Waking Sleeping Beauty… 40 year slumber for the CB77 racer

NOTE:  I wrote this story after doing all the repair work in 2021 but never published it! Now in 2024, I purchased the bike back from the owner, as he can no longer ride the bike. The title showed that he bought the bike in Aug, 1968!  So, enjoy the re-cap of the extensive repairs done 3 years ago...

The CA license plate tag shows 1980 as the last time the bike was registered for the street. The bike has been hibernating in the mountains to the east of Los Angeles for 4 decades after being built for competition or as a sleeper for the street.

When it came off the truck, the first challenge was to prop it up as there was no centerstand or sidestand equipped on the bike. The owner was in his 20s then and just leaned it up against whatever was available between rides. The resident stand was an automotive jack stand which nestled up against the solid rear-set footpeg on the left.

The dramatic paint scheme was an eye-catcher and was done to a high standard. Underneath the tank, there were dual push-pull petcocks, with fittings brazed into the bottom of the tank. The reason for the dual petcocks was that they were each feeding Mikuni carburetors which were attached to the back of the cylinder head via machined 2 piece adapters. A lot of specialized handwork was done on the bike including welding the adapter plates to the intake ports and the ports were blended into the cylinder head which was sporting 34mm intakes and 28mm exhaust valves as it turned out. The big reveal only happened after an initial compression check which showed 175 psi on the right side and 90 psi on the left. Most likely, the left side valves were left open for a long time and corrosion built up on the valve seats and valve heads. When I removed the tappet covers I was greeted with shiny alloy valve spring retainers which indicated the installation of high-performance racing valve springs.

After more than 40 years, the owner really couldn’t remember all of the bike’s engine build history. He had discussed big bore pistons and a camshaft with his riding buddy who apparently did most of the engine mods, but there were no clear memories of just what went into the engine build so many years ago. Obviously, if it was going to be a runner, the engine would have to come out for at least lapping the valves to increase the compression readings. So, we pushed it up onto my HF bike lift and strapped it down to hold it steady during the motor drop process. The owner headed back on his 150 mile return trip to await the results of the investigation and I went to work.

The first shock was that when the right hand muffler was removed and stood on end, whole corn kernels rained down onto the ground! Turning it 180 degrees yielded more corn kernels and then it ran dry of the remaining vegetables. The bike had been built with lots of self-locking nuts just about everywhere I looked. This slows the engine removal process, as each nut needs to be backed off with a ratchet to the very end. It took about a good ½ hour to remove all the engine bolts and hardware in order to allow the engine to come down out of the frame. The frame had been gusseted in the back section behind the battery to help chassis stiffness apparently.

Carefully, the engine was lowered down on a floor jack and wrestled out of the frame and off the bike stand to the ground. I put the floor jack back underneath it near the workbench and raised it as high as I could towards the edge of the bench. These engines weigh about 100lbs and are somewhat unwieldy to manhandle on and off the work surface. Once it was propped up securely the top end teardown commenced and new discoveries revealed themselves with every disassembly step.

Once the top cylinder head cover was removed, it was apparent that the baffle plate was installed backwards with the drain holes at the top of the engine instead of the bottom where the oil can return back to the crankcase. Ordinarily, this creates a LOT of oil being pumped out the breather tube fitting and out the breather hose. In this case, there was no hose attached to the fitting and no signs of oil spraying over the top of the engine. The lack of oil spray at that point was due to a crankcase fitting that was installed into the top engine case. The transmission cover had been modified to allow the fitting to poke through the sheetmetal and a breather hose was attached at that point. This crankcase relief point apparently prevented the usual oiling problem from the cylinder head cover when the breather plate is installed backwards.

With the top cover removed it was evident that there were big lumpy reground camshafts that were opening the valves against the S&W racing springs. Everything inside the engine still looked new and shiny. Once the camchain was disconnected and the two small nuts removed from beneath the spark plugs, the cylinder head came up with just a bit of prying. Ah! More surprises! I recognized the piston crowns as belonging to the Honda CB350 twins, which have a 63mm bore. Flipping the cylinder head over revealed LARGE valves installed and a big bevel cut into the combustion chambers to clear the crowns of the big bore pistons. Someone had done some very serious work on this engine so many years ago.

The piston crowns and combustion chambers had a lot of burned oil deposits on the surfaces, probably due to a couple of factors. First of all, these engines do not have any valve stem seals, depending upon the little air passages that lead to cross-drilled valve guides which help break up the oil film on the intake valve stems so that less is drawn into the engine on the intake stroke. This bike was a 1967 vintage and Honda eliminated the air passages in the cylinder head for reasons unknown. The other probable cause for the oil consumption/burning is the fact that the cylinder hone cross-hatch was quite coarse instead of a lot of smooth swirls. It may be that the rings have never seated or were delayed seating due to the rough surface of the cylinder walls. The piston rings had the old-style one-piece oil rings, which are not as efficient as the modern three-piece oil control rings

The whole rest of the cylinder head was a jumble of non-stock pieces. The reground cam lobes have big lift/duration but are not marked by the grinder. The cam bearings all were notched at one point where little set screws lock them into the cylinder head. I have never seen this type of modification before. Once the cams and rockers were removed, the camshafts came out fairly easily, but the long through bolt for the tach-drive end was apparently short and the end nut which draws the shaft into the end of the camshaft to lock it into the camsprocket was staked around the end to keep it in place. There was no lock washer underneath it and I am not sure if the shaft was shortened up or there is some other unexplained reason for this setup. I had to use an air gun to spin the nut loose on the end of the shaft enough to allow it to relax it’s hold inside the left camshaft. Even removing the valves took extra time and care as the high lift camshaft caused the valve stem ends to be mushroomed a little bit, so the edges needed to be smoothed over so the guides didn’t get broken as the stems worked their way down the guide surfaces.

I removed the rings and wire-brushed the pistons to clear off the carbon deposits. Checking the end gap of the rings will be in order along with piston clearance checks, but there are no unusual wear marks on the piston skirts or the cylinder walls, so the fit must be pretty good.

