Best products from r/HondaCB

TL;DR: If you have the $400, buy the bike. Get some good, basic tools. Read the service manual/watch YouTube carefully! Make sure you have basic bike things (lube, pump, etc)

Ok, so if $400 is an amount that doesn't seem like much to you, buy it. If $400 makes your finances tight or you feel $400 is a lot of cash, I would think twice. Below, I am going to suggest some basic, quality tools to have you maintain the basics of the bike which will add up to more than one normally anticipates. Also keep in mind title transfer fees and sales tax depending on your state. I got my bike for $400 but paid $180 more to transfer it.

I know tools are expensive because I started out with none a few years ago. I was always getting by with just a cheap set of screwdrivers and vice grips which was marring surfaces and stripping screws/bolts. At the minimum, I would have a nice set of sockets, screwdriver (with various bits), basic wrenches, allen key set, and vice grips. I use these five things on both my bikes, on my cars, and around the house almost daily. I bought [this tool set] over the winter and am so glad I did. For this bike, it is going to have almost all of what you need. It won't have a socket big enough for your axles and maybe some other stuff, but the vice grips will work well. Around 75% of the small nuts/bolts on a CB bike will need a 10mm wrench so you can never have too many of those. Almost all of the small nuts/bolts after that will take 8 or 12mm so those three are pretty key. The tool set I suggested has all of those and much more. On old bikes, you will run into nuts/bolts that aren't original and may not be metric, so the tool set I showed will cover that too. The allen keys in the set are pretty basic but are also needed. You don't need a torque wrench, caliper, or multimeter, but they are nice to have and over time you may want to pick them up when you have extra cash. Knowing the difference between hand-tight, snug, and tight will go a very long way. Lastly, I keep a coffee can full of screws, nuts, washers, or anything I find during the day. Everytime I see a little bolt or washer in the house or on the street, I pick it up and toss it in. The can is now full of little things I use to replace missing stuff all the time. It saves me the time of going to the hardware store and finding a replacement let alone the money.

Make sure you have basic bike things like lube, degreaser, grunge brush, etc. For lube and degreaser, make sure it is compatible with your chain type (like o-ring specific). A bicycle pump with a PSI gauge will keep your tires inflated fine ($20 to $40 pump, I prefer Park Tool brand or Topeak). A bit of tin foil and water gets rust out of chrome easily (YouTube it). Simple Green is a good cleaning fluid also for vehicles/everything and PB Blaster will loosen stuck/rusted stuff instead of breaking off the head trying to force it off. WD-40 is a must as well. As you want to do more on your bike like change tires, valves, or whatever, you may want to buy stuff like tire irons or feeler gauges if you can't borrow them off a friend. The specialty tools will add up fast so I prefer to borrow them as you may only use them once a year.

Before I do anything on any vehicle I buy, I make sure I have the service manual. I have a tendency to mess a lot of stuff up if I'm not looking at directions carefully. Most Honda service manuals are free online, so search on this sub or do some googling for a PDF. YouTube has recently become a great resource for DIY mechanics. For some reason, people have been stripping their bikes down and videotaping a lot of it. For my bike, there is a 23-video series from some redneck on taking the carbs apart. I watched him adjust the valves for two hours before I went ahead and did them myself in 30 mins. The manual combined with some YouTube will help you about 90% of the time. The last 10% will be trial and error and your experience with the bike over time.

Wait, cone filters? I wonder if the carbs have been rejetted to factor that in. If those cones are restricting air then that's why you're running rich. If the jets have been upgraded too large of a size then that's another reason. I'd find out what your stock carb's jet sizes are supposed to be, then I'd use an online calculator or ask a website that sells jets what size you should have given the mods you've got. And compare that with what you actually do have. So you're still gunna have to pull your carbs to check your jet values. You might even have a clogged air circuit in your carb bodies so cleaning is still imperative.

You could try making your own sync tool but if you have too strong of a vacuum then whatever liquid you're using will get sucked in. This is expensive, but a 'cry once buy once tool': http://www.amazon.com/Vacuum-Carburetor-Synchronizer-Carb-Gauge/dp/B004MSJ7E6

So is his buddy, I'm not sure if you need this for your carbs, I need it for mine: http://www.amazon.com/Motion-Pro-Carburetor-Adjusting-Tool/dp/B001DDH2ZY/ref=pd_bxgy_263_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=00QXJ3CH1BBWNM7K2FPZ

You could sync the side carb bodies with a regular screw driver and wrench, but once you move to the center 2 bodies that becomes almost impossible.

