Kawi2strokes.com Forum

Carb synch is tricky on those, same type linkage as the early Z1 carbs, nightmare. You get them dead on, then blip the throttle, and they go all over the place.....again.

I make a lot if my own tools, and the one for that ring is tricky. But, then, it IS a Honda.

The other problem encountered with syncing the carbs on these little 4’s is that they get hot quick, so you can sync for a little bit, then let the engine cool down a little, then go again....repeat that like 5 times! I think all they ever did at the factory when there were new was get them close and call it good.

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'75 Kawasaki H2C
'75 Yamaha RD350
'75 Honda CB400F
'86 BMW R80
'94 Honda XR650 'street tracker'
'04 Honda RC51
2013 HD Heritage Softail
2013 Triumph Speed Triple R

Ha....try sync'ing a CBX......have plenty of beer on hand as you're going to be there awhile !!!

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Busy doing more riding than wrenching.......

CBX isn't that hard, but it takes more than one type synch tool,to get to the adjusters.

Keeping the air cooled engines from overheating during the process is the giant adverse issue.

It was one of those weekends where you just don't get as much done as you would have liked. Usually I can get a set of wheels built in a weekend including tires mounted. This was a Molasses Weekend. A lot of time was taken up working on the rear hub. I ended up buggering the threads on the bearing retainer and trying every trick I could think of to fix it, and wasting a bunch of time in the process. It isn't like this process was anything new or I didn't have the proper tools, it just went bad. Finally I raised the White Flag and ordered a new hub on Ebay for $38. Here's a pic of the little bitch.



And of course these guys aren't any help when stuff starts heading South.




Whenever I build a wheel I like to add more grease to the bearings, it's an old dirt bike thing I hang on to. Grease is a very expensive part of the bearing assembly procedure at the factory I figure cause there ain't squat in there. You don't want to pack it in just coat one side.




If you buy a quality spoke set from a company like Buchanon's for a common wheel like this, save yourself some time.





The front wheel ready to come off the truing stand. I like using a dial indicator because I can see the deviations easier with my "Experienced" Eyes. You don't need one for truing but for me it is easier.





The front disc will be shipped out to True Disc tomorrow to be ground and drilled in a minimalist wave patter. This is another non stock mod that I like.





It is that time of year again. The Wife, her Sisters, and Friends get together every year to have a super cookie day. Actually I think they drink more Wine than make cookies but hey, that's just my opinion.




MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I don't sub out much, Paint, Chrome, Powder coat, Machine Shop Services, that's about it. But, I think I'm getting close with this polishing stuff as I am developing a kind of hatred toward it, I definitely don't jump out of bed in the morning wisk open the curtains and scream out to whatever Birds are too stupid to fly South, "IT'S POLISHING DAY" Been doing it for years but it is starting to get old. It is a filthy, tedious, and boring process. Anyway, here are the fork lowers with their mars and gouges blended out, bead blasted, sanded, and finally polished on a 1/2" sewn wheel with Tripoli Polish and then again on a 2" sewn wheel with Jeweler's Rouge.




The wheels are now complete after having to purchase another rear hub from Mrmonkeyclaw on Ebay. I almost screwed this one up too. Do not bead blast, even with a very fine bead, the threads on the bearing retainer side of the hub. It's not like I go in there and purposely blast the Bejesus out of them, but they got microscopically screwed up because they are so fine for a large hole is my best guess. I had to take the thread measurement tool you get in a Tap & Die set and meticulously, work it in for a couple of hours to clean up the threads. Next time I will thread back in the retainer before bead blasting the hub, or maybe do a non Honda bike that has cir-clips like the rest of the world.

Tires are Metzler Lasertechs, I like them, but, we will save that for an oil thread. Spokes are the only real choice in spokes, Buchannon Stainless Steel with SS Nipples. I have done a few bikes with OEM Spokes and then, dare I say it, Ebay Spokes, WTF was I thinking? Give your Resto a few years and check the spokes for corrosion and Zinc whitening. SS Spokes and Nipples are worth the money when you think about the time you put into building a wheel.