During engine removal, somehow the wire that comes from the point plate to the coils was trapped behind the right side carburetor adapter. I removed the 4 set screws that hold the outer plate to the inner one, but that didn’t release the wire harness. I couldn’t really see how else the adapter was attached to the cylinder head, so tapped around the edges with a small hammer and suddenly it broke free and fell to the floor. Looking at the way it was attached to the head revealed that the adapter had been welded into the intake port and then smoothed up for good air flow. The adapter had two countersunk holes drilled which actually lined up with the old cylinder head stud holes, but the adapter installation wasn’t using them. With the piece broken off of the head, I smoothed out the mating surfaces and lined up the holes, installing the adapter with two countersunk screws instead of having them re-welded. When the final fit for the adapter is ready, I will use JB-Weld to help seal the two mating surfaces and to fill in the gap left behind when the adapter was rotated for the holes to align with the cylinder head stud holes. I am leaving the left side carb adapter as it is, as the mounting seems to be sturdy for the moment.

The biggest challenge to overcome will be replacing the special head gasket. The main supplier for these kinds of gaskets is Cometic Gaskets, but apparently they are back-logged for 6-7 weeks in order to make a composite gasket with a 64.5mm fire ring. The backup plan is to use a solid copper gasket, which can be had much more readily, but my experience with copper gaskets is somewhat spotty as they have a tendency to leak oil when hot.

There is a lot of work to do anyway. I happened to have a used centerstand available to install on the bike. It needs cleaning/painting or a powdercoat treatment, plus I need an extra centerstand pivot bolt, which are apparently only available as aftermarket parts from Thailand. A quick check of eBay turned up a used centerstand, with one correct bolt and a spring for $31 including free shipping! I hit the BIN button and waited for delivery.

I fished out a used OEM dimmer switch that needs a new sheath to clean up the appearance, which will help solve some of the lighting issues with the bike. Unless the owner specifies that an electric starter upgrade be performed, the lack of starter button on the right side is moot for now.

The monster Bridgestone 3.50x18 KR96 racing rubber on the rear, made in the last century, will need replacing, of course. The front tire is a Yokohama Racing tire in 3.00x18” size, both on stock steel DID rims.

I can see a couple of different paths for this bike, one being taking it back to near-stock specs with a stock head and cylinder that I have in stock; just rebuilding what is there now and hope that it is streetable for future riders or de-tune the racing engine with stock cams and valve springs to lessen the hit when it hits the power curve. The choices await a conversation with the owner.

Decisions…

I started the day by hauling the cylinder block and valves to my friendly machinist who took a few minutes to hone the cylinders to a fine finish and reface the valve stem tips. Back at the shop, I spent a couple of hours cleaning off RTV and old gasket material, degreasing the parts and carefully assembling the valve train. I noticed that when the camshafts were installed and the set screws were tightened the camshaft began to turn roughly as if there was a damaged bearing. Backing all the set screws out again freed up the camshaft to turn freely on the bearings. Once the cams were set properly, I removed all the set screws completely as I really can’t see a purpose for them unless there was a concern that the bearings were turning in the head.

The cylinders needed cleaning and Heli-coil inserts into three of the holes that mounts the camchain tensioner to the block. The rollers all looked very serviceable and it seems like the engine wasn’t really run all that much since it was built. I checked the piston ring end gaps and they were mostly out around .020” which is the far end of the “new” specifications. Going online, I located a set of new steel rings that have a 3-piece oil ring that will probably be more efficient at controlling the oil on the cylinder walls, especially after being honed smoothly now.

I had the good fortune of an online forum member in Arkansas offer up a “big bore” cylinder head gasket for the cost of shipping. My private source of the little clutch retainer wires has offered to send another batch of used ones that he removes from his engine builds. These wires are NLA on the open market, but as a backup I discovered that there is some .020” stainless safety wire that can substitute for the real thing. All you have to do is to drill one extra small hole next to the original ones and then twist the ends together inside the clutch hub. That will help with clutch disengagement issues while running. I have some lighter clutch springs that will lessen the clutch pull effort. Also the clutch adjuster threads are wobbly for the clutch lifter arm, so that will be replaced as well.

A quick peek at the carb float bowls reveals little in the way of old gas deposits leftover from the last 40 years, so they must have been drained not long after the bike was put to rest.

Reassembly...

I forgot to consider that the 350 pistons leave NO taper in the bottom for rings to slide into, so I had to come up with a different assembly method. I put the pistons/rings into the bottoms of the cylinders with the pins sticking out, then turned it all upside down and fished for the rod ends to get pins into without dislodging the piston rings in the process.  Eventually, it all worked, but it wasn't the easiest assembly I have done with one of these engines.

I was starting to gather up parts to install the electric starter but hit another roadblock...

Apparently, the crankshaft in the engine is from a CL77, as there is no oiling hole for the starter clutch, as there is for the CB/CA crankshafts. I have to consult with a friend in the UK who has been rebuilding crankshafts lately to see if he knows if the end of the crank can be drilled to tap into the oiling source or if the whole end of the crankshaft needs to be replaced. I can't put a starter clutch hub on the end of the crankshaft without an oiling system, otherwise it will just seize up in a few minutes.

A message from my machinist friend in the UK states that the crankshaft snout is hardened steel and won’t drill easily, so the whole electric starter setup idea is scrapped now.

Changing the rear tire revealed that the brake drum lining was rusted over, not surprisingly. The brake cams and pivots were all sticky with 40-year old grease that had congealed and hardened, so the whole brake plate required disassembly for cleaning and lubrication.

After rounding up a serviceable centerstand and having it powdercoated, I discovered that the hook that is welded to the frame for the centerstand spring had been sawed off! I created a workaround by going to the local Home Depot to find an eye-bolt that could be installed once the frame backbone tube was drilled through for the installation. Finally, it does have a centerstand, but the next challenge will be how to make a stopper for it, as the original design used the bottom of the left muffler for a centerstand stop.

As the bike was reassembled it seemed like the centerstand stops up against the inside of the left muffler ever so gently, but good enough to keep the stand from coming up too far and getting into the drive chain with the right side stand foot.

With the ignition timing rechecked and the carbs installed on the engine, it was about time to fire it up and see what happens. With a good battery, I kicked it over a couple of times without any response. I had put the chokes ON at first, but then turned them to the OFF position on the enrichment levers. A couple more kicks and it roared to life, sounding deep and throaty, but definitely running crisply on both cylinders.

I had to borrow the seat from my 1963 CB77 just so I could take it out for a test run. The bike seemed to settle in quickly with a little bit of smoke out the back which was probably a combination of old oil burning off inside the mufflers and new rings which had to bed into the cylinder walls once again. At any rate, the engine sounded good and I rolled it down the street being mindful of the upside down shift pattern due to the rear facing CL72 shift pedal.

