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1979 Honda CBX 1000 Cafe Racer

11K views 40 replies 13 participants last post by  le skid 
#1 ·
There's a long list of bikes from the 60's, 70's & 80's that I hope to own and enjoy at some point in my life. I kick myself for not buying early Z1's, RZ's and RG's when they were so cheap, 'cause they've gone through the roof.
I'm fortunate to have been able to fill my garage up with some interesting vintage bikes, but it's getting full in there, and I said no more unless I was going to let something go, in order to make room for another...that didn't last long.

Last June, I saw pictures of a scruffy '79 CBX on-line and mulled it over for a few days. It was too far gone to justify a proper restoration back to original specs, but I figured it was perfect for what I wanted...a period 70's Café Racer. Back in the days of the "Universal Japanese Motorcycle", if you wanted a sport bike, you "rolled your own". I've never cared too much if my vintage bikes are totally original, I've always leaned more towards period correct performance parts and modifications. If I'd had my 305 Superhawk back in the 60's, it would have had megaphones etc and naturally my H1 500 would have had expansion chambers back in the day too. And the same can be said for tracking down Yoshimura pieces for my '86 GSXR 1100.

The shop in Calgary were firm on $2500. I knew it was incomplete, but it was a runner and I knew it was unlikely that I'd run across a CBX project again for that kind of money. I started poking around on eBay to see what was available. So I grabbed a trailer and ran down to have a closer look, the ad pictures didn't do it justice. It was bastardized beyond expectations, I never realized it had a "wide glide" front end. Years ago, there was a local custom shop that built a lot of bad choppers and bobbers, based on Japanese bikes, because they were cheap.
My "new" CBX was a victim of that shop, I'm surprised that someone paid to have this thing commissioned, but... "it takes all kinds", or some crazy bullshit like that.

It was obvious that the back of the bike had been "bobbed", I figured we could just weld in a new hoop to fix that. The gas tank was puzzling, it has the original bottom to fit the unique CBX trellis frame, but I was told that someone had grafted a huge Yamaha skin over the top. I spent a long time going over the front end. An intrepid craftsman had fabricated crude upper and lower trees and lavishly dipped them in chrome. The fork tubes were now spaced out an extra couple of inches on either side. In order to use the original brake rotors, giant aluminium hockey puck spacers had been placed on either side of the rim. The front fender had also been modified with a chunky bracket to meet up with the forks, again strangely crude but someone went through the trouble and expense of chroming it. I get the whole wide glide front end concept, but it looked silly with the stock spindly forks and skinny front wheel. I was satisfied that I could build something with it. Then they started it up, it idled fine and they revved it up...6 cylinder bike engines have a unique scream...I was sold and brought it home.
I stuck it in the corner of the garage and started collecting pieces for it.

Cheers,
Scott
 

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#30 ·
I'm really happy with how the exhaust turned out...the ceramic coating looks great and my body guy did an awesome job working the dents out.
I also scored a complete set of drilled rotors and a very rare Metmachex swing arm...later I'll get it powder coated black, when I do the frame.
I got a spin on oil filter adaptor to allow me to upgrade from the stock paper element.
I'm going to run the stock brake calipers for now...custom braided lines are next.
 

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#35 ·
Time for an update.

I had custom braided brake lines made and rebuilt the calipers last Fall, it sure made getting it off the trailer easier with brakes.

I wasn't really ready to pull the engine, as the garage was pretty congested, but my buddy Carl stopped by on New Year's and I knew it was a 2 man job. I don't get a lot of visitors due to the pandemic, so I took advantage of the help...it was heavy!

Once on the bench, I checked the valve clearances. I had to buy a few shims and swap a few around to bring everything up to spec.

I knew before I could get serious about the CBX, I needed to finish restoring my Royal Enfield side car. It turned out ok, I quickly sold it and bought a nice original '71 Norton 750 Commando.

With some floor space freed up, I finished stripping the bike.
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#36 ·
This Spring, I loaded up my car with parts to get powder coated.
The frame showed several flaws once it was sand blasted and was returned to me before they would coat it. I filled in a few pin holes with my mig welder, removed some old splatter and smoothed some of the welds.
In the end, the frame turned out really nice.