Here is a link to your manual that deals with the carburators: http://www.honda4fun.com/pdf_man_officina/pdf_manuali/CB350-400/CB350-400_04.pdf

I would take pictures and notes while doing this. There's not a huge wealth of information for 1972 CB350F carbs unfortunately.

You should register at this forum. Any questions you have they can help you out with: http://forums.sohc4.net/

I'd also pick up this ultrasonic cleaner from harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-95563.html Go to the dollar store, dollar general or whatever the cheap store in your area is called and buy a large bottle of LA Awesome and a gallon of diluted water. Stuff makes the dirtiest carbs come out brand new. Maybe be a total scumbag and return the ultrasonic cleaner for a full refund as soon as you're done with it. Should take a day to clean all the parts once your carbs are completely dismantled. Then spray a light hit of WD40 on the metal and polish it off with a paper towel to prevent corrosion.

This is another cool tool to have: http://cdn1.bikebandit-images.com/blog/images/2015/carb-cleaner-kit.jpg If you have an air compressor use a basket ball filling needle to blow all the passageways clean. Or a can of air. This goes without saying but carb cleaner will eat rubber, brake cleaner is almost as strong but safe for rubber.

Random tidbit here is an awesome trick for polishing the float needle seats on a carburator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlez_hdoWYk when they're dirty it can cause them to stick.

In closing this is going to be a good amount of work and money (Unless you return everything shamelessly) Rubber consumables on your carbs appear to be float bowl gaskets and a few orings, maybe some rubber fuel lines. Nothing too pricey.

If you haven't already, get the Clymer manual. I can't seem to find a Honda Service Manual, so this one will probably have to do.

Bike Bandit seems to have a good availability of parts for your carb. The gasket set looks cheap, as that's the most likely thing that'll need replacing first. Give the whole assembly a good cleaning and inspection.

Check for cracks and tolerances in both brakes and the chain, any looseness in the steering and wheel bearings, and pitting on the travel area of the fork tubes. Put some new fork oil in if the seals are ok (probably not, but who knows?).

Check for corrosion on electrical contacts (especially grounds) and sand them clean as required. Use dielectric grease to prevent future corrosion.

There is a much bigger list of possibilities, but that's part of the fun of owning an older bike. You get to know it like the back of your hand and will feel ever so satisfied when you fix something and it actually works. The more complex the bike, the more rare this is in my situation.

Just get it running and stopping properly and ride the shit out of it, you stupid lucky bastard.

Sorry for the incoming text, but worth knowing:


Taken from cb750c.com



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I successfully replaced all the valve seals in my 1100 without removing the head. I used the smaller of the two Lisle ‘plunger style’ tools pictured here: http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-36050-Keeper-Remover-Installer/dp/B0012S61IO. I sent an email to Lisle telling them what I wanted to do and asking which tool I should use and they recommended the one above. I’m not sure why the smaller of the two tools is not available as a stand-alone product but it doesn’t’ seem to be – it’s only available in the kit. There were several tool options that purported to do the same thing but since I didn’t know for sure that it would work, I purchased the cheapest one I could find and it worked just fine.

Replacing all 16 seals took about two hours (not including engine and cam removal of course) and that was being very careful and inspecting each bore carefully. If I did it again, I would expect that it would take less than an hour.

Here’s the method I used:

(Here's a link to a video on how the tool works - not my video, or the tool that I used, but it will give you an idea of how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFTaeu4GIPo)

I lowered the desired piston and pushed 20 ~30 cm’s of clear plastic tubing into the cylinder (trying to get it to ‘ring’ around the piston crown), then raised the piston until it stopped. Some folks have used rope for this trick. I couldn't find any suitable rope in the garage so I used he battery hose (which I don't need any more since I have an AGM battery). Since you're not actually pressing on the valves when you use the tool, you don't need a lot of pressure on the piston pushing up on the plastic tubing - only enough to keep the valves from falling down.

I cut the bottom off a 35mm film container and split the side and used it as a valve bore protector.