It purred along for about 15 minutes as I ran the bike up to the gas station for a drink of premium fuel and then down my ‘test track’ roads to let the bike speak for itself. Despite the over-sized tires and a few other mods, the bike handled very well and pulled through the gears with some real muscle. The 32t rear sprocket gives it some extra punch, so running it up through the gears brought a smile to my face. After probably over 30 hours in the teardown, rebuild and install/tune process. It was rewarding to hear it run and feel good in local trips around town. Being that the registration tags are 41 years old and expired, I thought I would keep the test rides to a minimum.

The bike was picked back up on 5/29/21 and the owner had his first ride on it after 40 years. Initially, it didn’t want to start, no matter what we tried with choke/no-choke. Pulling the plugs revealed spark plug side electrodes bent closed due to some interference with the over-sized valves. I remembered that the old spark plugs had little spacers installed so I recovered them and installed the spacers after re-gapping the plugs. It still didn’t want to start, so I pulled the points cover to check for power to the points and plugs. With the point cover off the bike fired up suddenly and a closer look revealed that one of the points wires was getting pinched between the cover and the cylinder head cover. With the point cover reinstalled, it was time for a long-awaited test run by the owner.

I could hear it echoing around the neighborhood as the revs rose and fell between gear changes. A smiling owner returned to the driveway with a pleased grin. You could imagine that many memories were being triggered by reconnecting with the long-stored bike once again.

It was both an educational adventure and a challenge to bring the bike back to life and to make it more functional for future use. I’m happy that it had a successful conclusion.

Bill “MrHonda” Silver

5/29/2021/ updated 0707/2024

www.vintagehonda.com

MrHonda’s revolving door…

Well, the first few months of the year featured a CL77 that stayed too long for cosmetic reasons, followed by the owner’s CL160 which only had a short stay. After that, there was a C105T which needed a kickstarter shaft replacement and top end rebuild. Then the SL90 hybrid from Hell that taxed my brain and resources in order to get it up and running and out the door. In the meantime, a CL175 engine came in for reassembly, but only after the kickstarter shaft was replaced on that one, too. It’s waiting for the chassis to be completed so it can be installed here and made to run. Then a CL77 snuck back in, belonging to the CB77 owner who just “needed some tires and cables” but that, of course, wasn’t the whole picture. It needed a centerstand, new tires, a chain guard, swing arm bushing bolt, carb overhaul and electrical work.

Recently the Pink Panther CB77 came through the rehab process. It is now running and ready for a new home. Then, my old black 1963 CB77 came back for a look, after going through two more owners and some neglect. The owner had problems right from the start when the speedometer cable snapped on Day 3. There were running problems that were not resolved after paying a lot of labor time for no good results. Then, the clutch cable broke while riding. The bike was towed to a local Biker shop in N. County where it stayed until I dropped off a replacement cable. The shop proceeded to remove the kickstarter cover, installed the new cable and then installed the cable joint backwards, cracking the cover in two places. Lesson: Don’t take your vintage Honda to a Harley shop!

The running complaint had continued, also
with the loss of the electric starter function and when it was running, the lights were all pulsing to the tune of the AC generator. Two different shops looked at the bike, charged him for shop time and pronounced the battery to be okay. Well, it was a 4-year old Motobatt battery, which I have been using successfully for the last few years. These sealed AGM batteries have universal electrical mounts, so they can be fitted to different types of bikes.

 

                                                    When it was fresh back in 2016... 

Like any battery, they have an active life of just a few years. The bike had been sitting for about six months after the guy I sold it to decided that he was too tall for it (6’2”) I think. It floated around on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for quite awhile, then finally disappeared. When the new owner posted a comment about needing help for his CB77, I recognized the bike and got in touch with him.

I scooped up the bike when I was up in N. County for my chiropractor’s appointment and brought it back to its former abode with me. The bike would kickstart, but the lights were pulsing and the voltage on the battery was in the 11v range when first checked. I put it on the charger overnight and it jumped up to 13.25v off the charger. In the meantime I had to dissect the starter button/throttle cable unit and repair the sheared off starter button wire. This is a tricky repair job and it took me two times to get it right adding some shrink tubing over the end of the wire where it attaches to the starter button board.

Once that was accomplished, I hit the starter button while monitoring the battery voltage and it went from 13.25v to 5v for a moment, then bounced back to 13v+ and then ran up to 16v at medium revs! Okay, too much of a good thing is not a good thing. When batteries are failing, the AC charging system will go to max output. The battery can no longer store the power as designed, so the system voltage just skyrockets. The bike has a Pro-Trigger ignition and LED headlight bulbs, which mercifully didn’t blow out. The bike was equipped with the last generation solid-state rectifier from Honda and has worked well until now.

I swapped out the nearly-new Motobatt battery from the Pink Panther bike and everything settled right down into the 12v range, with no wild run up to the 14-15+v readings. I think that the old battery was getting overheated at the 16v range (with the lights ON) and shutting down until it cooled off. This is in line with the reported troubles of running for a half hour then stalling and not restarting until it cooled off. Despite being a 1963 bike, it has a later (L) low output rotor, but was still cranking out volts like crazy.

While I removed the kickstarter cover to reverse the clutch cable joint installation, I had to go back into the crankshaft seal for replacement. This had been a problem previously and I changed the seal a couple of years ago. Everything looks fine, but it was leaking around the starter clutch hub face on the crankshaft side.

The cylinder head skull leaks a bit on the left side and I found a tapered washer from the kickstarter spring retainer that helps to hold the skull up in place and lessens the tendency to leak oil around the spark plug threads. Sadly, the last mechanic who changed the plugs, failed to reinstall the washer.

The new owner was thrilled that I was able to get my hands back on the bike and solve all the outstanding issues in just a couple of hours. It’s a 61-year-old bike and it has had an interesting history and string of owners, who have now twice brought it back to me for needed attention. With continued maintenance care, it should be good for another few more years by this caring owner.

