What have I done!? CBX!

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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#16

Post by Rat »

I'd put a tiny windshield on it and go riding ....

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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#17

Post by desertrefugee »

Well, the deed is done. On the way down, my buddy and I agreed that I'd walk if this wasn't a slam dunk. (Good bones, good paper, etc. etc. etc.) I am of the opinion - and he agreed - that it is all the above and maybe a little more.

It is in fact a one owner bike. I have the original title issued to the owner when the bike had three (3) miles in 1983. Yes 1983. He bought it still in a crate in '83. Said it was supposedly one of the last crated CBX's left. Too bad he was not of a slightly different mindset. He has money. He made quite a few less than desireable mods, in my opinion. At one time, he said he had four of them. He's old now and, for some reason, this was the last of them to go. I wouldn't have even been there if the price had not been one I simply could not ignore.

I'm not a flame fan, but these were done professionally in Daytona by some guy from Chicago named Gilmore. The paint is exquisite. Waaaaayyyy too nice to cover up. I'll have to learn to like flames. It has a few mods. Forks are now air. That came later, but this system was not Honda. Motor was painted black and needs a respray. It was dropped on the right side off the kickstand and two fins are broken on the head. (Bummed me out). Not bad and I think I can smooth them out and make them appear "normal".

It's dirty. Been sitting in a garage for ten years since last run. Stabil in the tank. No rust. (It's Arizona). No rust not just inside the tank, but anywhere. It will clean up nicely.

There was no battery. I took a powertank and very carefully bumped it over until I was assured there was not fuel in the cylinders. (These things don't like that either - and even throw rods through through the case in extreme cases). It was clear and spun over healthily with good compression. I spritzed some WD-40 into the four outside cylinders and hit it again and danged if it didn't fire and try to run. I was sold. Gave the man the money and loaded it up.

Hook, line and sinker:
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Crowded house again
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Flames or not, this paint is gorgeous and stays
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I'll be in this chair until the wee hours tonight
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At this point, I'm going to drain the fuel tank, put in some fresh gas and see if I can get it to run as is. I just want to gauge "how bad" the carbs are before I dive in. Doing some reading, folks say that getting your CBX carbs sorted is half the battle in getting one running again. We'll see about that. The carb is remarkably similar to the early GL carbs. Both Mike Nixon and Randakk carry kits and other bits for them.

So, I'm off. I won't post much about it here, but just wanted you guys to know there's another mistriss in the house...
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#18

Post by Lucien Harpress »

That bike is REAL pretty. I'm not normally one for flames, but all things considered, they look about as good as they possibly could.

A motor repaint can't be that bad. From what I gather, dropping the motor on a CBX is almost as cake as you can get on a motorcycle- just drops right out the bottom.

I'll be keeping an eye on this (should you decide to do anything major with it right away). Color me a little jealous. ESPECIALLY about the "no rust" thing. I'm in Michigan. That stuff's a fact of life up here.
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#19

Post by robin1731 »

Lucien Harpress wrote:snip...........
From what I gather, dropping the motor on a CBX is almost as cake as you can get on a motorcycle- just drops right out the bottom.
Yes, but it's heavy.

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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#20

Post by gltriker »

Fuel valve is OFF. ;) tumb2
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#21

Post by Track T 2411 »

Very nice!
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#22

Post by Toehead »

nice score. following with interest.
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#23

Post by desertrefugee »

Lucien Harpress wrote:... Color me a little jealous. ESPECIALLY about the "no rust" thing. I'm in Michigan. That stuff's a fact of life up here.
Thanks for all the comments. The good thing about this bike is that it is not "original" and I have no intention of taking it back. So, I can relax and have fun. (I already am!).

But, to Lucien's point about rust...

...this is the ONLY rust I found on the bike. (Battery door):
Arizona Rust
Arizona Rust
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Exhaust

#24

Post by desertrefugee »

By the way, I mentioned that it has RC Engineering (Russ Collins) headers on it. They are considered one of the better pipes. The PO for some reason never installed the RC silencers. He had a bunch of CBX's and this one was always a migraine inducer apparently. I won't be running the straights. You can see the never-installed RC silencers and their original boxes behind the bike. This was in Tucson during the purchase ceremony.