Plugged everything in sight with rags

I removed the bucket and shim with a magnet and inserted the bore protector.

Using the removal section of the above tool, press down on the valve retainer with moderate pressure to remove the retainer and keepers, both of which will be grabbed by the magnet in the tool It’s hard to convey what ‘moderate’ means – but in this context, it means significantly less pressure than required to put the keepers back in.

Using a small pair of needle nose pliers, remove the keepers from the tool and insert back into the retainer (the strong magnet in the tool necessitates the use of the needle nose pliers most of the time)

Remove the springs - taking care to ensure the spring seats don’t come out too – they sometimes stick to the oil on the bottom of the spring and need to be re-inserted.

Using a pair of long needle nose pliers with serrated noses (if that’s the right term?), carefully remove the seal. If you have a small set of valve seal removal pliers, this would be a breeze (next time I do this job, I’ll have a set). In my case, this was the most time consuming part of the job, not because it was so difficult, but because I took my time to avoid damaging the valves and guides, or losing the valve seal springs. On the seals that I found installed in the head, the small wire ‘spring’ that wraps around the base of the seal to ensure a tight fit with the guide, was so small, it was barely visible (admittedly I can see worth crap), but I had to be extra careful when I pulled the seals out, that the wires came out too (probably not a good idea to have any floating around in the valve train). In almost all cases, the wire came out by itself first, before the seal came out. In my case the original seals (don’t know if they were original to the bike) were not brittle, in fact they were the opposite, gummy even. Fortunately, they weren’t so gummy that I had to scrape any of them off the guide, but I did have to go fishing for a few pieces that were mangled due to us of the needle nose pliers

Press a new, oil dipped Viton valve seal over the valve

Using an appropriate sized deep socket, press the valve seal over the guide. Only thumb pressure required. It’s obvious when the seal ‘clicks’ on.

Reinstall the springs, taking care to ensure the tightly wound coils are facing down (toward the piston).

Place the retainer with the keepers in it back on to the springs

Using the installation section of the above tool (inserts into the removal section), press down hard to seat the keepers into the valve and retainer. It took me a while to figure this part out. I thought that it wasn’t working, then by playing with a loose valve I have, I figured out that I wasn’t pressing hard enough. I’ve used this type of tool before, but it was on an automotive engine with a single spring, and it was a while ago - It takes a lot more pressure on th tool to seat the keeprs the 1100F engine. I put a folded cloth in my palm (cause it would hurt my hand if I didn’t) then laid my body weight on my hand/arm to get the required pressure (while keeping the tool in line with the valve. There is an audible click when the keepers install – it’s very satisfying! It seemed to take a lot more pressure to seat the exhaust keepers than the intake keepers. Doesn’t make sense as the springs are the same (I think). Perhaps just a better angle for pushing on the intake side when the engine is sitting flat (i.e. top is sloping towards the front)

Using the removal tool on the newly installed retainer, give the retainer a mild whack with a plastic hammer (less than a whack really) to ensure the keepers are properly seated.

Remove the bore protector

Dip the bucket and shim in oil and place in the head

Repeat for 3 remaining valves for that piston

Take large swig of beer (you don’t want to do this too many times before completing all valves)

Release piston, remove tubing, then move to the next piston


Notes
Having the head on the engine makes this tool easy to use. Because of the pressure required to install the keepers using the tool, it might be tricky to use on the head while it's sitting on the bench. Might just be a matter of blocking off the head so it doesn’t move. All head movement issues aside, using this tool would be much, much, much faster and simpler than dinking around with the old tried and true “C” clamp method, but if that’s what you trust, go for it.

Even if you wouldn’t use this tool to install the keepers, it makes removing them so easy; it would be a welcome addition to any tool box.

In closing…..
So, I’m still fixing things and haven’t put the motor back in the freshly touched up frame (contemplating cam chains now) so I can’t comment on how everything has worked out – that’s yet to be seen, but I don’t’ expect any problems at this point, at least, I don’t expect any problems related to the valve seal job (lord knows: there tons of other shit that will fail in the project yet). One could argue that it’s a bit nuts to have the engine out of the frame and not take the head off. I don’t necessarily disagree! It's just that this motor is new to me and I don't have a good feeling for what needs to be done to it to freshen it up. I did compression and leak down tests and they booth looked exceptional but it smoked on startup like it was a prop in a war movie – a pretty clear indication that the valve seals were gone, but everything else seems good. I didn’t want to remove the head and all the work that goes along with that only to find that there was nothing wrong. After I put a few miles on this engine, I may decide that I want to get into the engine after all – but I’ll make that call when I actually ride it and have a feeling for how it’s running. I can look at motor disassembly next winter if things are worse than they appear.

