1981 Honda CBX -The bucket bike

Good looking exhaust, not bad sound. 
Back when they were released Cycle magazine interviewed the Honda R&D guys who said they had designed the exhaust to replicate the noise made on takeoff by F4 Phantoms from a nearby AFB. Apparently Soichiro Honda came to visit and said he didn't like it and told them to make it sound like a Porsche 911 Turbo.

God I love this bike. Next time you come to Atlanta, drive it here so I can see and hear it please.

maschinenbau said:

God I love this bike. Next time you come to Atlanta, drive it here so I can see and hear it please.

Ha! Come to the Mitty and hear the 240. Six barrels feeding six cylinders in a row...sort of the same thing. I don't think this will get outside of a 50 mile radius of Anchorage for a long time. 

Tonight I did the "Mr. Mike Nixon On Bike Cleaning Method"  for CBX carbs on cylinder #6 that wasn't getting the exhaust as hot as the others.

To do this, you have to remove the "don't tamper with emissions by adjusting any screws" tab because you can't unscrew it without doing so. :

200 watt solder gun to heat up the glue:

and oozes right off:

Now you can twist like the good old days:

Remove glue in the slot with an Xacto knife.

Quick cleanup on the needle and slides which looked pretty good.

And spray both directions on the circuit:

That got me a much hotter cylinder 6 (unscientifically spraying water on the header) and changed the tone a lot. It's hard to really capture the sound on a phone with a motor with the choke off probably prematurely and 15*F air temps. It's just not going to sound like it will 100% warmed up with a load but it's in a much better place.

I know this will never substitute for a complete carb rebuild but I have all 6 cylinders and an idle so I feel comfortable riding it next season a little bit. I've owned the bike 3 1/2 months and bought it without hearing it run so I didn't think it would be this far along this soon with this little work. I'm not really a mechanic and it definitely shows sometimes. I am however very motivated and love this thing so I think that plus some good luck has helped speed up the project.

Since I plan on having this thing for a very long time, I felt like I needed to join the club. Lots of the hard to find pieces were offered to me at very reasonable prices and freebies slipped in by these folks so I wanted to support them. Even threw in some back issues of the CBXpress magazine. Super helpful and organized group of folks that know every square inch of these bikes.
 

Literally every inch.

You just don't see groups doing this stuff anymore. Nerd level 10,000 stuff and I love it.

Also mini update, it's super cold here so I just wanted to tackle one little thing this weekend. I replaced the vinyl pinstripe on the rear section and added a new Honda logo for the one that rubbed off:

In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :

That bike sounds hostile!

I made a recent trip to Georgia and since shipping a chain and tires is $200 to Alaska, I decided to be that crazy person carrying a ridiculous box around the airport. Alaska Airlines is great with the club 49 membership and lets us ship a couple giant boxes for free. Once the tires and chain go on I should be able to get this thing tagged and put it on the road. Come on April!

I finally got around to putting a new battery in this thing and when I pulled the old one out I had no idea it was this big. Probably the biggest battery I've seen for a bike.

Still snowing here so no rush on the chain and tires just yet. I need to find collectors motorcycle insurance that services my area since though I have a few bikes I'm only putting 200 miles a year on each. If anybody has any recommendations for companies that have those kind of policies on low use stuff let me know.

I insure my bikes through Dairyland Insurance, their premiums are pretty reasonable.

Tires and chain are going on after work slows down for me in mid May but I did take it for a *gentle* spin around the neighborhood today to put my first few miles on it. Carbs aren't 100% but I ain't mad at them either. Coming right off the H1 before this, the CBX feels like a proper torque monster.
 

That exhaust is a thing of beauty!

It's tire day after 8 months of collecting dust.

This exhaust is more practical than the stock one I swear:

No corrosion on the inside of the Comstar wheels thankfully:

41 year old Bridgestones still held air but I wasn't riding out of the neighborhood on them:

A local guy has a mobile MC tire mounting and balancing business, North Star Cycles. Super convenient in this case.

I'd love a little more time to see if I can mess with the carbs but work is going to be crazy and it's going to rain for the next however long. It's starting to feel little like summer is slipping away up here. All good!

Just moved back to Atlanta after 8 years in Alaska and I shipped the bike down. I found the best way to deter people from messing with it was to ship it in a trash can.  Joking!

It took 6 weeks longer than my car and dealt with some serious weather but it should be all good. Eventually I'll have more time to mess with this thing (and ride it virtually year round if I wanted to). 

Brake caliper rebuild day. These were shot. Every seal was swollen and leaking slightly but pistons were spotless.

Got the brakes working great and no leaks anywhere so it's time to put more than the 2.2 miles I rode it last year on it. I took it up to the gas station and back for the first fuel of the year.

There's a bike night at a local brewery I might run it up to one week.

100 miles in and so far it's doing well. Waiting for the 42 year old valve cover gasket to heal itself  but other than that it's ripping around town. Earplugs are mandatory for the rides but I don't want it quieter. 

In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :

OMG dude that thing sounds so good

Which bike night? I'll meet you at one

maschinenbau said:

Which bike night? I'll meet you at one

I went to one at Reformation brewery in Canton. The issue was it started at 7:30 and I had to leave by 8 because I hadn't wired the headlight. In Alaska, it kinda didn't matter since if it was bike riding season the sun was out 20 hours a day. 

Honestly I would prefer a bike coffee morning one weekend but I'm down.

In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :

Canton is pretty close to me. I know of some good local cars and coffee type events (not the zoo that is Caffiene and Octane) that would love your bike. I'll PM you.

I've been up close to one of these at the Honda museum, but I'd never heard one actually run before now. Sounds even better than I imagined! 

Weather is perfect in Atlanta currently and Sunday morning a group of us did a backroads loop out of town around Lake Allatoona. This is the first time the bike was going to be actually ridden with some vigor and with other folks so I added a mirror from an earlier model CBX and replaced the flasher relay that I had been ignoring.

Honda section:

Did about 75 miles and is by far the longest and hardest I've pushed it. It's the heaviest bike I've taken through the twisties but I'm getting used to it. The torque coming out of the corners is what really surprised me and I actually got a little wheel spin once on a left hander applying throttle early. The air suspension did phenomenally and it's really so much more comfortable than the earlier models though not as sporty. Brakes are adequate but nothing to write home about. All in all, it was a great first real ride in it and lets me know some areas to improve upon.

Dyno day at Atlanta Motorcycle Works today. Great weather-71 degrees a week before Thanksgiving. I'm still just adjusting to doing what I love this far into the year again. 
 

They have an excellent facility and some extremely knowledgeable folks on staff.

550 whp  turbo GSXR: 

A buddies custom RD400:

4 wheels but hell yeah

My turn-

*Ignore the loose tail piece 

100 horsepower is stock and this 42 year old motor with mostly untouched carbs and the valve cover never opened made 95 hp at the tire. I'm thrilled with how strong this motor is before I do carb work and now I have a baseline. This sat in a connex trailer in Alaska for 30 years not doing anything. Plum wild.

Oh boy that 6 sounds good!

Adding another photo from the dyno day Mark Anderson captured showing how wide the bike is compared everything else. Hips don't lie.