The bike was never ridden after the engine was rebuilt. I have included a picture of the cam shafts with the chain.

From talking to my uncle, his father in law had received a CB77 and a CL77 in a deal, both as parts. He may have been blending the two together by the time he gave the bike to my uncle. So that may explain the hubs and brakes.

The motor will be sitting in my room, until the beginning of the new year when I can afford some of the rebuild kits. I've put a little bit of oil on the moving parts to lubricate and protect them, is there anything else I should do? I've referenced the Honda305 forum quite a bit, I'll be sure to create a profile soon.



Here are some more pictures I took of the engine, including markings on the pistons.

 

[teazer]

Those appear to be OEM CB77 pistons. If the bores clean up OK, you may get lucky. In the picture of the top end, the cams look to be really good.

Clutch plates are aluminum cores which are consistent with the late build. Primary drive side looks clean.

I 'm sure that late CL used CB hubs and brakes, so that should be OK. Keep everything well oiled.

 

[JCrimson]

After a long and cold hiatus, It's tax time and that means it's time to purchase some things to get this engine running again. I've reviewed the comments on this post and have come up with a list of things to purchase.

Engine Gasket Kit:
<a href="http://www.classichondarestoration.com/Honda-CB72-CB77/305-Gasket-Kit/prod_9.html">Classic Honda Restoration</a>
or
<a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-Honda-motorcycle-engine-gasket-set-CA-CB-CL-77-Dream-Hawk-Scrambler/121267941872?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.RVI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20192%26meid%3D4677483354242207185%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D9059%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D360695729640">Ebay Kit</a>

I've broken some of the bolts while removing the side covers from the engine, I was considering purchasing a
<a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-60pc-Bolt-Set-Honda-CA72-CA77-C72-C77-CL72-CL77-CB77-CL350-SL350-SL125-/400526740724?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d41410cf4&vxp=mtr">Bolt Kit.</a>

Would this piston ring set suffice? Or should I look for newer parts? <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-1968-1969-Honda-CL125A-SS125A-CB-SS-125-Piston-Rings-75mm-oversize-OEM-NOS-/301066030688?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AHonda&hash=item4618ef0e60&vxp=mtr">0.75 Piston Ring Set</a>

As far as purchasing a hone, the local Sears is currently liquidating all of its merchandise and I may be able to find a hone there. I'm going to be checking tomorrow, during the day.

Is there any possible way to salvage the pistons that I've got?

Thanks,
Jake

 

[JCrimson]

If anyone remembers my original post, i was questioning whether or not the CL77 may fit in the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee. After last night, I would say that I probably could have fit two.

We drove over to mark13018's place to pick up a 1971' Honda CB750 for my brother. All we had was my brothers Jeep Liberty, and we managed to make it fit after wrestling with it for a bit. It never dawned on me that I'd actually never seen a CB750 up close, nor did I know how much bigger it was.




Comparison to the CL77 frame.



As for myself, I've been cleaning up some of the parts waiting for a set of JIS drivers to get here. I researched a lot of different methods for cleaning off rust, and decided on using vinegar again, since that is what I used to free the pistons. The vinegar does great with hard metals, but really chews through aluminum. I hadn't researched enough information and may have ruined the piston sleeves, sadly, but I was probably going to be needing new ones anyway. I'm still unsure if my current pistons will suffice, as well. After I've stripped the metal with the vinegar, what should I put on them? I've heard of metals flash rusting before, is that a possibility? I've been putting a light coating of oil on them.



I've also purchased a gasket set for the motor and will work on disassembling the lower half of the motor sometime on Tuesday, hopefully everything will look okay!

Could I get this moved to the projects section? (If there is not where it should be)

 

[JCrimson]

A little update, I've spent some of my time over on the Honda305 forum.

I managed to get the case apart a week or two ago. The bottom end looks to be in pretty good condition. I'll be buttoning it up here soon, after I sell the CB450 Speedometer on eBay and make gather some project funds. One day left! Bid on them!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Honda-CB450-Black-Bomber-Speedometer-Tachometer-/181352388617?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a3971d809&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Honda-CB450-Black-Bomber-Speedometer-Headlight-Bucket-/181352393148?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a3971e9bc&vxp=mtr










A member over on the Honda305 forum, I found out, lives only a couple of houses away from me (small world) and he offered to come take a look at the transmission for me. I need a couple of odds and ends, but nothing too major, aside from the pistons and sleeves.
According to the piston markings, the pistons I have are 3rd over or 0.75. Tom took a look at the pistons and the sleeves and said that I may be able to bore them to 4th over and here is where my trouble begins. I've looked through eBay and parts sites and have yet to find anything larger than 2nd or 3rd over. Is this worthwhile to do? It would save me some money on the sleeves, but I would still need new pistons and rings, and even the rings may be hard to find.
Another problem, I could kick myself in the ass for, was that I submerged the camshaft into vinegar for a bit to try and clean it up. (I know how unintelligent this was, so don't remind me) It chewed through all of the bearings. If I purchased new bearings for the camshaft, should the camshaft still be salvageable?

Thanks,
-Jake