Rather
than rescue puppies and kittens, I always seem to be drawn to the unfortunate, neglected Honda motorcycles from the 1960s-80s. Here was
the text of the Craigslist posting:
1969
CB 175 STORED IN THE DESERT 10 YEARS ALL THERE..HAVE BEGAN RESTORING
,COMES WITH NEW TIRES/TUBES INSTALLED ,NEW BATTERY ,TANK /SD.COVERS
PAINT STRIPPED AND PREPPED FOR PAINT ,CARBS OVERHAULED /CLEANED CALL
FOR DETAILS BEFORE PRICE GOES UP..GREAT PROJECT BIKE OR (RESTO MOD)
/CAFE RACER BILL OF SALE
There
a few added photos of the extra parts that indicated that the bike
was, indeed, beginning a resurrection. The “problem for me” is
that the bike was located way out in the desert about 100 miles away.
I asked if he ever came back into San Diego, so perhaps he could
bring it closer to me and we could meet up somewhere for the
purchase. The seller, Sam, came back and said he was going to have
breakfast with his son in nearby Lemon Grove (5 miles away), so “no
problem” to bring the bike and parts all the way to my driveway for
no additional cost. SOLD!
We
already had discussions about what it needed, right away, in order to
get it back together again. The parts list included a right side air
filter/tube, cables, sprockets and chain. So, we arranged for the
transfer on 6/9/20 around 9am. Before the deal was consummated, I had
already ordered $120 worth of parts to get the ball rolling as soon
as possible. The first order of business will be to assess the actual
needed parts that are missing or damaged, then clean the whole
chassis bits. Beyond that, I have to decide what to do about the
color choices. The bike is the same color/year as one that I had
bought new in Puerto Rico, during my stay courtesy of the USAF in
1969-70.
Paint
options include a professional job by my local paint wizard Jerry,
buying a $600 used tank from the UK or doing a rattle can job in some
other color just to get by for now. The frame is black, so hopefully
can be cleaned and touched up with gloss black paint, but the side
covers and fuel tank will need something special to set it off from
the normal paint schemes, I think.
The
next day….
Well,
the first thing in the morning, before the bike arrived, I realized
that I had made a big mistake on ordering the air filter parts that
were mentioned as missing. Despite the seemingly identical appearance
between a 1969 and a 1970 CB175, there ARE differences in a lot of
small items, including the whole air filter system! The 1969 bikes
have a small, uncovered filter with a separate air filter connector
tube. The 1970 models have a different filter system that includes
plastic covers to enshroud the whole filter assembly leaving an air
intake port high in the outer cover. The air filters have an integral
connector tube, as well. The bike turned out to have a 12/69 build
date, putting it squarely in the 1970 production run, not the
“as-advertised” 1969 model year stated.
Other
changes were the shape and design of the outer side covers, rear
shock covers, seat cover pattern, rear sprocket, fork covers and
minor changes in the paint scheme. The main product code for the 1969
is 306, but the 1970 looks like it has 315 coded parts added on.
According to the parts list, the top fork bolts are 273 code from the
CL72!
So,
what could go wrong…?
1.
The supplied rear tire is a 3.50x18, so too big for the bike.
2.
The supplied left air filter is a 351 code for CB200T, not a 315
CB175K4 code part.
3.
The forks were stuck in the steering stem, but finally worked loose.
When dismantled for a fork seal change, there was very little fork
oil left in the forks, replaced by moisture which caused the fork
bushing and rebound valve to be firmly rusted in place. Used fork set
was ordered from eBay.
4.
Both handlebar controls were damaged and unusable. $120 for a pair.
5.
Headlight shell was cracked around the edge (brittle plastic) and
replacements are in the $150-250 range. Found used for $60
6.
Air filters are $75-85 each side, when you can find them. DSS to the
rescue. $150 a set
7.
The left side carburetor slide was MIA, so a used replacement was
found for $30. A few weeks later the seller found the slide hidden
beneath his Harley...
8.
All of the side cover grommets, instrument cushions and fork cushions
needed to be replaced.
9.
The rear brake shoes were worn down, requiring replacement.
10.
The bike had the chain come off the sprockets at some point, damaging
the sprocket mounting bolts and nuts, plus wore a groove in the rear
shock body. Replaced all the hardware and front sprocket.
11.
The front sprocket required use of a 3-jaw puller to remove from the
rusted shaft.
12.
All the cables were fried due to heat and age, which was visible and
expected.
13.
Someone had tried to replace the point set with something from a
different model or manufacturer, so they re-drilled screw holes in the
point plate to get the points to mount up and function. $30 for used
parts
14.
Coil leads were stiff and broken, so a replacement coil was ordered.
$30
15.
The centerstand leg on the left side was bent forward and there was a
big ugly weld on the foot. Heated up with a MAPP gas torch and
straightened out somewhat.
16.
Pinholes in the top of the front of the gas tank! REDCOAT sealer
used, but failed to seal up the pinholes.
I
repacked the steering head bearings and slowly cleaned/painted the
frame, as I went from front to back. Finally, I realized that the
best thing to do is to remove the engine from the frame and finish
cleaning it up, plus get the engine down on the ground for a major
descaling and cleaning job.
