New To Motorcycles.

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:20 pm

Hello everyone!

Bought a CB900C as my first bike about 3 weeks ago. Been a blast so far. I have been riding it for the last couple weeks seeing what it needs as far as tune ups.

So far...

My clutch is slipping in the higher RPM's, I'm hoping a good motorcycle oil will fix that. I already adjusted the clutch and that isn't the issue.

My front pads rub on the rotors, I'm going to bleed the breaks and grease everything up. Hopefully that fixes it.

I still need to check out the chain to make sure it's adjusted properly.

The only big thing I have noticed is that on start up I have to manually give it gas because it's not getting enough via the choak. I'm going to read up on here a bit and try to give the carbs a good cleaning to see if it helps.

Side from that it's in great condition with a 4/1 exhaust (I want a 4/4) Any suggestions for a good after market?

By the way, I live in the greater Seattle area in Washington State.

wave

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:35 pm

Welcome to the forum, Theo. If you are new to motorcycles, this is the BEST place for you. I just joined this forum about two weeks ago, and I know very little about motorcycles (only owned one other bike several years ago) and even less about the DOHC Honda's.

However, these guys have been so great that I feel confident that I could do just about anything with this bike.

Good luck with your 900, and welcome to the forum.

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:45 pm

Welcome Theo. Another Seattleite roll'n the vintage CB. Nice!

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:50 pm

Welcome!

Well, first of all I'm a little confused on just what chain you might be checking. You have a shaft-drive bike... Laughing

The slipping clutch can often be cured by installing new, stiffer clutch springs. Here's an example from Dennis Kirk:

http://tinyurl.com/2mlnbg

For the front brakes you probably need to clean your calipers and maybe your master cylinder. For this and other needs, start with the Factory Service Manual (FSM) here:

http://www.cb750c.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=6

Pay particular attention to chapter 2 to figure out all your lubrication/fluid changing needs.

Also, I like to use this on the back of my brake pads:

As for starting, these bikes are known to be cold blooded. You're on the right track with the carb cleaning. Short of that, run about 1/2 can of Seafoam through the next tank of gas. Oh, and before that, install an inline fuel filter (cheap!) between your petcock and carbs in case anything comes loose in the tank. Seafoam often cleans up the minor grunge. Available at most auto parts stores.

Best of luck!
D

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:49 am

You have one of the best authorities on these bikes right there in the area.

Sean Grier goes by the handle SeanG on this board.

Welcome aboard! 8)

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:41 am

go start a fix it thread in tech help, we all can help you from there

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:45 am

Except me. I'm an idiot. LOL_hitting

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:01 am

That's beside the point! Razz

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:24 am

Welcome to the site Theo ... Smile

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:43 am

OldTimer wrote:

That's beside the point! Razz

So you're saying it goes in another thread? Confused

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:50 pm

[quote="nbhab"]

OldTimer wrote:

That's beside the point! Razz

So you're saying it goes in another thread? Confused

[/quoteYOU GUYS IS NUTS,,,BUT I LIKE IT,,GREAT STUFF GUYS,,

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:52 pm

the effects of a thinning ozone[gene pool]is getting to be noticeable

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:04 pm

Theo wrote:

Hello everyone!

Bought a CB900C as my first bike about 3 weeks ago. Been a blast so far. I have been riding it for the last couple weeks seeing what it needs as far as tune ups.

So far...

My clutch is slipping in the higher RPM's, I'm hoping a good motorcycle oil will fix that. I already adjusted the clutch and that isn't the issue.

My front pads rub on the rotors, I'm going to bleed the breaks and grease everything up. Hopefully that fixes it.

I still need to check out the chain to make sure it's adjusted properly.

The only big thing I have noticed is that on start up I have to manually give it gas because it's not getting enough via the choak. I'm going to read up on here a bit and try to give the carbs a good cleaning to see if it helps.

Side from that it's in great condition with a 4/1 exhaust (I want a 4/4) Any suggestions for a good after market?

By the way, I live in the greater Seattle area in Washington State.

wave

Welcome, Theo - drop me a line at shgrier@earthlink.net if you want to go for a ride (granted, it's snowing this weekend Evil or Very Mad

), or need a hand with the CB.

I also offer carb-cleaning/rebuilding services if you don't feel up to the task of doing that yourself. I'm out in Sultan on Hwy 2.

Cheers! beer

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:11 pm

SeanG wrote:

Theo wrote:

Hello everyone!

Bought a CB900C as my first bike about 3 weeks ago. Been a blast so far. I have been riding it for the last couple weeks seeing what it needs as far as tune ups.

So far...

My clutch is slipping in the higher RPM's, I'm hoping a good motorcycle oil will fix that. I already adjusted the clutch and that isn't the issue.

My front pads rub on the rotors, I'm going to bleed the breaks and grease everything up. Hopefully that fixes it.

I still need to check out the chain to make sure it's adjusted properly.

The only big thing I have noticed is that on start up I have to manually give it gas because it's not getting enough via the choak. I'm going to read up on here a bit and try to give the carbs a good cleaning to see if it helps.

Side from that it's in great condition with a 4/1 exhaust (I want a 4/4) Any suggestions for a good after market?

By the way, I live in the greater Seattle area in Washington State.

wave

Welcome, Theo - drop me a line at shgrier@earthlink.net if you want to go for a ride (granted, it's snowing this weekend Evil or Very Mad

), or need a hand with the CB.

I also offer carb-cleaning/rebuilding services if you don't feel up to the task of doing that yourself. I'm out in Sultan on Hwy 2.

