I'm working on an '81 Honda CB650 now, trying to get her back into fighting shape! It's not my bike though, just doing it for a friend, and a new rider also. We brought it to my garage last week around 2:30am in a lightning storm, and heavy rain to boot! That was a lot of fun.[:'(] The few issues I have found so far have been a loose steering stem (or fork bushings), loose cam chain tensioner causing excessive rattle, a dead battery, weak front brakes, and the engine wouldn't stay running without the choke always on.

After removing the fuel tank, and hooking up my auxiliary tank, some how the engine miraculously started running fine without the choke. Strange huh? I synchronized the carbs which were somewhat out of whack, and threw the tank back on. although there is still a small amount of delay in the throttle response, and the bike just doesn't have a whole lot of power either. I have yet to figure this out. I suspect either a faulty accelerator pump, or, the ignition timing may be off slightly.

According to the manual, in order to tighten the cam adjuster, all you have to do is loosen the tensioner bolt, and turn over the engine while tightening it back up. Apparently, Honda decided to use a manual tensioner instead of the usual automatic device. That's fine with me though. One less thing to worry about malfunctioning latter on.

The front end makes clunking sounds over bumps, and the top steering knuckle nut didn't tighten up either. It could be the fork bushings, but I'm leaning towards bad stem bearings.

This is about all I've done so far. Man I love these old project bikes. Especially when I don't have to spend my own money on them![8D]

 

I think that is the first bike I ever rode. Not sure about the year though.

Have fun!!!

 

I have not played with the 650's. Have fun tinkering away!

 

Ok, I've figured out a few more things. Turns out the right coil has been cutting in and out causing the intermediate power loss. However, after ohming out and even switching the coils around, I found the coil itself was not the problem. Both coils tested exactly the same. I traced the problem to the pulse generator. (pickup coil) The yellow wires coming off the pulse generator matched the yellow coded coil wire on the right side that wasn't working. Engine problem solved!

 

I had a 1978 CB450, oh and [sm=ttiwwp.gif]

 

Does it look like this?

 

Very damn close! I'll get some pics up soon.

 

I love all things CB.[IMG][/IMG]

 

O, I can't help myself!
[IMG][/IMG]

 

I love my 1979 CB750K. That has a 1100F engine in it, plus some other goodies. I hump air when I even think of sitting on it.