::: PROJECT : Honda CX650 Café Racer - Made in Vietnam
- Thread starter VietHorse
- Start date
Karlloss
Been Around the Block
VietHorse said:
I don't agree Viet, I think your bike is an ideal candidate for bike of the month, as for me it's not just the finished article, which yours is impressive, but the journey getting there. I've asked for your bike to be nominated, hope you don't mind.
VietHorse
Active Member
You guys may like the below pix, where you can see the original bike, the cafe racer in 1st stage design, and the completed cafe racer:
I have somehow imagine the cafe racer after all, but when looking at this pix, I still so surprise that the bike has been transformed amazingly!!
I have somehow imagine the cafe racer after all, but when looking at this pix, I still so surprise that the bike has been transformed amazingly!!
VietHorse
Active Member
Rod this cafe racer to to work two days ago. Total for that day around 50km or so.
Really happy that the bike performance was great.
There are some issues discovered along the trip.
1. Rear monoshock is quite hard. City travel should be fine, but for a long and continuous distance (let' say around 100miles or more). And of course it 's not a good idea for riding on bumpy roads. It may be because of the thin seat as well.
2. First 10km I got the overflow of coolant. You can imagine traveling in city with max speed is 10-15mph with several stops at traffic lights... Ok, that may be an excuse. But I need to take it more serious with the bike itself.
There are some suspected causes:
- The radiator aluminum fins: it's damaged too much, and the air flow of the cooler fan somehow blocked.
- The returning coolant reservoir (tube) design: It may be smaller than the original so it is easy to be overflown. Besides, I made it next to the radiator, and beside the engine, so that reservoir (tube) may be as hot as the coolant in radiator.
I have stopped for a while to get it cooler before rolling again. I have checked the coolant level and found that they are okay in both areas. Lucky me, there was no overflow again for the rest of the day.
For sure I will get this repaired.
3. One of front fork has oil leak. It's minor but need to be considered. I found that the fork tube has a little scratch. I noticed that after cleaning the forks, but I did not think it would leak. Don't know how difficult for getting a replacement tube.
Just did a search on Ebay, there is a right FZR1000 front forks is on sale for $100. Just a reference first, then I will take my time to search locally to see if I can find one here.
4. The gears lever is a bit stiff. My left shoes, damn, that's my working shoes, not the riding shoes, it damaged a bit because of the gears lever.
If you know this bike, you may know the different design of the gears transmission, that 's funny design.
Thinking of making a longer lever with rubber covered.
Other than that, all good.
Should I expect more for a bike which is almost new designed. LOL...
Really happy that the bike performance was great.
There are some issues discovered along the trip.
1. Rear monoshock is quite hard. City travel should be fine, but for a long and continuous distance (let' say around 100miles or more). And of course it 's not a good idea for riding on bumpy roads. It may be because of the thin seat as well.
2. First 10km I got the overflow of coolant. You can imagine traveling in city with max speed is 10-15mph with several stops at traffic lights... Ok, that may be an excuse. But I need to take it more serious with the bike itself.
There are some suspected causes:
- The radiator aluminum fins: it's damaged too much, and the air flow of the cooler fan somehow blocked.
- The returning coolant reservoir (tube) design: It may be smaller than the original so it is easy to be overflown. Besides, I made it next to the radiator, and beside the engine, so that reservoir (tube) may be as hot as the coolant in radiator.
I have stopped for a while to get it cooler before rolling again. I have checked the coolant level and found that they are okay in both areas. Lucky me, there was no overflow again for the rest of the day.
For sure I will get this repaired.
3. One of front fork has oil leak. It's minor but need to be considered. I found that the fork tube has a little scratch. I noticed that after cleaning the forks, but I did not think it would leak. Don't know how difficult for getting a replacement tube.
Just did a search on Ebay, there is a right FZR1000 front forks is on sale for $100. Just a reference first, then I will take my time to search locally to see if I can find one here.
4. The gears lever is a bit stiff. My left shoes, damn, that's my working shoes, not the riding shoes, it damaged a bit because of the gears lever.
If you know this bike, you may know the different design of the gears transmission, that 's funny design.
Thinking of making a longer lever with rubber covered.
Other than that, all good.
Should I expect more for a bike which is almost new designed. LOL...
VietHorse
Active Member
Sonreir said:
Thank you very much.
Just to add up on my comment above before searching as you suggested:
- I have bypassed the themosat on the radiator. Now, the fan will run with max speed as soon as I turn the ignition key ON.
It's quite common Mod for old bikes in Vietnam as we have to ride in City, low speed, several stop, and hot weather.
50gary
Under the Limelight
I have a sportbike electric fan on my CX500 and it's an easy modification and works well. The CX fans have been known to break after years of use and ruin the radiator, not good. Sometimes removing a thermostat allows the coolant to move too quickly through the radiator not giving sufficient time to cool? Just a thought.
Cheers, 50gary
Cheers, 50gary
VietHorse
Active Member
Thanks Gary.50gary said:
The removal, I meant the bypass of thermostat is pretty common in Hochiminh City Vietnam, especially for old Jap bikes here, it's really effective.
Okay, let's see what I did to the cooling sytem:
Yesterday, I took the radiator off, to fix the issue #2 mentioned above.
Yeah, it looks like this when the bike haven't painted yet. Really bad isn't it?
Brought to the mech shop where they are professional of repairing Cars' radiator and cooler system.
They could replace the whole internal stuff of the radiator, just keep the external frame to fit with the bike/car as it should.
They have all the brand new fins and tubes etc... just cut them in shape, and weld them into the frame. They can even make the radiator for the modern bikes, i.e. Ducati with curvy shape.
The mechanic looked at my radiator and say "Damn, it still looks pretty good. You don't need to change the internal stuff, let me take care of the fins for you. Come back this time tomorrow."
We talked about price. He said that if I replace with the new internal, it costs me almost $100. If not, just get them repair the fins, disassemble the frame and flush all the debris inside, then it's no more than $15.
Well, see what I got today:
Close up:
And here, I can see the sky thru the fins:
That worth it for a try, rather than replace with the new radiator or even with new internal parts.
Just a little repaint the frame after they disassemble for flushing:
Reinstated, fulfill the coolant, started the bike. I can feel the wind from the fan thru radiator, unlike before.
Let the bike running idle about 20minsAll fine. No chance for a test ride out. Should be fine, I believe.
Also, if you never see freezing temps, go with a very low concentration of coolant and use almost all water in the system. Water has a much better time dealing with heat than coolant. The coolant is just there to help keep rust at bay and to prevent against freezing.
VietHorse
Active Member
It's great and very practical advice, Soneir.Sonreir said:
I just think of my overflow reservoir. It's a carbon steel tube and I haven't painted inside. It may be rusted pretty quickly. Thinking of making another one from aluminum to avoid rust and help it reduce temp better.
VietHorse
Active Member
50gary said:
Thank you. I just use the normal engine coolant selling in Vietnam market as I don't see any chance this bike need too much consideration about overheated issue.
You are right about the radiator guard. I will get it modified or even get it off if the coolant keeps overheated.
Just rode to work this morning. 15km one way, lots of stops, but rode quite hard when I had chance - no overflow so far.
Way cooooool.................
ApriliaBill
Yeah...I'm old school.
I keep coming back to this bike. I don't mean to insult anybody, but I am not a fan of the CX models, but since I've come to this site, you guys have showed me they have a ton of potential. Especially this bike, love the tank and pretty much everything about the bike. If I was limited to one bike the rest of my life, this bike would be at the top of the list, oh... I dig the color. This is a stellar bike and you sir have talent I'm very jealous of...
