CX500 - baby steps...

I like to go to the workshop every day if I can - it is good for my mental health, it walks the dog and it means that the bike restorations do move forward, despite the railway getting in the way these days.

Today was no exception, and despite an overnight stay away in the city I managed 20 minutes shop time before going to bed.

You might remember that I had removed the crash bars a while back and I have decided they are not going back on. The upper engine mount studs are very long, and I have noticed in the parts list that Honda superseded these studs and nuts with shorter bolts, presumably since to remove the cylinder head you have to get the stud out anyway, which is a bit silly.

Secondly, I remember from the '70's people fitting these crash bars to CX500s and removing part of the radiator shroud to do it. I've not yet been able to find an uncut radiator shroud at a decent price so for now I have fitted domed nut covers to tidy this area up a bit.

Honda used these peculiar hose clips, one of which needed bolt croppers to get it off - I cut the threaded part. Now, I could replace these with new ones but two things: I like to be careful with money, and I like a challenge.

They are easy to fix. Once I had got it off, I cleaned all the parts on the wire wheel; I then replaced the cut screw with a new A2 stainless M6 x 40, which I adjusted in the lathe to give me an 4mm OD x 8 plain section on the nose, for the washer to fit on. I'll paint it black or silver later.

Last one for the day was this inspection cover:

I bought this to replace a broken one:

CX - a bit more assembly

A few short visits to the workshop sees the CX creeping forward. The fan cowling has a rubber seal where it touches the radiator - this came off with some careful pulling and goes back on the painted cowl with some glue:

The repainted engine hanger goes back into place on the studs we put in yesterday, though the excessive length of the top ones makes me wonder if they are in the wrong way around:

The fan cowling just sits on those studs:

The fan goes back onto the camshaft:

We've got some new stainless nuts on there.

Let's get the CX Moving

It's been a busy month on the railway, cramming in some turns as we approach the quiet season; we've had some family stuff and some parties, and there has not been much time for repairing motorcycles.

It's not all been quiet though. I try the 'little and often' approach, pass by the workshop every day and do something.

Here's the story so far, mostly in pictures:

Camshaft holder in the parts washer

Cleaned, with the old oil seal removed

New camshaft nose oil seal

New waterway O ring

And back in place. This was finally tightened using the small torque wrench

More degreasing

This access cover needs replacing

As I had the radiator off, it made sense to tidy up some of the rusty steel parts.

This is the engine hanger, as removed

And repainted

The fan cowling, degreased and repainted

Both of the calipers have broken bleed nipples. I'm never sure I should attempt this sort of thing - it is fraught with risk for little gain:

I've drilled this out in stages to 6.6, jsut under tapping size for M8 which is 6.9. The remains of the thread come out easily though it has more clearance than I would like and the nipple does not seal at first - I have to improve the sealing surface at the bottom of the hole:

The radiator gets a repaint after cleaning as well:

Bleeding the brakes with a Visi-bleed:

Replacing the brake discs after painting the wheels:

Low strength thread lock will prevent these studs coming out next time. The nuts will be stainless.

Rad & Tacho

It's a well established fact that Honda screws of the 1970's are made of Cheddar with a thin coating of Stilton, and these radiator cowling screws, which face into the weather are no exception.

Fortunately cheese is no match for High Speed Steel and the heads are soon removed.

The radiator cover comes off easily after I have drilled the heads off all but one of the screws.

This exposes the radiator, which is in fine shape and will just need a clean and a repaint. I will run a tap through those rusty screw holes:

Handy use for that cat-litter tray:

Anyone involved in vehicle restoration will understand the presence of the bolt cutters I'm sure. In this case, they made short work of one of the hose clamp screws, allowing me to release the clamp without destroying the wire part

With the radiator off, we can see the fan.

Now the method usually recommended for removing the fan is to push it off with an M14 x 1.5 thread, which, the forums tell me helpfully exists in the front wheel spindle:

Of course, what the forums fail to mention is that the nose of the wheel spindle is slightly tapered, and when you screw that into the fan boss the threads are not engage to full depth. Then, when you put some force on the spindle, the aluminium boss threads strip!

Idiot, should have checked. Now we will attempt to re-cut the thread and use a better quality puller - if not, 9/16 UNC may be an option.

The four engine mounts are used to retain both the fan shroud and the crash bars. The CX looks better without it's crash bars doesn't it:

Much slimmer:

The fan shroud is full of oily muck. I suspect the cam nose oil seal has had it:

Fortunately, there is enough thread in the fan to allow to be removed with an M14 x 1.5 screw:

And more oily muck. The camshaft nose looks wet:

To get the camshaft holder off, I want to relieve as much spring pressure on the cams as I can. So, with one side set to TDC and the valve clearance adjusters backed off on the other side, I can pull the holder off more easily.

Having discovered that the non-functioning tacho was not down to a faulty cable and that the drive spade was not turning, I hoped to find the tacho drive shaft broken or the driven gear stripped.

Unfortunately, it was not to be and I found the drive worm on the camshaft had lost all its teeth.

The only way to fix this is by changing the camshaft. Longer term, I will fix this and I will start looking for a new camshaft. For now, since I know the cam chain does not yet need replacing, I will put it all back together safe in the knowledge that I have freed all the rusted nuts and can pull it apart again quickly. I don't have the bench space to tackle this now. If it transpires that the starter clutch is dodgy - its quite rattly - or the camchain wears out, or the stator fails, then I will pull it apart but since all I have is an instrument failure - hardly mission critical - then it stays together for the foreseeable future.

Sprucing up the CX

You might remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that the CX500 has very old tyres, amongst other faults. It's now wearing a set of Avon Roadriders, a tyre I have been keen to try out; these are the same size as I would fit to the Square Four, so this is a kind of test for that too since Amelia's tyres are 6-7 years old now.

I'm taking the opportunity to spruce it up a bit, while riding around in the last of the warm weather on the SQ4.

I'm painting the ComStar wheels:

I will also blacken the little 'Honda' logos that cover up the spoke to rim joints:

This one was done with silicone:

I've changed the fork seals:

I've replaced the torn gaiters with the original short covers:

I'll polish up the fork legs a bit:

I've acquired an original toolkit:

I've also acquired these little closing panels that fit in the back of the nose cowling:

I've repainted the handlebar clamp:

Now it looks like this:

This piece of tin covers the gap between the bevel drive and the wheel. It's got some black paint remaining on it:

The wire wheel makes short work of that, with some etch primer and Rustoleum Satin Black:

That was a mistake, they appear to have been silver. Here goes:

When I have finished this little lot, I will think about the cowl and the tank; then I will strip off the radiator and sort out the tacho drive.