It’s been difficult to find the time to update the blog page recently, due to the influx of work projects which are in progress or in a queue that continues to grow.
January began with a CL77 project that was brought in from ID for a “head gasket” and then was expanded to powdercoating, chroming and additional work that had it on my workbench for the better part of 6 weeks. After that one was completed, the same customer had brought in a CL160 for work to the charging system including a replacement stator and installation of a regulator/rectifier.
The customer hinted that one of the spark plugs had been cross-threaded which led to having to use a special thread chaser tool to clean them up enough to get a new plug secured. The old plugs had come out all black so there was a need to check over the carburetors and general tuning. For some reason, the carb needles had been raised all the way up on the last clip causing excessive richness. Dropping the needles down to the middle and resetting the ignition timing brought the bike back to normal running condition. I cautioned the owner to never remove the spark plug again as it might not withstand another plug installation on the fragile threads. That was another week plus on the workbench.
With these bikes in progress, my friend Don brought over a 1963 C105T bike that had a broken kickstarter shaft. That requires a full engine tear-down to replace. I had to dust off my thinking cap to recall all the steps to get the cases apart and back together again. The cylinder head valve seats were rough but I eventually got the valves to seat properly. The carb slide was jammed in place and required some head and chemicals to remove. The only replacement slide I could find was a used one, but it was better than the one that came out. Again, the specific carb kit for the C105T was difficult to obtain.
The chassis needed all new cables, which were ordered from Thailand, so the chassis went back to Don, while I finished the engine. But that was just the beginning of the month’s adventures in Feb.
Another of Don’s customers wanted an SL90 restored, so he dropped off the bike and I pulled out the engine for a rebuild. It was covered in greasy mud which proved difficult to remove and cleanup. The engine turned out to be a hybrid modification including a big bore piston, stroker crankshaft, and racing cam all installed in a bike with the stock carb and exhaust system. That story will be detailed later on, when the bike is complete.
In March, my friend Bill asked if I could “reassemble” a CL175 engine, which had been disassembled for a restoration project that never was completed. I had already sent the C105 engine back to Don and the SL90 engine was on my little push dolly, so I cleared off the workbench for the 175. The engine arrived in a wooden crate that took about 15 minutes to disassemble. It turned out to be just the bottom end with a damaged kickstarter shaft, so that one needed to be torn down as well. I had the top-end parts vapor blasted, rebuilt the carburetors, installed the new kickstarter shaft and rebuilt the cylinder head with new valve stem seals. The cylinder bores were still STD but there was some water damage farther down the bores. I bought a ball hone and worked on the bores to the point where they seemed usable, so I bought a set of STD rings and eventually reassembled it, bit by bit. The gasket kit provided was marked CB175, but turned out to be a CB200T kit with the wrong head gasket and point cover. I had to reorder a correct head gasket and then the rings took a long delayed tour from KY to OH to NY and finally to the west coast to San Diego. It took 10 days for the rings to arrive.
In the queue are the following customer requests:
Customer #1
CB77 (my ex bike) and a CL77 for repairs
Customer #2
CB77 and CL77 for repairs
Customer #3
CA77 for tires and leak repairs
Customer #4
CL72 top-end overhaul
Customer #5
CL77 head gasket
Customer #6
CB750 oil leak behind the ignition
Customer #7
CT90 oil leak at base gasket
So, I apologize for the lack of blog stories, but there are a few more stories in the works, coming soon. Thanks for reading the old ones and your support for the blog page.
Bill Silver
aka MrHonda
4/19/24
NOTE: All photos are courtesy of American Honda Motor Corporation
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