‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

[Ethan]

First off, the members of DTT are awesome! Thanks for the advice and encouragement that I have received already.

Back story: My dad purchased this CL450 new in vermont in ‘69. He rode it from Vermont to Colorado, blew the engine once in Canada, had it rebuilt and rode it for many more years. The bike ended up sitting in various sheds and barns for some decades, the motor seized and a second motor from a K7 CB was acquired. Second motor is missing some parts but what is there seems sound.

The bike was given to me with the requirement that it stayed in the family. Now it will be a father/son project for my 10 year old son and I.

The goal is to put this beauty back together into a sleek, fast, safe, cafe racer style machine that I can teach my boys how to ride on and cruise the mountain passes of Colorado!

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Here is how it sat when I started.

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Exhaust is a little scratched and some rust spots, but overall pretty decent.

Brakes are gonna need a little work!

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

I know a lot of people will tell you not to do this but...

The frame needs some cleaning up and new paint. Still trying to decide if I want to remove some or all of the rear fender and cut the frame to add a hoop for a cafe racer style seat.

I completely disassembled the motor because I had no idea what condition it was in. For all I knew, it was an empty case! Mostly looks pretty good. I got a new gasket set and fresh bolts. Now to clean it up and put it back together!

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Here is a link to the manual that I am using, just in case anyone needs a Honda CB450 Factory Service Manual. Seems to be pretty great so far!

 

[Jimbonaut]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Kudos man, moving right along! Is that the first engine you've disassembled? Love the look of that bike man, have a feeling this is gonna be a good read...

Have fun!

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Kudos man, moving right along! Is that the first engine you've disassembled? Love the look of that bike man, have a feeling this is gonna be a good read...

Have fun!

It is the first engine I've disassembled. Everything came apart pretty easy, thanks to an impact screwdriver I inherited from my grandpa!

 

[Jimbonaut]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Bloody hell mate, that's impressive. I'm inspired - have a CB750 that may or may not require an engine teardown - to date I've done a top end rebuild on a single cylinder thumper but never gone too deep into anything more than that. Definitely following along...

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Don't be impressed until I can get it back together and running! Tearing it down is the easy part! It just takes a good manual, some good tools, and lots of little baggies...

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Trying to decide what to do on the frame before I paint it, specifically whether or not to remove the tabs for the side covers. I don't have the stock air filter so I'll have to either replace it, or get some kind of air pods. I like the look of the pods, but from everything I have read they don't perform as well as the stock box (or are just a pain to tune). Has anyone found a happy compromise? I saw these from Steel Dragon Performance. Anyone had any experience with them?

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Another question, should the wheel spokes be replaced? They generally don't look too bad, some rust on the nipples and a little oxidation. I was thinking of taking the wheels apart to properly clean and polish the drums and wondered if it was the right thing to do to replace the spokes.

 

[adventurco]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

They look in pretty good shape in the pics and look like they would clean up pretty well. Stainless spokes can be fairly pricey but there should be lots of aftermarket options available on eBay etc for cheaper. I have had mixed results with eBay spokes, the ones I put on my XL350 barely fit and started corroding about 6 months after I installed them (before any riding). The eBay set I put on the 360 were better quality.

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Thanks advCo. No worries about metal fatigue with these old spokes? I'd definitely rather keep the originals and just clean them up, but don't want a wheel coming apart!

 

[Jimbonaut]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

The spokes on my CB750 were in pretty rough shape - way worse than yours. I decided to restore them rather than buy new sets, bit of a lengthy job but they came out looking good and after a year or so still do. There's factory plating on them (they're not stainless) which you may end up stripping. I made a fairly ghetto rig by clamping a dremel into a bench clamp, sticking the spoke in the dremel and used wire wool to clean them up. Once I got the oxidization/rust off then I clearcoated them with some 2K clear I had left over from my gas tank. Job's a good'un. I can link you to the thread if you like which shows a couple of photos of what I did.

As far as I know metal fatigue is not a huge concern, unless of course they're totally rusted out. I even had a few bent spokes too, which I straightened out.

 

[teazer]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

The spokes should continue to be strong enough. The only thing to watch is that if you wire wheel them, it tends to strip off all the zinc or cad plating and after that they rust. What I do is remove them and clean them up and get them re-plated and heat treated, but that's almost as expensive as just replacing them.

Zinc is better on spokes than chrome, though I have done both. In either case, they must be baked after plating to remove the hydrogen which causes them to become brittle. The plating shop can do that for you if you go that way.

I have also just spray painted spokes and that looks OK and works fine too.

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Headed to the auto junk yard tomorrow with my boys to hopefully find a donor bike...

Engine parts needed:
starter
clutch
clutch cover/right crank case cover
oil pump
oil filter and cover
generator rotor
generator stator and left crank case cover
starting motor sprocket, starting sprocket set plate, starting sprocket
exhaust flanges
oil drain plug

Depending on what I find I'll also look for another front and rear fenders, carbs, etc.

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Does anyone know if there is an issue with using the K1 style breather cover/plate on a K7? I know the older models had the breather on the intake side, and the newer models had it on the exhaust side.

The vent is busted in the one I have from the K7 engine (bottom in the pic), but I happened to have one from a K1 model (top). The only difference I see is the plate design and that the old style has two breather holes instead of one. Looks to me like I could use the older (nicer) cover with the newer plate and install it on the exhaust side.

 

[Ethan]

Re: ‘68 Honda CL450 - First Build

Is this pitting something to be worried about, or dealt with?

 

[Hurco550]

I wouldn't get to worked up about that pitting personally as long as everything else looks kosher, bearings ect

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[Ethan]

Thanks Hurco.


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