Option13's 650

[SirSeanSean]

Have you tried to do any sanding with the frame yet?

[fishball]

My front forks look like yours did Option.  Did you use sandpaper or steel wool for the initial sanding?  Did the shine come from the sanding or applying the Brasso polish?

[gammer]

gammer, the engine "clear coat" you pointed out the has got to be fixed. It looks absolutely atrocious.

I did some research before I went at my aluminum engine covers. There is basically two paths to chose from:
1) wet sand the old old clear off them, polish them up and put a coat of hi temp clear over top to protect the part.
Note: This is what I did to my valve cover.

2) Wet sand and polish the parts and re-apply the polish ever so often.
This is what I did to my engine side covers and when I wax my bike, I apply wax to these parts too. Holding extremely well 

[Option13]

Have you tried to do any sanding with the frame yet?

Unfortunately, no. The rust goes back behind the bodywork and some components, so I'm going to wait for winter to really tear into that. I'd hate to do the job halfway and realize major components had to be removed to access the rest. I'm having way to much fun to volunteer for downtime during riding season. 

My front forks look like yours did Option.  Did you use sandpaper or steel wool for the initial sanding?  Did the shine come from the sanding or applying the Brasso polish?

Honestly, I just used a fine grit foam sanding pad I found in our sandpaper bin. I don't know what its original purpose was, but it worked just fine - probably better than sandpaper just because it's so much more durable. The shine comes from the polish. Sanding alone leaves a beautiful brushed metal appearance if you do it all in one direction, and I debated whether I wanted to polish them or not once I saw how good just sanding looked. I'd say sand and polish one fork leg, and leave one just sanded. That way you can see which one you like better and make the other match. It only takes a few minutes to change between the two once you have the surface clean and to your liking. I'm really happy with how they turned out - reflective, but still with some machine marks. It looks kind of industrial, and says that while it's not a show bike, I do take care of it.

Those forks look AMAZING! I now know what I'm doing this weekend.

You'll be happy you did! Really takes the years off the appearance of the bike!   

gammer, I'm not really sure about what I want to do with the side covers. Once the engine is nice and black, some mirrors on the side would provide great contrast. But the idea I can't get out of my head is to spray them satin black to match the engine, then highlight the recessed HONDA script in bright, bold gloss white. It just looks killer in my mind!

[Option13]

I've been fairly busy fixing the bike up over the winter, especially considering the fact that I was riding a fully functional bike only a few months ago. When I last rode the bike in October the speedometer quit working. When I got home and found the cable end housing broken, I ordered one from the local dealership. That led to most everything else in this post, a cause and effect list that's only semi-ordered.

I figured while it was out of action, I'd install an HID kit. While I was messing with the battery for the kit's power wires I also put in a battery tender cable and did the main fuse mod.



While I routing the wires for the HID, I found a broken exhaust stud. The exhaust had to come off to fix that one.



While the exhaust was off I could easily install crash bars.



I could also easily paint the rust that had been eating away at my frame.

After the HID install was finished, I could get back on the speedo issue. When I put the cable on and turned the wheel to see if it worked. When it didn't, I traced the problem to the speedo gearbox. I'm guessing one failure caused the other. (Two related items failing independently on a 5 mile jaunt? Unlikely.) Found a NOS gearbox on eBay for $30, less than half of what the parts direct guys wanted. I packed it with grease, as the failed one looked a bit lacking.

While I was turning the wheel to find out why the speedo didn't work, I bumped the valve stem. PSHHHHHHHHhhhhh! Went to the back tire and gave that valve a gentle tug. I was left with two flat tires and two valvestems in four pieces. I'm just glad I found that out in the garage and not at speed.  

While I was doing all this, I found time to remove the clear coat from, and then polish, the engine covers.



On a test ride I suffered the embarrassment of a low speed accident. While I was accelerating fairly hard, the bike shifted out of gear (something like that, hard to remember as I was panicking.) I took my eyes off the road and payed for it by hitting a small angled curb on the outside of a turn. Just before the crash,I looked up and began braking in time to control the bike somewhat and bring the speed down to about 10 MPH. Totally my fault. The good news is that the crash bars I had recently installed protected the engine supremely well and only suffered a single dent on the underside, where you can't see it. Only other damage was some scratching of the muffler around the centerstand foot lever and some dirt on my jacket. All in all a small price to pay for a huge lesson.

Also changed the oil over to Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W40. The old oil and filter came out incredibly clean, considering that I botched quite a few shifts and heard nasty noises while learning to ride on this bike. Between the new synthetic oil and having a full sump (as opposed to just above empty), the shifting feels much smoother. The grinding I used to get while shifting at high RPM from first to second has diminished significantly. I also feel that the clutch modulation has significantly improved from it's previous light switch behavior, but that might just be the placebo effect talking.

