1968 Honda CB160 Restomod

[irk miller]

Coming in from the Ohio valley and Western Pennsylvania via Von Yinzer and Hurco550 is a pretty decent 1968 CB160. Everything is here, for the most part. Compression is a bit tired at 120psi. More investigating is needed to see where it's most worse for wear, but I don't need much motivation to want to take something apart and modify it. The tank and bodywork is in great shape outside of the bent up front fender, bent handlebars and bent foot brake lever. Someone wrecked it at some point judging by the damage, so the forks probably need some closer inspection. Everything else is here. Most every part will go through some sort of cleaning up or restoration

The plan is for a sleeper restomod. This is a bike I want to look fully stock, but capable of breaking the ton. I have a lot of research ahead of me to figure out where these engines have advantages and disadvantages and what the market offers to soup them up: electronic ignitions, carburetor upgrades, cam, headwork, piston mods, etc.

 

[ridesolo]

Nice! Looks like a nice starting spot, I'm sure you'll nail it.

 

[adventurco]

Sign me up!

 

[Rider52]

I was in Daytona over Thanksgiving. A blue original but not especially nice CB160 sold for $3500 at the car swap meet.

 

[Luugo86]

All in.. can't wait to see what you create

 

[teazer]

A few random thoughts.


Easy and hidden:
bigger bore 2mm Hap Jones kit
Mildest Megacycle cam
1mm O/S valves from Kibblewhite
Valve kit with Ti top collars
Skim barrels and head to raise compression
Ported head
Stronger cam chain - any 219 chain will work.

Easy and not too obvious:
Larger carbs - PW24 from an SL350 or PW26 from a CB77
Replacement CL175 sloper motor - 5 speeds, plus better ports and slightly more fin area for cooling
2 into 1 exhaust

Slightly less easy but invisible:
180 degree crank with matching cam
5 speed from a CB175 - requires some minor welding and machining

Modestly easy but more obvious:
CB175 barrels with bigger liners and pistons
CB175 head or CB200 head for larger valves and more port flow
57mm pistons
Mikuni 26mm or 28mm carbs on new manifolds
CB200 crank, barrels, head but that needs a 200 primary drive and clutch and whole train of related issues to resolve (taller motor)

Ignition:
Dyna from a GL1000 and it comes with a spare module if you stick to 360 degree crank and it fits straight in, to replace the points.
Crank mounted DYNA is great as long as you remove the alternator and run total loss.
Modified PVL, Motoplat, Hitachi, Femsa, Krober, HPI self generating ignition replacing the alternator
Crank mounted Ignitech or Zeeltronic - totally custom would work

 

[teazer]

More old gold

 

[teazer]

And finally from the "archives"

 

[Rider52]

Dang, I gave away a set of SL350 carbs a few weeks ago. I had forgotten about using them on a 160 hop up.

 

[irk miller]

And finally from the "archives"

Wow, teazer. Thank you. This is going to be fun. That road racer in the article is great.

 

[Rider52]

Bob Braverman was the editor of Cycle Guide magazine in the 60s. He built a VanTech framed CB160 road racer in 1967. Here's a link to the article posted on the VanTech web site. https://vantechmotorcycles.com/prod...cer-by-bob-braverman-cycle-guide-october-1967

Braverman also built the 240cc 160 engine using CB77 parts.

 

[Maritime]

I forgo to comment to get updates, now done. Going to enjoy watching this as always Irk!

 

[Hurco550]

Im in. Looks better in your shop than in mine

 

[teazer]

Or you could go full on race bike with all the modifications plus an RS125 fairing. Or more basic racer. You have choices.

The one with fairing has Mikuni crabs, modified kawasaki pistons, cam, and welded and reshaped combustion chamber. The naked bike had 175cc kit, mild megacycle cam, Dyna on the cam, race brake linings, stock carbs and I made 4th place at a couple of AHRMA events when I was dialing it in.

 

[teazer]

Or you can spend way too much on making it look pretty. This one had Hap Jones 2mm oversized pistons, raised compression but stock carbs and cam and could easily do burnouts. I was given the bike and wanted to do it justice, but it costs almost as much to build a little twin as a bigger one. But it went to a good home.

 

[irk miller]

Or you can spend way too much on making it look pretty. This one had Hap Jones 2mm oversized pistons, raised compression but stock carbs and cam and could easily do burnouts. I was given the bike and wanted to do it justice, but it costs almost as much to build a little twin as a bigger one. But it went to a good home.

Now this one is special. Just looked at the RS125 fairings. Looks like about $400 for the upper and lower through Air-tech. That's really not so bad.

 

[Untame]

A few random thoughts.


Easy and hidden:
bigger bore 2mm Hap Jones kit
Mildest Megacycle cam
1mm O/S valves from Kibblewhite
Valve kit with Ti top collars
Skim barrels and head to raise compression
Ported head
Stronger cam chain - any 219 chain will work.

Easy and not too obvious:
Larger carbs - PW24 from an SL350 or PW26 from a CB77
Replacement CL175 sloper motor - 5 speeds, plus better ports and slightly more fin area for cooling
2 into 1 exhaust

Slightly less easy but invisible:
180 degree crank with matching cam
5 speed from a CB175 - requires some minor welding and machining

Modestly easy but more obvious:
CB175 barrels with bigger liners and pistons
CB175 head or CB200 head for larger valves and more port flow
57mm pistons
Mikuni 26mm or 28mm carbs on new manifolds
CB200 crank, barrels, head but that needs a 200 primary drive and clutch and whole train of related issues to resolve (taller motor)

Ignition:
Dyna from a GL1000 and it comes with a spare module if you stick to 360 degree crank and it fits straight in, to replace the points.
Crank mounted DYNA is great as long as you remove the alternator and run total loss.
Modified PVL, Motoplat, Hitachi, Femsa, Krober, HPI self generating ignition replacing the alternator
Crank mounted Ignitech or Zeeltronic - totally custom would work

"The only substitute for cubic centimeters is cubic dollars."

Very cool info. Thanks for the tip on megacycle cams... hadn't found them yet.

 

[irk miller]

The first step is fixing the stock fender. These aren’t as common as I’d hoped, so I decided to save a few bucks and fix this one.

 

[pidjones]

Some pretty bad creases you ironed out there, Irk. Well done!

 

[Untame]

Nice! Mallet and shot bag? Slappers and dollies? English wheel? Did you have to anneal?