Next up:

A red 1966 Dream has arrived. Another one of Don’s little beauties which belies the demons within. Looking pretty good externally with a fresh set of BW tires, the battery cover was missing, the ignition switch was missing and the headlight shell was torn and twisted. An aftermarket wiring harness was installed along with a bunch of LED lights and a lot of black electrical tape over everything. Plus, the added bonus of some kind of Mikuni copy Chinese carburetor with an enrichener lever that is covered up by the carb covers, when installed. Waiting for parts on this one… in the meantime:

Saturday morning will see the arrival of a CL72 which the owner requests that the engine be completely overhauled. The Summer Solstice has just occurred, so the summertime looks like it will be a busy time for the weeks to come and beyond. There are more customers in the queue.... I need an apprentice! 

Bill Silver aka MrHonda

www.vintagehonda.com

6/24

How I wound up working for Shelby American…

It all started with a girl named Patsy. She was a sweet, sunny, petite blonde from FLA two years behnd me at high school. She had this seductive smile that would melt the heart of any teenage boy and for some reason, she flashed it at me, one day. She was being claimed by a guy named Gary, but the relationship appeared to be a bit rocky. I left a little message for her, telling her that I was enjoying her smile and laugh, which she replied to quickly, giving me hope for something special to happen.

I had bought a little Honda CL90 motorcycle from a local used car dealer, who had gotten it from a sailor who had brought it in from his overseas tour and traded it in for a car. It was like new and being from overseas, it might have been one of the first ones on the country, as the Honda dealers had yet to receive them. I puttered around on it in town and rode it over to Patsy’s house a few times to visit. Apparently, Gary had seen it parked outside and confronted me, when I went to the store to buy a Coke or something. He wanted to start a fight, but the store manager headed it off and sent him on his way. This was the push-pull relationship that left Patsy in the middle of a messy situation.

I got a call from her, soon after, saying that she had was now pregnant by Gary. I took her to my family doctor and he confirmed it. I was shattered by the news and had no idea what was to come. I needed some time to gather my thoughts together, so for some reason concocted a plan to take a break on the little Honda CL90 and head towards the mountains for a long ride.

I left with a few belongings in a little briefcase, strapped to the back of the bike. I had layered up with a few shirts and my lightweight vinyl jacket. Suddenly, off I went, not giving anyone a clue as to what I was doing. I just jumped on the bike and headed up Highway 395, stopping every 100 miles for one gallon of gas. I had left in the afternoon and by the time it got dark, I was in the Sierras and it was getting cold. 

All this was happening in April and the "flat-lander" me hadn’t considered that there was snow in the mountains at 6k feet. Hypothermia started to set in and I decided to stop at the first lit building where I could take shelter. Fortunately, the only such building was a sheriff’s substation in Mono Lake. It was almost midnight and the outside temperature was about 20 degrees. I hobbled into the lobby of the building and was met by a lone sheriff who was quite surprised to see me walk in the door, obviously riding a motorcycle.

I asked if it was okay to stay inside for a while to thaw out and he offered an open jail cell with an army cot and blanket to warm up with. I gladly accepted the offer and then crawled under the blanket and fell fast asleep. I awoke the next morning to a bright sunny day and left the office with gratitude. The water in the CL90’s battery was frozen and I had to push start the bike to get it to fire up. Off I went, having spent my only night in jail, voluntarily.

The low-beam in the headlight had burned out, so I sought a replacement part in Reno. I found a motorcycle shop in town and they happened to have a bulb in stock. With the light repaired, I headed back down towards Sacramento, stopping to rest at the border check station at the CA/NV state line. Then, I headed out and down the I-80 highway on the little bike, which had a top speed of about 55 mph, which is the minimum speed to be driving on the highway system in CA. I stayed in the right lane and was passed by many large trucks along the way.

I stopped once at a pay phone to call my family. I didn’t have enough change to make the long-distance call, so I used the special code of calling collect to myself. When Mom answered, she said that Bill was not home, but asked about where the call was coming from. The operator told her that it was coming from Sacramento, so that was all she really needed to know. She knew that I was alive and about 500 miles away from home, but she didn’t know why. All I had left behind was a slip of paper saying “I am taking a sabbatical.” She didn’t know about Patsy and how affected I had been with the sudden ending of our relationship.

I continued to drive across the Bay Bridge in SFO and found my way towards Haight-Ashbury where all the “Happenings” were occurring during the "Swinging 60s". I got soaked driving over the bridge when a sudden rainstorm hit me. I stopped at a 24-hour laundry and dried out most of the outer layers, then laid down next to a tree, near the parked bike and fell asleep. No one bothered me for some reason and I slept long enough to get my body recharged for the next leg of the trip. Riding about 1,100 miles kept my mind focused on riding the bike, not my heartbreak, but it was taking a toll on my body and spirit.

The last leg was to head back to LA and stop to see my father, Kendall, who was living with his mother in Playa Del Rey. I had spent the previous summer up there, working at a gas station across the street as a post-graduation adventure. 

There were about 400 miles left to go… 

 I headed down the famous, scenic Highway 1, with the little Honda just putting along happily. It was getting about 100 mpg and gasoline was about $.25 a gallon, so the trip wasn’t costing me a lot. I had stopped for food a few times, but mostly I just drove the bike forward in search of something that I could not foresee.

I made it safely to PDR and my Dad’s place. They were not totally surprised to see me as my Mother had called them to say that I might be headed in that direction. I hadn’t shaved in a couple of days and my eyes looked like burning coals from 1,500 miles of riding through many temperature changes with only an open-face helmet with a flat face shield as protection for my face.

I called my Mom and told her that I was safe and might be staying up in LA for a while. My father, Kendall, had found work at Shelby American earlier, and was working in the mail room. When they offered to let me stay awhile, he asked around at Shelby’s to see if there was any work available. He told them that I had been in auto shop classes in high school and was good working on bikes and cars, so they said, “Have him come in on Monday.” There was no interview, no application, just “Show up and we’ll put you to work.”

I had swapped the little Honda for a 1956 Ford Station Wagon, which had a burned valve but was otherwise in good shape, except once when the brakes failed on the way to work. The brake pedal went straight to the floor, as I was approaching the S-A building. I used the emergency brake to stop the car, lifted the brake pedal back up and then it began to work again. I replaced the master cylinder that night and it was fine afterward.

I was tasked to assemble the headlight assemblies for the Shelby Mustang production in the east building along W. Imperial Highway. Shelby had leased two large buildings, with the race shop in the West and the production line in the East. They had dug 4-foot deep trenches in the floor of the building so the technicians could work underneath the cars, as they progressed down the assembly line. Cars would come in from the East end of the building, some getting new oil pans or traction bars for the rear suspension. Down near my station, they were attaching the fiberglass hoods, truck lids, tail lights, and the front nose pieces. These were fitted with long studs, which attached to the car with speed nuts once the piece was properly positioned.

