Hi From Ma. Just Bought 2nd CB Custom since 1987!(Pics)

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:39 am

Wow, I always thought the CB Custom's were sexy but I never would have imagined that 24yrs after I had owned and ridden a CB650C for a few years that there would be such a huge appreciation for these bikes by so many others and a forum for us all to use with so much info, what a great community here!! When I had my 650 I saw a 900C two tone blue drive past me and hoped to one day own one (couldn't afford at the time)

I've had a few other sport bikes after it which I really enjoyed riding and then finally got married, had kids and went without riding and no bike for 17yrs. Now the time has come and I just can't take not riding anymore. Today I'm going to look at a 83' CB1000 Custom that's for sale and supposedly in pretty good condition in my general area and if it checks out okay I'll be hauling it back to it's new home!

Anyways, just thought I'd introduce myself and say hi & also hope to be a helpfull member here in the forums. Will post pics if I end up buying it, wish me luck as it's rare to find one in good condition these days!

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:31 am

Welcome to the site Next ... Smile

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:29 am

Most of us have been down the same road as you.

I myself wanted to upgrade from the old SOHC 750K to a 900C. The ex would not have it. So many years later and many child support payments later, I finally got one. Very Happy

I have just about worn out all the road around me. Confused

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:55 am

Welcome Next...I wish you luck Exclamation

The 1000's are a good bike and I'm sure you will enjoy it if you get it.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:51 am

W'sup

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:01 am

Thanks for the welcome guys Smile

Oldtimer, idk if you've driven New England roads yet but there's plenty out here that I'm sure you'd thoroughly enjoy wearing out! Very Happy

Well, this past Saturday was one of the best I've had in a while, I almost felt like a kid again Razz

Here's an update for anyone interested, if not just scroll down to the pics Wink

The bike was in better condition than I thought it would be but not without it's faults but I was expecting some. It has 36k miles on the odo and after all was said and done I got him down to $1000 even so I'm pretty happy. He said last time it was started was about a month ago but he did say he put a quick charge on the battery before I got there. First thing i noticed right off was the seat wasn't stock but he did have the original which has a few areas that became unstitched... might be salvageable but not holding my breath.

The engine was cold and it started right up in 12 degree weather.It blew a little bit of smoke for about a minute then it went away once the engine warmed up a little. The engine sounded strong & idled smoothly with no apparent noises that shouldn't be there. It will need new fork seals, has a few tiny exhaust leaks along the bottom of the cyl# 2+3 pipes.No sticking calipers, rotors looked a bit grooved and I'm hoping they can be turned. Tires looked ok with half decent thread and no cracks in them but will replace them anyways for this coming season. Clutch felt ok but unfortuneatly I couldn't test drive it because of icy roads.

Will need to give it a thorough going over when it gets a little warmer outside as it's too freaking cold here in the NE for me to be tooling around with it outside & I have no place to work on it indoors. All in all I'm quite satisfied and really looking forward to riding it this coming season! Cool

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:24 am

Please put the year and model of your bike in the signature section on your profile page and set "Always attach signature " to YES .
NOTE : In order for your signature to show up in posts you also have to check the box that's labeled "Attach signature (signatures can be changed in profile)" when making the next post . This only has to be done once . Thanks

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:32 am

Done!

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:34 am

thanks

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:30 am

Looks like a very good deal...

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:05 am

Nice enough . Smile

The PO must have put that seat on there so he'd have a place to tuck his gloves . Wink

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:58 am

Looks like a good buy.

I have not round anyone that will touch the rotors. You will have to buy new ones if you thing they are that bad. However, a bit of grooving should actually improve braking ability as it adds to the surface area of the rotor.

Before you ride that bad boy much, check your valve clearances and adjust your cam chains. This is the most neglected maintenance items on these bikes.

Make sure your charging system is working properly before you get too far from home.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 10:42 am

Kool deal!

You need to invest in a shent. Wink

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 1:27 pm

nice looking bike!