With
the engine out, I noticed signs of water in the right side intake
port, so the cylinder head was removed to find some water damage in
the cylinder and piston. It was still on STD bore, so it seemed
reasonable to just have it bored out to .5mm oversize and have a
fresh set of cylinders to work with. The camchain tensioner rollers
were hard and pitted, so those needed replacement, as well.
A
set of .50 pistons/rings and a bore job cost $160. The valves/seats
were still in decent shape, so were cleaned and reinstalled with new
stem seals on the exhaust sides. You could tell that the engine had
been out for some reason before, as there were non-OEM nuts and bolts
holding the engine into the frame. I pulled the clutch cover to get a
quick view of the inside of the engine and found only 3 of the 4
required clutch spring bolts in place.
With
the engine out and top cover off the camshaft and rockers looked dry,
but not damaged, fortunately. The camchain tensioner rollers were
worn out, so a good used tensioner was found on eBay along with a new
center roller. I had to wait an extra 5 days for the correct center
roller after the seller sent a mystery roller from his bag of three
that wasn’t even close to fitting.
I
sprung for the whole master carb kit from 4into1.com which included
floats and various sizes of jets for idle and main jet calibration.
For some reason, the left carburetor would not fill properly until
the old parts were reinstalled.
New
handlebar switches came from 4into1.com and my friends in Thailand,
who supplied a new clutch adjuster. With 16k miles showing on the
odometer, you expect to find worn parts here and there like the
clutch adjuster. All new cables from 4into1.com were shipped at a
reasonable cost, but there were some issues with the clutch cable end
not fitting back into the clutch joint and the front brake cable
fitting was 1mm too large for the backing plate. The throttle cable
junction was made up of plastic and big molded rubber parts that got
trapped between the tank and frame. 4into1 acknowledged some of the
issues with their supplier and eventually refunded me the cost of the
cable set.
The
fork covers were all trashed from crashes, so I ordered up some
various ones from DSS. The fork ears come in several variations of
how the turn signals mount and where the reflector mounts. Most of
them were very inexpensive so I bought a number of them just to see
if I could put together something a little different than the
original setup. DSS supplied most of the rubber grommets for the
frame side covers and instrument mounts. The speedo and tach
instrument light sockets are rubber coated and were baked into the
meter housing openings. Once removed, the little indicator jewels
fell apart from age and heat. Ultimately, the meters did operate
correctly, so the other issues were left as-is.
There
was LOTS of cleaning of the desert dust and corrosion. Most all of
the chrome parts were pitted and caked with dirt/dust. I
rattle-canned the frame with black Duplicolor engine paint, as I went
along. This was destined to be a daily driver not a showpiece, so a
whole teardown/powdercoat of the chassis was not in the budget, which
still got blown up in the end. Even with generous discounts from my
suppliers and careful eBay shopping, the parts bill ran up past $1200
quickly. My labor time was beyond 30 hours, but when you are in
quarantine, what else is there to do, anyway?
When
all the components were finally assembled, the bike fired up using a
spare CL175K0 fuel tank that was given to me by my friend Ron Smith.
I had soaked it for a few days with white vinegar to help clean out
the insides, but it turned out to be inefficient as newly introduced
fuel seemed to dissolve leftover fuel deposits which contaminated the
petcock and carburetors. The original fuel tank had been coated with
REDCOAT tank sealer, but it didn’t find its way all the way up
towards the pinholes in the front of the tank. Even so, with a couple
of gallons of gas, the bike was fired up safely and then developed
more problems. There was smoke coming from the left side muffler and
what sounded like camchain noises coming out of the engine… Gads!
I
pulled the engine again, removed the top end to check for broken
rings and possible causes of the camchain noises, but found nothing
out of the ordinary. The intake ports in the head had gathered up a
lot of unburned deposits, which apparently were being slowly sucked
into the engine, causing plug fouling and smoke. A big shot of brake
cleaner purged the intake ports and the engine was reassembled again.
The aftermarket gasket kit was not very accurately made and the thin,
non-asbestos paper that the kit was made from was pretty much a
single-use product. The clutch cover gasket was cleaned and coated
with Gasket-Cinch to help seal up the weeping on that side and the
simple round 3 hole gasket for the dyno cover continues to leak oil
for no apparent reason. The aftermarket gasket thickness is thinner
than original OEM gasket materials.
After
reinstalling the engine and taming the carburetor feed issues, the
engine fired back up sounding much healthier and without smoking. The
plugs came out tan-colored, instead of black and oily, finally. There
is still a bit of an air leak or some kind of issue with the left
side carburetor at idle, but the engine pulls with good power
off-idle and beyond.
I’ve
lined up a good used rear luggage rack for the bike and it will wind
up being my mule to haul stuff back and forth the PO a couple of
miles away. That was the original intent, anyway until I went out and
bought a new Royal Enfield Interceptor 650!
Well,
it lives again, but needs a good paint job unless a new buyer likes
the “rat bike” look. The bike has made several post office trips
and seems to be running normally, so far. May need to make a few more
jetting adjustments, but otherwise, it is what it is… a 50-year-old
Honda CB175.
Bill
“MrHonda” Silver
07/2020