Apparently, the molds for the nose and tail pieces were being made in Long Beach, where it is moist most of the time and the molds would lose their correct shape during the lay-up process. Once the parts were painted and attached, the outer edges of the panels wouldn’t align properly, so the mechanics called me over to grab the inside of the engine bay and put my knee down on the outside edge of the nose piece until it matched the fender lines. They had been coated with some clear RTV sealant, so it squeezed out when the nose piece was attached. Once the nose was installed, the mechanics wiped off the excess RTV and the car went down the line to the next station.

I worked there from my arrival in April, until about July, when they announced that they were moving the production facilities to Michigan. If we wanted to keep working for the company, we would have to move with them. Sorry, that wasn’t a good option for me, a SoCal native. I had been in college on a student deferment to prevent being drafted during the Vietnam War, and I hadn’t been in school for 3 months.

My father told me to sign up for the US Air Force. I drove into LA and signed up for a 90-day delayed enlistment program. I packed up and headed back home to San Diego, where I found out that Patsy had gotten married to Gary. I wound up buying a 1934 Ford 2-door sedan rolling chassis and put a 312 Ford engine and auto transmission in it, got it running just before I had to leave for my USAF enlistment inside the 90-day window of opportunity.

In summation: If I hadn’t gotten my heart broken by the Patsy disaster, I probably wouldn’t have taken off to parts unknown to clear my head, winding up in LA and getting my job at Shelby American. Life is not a linear event and your choices can have unexpected consequences and outcomes. Patsy got divorced and I went to visit her in FLA, but it wasn’t a great experience. She took off with her child to NY with some other jealous guy who heard that I had come to see her. We never spoke again. Years later, I heard that Gary had died in a motorcycle crash.

Life goes on, with memories and a feeling of gratitude for the challenges and blessings that come to you in your lifetime. I have survived 3 motorcycle crashes, two divorces and various ups and downs that we all face in some form or other. I have been blessed by a wonderful family and friends who have supported me along life’s path. I am very thankful for the journey.

It’s hard to see how people and circumstances might play out in your future life. As much as you would like to say that you have control over your life and your choices, sometimes there are a series of events that overshadow your life and your plans if you had any. Some people have the ability and wisdom (and luck) to plot out a course of action, follow their passion and experience a fulfilling and successful life. For others, life is like living a ping-pong game where the ball takes unexpected bounces and leads to surprise results and outcomes.

Despite all the ups and downs that have occurred in my life, I feel much gratitude to my family, friends and those who have supported my efforts to live my best life, even when I am not fully aware of what it might be in the moment. Looking back at all of the major life events, I can see how they all evolved and created the life experience that is mine now. There was a lot of discomfort, danger, distress and heartbreak in those peak moments in your life, but it all plays out in the end, mostly to your advantage if you can surmount those challenging moments and just keep moving forward. 

Each of us has their own heartbreak stories from the past or maybe are living them right now. Keep strong, ask for help, and just move forward, knowing that there is a bigger plan in place, that you probably have no idea is coming your way.

Blessings on your own journey..

Bill Silver

6/16/24   

Mutant 1969 SL90 Honda…

My friend Don brought me another one-off bike to bring back to life last week. When he sent a photo of the engine, I knew that I was in trouble. The bike was clearly a one-year-only 1969 Honda SL90 MotoSport machine but had oversized tires, a wide alloy rear rim and the swing arm had been extended a couple of inches with some awful slugs and scabby welds. The extension work was probably to clear the over-sized rear tire.

It was the engine photos that caused me concern. The stock SL90 engine has a 4-speed transmission and manual clutch, pretty much borrowed from the S90/CL90 models, but in a new heavy-duty tube frame. The engine shot showed the SL90 engine serial numbers, but the left side cover had a Hi-Low transmission grafted onto the otherwise stock-looking engine! Very puzzling…

I did check the compression first and the readings were in the 125 psi range, which should have been closer to 150 normally. The engine is bolted down with 9 bolts. Two long ones at the rear, which are normally used, then three more on the top case where the frame side plates bolt in, plus four that came up through the solid frame pan and into the bottom of the engine case.

I nudged it out of the chassis and rolled it over to the workbench. It was a nice change from the 100+ lb 250-305 engines to be able to lift the little 90 engine up and into a snug place for screw extraction. Obviously, the whole engine had been apart and a CT90 Trail 90 transmission was installed which includes a long output shaft. All the screws were very tight and it took a lot of whacking with the 3lb hammer on the impact driver to loosen them all up.

Next, the top end was removed and more surprises were discovered. The piston was 51mm vs about 49 for a stock engine. The valves looked stock and there were no signs of engine porting. Even the stock carburetor was still in place. With the cylinder removed there were signs of water down in the cylinders for a while, etching the cylinder walls, especially near the top. As I removed the piston from the rod, I noticed a bump in the connecting rod that was not normal. My best guess is that it was treated to a Powroll stroker kit and the process to keep the top end height correct was to heat up the connecting rod in the middle section and put it in a press, shortening the rod a few millimeters.

The camshaft was an odd piece, as well. One end looked as if it had been hard-chromed, the lobes looked bigger than stock and the flange for the camsprocket was a full circle instead of just a couple of ends big enough to bolt the sprocket to normally.

So, the little engine turned out to be a big-bore, stroker, cammed-up, 8-speed, manual-clutch dirt machine, but still sporting the original carburetor and exhaust system. It’s not anything that you would normally find out in the wild these days.

Meanwhile….

Don hauled the chassis home and dismantled it for a silver powdercoat finish. He tracked down a replacement stock swing arm and rear wheel assembly. The plan was to make it as stock as possible, which included a $800 paint job for all the bodywork. The hybrid motor will be the only big departure from stock, overall.

I shipped the cylinder to DrATV in Nebraska, who has pistons in an oversize to clean up the cylinder and give it new life. Along with that, I ordered new gaskets, seals, screw kits, and a new dipstick. The carb will get a good ultrasonic bath, but it wasn’t in terrible condition, surprisingly.

The engine was covered in clay dirt, which was resistant to paint thinner, so it required an hour of scraping and scrubbing with wire brushes and screwdrivers to get all the grit out of the myriad of little casting corners.