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:23 pm

Welcome to here wave

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:29 pm

Welcome to here neighbor!
Just dropped you a note in your inbox.
Some of these guys are a little soft in the head but a good bunch. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 1:44 am

pd750 wrote:

The PO must have put that seat on there so he'd have a place to tuck his gloves . Wink

You know, not a bad idea... gloves sure would keep nice and warm there for those times my hands get cold and I need to use them on the fly, maybe I'll leave it that way... lol Wink

OldTimer wrote:

a bit of grooving should actually improve braking ability as it adds to the surface area of the rotor.

I never thought of it that way, kind of makes sense haha Shocked

OldTimer wrote:

Before you ride that bad boy much, check your valve clearances and adjust your cam chains.

This is the most neglected maintenance items on these bikes.

I bet it is...okay, I was honestly thinking of putting it off but now I won't since you & others also pm'd me about it stressing how important it is since I really would like to keep the bike for a long time to come, have it run good right from when I start riding it & help prevent future headaches. The guide's, manuals and links that SeanG posted will help me a ton since it will be my 1st time attempting it. Can't be too hard to do for someone mechanically inclined, right? head scratch

I'm sure it will help me become more confident to attempt bigger things down the road myself because I just can't afford to pay someone else to do it anyways...

OldTimer wrote:

Make sure your charging system is working properly before you get too far from home.

That was definately on the honey do list Smile

Frank wrote:

You need to invest in a shent. Wink

Yes! Been looking at ShelterLogic & Rhino 8x8x8's... On Ebay they're selling for around $169 +$39 shipping to my area.I'm hoping they come down a little in price come spring time. I've read some people complain that they had recieved Shelterlogic's with missing parts though, some said that the manual isn't too clear on how to assemble but most were impressed with the build quality of the Shelterlogic. If there's any other's you may know of that are good and in my price range ($100-$200 Max) pls let me know, thx! Smile

Pointdiver wrote:

Welcome to here neighbor!
Just dropped you a note in your inbox.
Some of these guys are a little soft in the head but a good bunch. Rolling Eyes

Thanks Pointdiver! Check your inbox, replied to your pm Smile

Come to think of it I don't think I know anyone that isn't a little soft in the head except for perhaps myself of course haha! unsure

makes life just a little more interesting imho Mr. Green

Had the bike running for about an hour today to run some fuel stabilizer into the tank and carbs for the next several cold months left and smelled some feint oil burning so did an inspection to find that there was a tiny bit shooting up the tach cable housing/inlet... it's more like it's coming from where you would bolt/tighten the cable end into the housing than the housing coming through the valve cover itself.

I also saw some oil seepage ever so slightly coming out of a very clean looking, empty aluminum colored hole with no threads approx 3/8" round and maybe 5/8" deep just below the front cam chain tensioner bolt+lock nut in the front center of the engine. I didn't see any loose or hanging tubes nearby thinking it might be some sort of receptacle for an oil blow by hose. I gave the FSM a good looking over and it does seem there's a tube of some sort going into it but it's very hard to see. I circled the spot on the image I found in the FSM. If this pic isn't good enough I can try taking another shot at it later with the cell phone camera. Any ideas what it is?

/EDIT-Looks like I found the answer here http://www.cb750c.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=12053 and imo it doesn't seem like a good thing Confused

Quote:

This bolt and locknut sets a sliding tapered shaft that's behind the rubber plug in the front there. That shaft controls the slack-side tensioner of the "B" cam chain that goes from the exhaust cam to the intake cam.

So much for the "good deal" on the bike, now I have some work cut out for me...bah. You think someone tightened the hell out of the tensioner and that's how the rod snapped off? Idk, thinking about it right now is making me a little crazy. I bet anything the cam adjustment bolt threads are stripped and it's only being held in with gasket sealer or something...

