Cx500 piston complete

Ok. Got the piston done and it slides in like a glove...well lika a hand in a glove. Anyway, this means the brake system us ready for installation.

CX500C front brake piston

So, what do you do when the front brake piston on your project bike is a pile o corrosion and they don't sell them anymore?  Make your own out of stainless silly!  Yahtzee!  Better then the original chrome plated hunk.

Side job

I got recruited by a friend to rebuild the carbs on his 1979 Suzuki GS425. It was a smooth job with little drama, but I did notice these little baffles on the engine side of the carbs. I am very curious about why the engineers would want to interrupt flow like this. I will have to ask wiser people then I. 

Back together again

So the bolt that was broke was a specialty item called a dowel bolt. And honda is fresh out of them so I made a replacement at work and drilled it for safety wire. Here is a pic of the finished product all patched back together. And then a pic of the engine buttoned up and ready to go back in the bike.

More woes

Replaced the dowel pin on the ignition advance and got the bike running only to hear a noisier then expected clicking from the valves. Bad valve gaps? Lack of lube? Nope. I cracked the valve cover and peaked underneath to discover one of the cam sprocket bolts had broken. Back out the motor comes.

Advanced ignition

Worked on the CB350 a bit. It ran directly after the engine rebuild, then started backfiring and popping through the carbs. Reset timing a few times with points and such with no luck.  Finally traced the problem to a 3mm dowel pin that keeps the mechanical spark advancer in place.  It was too short and had slid out. A quick visit to the local shops quickly proved futile as "were americans dammit and we only keep standard hardware on hand". Sigh. Got an order off to mcmaster so should see my new dowel pins soon. Here is a pic I took of the mechanical advancer. Kinda cool.

So I got the 350 running again, then had it start acting up.  While running the valves seemed extremely loud even after re-setting them, so I was wondering if it was lack of lube or just the tank not being there.  (I should actually set it back on their and see).  Anyway, as I was playing with it, began popping and misfiring and then came to a stop with a loud “huuuooff” through he carbs.  I disassembled the ignition  advance to find that my chintzy steel pin I had made had sheared.  As I was squatting down looking at the advance unit I swayed forward and gently grabbed the bike to steady myself.  The part I grabbed was the exhaust header,  I had a sensation of burning then cursed and yelled as I flapped my hand in the air.  I observed a nice set of red marks on two of my fingers and my thumb.  Just then my CD player began playing a song I absolutely hate….and I knew, I immediately needed a project win or I was going into the house to drink…. I ejected the offensive CD and whipped it in the general direction of the trash can and looked vainly for something I could accomplish that would fulfill this win need.  And my eyes came to rest on the aftermarket springs I had bought for the Kawasaki ZR-7.  With a  war whoop and throbbing hand I put in some old swing music and attacked the Kawasaki.  Soon I had the springs out, (the stock ones were really thin, anemic, sad little affairs) and was reading up on how to cut the spacer for correct preload.  I marked the spacers as instructed and sprinted inside to cut them on my mitre saw. (It was plastic PVC tubing).  Soon I had the forks re-assembled and took a quick jaunt down the street and immediately felt the difference in the suspension.  With this head of steam underway I dragged the CB750 frame out of the corner and assaulted it in the drive way with my angle grinder and the sandblaster, the attached picture was the result. 

I am so glad I burned my hand….

Rear Brake Stay for CB750C

The stock rear brake stay was a little boring so...

I made this little guy out of Aluminum for some bling.