And now I have developed a new problem. While under heavy braking, going over big bumps, or a combination of the two, a slight clicking feeling or chattering comes from the front end. I'm assuming this is a loose head bearing. Trying to shake the forks up and down is inconclusive, since I'm shaking the entire bike and someone sitting on the back before I can feel anything like a clicking. I just took a hammer and punch and gave the splined nut a few good hits, but it was already quite tight. I'll try to take it for a ride tomorrow to see if this fixes it. If not, does anyone know a more appropriate fix, or perhaps what the real problem is? The steering feels normal, no dents or anything until the front end is loaded up. (EDIT: Took it for a ride and the problem is all gone. If your steering head bearing is a little loose, this is a pretty good way to tighten it up without removing the top triple tree.)

Once I fix that, I've got some new things waiting to install. Fresh 10W fork oil and 700S rotors. Also need to bleed the brakes.

[Option13]

I guess I should update this thread with what I've done to the bike. I changed the title of the thread to suit.

Since the last post, I have...

Done the coil relay mod.

Installed a luggage rack.

Among other things to be detailed later, they can't be shown well when the rest of the bike looks like this.



The steering head bearings had developed a bit of play under braking or over bumps in the road. As I said earlier, tightening the bearing had fixed the problem but it eventually returned. I dug into the front end and was quite disappointed when I saw the rust stained grease that looked more like cosmoline than a lubricant. With the bearings and races out, there is some visible pitting and dents in the races. I've already placed an order to All Balls for some tapered roller bearings. My only concern at this point is getting the wiring back in it's proper place on reassembly. As you can see it's a mess, but I don't know if I could have done it any better. Usually when I see pictures of 650's without the front end it looks much cleaner than my bike does right now.

The most offensive of the pitting and rust.



Also, I'm debating painting some plastic items.



I'm hesitant to paint the transmission cover because I'd hate to watch it slowly get peeled off by my foot hitting it or whatnot. The mirrors, because of the adjustment mechanism, and the fuse cover, well, because I'm too cheap to buy a can of paint to paint one item. I've got Krylon Fusion gloss black paint, and that would mean I'd have to spring for another can - flat black. A glossy fuse cover would just look... out of place. Anyone else think these parts being glossy would just look cheap?

What else I have to do before it sees the road again.



The clutch slips when the engine isn't entirely warmed up. After 28 years and almost 26,000 miles, I figure the clutch has given up the ghost. New clutch plates, a MC rebuild, and stiffer clutch springs should take care of that. The spark plugs are, at best, 8,000 miles old and they're supposed to be replaced every 5,000. And the usual spring oil change - she's still burning a bit of oil. Maybe one day I'll give it a Fourtyhourdays style rebuild, but that day is hopefully a long way off. Lastly, that Motul Fork Oil from the previous post - I still haven't put it in.   At least it's easy to do with the forks off!

[Option13]

The bike is back in one piece, but certainly not back to full strength. It's got new tapered steering head bearings, spark plugs, and I painted the fuse cover satin black. I've been struggling to get to this point. I've had a few problems with the ignition switch, and my tail light has had some issues.


The bulb would light up, but neither the foot brake or handbrake would engage the second filament to make it brighter. The bulb checked out as okay, so I looked into the harness. Checking the connections, I found that one was loose and wiggling it fixed the problem. I crimped the female connector a bit tighter and all was well again. Sounds simple, but it was a pain in the rear with the new luggage rack. I had to remove the rear cowl because it makes it difficult to sneak my hand back in there.  

The battery doesn't seem to be doing so well. I've got it on charge right now, but I'm guessing it's done for.


I got fed up with fiddling with the HID mounting places, so I took it off. The wiring is still in place, but the core components have been removed. I like the HID itself, but without any place to hide it on the bike, it's just a pain to work around. I plan on getting a quarter fairing on the bike one day, and when I do that I'll probably reinstall the HID. Till then I'm rocking the halogen bulb again.


Lastly, there's this. I think the HID might have contributed. Might be a factor in whether or  not I reinstall the system.



That is a thoroughly nuked connector.   Guess I'll be ordering a new connector. The solenoid might be salvageable though, if I can clean off the male counterpart to the melted connector.

[SirSeanSean]

Are you using an original solenoid or a newer one with a blade type fuse? If you do end up replacing it with a newer one, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Starter-Solenoid-Relay-Honda-CB650-NIGHTHAWK-79-85-/180699067350?pt=Motors_ATV_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2a1280f3d6#ht_664wt_780, the connection is backwards. I have the same one on my bike and it took me awhile to figure out that it was switched.

Glad that you were able to figure out the brake light (even though you still had to take off the cowl).