I will be in South Carolina for the New Year so the project takes a little break. Hoping to get right back to it and have a rolling chassis by February.

Thank You Very Much for following along on my project. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You and Your Family.

KTMGUY....your vacation request to S. Carolina has been rejected....now get back to work....

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Busy doing more riding than wrenching.......

I got a great laugh out of that one Ric. Merry Christmas!

Got back to things today after the Holidays but only had about a half day today, Here is a pic of the front rotor that was sent out to Tom at True Disk to be ground and drilled with a pattern I have used a few times before, I then painted the core. Not stock but these old bikes live to squeak disc brakes and this helps, it also has a great look IMO.



Got the tank prepped for the installation of the Caswel Tank Liner. I use sheet rock screws in all the rinses. Starts with an Acetone, then water, then Citrus Degreaser, Multiple Waters, Phosphoric Acid, Multiple Waters, Acetone, Multiple Waters. It then gets the air dryer for about 3 hours today. It then sits overnight or maybe a few days open in a warm room along with the kit at the same temp, any flash rust doesn't worry me with the kit. I am hoping to have it lined this week and off to paint.



Got back to the forks. New OEM Seals are installed, for the price of seals why buy unknown junk? New Tubes, New Springs, and new Lower Stanchion Stainless Steel Bolts as the ones that came with the bike were stripped and had to be drilled out. I always coat the threads of these bolts with a thin coating of RTV Silicone as an old timer told me to do when I was younger. He said it was like Loctite but easier than Blue to break free.




And then the wheels felloff a simple fork rebuild. The David Silver Spares Caps I ordered do not thread. The old caps thread both the new and old tubes. The DSS caps will not. They look fine but do not thread. Kind of pisses me off as this is a pretty reputable place to buy parts from. My trouble is I bought them almost 2 years ago and this project sat, we'll see what happens. I would just like to get the forks together and all they need is to be capped.



Time now to ring the bell of the Powder Coater and see what we can do to get going toward a Rolling Chassis.

Lots of prep work this weekend. Changed the pickling solution in the plating tank and started plating operations. Once this tank goes on the work bench it doesn't come off till the bike rolls out the door. I try and plate as much as possible in a weekend, going through all the part bags and taking out the parts that need plated, plating them, and then returning them to the bag. This way when I get rolling assembling stuff the project doesn't get bogged down because a single part isn't plated. Still though, there is always something I miss, and then there is a whole motor bolts operation, so the plating tank stays set up and ready to go.



Some plated parts. Check out the corrosion on the middle rod. There is some corrosion there but now with a fresh Zinc plate it should last for at least another 40 plus years. It is good to plate even the parts you don't see.




Powder Coat came back. It is Mirror Black, a Gloss finish. I am on the Gloss Finish side of the fence versus Satin for Black frames. In fact I had to get up from the computer and walk out to the garage to get a fresh beer a few minutes ago. Whilst there, (Don't the UK Folks have some cool lingo) I checked out the 1980 CB750F that is bone stock and that stock frame sure looks Gloss to me.




Triple clamps went on with new Tapered Steering Head Bearings. The Honda's seem to have varying head bearing dimensions. The All Balls Kit tells you to measure the existing ball bearing dimension to choose a spacer for the lower bearing. Well, that's great if you didn't just rip everything out and send the frame to powder-coat. I just measure the distance with the upper clamp and spanner nut and come up with a dimension. This is just like the 750F I did and it needed no spacer.



If you don't have a cheap Harbor Freight Press to do basic press work check one out. Pressing bushings in like this along with swing arm bushings and other stuff is soooo much easier.




Ordered some Honda Fork Caps and got the forks wrapped up. I am starting to loose faith in David Silver spares. The Fork Caps that don't fit is one thing that I can understand, stuff happens. But, the extremely long time you have to wait for anything to get shipped to you is getting old.





Rear Brake is ready to go with new shoes and polish. The reproduction shoes required some small mods to fit but should be fine.



Hopefully, next week there will be a rolling chassis. I am waiting on swing-arm dust seals from David Silver Spares, go figure, right? Thanks For Following My Resto.