I have a low mileage 900 that runs really nicely but it too blows some smoke. I wouldn’t ever even consider changing the seals if that means having to crack the head, but now that I know this method works, when I get a chance, I’ll eagerly pull the motor, touch up the frame and bit, swap in new seals, and shove the motor back in.

Hope this is useful.

Looks like delaminating clear coat. I highly recommend using McGuire's to polish just about anything with paint on it. Beautiful product that works wonders. Lovely bike it seems!

You're in luck. I've broken those pegs off before, too. The fix is easy, but it's going to cost. It's going to cost you all of about eight bucks.

This is for the broken peg. Clean the area of the peg and the sidecover. Scuff the hell out of it with high-grit sandpaper. If you don't have any, cut it up in a cross hatch pattern with a sharp knife. Don't cut all the way through (!) but you want the surface really scuffed up so the epoxy can get in all the little crevaces and hold everything together.

Once it's cleaned, clean it with brake cleaner or acetone or something that makes sure to get any oils out. (Or skip this step. I have before. If you're unlucky and you skip it, you'll have problems.)

Put epoxy on both surfaces, push the peg into exactly the right place then goop a ton on at the seams and up the sides of the peg. You want enough so that it changes the slope going up a bit - don't be stingy.

I don't have experience with the emblem, but I can't imagine it's much different.

I haven't used that exact product that I linked, but any plastic-specific two part epoxy should do the trick. Not any two-part epoxy, but any that's specifically for plastic.

Good luck! When you finally finish the repair, reply to this comment and let me know how it went. It's going to be fine!

This is a good book to have for overall know-how and tips and tricks and stuff. When you find a bike just look for a Clymer manual for the bike, there are other companys that make the manuals as well. If you want to make your headache as minimal as possible, try not to tear into the engine if you don't have to. Make sure that when you try and use the kick starter that the pistons actually move up and down and aren't frozen. Start off with simple projects with it. Try not to tear the whole thing down at once or you will get overwhelmed like crazy. Good luck and try not to spend too much money :)

you'll want some RTV to reseal the cases. honda brand is honda-bond I believe.

some engine assembly lube is good too for the cam and other parts until it gets running and oiled properly again.

If you're taking apart the head, (Actually the tool is needed for reassembly only, to turn/compress the torsion springs into place) there's a special tool honda made to turn the torsion springs that hold the valves in. I just cut a notch in a socket, another guy just put a wrench on it to turn it.

I will also say that the 500t engine is essentially identical to the CB450 engine, and the CB450 service manual is a fantastic service manual. I would recommend you use that to rebuild the 500t engine. All the 500t manuals I found were pretty poor manuals in comparison.

timing gun isn't entirely needed on these bikes if your spark advance works properly, i've found static timing a bit easier for me, but I know my advance works properly.

you'll also need a chain breaker tool for the very long cam chain in the engine, as it has to come off to remove the head. I used a slightly modified bicycle chain tool, as it's much smaller than purpose built ones and I found it easier to use.

When I lapped my valves, the suction cup tool thing they sell was a pain to use. I wound up sticking a rubber vacuum hose around the end of the valve and used that to spin/ move the valve. worked well.

make sure the seal/gasket kit you get has the rubber cylinders for the oil galleys. when I rebuilt mine a few years ago some kits didn't have them.

finally, there is a special socket needed to remove the oil slinger from the end of the crank shaft. You probably won't have to remove it, so you probably won't need it. here is one on amazon. I just bought myself a cheap socket and ground it down to the right shape.

EDIT: changed a couple things.

https://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-640811-Back-Tap-Thread-Repair/dp/B0014FGVVW

Expanding tap. You grease the shit out of it, put it in, expand it into the existing threads then back the whole thing out of the hole. It cuts (more like un-distorts) the messed up threads on the way out and any chips come back out with the tap. I'm not endorsing that particular brand or model, it's just for reference. Make sure you do a really good job of getting it seated in good threads or you'll be doing a heli-coil.