The cylinder head was similarly gummed up, but the valves may be reusable. The previous mechanic put the exhaust valve stem seal holder on the valve guide first, then jammed the inner valve spring seat over the top of it. Both parts were damaged in the removal process, so more bits were added to the parts list. I seem to find the oddest situations of previous repair attempts on just about everything I have seen lately.

I did pull the clutch cover off and everything inside looked nice and well-oiled. The little wedge-shaped oil screen was clean, as well. The cover was sealed with Gasgacinch sealer without a gasket! The cylinder camchain tunnel seal was loaded with red RTV and the formed seal was damaged somehow during installation. At least the left side of the engine cover area was sealed with a proper gasket. Instead of an SL90 gasket kit, the CT90 Trail 90 kit will be the one of choice to reassemble this hybrid engine.

Next up will be fork seals/boots, drive chain, new cables and switches.

Digging deeper:

After a lot of cleaning of the outside dirt and grime, the assembly process began, but not without more problems. I received a box of parts from DrATV including the rebored cylinder. I had set aside the old piston and began to assemble the new one only to discover that I had overlooked the fact that the piston skirt on the old piston was about an 1” shorter because of the combination of the stroker crank and shrunken connecting rod. So, I disassembled the top end again and whittled down the piston using a combination of hacksaw and a little belt sander I have in the corner of the shop.

The head went together with the old valves and new valve stem seal and holder. The new piston crown was somewhat different than the old one, but the combusion chamber had been scooped out somewhat to lower the compression generated by the increased bore and stroke.

The carburetor was the early version with a horizontal float valve setup which doesn’t seem to be available in a carb kit that I could find. It cleaned up pretty well in the ultrasonic cleaner, so I left the original parts inside. I am concerned that it had been running a stock #85 main jet despite all the other mods including the lumpy Harmon Collins camshaft. We’ll see how it turns out in a few weeks.

Chassis build

Don brought back the frame and suspension bits to start the reassembly. I had to extract the old swing arm bushings and spacer from the extended one to the powdercoated stock one. Using a slide-hammer setup I was able to coax the old bushings out and reinstall them into the good swing arm. There were new aftermarket shocks but the eye ends were the same on both ends and the bottom one fits the swing arm mount fine, but the top mount is an 8mm bolt, so requires a bushing. I had one lying around, but will need to get another one before I am finished.

The steering stem was the next part to install, but the races were somewhat pitted and the package of balls that was delivered had 18 in it and the installation calls for 42! I tried Home Depot and called ACE Hardware, but no luck. I told Don that I needed more 3/16” balls and he came up with a package of them by the next morning! I had used a small Dremel grinding wheel to work down the pits in the races in hopes of them being good enough to use and they were. I had already replaced the fork seals on the fork set, so they were slipped into the stem, after some excess powdercoat was removed. With the fork bridge in place the forks rotated side to side very smoothly.

The rectifier bolts to the side of the battery box which had also been powdercoated. I had to grind off some of the coating to get a nice solid electrical ground for the box to the frame and the rectifier to the batttery box.

More cleaning time was spent on the front brake backing plate and shoes. The worst problem was that someone had torqued down the axle when the speedometer drive gear wasn’t registered into the two little slots on the hub. The tabs were flattened out and it took some time to coax it out of the drive cavity and then put it in a vise to bend the tabs back to ninety degrees so they fit the hub once again. It’s amazing how much time is spent on doing little steps to move forward in the assembly process. I turned the frame upside down in order to feed the front wheel and brake assembly into the ends of the forks, then flipped it back over again.

I tracked down new cables including one of the rare front brake cables, which have a brake switch burid in the middle of the cable. This was a 1969-only feature on most of the street bikes in that year and the correct cables are very hard to find and can cost $100+ from some sellers.

The side stand was assembled and the spring installed with my brake spring tool. Unfortunately, the SL90 only has a side stand, so the frame was sitting wobbly on the work table until the rear hub and sprocket holder were cleaned and installed with the new wheel and tire. With new shocks and oversized tires, I hope that the bike will sit on the sidestand correctly. I have to put a rear wheel stand under the swing arm and feed the rear wheel into the back end of the chassis. Once both wheels are in place, the engine can be installed once again.

The engine is certainly bolted firmly into the chassis. Normally, a S/CL90 engine bolts in two places at the back of the engine case. On the SL90, the rear bolts still are installed once the frame side plates are assembled, but then 4 more long 8mm bolts come up from the bottom of the frame’s skidplate and into the engine case. So, the engine is secured with 8 bolts. It’s probably a good thing, as the big bore, stroker engine isn’t balanced for those mods, so the bike might be more than a little buzzy.

The wiring harness was all crispy with heat/age damaged push connectors, plus, like everything else, was coated in the fine dust seen on the whole bike. I ordered some silver electrical tape to tape up the forward section of the harness where it enters the back of the headlight case. Reviewing the condition of the connectors and wiring leads, I wound up buying a better quality used harness from eBay.

The original handlebar was refitted with a new left side headlight control/dimmer switch. The right side throttle housing has one two-wire electrical lead that connects to the kill switch. Again the wire sheath was crispy and flaked off with little effort. I snaked a few pieces of heat shrink tubing together to clean up the appearance of the bike. This is not designed to be a 100 point show bike, so some corners can be cut in order to get the bike completed under a reasonable budget.

The rear fender is rubber-mounted and the rear mount wraps around the back of the frame tube. A curved mount plate and insulating rubber are unique pieces and NLA out in the world, for the most part. I ran the part number and it came up in an old list for OhioCycle’s inventory online. I sent a message to Nick and he posted it on eBay where he is doing all of his sales now. Not cheap, but it is new and will be just what we needed to mount the back of the fender. The forward section of the rear fender mounts with a little set of rubbers, spacers, bolts and washers for two spots. In the end, the tab for rear fender rubbers came to nearly $100. You have to do what you have to do when repairing a 56-year old, one-of- a-kind Honda MotoSport 90.

The speedometer packing had all flaked off, but fortunately it is a low cost item that has been reproduced and fits a number of smaller Honda models. As with all the other steps, you have to take time out to research the part number of some small bit and then find one for sale, ordering it up and adding it to the growing list. In projects like this, several hours are spent in cleaning parts, evaluating the project, researching the correct replacement parts, finding them and ordering them, hopefully on a decent time frame.