I searched the forums for cam chain tensioner replacement but only got through 3 pages without success as I'm tired and a little depressed now so i may have missed a posting. If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it and also maybe suggestions on getting hold of a new or good condition front cam chain tensioner with the adjustment rod attached or even just the adjustment rod if that's replacable. Will I have to pull the engine from the frame in order to gain access to replacing the rod and/or tensioner?

------------

To Moderators - after this I won't make or post anymore help I might need or problems/questions with the bike here in the Welcome section part of the forums... promise Wink

Thanks for the suggestions guys Smile

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 6:40 am

No problem with the posting.

The top picture is your tach cable. It just slides into the hole and meshes with a flat tab (with a gear on the other end) sticking out of an oil seal. Very common for these to leak and an easy fix. The seal has a metal shell coated in rubber. Use a drywall screw to pierce the shell and remove with pliers. Simply press the new seal in with a small socket and you are good to go.

The front bolt you have circled in the cam chain tensioner set screw. The tensioners self adjust when you loosen the bolt and rotate the engine. Procedure is in FSM. If you get stuck let us know. They are simply there to keep the tensioner in the new position. That front bolt is prone to stripping. Tighten only snug. Y

You say yours is stripped and will not tighten?

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:00 am

have a good time

we wear tin foil hats

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 8:54 am

You need to have everything done before June 21st when the world ends

http://www.cb750c.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=12338

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:51 am

OldTimer wrote:

No problem with the posting.
You say yours is stripped and will not tighten?

Nope, I'm saying that I'm missing the rubber plug and that I looked into the area that the plug is supposed to be in and there's no cam chain rod there to adjust either that the cam chain adjusting bolt is supposed to be contacting to turn the rod that adjusts the tensioner and in the back is a tiny hole that oil spouts out from when the bike is running.

The arrows pointing to the cam chain tensioner bolt in that pic I posted were already in the picture and the picture is from the FSM... I circled the area in red that I was trying to explain the problem with.

My only guess is that someone who didn't know what they were doing must have over tightened the adjuster and broke the rod off from the cam chain tensioner itself. I really have no idea why the rubber plug that's supposed to go into the outside of the engine to plug up that hole is missing from there other than whoever may have F'd up the tensioner rod that also seems to be missing panicked and forgot to put it back in to plug up that hole.

I was only speculating that the tensioner bolt+nut were just held into the spot they're supposed to be in with gasket sealer or something as just one more thing that might be wrong. Sorry, I think me saying that may have added to the confusion as I was being a little sarcastic towards who ever may have broken the cam chain tensioner rod that is supposed to be in there.

I really don't know what to do from here on out about the missing cam chain tensioner rod that's supposed to be in that hole behind the rubber plug.

If it's still unclear what I'm trying to say I'll get a pic taken with my wife's cell phone when she gets home from work and post it here in a few hours. Maybe it will help explain what I think is wrong better than I've tried to do with words so far.

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:02 am

Pete just used a faucet washer and screw to plug the hole. Can you just see the adjusting nut/bolt in the hole and it's not touching anything?

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:07 am

What you have circled by the front tensioner adjuster is : ( There's no hose )

#19 below :

91208-422-003
SEAL, PLUG (11.5X7) (Honda Motorcycle Code 0689414) $3.55

This is what that tensioner looks like : # 10 :
( Next to impossible that the rod is broken )

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:38 am

The plug you are missing does just that, plug the hole where the rod for the tensioner goes. This rod is allowed to move inside the tunnel. The bolt intersecting the tunnel from the side serves as a set screw to hold the rod in one position after self adjustment.

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:10 pm

Thanks for the help so far gents, much appreciated Smile

I managed to get a picture a few min ago and I'm going to feel like a complete noob if what is showing in it is supposed to be that way Confused

I hope you all understand that me seeing a gaping hole in the engine with oil leaking out of the 1st bike I've just bought and love after so many years would freak me out a little weird

Wife says I think the worst about a lot of things, I'm beginning to think she might be on to something Razz