Go ahead and slap peter on it if you like, i won't judge. I replaced the broken stock headlight on my cj360 with this:
http://www.amazon.com/Emgo-Lucas-Style-Headlight-Shells/dp/B00M9MXIBA
It has a 35/35 H4 bulb so wattage is the same and won't change your amp draw. The bulbs are from a scooter so ask for one if you need to replace. Its a real project because all the wiring is shoved in the housing but doable. Also halogen is brighter than the original incandescent. Overall happy with the result. Now if I could just get the carbs to run right...

Edit: http://imgur.com/6xBDI33

Just throwing out the idea of possibly raising your mirrors?

I had to do that with my 82 Nighthawk because my long torso made it so that checking my mirrors meant bending my head down so far I lost all sight of the road. I also needed to narrow my bike's profile to stop clipping mirrors in traffic.

My solution was to get these, and use a tap and die set to thread the rod for my mirror mount (mirrors come with a clamp, but it doesn't play well with my brake master cylinder).

Makes my bike look like some kind of insect, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't solve your problem, but figured I'd share.

Yeah, I'm restoring mine for a high school project and It's surprisingly easy, even without any mechanical knowledge, to repair these bikes. They're very simple and you can buy tons of reproduction parts from this website. Just get some metric wrenches, this, this, and download this. Welcome to the club, don't be an asshole.

EDIT: Can you link the CL ad?

Completely drain your tank and carburetor and remove both. The carburetor will need completely disassembled cleaned, and rebuilt with this:

https://www.davidsilverspares.com/CB175K5-SUPER-SPORT-1971-USA/part_167434/

Go to O'Reilly's and buy carb cleaner and some canned air from walmart. Carb cleaner kills rubber, so don't put carb cleaner anywhere near the air intake boot or gaskets in the carb.

The petcock, if the standpipes aren't split, will need to be cleaned and rebuilt the same way. Gasket kits are like $30, but you can buy this for $10. It won't fit the bike, but all the gaskets are the same.

https://www.amazon.com/Petcock-Honda-Degree-outlet-fitting/dp/B00N1RY0AU

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This isn't at all necessary, but these are super fucking useful for cleaning smallish parts: https://www.amazon.com/Homgrace-Commercial-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-Digital/dp/B075YY8VB9/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1540139393&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=Ultrasonic+Cleaner&psc=1

If you want to save some space and $$, I've had good luck with this balancer. I just put them on top of a pair of Jack stands so theyre level.

I did the same thing to my 76 360 (very similar engine). The tricky part was the oil filter locknut.
All i had to do was drain the oil, remove the crankcase cover, pull the centrifugal oil filter (this took a spanner to remove the locknut as shown in the manual), pull the clutch and the shift shaft pulls right out. Have a look at a parts fiche on partzilla or whatnot and it'll give you a pretty good idea.

The spanner can be purchased here for 10 bucks (worth it), or do what i did and spend an afternoon making one from a 12 point 15/16" socket - http://www.hondatwins.net/forums/62-engine-discussion/19731-clutch-hub-nut-socket-how-make-2.html

Overall it was an easy fix and didnt take more than 2 hours for a totally incompetent mechanic like myself.

Congrats! I have the same bike. I just picked up this led headlight I know you asked for options to go with your current housing but they sell the headlight itself as well, I’m just not sure how the fit would be.

I went cheap once ($12) and they immediately broke while adjusting them.

I have bought these 3 times for 3 different bikes.

Never buy these. It looks like the arm attaches to mirror with bolts, but it's actually just glued on. If you tighten them up properly it's very easy to break them while adjusting them.

I recently had to redo my 1980 CB750c after the previous owner made it a strait on/off switch.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GU7D0Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the one I purchased. Since yours is already wired up to work on your starter, you should pretty much be able to just plug the wires to the corresponding spots. I have the wiring written down at home, but its for a 750c. I'm sure its the same, but I don't want to give you incorrect information either.

i bout this to replace my ignition and it comes with a set of new keys. though the keys edges are very just like how the picture looks and probably the same for everyone key too.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GU7D0Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1