And, no, I'm not a huge fan of the diamond patterns he put into the rotors.
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#25

Post by wingrider »

You can’t see the rotors while riding...so get it going, and ride the heck out of it and report back! :-D
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#26

Post by raiddrten »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMWurGORq_8

An original survivor and original owner. "The first new vehicle i ever bought" Worth a listen.
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#27

Post by Lucien Harpress »

I take back most of what I said about the exhaust after seeing the mufflers. Not many bikes can pull off the "upswept pipe" look, but I think the CBX is one of them.

(Again, for all that my opinion matters. Your bike, your rules.)

I wouldn't worry about the rotors too much. I had a GL1000 (either my current one or my previous one) with drilled rotors, but stopped really worrying about it pretty soon. Once you start riding, it doens't matter much. In fact, like the above implies, I can't really remember which bike had 'em. In any case, I'm curious if the CBX shared rotors with any other bike...

I'm definitely keeping an eye out for an eventual ride report though. Much as I love the CBX, I'll probably have to experience the actual ownership of one vicariously through others. ;) Best of luck.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#28

Post by robin1731 »

Lucien Harpress wrote:I take back most of what I said about the exhaust after seeing the mufflers. Not many bikes can pull off the "upswept pipe" look, but I think the CBX is one of them.

(Again, for all that my opinion matters. Your bike, your rules.)

I wouldn't worry about the rotors too much. I had a GL1000 (either my current one or my previous one) with drilled rotors, but stopped really worrying about it pretty soon. It was the black 77. ;)
Once you start riding, it doens't matter much. In fact, like the above implies, I can't really remember which bike had 'em. In any case, I'm curious if the CBX shared rotors with any other bike...

I'm definitely keeping an eye out for an eventual ride report though. Much as I love the CBX, I'll probably have to experience the actual ownership of one vicariously through others. ;) Best of luck.
1976 Goldwing Super Sport
1985 Honda Elite
1976 KZ900 Dragbike
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#29

Post by desertrefugee »

Well, I'd be lying if I didn't say this CBX has me hugely distracted from other two wheeled conveyances in the garage. Hard not to. I have lusted after one of these things since they first hit the streets in the fall of 1978. I'm actually relieved that it's not original. Sort of frees me up a bit - if you know what I mean...

I still can't believe there's one sitting on my operating table. Speaking of which, it's likely to be there for a while. Although it's in extremely good shape, it has been modified and it has been sitting up for 10 years. As much as I want to fire it off and see how it runs, I'm gonna pull the carb rack and do this right. Turns out this machine is a somewhat familiar face in the CBX world. The owner as I said had four of them over the last four decades. He wasn't exactly low-key.

Anyway, to pull the carb rack the motor must be tilted forward for access. And that's a good time to pull the cam covers and go through the valve lash and install shims as needed. And clean the nooks and crannies that you can't get to with everything in place.

And let's not forget that the Arizona mean season is fast approaching. That means I will not be spending too many hours in the garage when it's at near or over 100° F.

Just for fun I got a wild hair and set the faring from the GL onto this beast. Positioning is not exact - it would go down and back an inch if it were a permanent fixture. You know what? It doesn't look half bad. Things that make you say, "Hmmm."
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So I may not post very much here on the CBX unless there is some interest, but I'm not going away. Last weekend when folks were streaming through to lay eyes on this thing the "little" GL 1000 with its new Webers ended up being a bit of a star herself. She ain't going anywhere.

Those Weber were and are kicking my butt, and the CBX gave me a welcome break from that beast. I would like to get them tamed before summer and I put her in to suspended animation.

To be continued…
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Re: What have I done!? CBX!

#30

Post by wingrider »

Keep on posting! Gotta love through you vicariously!
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