I'm resurrecting an '84 Cagiva (Ducati) 650 for my paint & body guy. I don't do a lot of work for other people, I have enough of my own shit, but this will cover the metal work on
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the CBX tank and the eventual paint job. I need to commit to getting it done, the next time I'm home from work. That seat is so awkward looking, I need to find something that flows a little better with the rest of the bike.
 
#37 ·
I wasn't a fan of the Comstar rims and I want the bike to have more of a 60's vibe.
Bspoke Wheels in the UK convert Comstars to spoked rims. They machine the original hubs, make some adaptors and lace them to new aluminium rims.
I took the plunge, cut away until the hubs were free and mailed them off.
It took a couple months, but they just arrived. I had the option of going a little wider for both, and will be able to fit modern size tires.
I worked some over time and rewarded myself with a new set of Ohlin's.
 

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#38 ·
Those rims are works of art. That bike will ride better than when it came out of the factory, especially with those Ohlins. I can't even remember how long ago it was that I packed-up & shipped my buddy's front-end to you.

I guess this is not a rush job! It's nice to follow your progress - kudos.
 
#39 ·
CBX carbs are notoriously finicky to set up, there are restoration manuals solely devoted to them and there are a few specialists who make a living restoring them.
I sent my carbs in late December to a guy in California, who does really nice work. I wanted the full package, polishing, new hardware, re-plated brackets etc.
I knew I was dealing with an older gentleman, so I tried to be patient. Phone calls always went to voice mail, he wasn't big on returning emails but liked to text. I explained to him that I work at a remote mine in the Arctic and my phone doesn't work there, so emails were best for me. I get a text a month later asking if I'd ever sent the carbs. I chase down my Canada post tracking # and sure enough, it shows the carbs were delivered to him. Oh he says, I'll check my box...that's when I started to get an uneasy feeling, but thankfully he confirmed that he had them. A couple months go by and I enquire about them...yes, he'll get to them, they are in the que.

In June, I get a late payment notice from PayPal...WTF?... the carbs were done a month prior. He's worked himself up into a frenzy because he's been spelling my name wrong on emails and I haven't been replying. I land in Montreal, turn my phone on and get a shitload of texts. I told him that it's always disappointing when the service provider doesn't listen to the customer, I would have paid immediately, if he'd emailed me as instructed.

Anyhoo, I get a tracking number for shipping and patiently wait.
After a few weeks, I contact UPS which is an absolute shit show. You can't actually talk to a real person, the automated answering service and virtual assistant just spin you in circles.
I had to file a lost package claim in order for them to look for my carbs. I don't want a claim, I want my carbs back.
I let carb guy know that they are MIA, he stopped using the mail for shipping but had never lost anything with UPS up to this point.
They were scanned at a warehouse and then the trail went cold.
I asked carb guy if there was any insurance on my package, my invoice showed that I paid $125US for what should have been a 3 day trip.
UPS has forwarded a claim to him. Anything I read, suggests it wouldn't be more than a hundred bucks anyway. No further communication from carb guy.
So I paid $200CDN to ship the carbs to the States, $1400US for the restoration, $125US for return shipping...used carb cores are $700-1000CDN if you can find them.
My rough math says I'm pretty much shit out of luck for 3 grand CDN. It's going to take a while to get over this, the project is shelved for now. All of my funds are currently set aside for Bonneville next week.
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#40 ·
I'm talking to a guy in Finland, who has a used American Turbo Pack kit for the CBX. It's tempting...because turbos are fun. My '86 GSXR 1100 with a Mr. Turbo kit is an absolute blast.
However, it would mean rods and pistons for my CBX too, upgraded ignition and the build would continue to snowball.
And I've found a guy in Montreal who's parting out some CBX's and has carbs, I just don't know if I want to go down that path again with used carbs.
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I think at this point, the smart thing to do would be to just buy a new set of Kehein CR's from Sudco. They used to seem so expensive at $2500US, but I've wasted more than that on the bike now.
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