Cheers! beer

I would be willing to pay for it the first time for sure. I would like to see how to do it and get a good look at how the carb engine works, I'm used to fuel injection so this is very new to me. How much do you charge for this service of yours?

I live in Bothell and we have about 4 inches of snow right now, good times.

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:12 pm

holysmokes wrote:

go start a fix it thread in tech help, we all can help you from there

I'll get some pictures in the next couple of days and start a thread so you guys can follow it and help out from start to end. Thanks!

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:16 pm

D-Day wrote:

Welcome!

Well, first of all I'm a little confused on just what chain you might be checking. You have a shaft-drive bike... Laughing

The slipping clutch can often be cured by installing new, stiffer clutch springs. Here's an example from Dennis Kirk:

http://tinyurl.com/2mlnbg

For the front brakes you probably need to clean your calipers and maybe your master cylinder. For this and other needs, start with the Factory Service Manual (FSM) here:

http://www.cb750c.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=6

Pay particular attention to chapter 2 to figure out all your lubrication/fluid changing needs.

Also, I like to use this on the back of my brake pads:

As for starting, these bikes are known to be cold blooded. You're on the right track with the carb cleaning. Short of that, run about 1/2 can of Seafoam through the next tank of gas. Oh, and before that, install an inline fuel filter (cheap!) between your petcock and carbs in case anything comes loose in the tank. Seafoam often cleans up the minor grunge. Available at most auto parts stores.

Best of luck!
D

I will need to try that stuff on the back breaks, the breaks kill me. I like quiet breaks. My fronts rub and sound like someone is hissing at me and the rears sound like a little girl screaming every time I use them.

As far as the chain goes, shows my knowledge of the bike eh? Embarassed

So you would suggest NOT replacing the plates in the clutch? Just get new springs?

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:58 pm

Theo wrote:

I will need to try that stuff on the back breaks, the breaks kill me. I like quiet breaks. My fronts rub and sound like someone is hissing at me and the rears sound like a little girl screaming every time I use them.

As far as the chain goes, shows my knowledge of the bike eh? Embarassed

So you would suggest NOT replacing the plates in the clutch? Just get new springs?

The other thing to look at is if the rear pads are binding at all - the rear brake master cylinder on these bikes are prone to gumming up - especially the return hole, which causes the brakes to bind up over time. Squealing could be a precursor to that (and how often do you get the chance to use "precursor" in a sentence? Rolling Eyes

).

As to the clutch plates vs. just the springs - how many miles you got on the clock? Anything over about 30K and I'd be replacing clutch plates AND springs.

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:11 pm

Kind of depends on your wallet. Sean is right on the clutch plates but you just might get some more miles out with just the (cheap) springs. Holysmokes here is even cheaper than me and just inserts washers in with the springs.

If you have the $$ and only want to be in there one time, by all means go for the plates and springs...

Oh, and its BRAKES not BREAKS. I normally don't correct spelling on these informal messages but this mixup drives me nuts. I've actually read messages were somebody was afraid to BRAKE something whilst repairing his BREAKS! For some reason it's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:22 pm

This is one of those cases where I know the correct spelling and it also drives me crazy. I run into the problem of typing while looking over my shoulder at work haha.

I wouldn't mind getting in more than once. I love taking engines apart. I'll probably just buy both, install the springs to see if it helps and if it doesn't put the new plates in.

Sounds like a nice happy medium.

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:38 pm

welcome Theo, with your willingness to try and some help from seanG you can have one good running bike help

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:44 am

D-Day wrote:

Kind of depends on your wallet. Sean is right on the clutch plates but you just might get some more miles out with just the (cheap) springs. Holysmokes here is even cheaper than me and just inserts washers in with the springs.

If you have the $$ and only want to be in there one time, by all means go for the plates and springs...

Oh, and its BRAKES not BREAKS. I normally don't correct spelling on these informal messages but this mixup drives me nuts. I've actually read messages were somebody was afraid to BRAKE something whilst repairing his BREAKS! For some reason it's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

And over here at the Lazy B, it's hangar, not hanger. If you spell it hanger, the old mechanics give you a hard time: "are you building airplanes or sewing clothes?"

Gets pretty old pretty quickly. Often my fingers have trouble with the the "ar" at the end - they always want to put "er". Rolling Eyes

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:46 am

Which plant you work at Sean?

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:49 am

Theo wrote:

SeanG wrote:

Welcome, Theo - drop me a line at shgrier@earthlink.net if you want to go for a ride (granted, it's snowing this weekend Evil or Very Mad

), or need a hand with the CB.

I also offer carb-cleaning/rebuilding services if you don't feel up to the task of doing that yourself. I'm out in Sultan on Hwy 2.

Cheers! beer

I would be willing to pay for it the first time for sure. I would like to see how to do it and get a good look at how the carb engine works, I'm used to fuel injection so this is very new to me. How much do you charge for this service of yours?

I live in Bothell and we have about 4 inches of snow right now, good times.

Snowing heavily here in Sultan as well. Rather than muddy up an already long thread - head over to:
http://www.cb750c.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1019

You can drop me a PM when you're ready to discuss...

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:05 am

RE: the speling mistaiks - I run al my poasts throo my spelchekking softwear

www.bosniansmellpecker.com

never fayls Razz

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:31 pm

We run into a small issue with spell check.

"It's braking the law to take the breaks off your car" <--that shows up as correct in spell check when it's really supposed to be...

"It's breaking the law to take the brakes off your car"