The SL90 was about to start up some 10 weeks after arrival. It had a fresh battery, 150 psi compression, new coil and condenser and rebuilt carburetor. Kick, kick, kick.. check for spark and there wasn't one. I jumped the points with a screwdriver and it was pretty much non-existent. I cleaned the points carefully and the spark improved slightly. The bike actually did start up and run for a minute or so. I shut it down and it wouldn't start again. Same minuscule spark issue. I removed the $15 eBay coil that was listed for all 6v Honda singles and the primary side read 4.5 ohms. That's great if you have a 12v system, but not for a 6v bike. I checked the old original coil and it read 1.6 ohms. When I plugged the oil coil back in, the spark at the plug was nice and crisp. 

The bike fired up on 2 kicks. This bike was powdercoated, so the frame needed some places scraped off for engine grounding. What I discovered, was that the coil, on most 90s, bolts to the engine crankcase and the condenser rides on one end, so both are grounded, even though the coil doesn't need to be grounded. On the SL90, the coil is mounted on the backbone of the frame beneath the fuel tank on a split bracket that clamps to the frame tube. It finally dawned on me that the new condenser, mounted on the end of the coil wasn't getting grounded due to the powdercoating on the frame tube. I ground of some of the coating and made a secure ground for the coil bracket, thus also for the condenser. Interestingly, the engine did run briefly without the condenser functioning due to a lack of proper ground.

A whole new disaster was discovered after the engine was fired up, when a huge oil leak developed beneath the left side dyno cover and Hi-Lo transmission unit. Once the cover was removed, the gasket was checked as well as the oil seals. All were as expected, however there is a cavity below the Hi-Lo transmission area that had a curious drilled and threaded hole. Oil was gushing out from that spot and drooling down into a partially blocked drain path. I initially used some red Lock-Tite thread locker on a small 6mm screw, then covered it with some GOOP to help seal the area. I didn’t give it all enough time to set up and when it was restarted again, the leak returned. Apparently, there is something in the transmission area just behind the hole and the screw was dislodged and the leak continued.

Round two was to cut down a shorter screw, use thread locker again and only thread it in about a 1/8th of an inch. Then I mixed up a batch of epoxy and filled the cavity, surrounding the screw. I made a little dam to close off the cavity from leaking further and let it all set up overnight. That should fix the problem, permanently. This was another example of spending extra hours discovering one-off customer mods that were not expected or functional and having to find solutions for effective repairs.

This bike has been a nightmare since it arrived, packed with silt and dirt in every square inch of the machine. I had to replace the wiring harness as all of the connection insulators were fried to a crisp. I could only find a better-used harness from eBay and piece it all back together again. After the battery was installed, the ignition switch failed to make the simple 2-wire connection internally. I removed the switch and pried the back off only to find more of that silt and dirt inside the contacts of the switch plate! I’m convinced that the bike was submerged in a river of some kind, which can only explain how much dirt got into so many places.

The switch repair was successful and finally power was being distributed out to all the lights and ignition system. Even the horn works!

Getting close to the finish line…

Well, the first test ride was around the block and down the street for an initial checkover. The next one was further down my test ride course and ended abruptly when the main jet fell out of the main jet holder. Mechanic error! After a ¾ uphill hike back to the house and my truck, I recovered the bike and reinstalled the main jet. I have been very puzzled that this engine, with all of the modifications done to the engine is running a stock exhaust and a stock carburetor with a stock #85 main jet. I decided to play it safe and put in a little bigger jet, but when I tried a #90 jet on my tapered jet reamers for comparison, then I discovered that someone had drilled/reamed out the stock #85 jet to just about #90 size. Well, that mystery was finally solved.

The next run, closer to home, was more at a fuller power setting and when I returned, oil was puddling beneath the bike! First it was oil coming from behind the right side cylinder head cover. I pulled the cover, checked the surface of the head and cover and found a little gouge in the head, near the screw hole. I added a bit of RTV to fill in the gap and put a double gasket on, which fixed that leak.

Another test ride and another leak from a different place. This time, oil was seeping at the base gasket area where the camchain comes through. The gasket set was not OEM and sometimes the replacement parts are not at full specifications. I had to unhook the exhaust, pry up the intake manifold and gently tease the cylinder head off just enough to access the moulded camchain packing piece. It look absolutely fine, so I gooped it up with some MotoSeal and reassembled it without disturbing the cam timing, which was a small miracle. I had removed the camchain tensioner spring to take the load off the tensioner so it wouldn’t push on the camchain and disturb the timing.

Given that the engine is springing oil leaks on new gaskets and seals leads me to consider that perhaps the increase in displacement is overwhelming the simple breather system and the excess pressure is forcing oil past anywhere there is a weakness. Or, the gasket material and seals are not of OEM quality.

The last gasp repair attempt was a glob of RTV spooned up into the gasket seam area. After hardening overnight, the initial test run looked promising.

I needed more time to finish this bike in time for it to appear at the upcoming Steve McQueen car and bike show. This was already Wednesday before the event, so it had to be right, right now. Don called me on Monday... the bike didn't leak a drop and it went on the transport truck, headed for S. America. 

Whew!

Bill Silver

aka MrHonda

www.vintagehonda.com

A little CB77, disguised as a Pink Panther

I really don’t go chasing after vintage Honda twins these days. There is so much work to do to get them cleaned up, especially when they have been off the road since 1977. That’s the case of the “Pink Panther” Super Hawk that was offered to me from the local SD Automotive Museum. I'd helped them out with a decent CB77 many years ago, which was sold for some small profit for the museum funds.

Here, years later, I get a text message from Jack at the museum saying… “Are you interested in a 1964 CB77 that was donated to us recently?” He forwarded some small photos of what appeared to be a mostly complete bike sporting a custom “Pink-ish” paint job that had swirly red and black drips and tiny metallic flakes embedded into the finish. It looked almost 3D, but putting a hand across the finish, it was quite smooth. Obviously, someone with great skill and imagination painted it long ago.

I drove down to National City just to have a look, a few days later. Apart from the bobbed front fender, the other changes were a set of CL72 exhaust pipes installed, some CB350 rear shocks, the centerstand had been deleted and the optional side stand bolted up to the chassis. The pipes were tight up against the left side cover, so the heat from the pipes and proximity left a burn spot on the cover.

                                                In the beginning.....

The original photo set showed the starter motor attached, but no starter chain connected. When I saw the bike, apparently Jack had decided to remove the starter motor, which is held on with 4 bolts and the long top right side bolt snapped off, flush with the case surface….

The worst part of the bike’s condition, apart from the layer of rust and corrosion all over the chrome parts, was the kickstarter cover. This was a 1964 bike with engine number 6750, so has the early, first-generation kickstarter cover, which was prone to breakage and damage to the kickstarter shaft bushing and hole. This hole was elongated so much that it would take a monumental task to weld back up and find the original hole center again. That one would go on the junk pile right away.

Despite the 19k miles showing on the speedometer, the meter needles were still in place with some fading to the face. If the engine was still original to the bike, I would expect a lot of worn parts inside, especially the kickstarter and transmission gears.

I had a CL77 project spread all over my work table, so I told them that I was interested but couldn’t find a place for it for a few weeks. If it was still available when I was ready, I would take a shot at bringing it back to life again, but it was going to be a pretty full-on revival.

Fast forward a few weeks later, and the bike was still available and I had space to park it out in the driveway under a cover for the moment. The biggest challenge I could foresee is that the front brake seemed to be locked up and the front tire didn’t hold air. Getting it loaded up into the Tacoma and then back off in the driveway was going to be a challenge to say the least.

Pickup… no worries

When I arrived at the Auto Museum warehouse, I brought a whole box of tools, a portable bike lift, ATV ramp, a new tire, tube and rim band and plenty of tie-downs to help get this bike off the floor and into the truck. Well, none of that happened, because my friend Jack had hoisted the bike up on the Harbor Freight bike stand and removed the front wheel, took the brake plate apart and lubed the brake cams. With the wheel already off, I was able to change the tire and we both guided the front wheel back onto the bike and got enough brake lever leverage to safely get the bike out of the shop and onto the Tacoma safely. I tucked all the spares away behind the front seats and on the floor of the passenger side seat and started for home. All during the drive home, I ruminated about how to handle this new project and how to keep the cost from going crazy.

Panther’s Anatomy…

It took about 2 hours to gingerly remove the engine from the chassis without the benefit of the centerstand. Ironically, I had the centerstand on the shopping list, but when I went to pick up the bike someone had come by and dropped off the centerstand for the bike, which had been mislaid somewhere in the garage. I’ll still need to round up some centerstand bolts, including the longer one for the side where the side stand bracket mounts up. It wasn’t mounted properly before and the whole bracket had a big bend/twist that will need a press to straighten out.

I had an adjustable rear axle stand, so propped up the chassis and went about removing the engine. It had been running stock air filters, all of which were dirty and tired, along with the air filter tubes. The Scrambler exhaust pipes had no baffles in the back, so that would need to be remedied or just replace them with David Silver Spare reproductions when available.

With the engine on the bench, careful disassembly proceeded. At 19k miles, it had to have been apart before and there were certainly signs that someone had done just that. The stator wires were pushed though the crankcase drain hole instead of the hole with the rubber grommet. The starter clutch had 3 rollers but no springs or caps. One of the starter clutch hub screws was slotted instead of a Phillips screw. All of the clutch cover screws were roughed up from being reused from the last tear-down.

I noticed some evidence of water up inside the exhaust port on the right side, which corresponded to the corrosion on top of the right side piston. The pistons were.. .50 oversize, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of wear on the cylinder walls. A good hone job and new piston rings should work fine for this motor.

There were odd little grooves ground in the top edges of the rocker arms, as if to give clearance for them in a high lift camshaft application, but there was no signs of anything making contact around there. The right side rod end was a little bit burned, where it may have seized at one time. This is not uncommon as the right side ignition timing tends to lead the left when the ignition is statically tested and not re-checked running. This leads to a wrist pin hole that is a bit out of round and the pin rocks in the pin bore. If left as-is, there will be an audible clicking noise at part-throttle during normal riding operation. Unfortunately, the usual remedy is to have the crankshaft dismantled and the rod put in a mill for a clean-up pass and a thin bronze bushing installed and fitted to size.

The clutch was a Barnett racing clutch with no separator rings installed. It was stuck together but pried apart easily. Overall, the insides of the engine were pretty clean and no signs of metallic grinding of aluminum or steel or brass evident. The cylinder head combustion chambers showed a bit of soft carbon from burning oil over time.

The carburetors, were original round-bowl units and were surprisingly clean inside with #140 main jets vs the stock #135, probably due to the exhaust system being replaced with the uncorked Scrambler pipes. Honda used aluminum needles on early model carburetors, which usually hold up okay even after 60 years.

The next day, the whole chassis was torn down for powder-coating. The bike had some aftermarket Scrambler-style handlebars and longer cables installed. The handlebar switches had some OEM switches installed with longer wiring leads than what are usually seen with stock CB switches. Unfortunately, there were some poorly done wiring connections inside the headlight shell which will be remedied later. All the sheet metal parts were originally black painted and in surprisingly good condition. The fork seal holders are hard to remove, especially the first time. One side required some serious heat from my Mapp-gas torch to soften the o-rings grip on the fork slider. Luckily, the correct length fender stay bolts were installed, so the fork sliders were not damaged and the forks came apart easily.

I have about 20 lbs of Scarlet Red powder-coat leftover from a CL72 project that was done during the pandemic and I have been waiting for something to use it all on. For the moment, the black chassis will become red, but I am leaving the custom-painted parts intact to see how they will look on a red frame. I hate to ruin the artwork of the previous owner’s efforts, but in a worse case, the fenders will go back to silver and the tank will become red to match the chassis.

Transformation…

The tab on the powder-coating. was $600 for all of the chassis parts, apart from the tank, side covers and fenders. Despite having something close to 20k miles on the odometer, the frame and bodywork was undamaged and now looks new with the Scarlet Red finish. I had to order new centerstand bolts, including the proper 268-810 left side, which reaches through the side stand bracket to secure the centerstand properly. We were able to straighten out the old bracket on a 50t press, so it is usable once again.

                                                Coming along.....

4nto1.com came up with an inexpensive tapered roller bearing kit for the steering stem, as well as gaskets, a seal kit, some 5.5mm fuel line, some replica CB400F handlebars, and some inexpensive mirrors. The stock 041 rectangular mirrors are useless on most 250-305s due to the head angle, which was designed for scooters not street bikes. CMSNL.com came up with the other centerstand bolt, the rubber dust seals for the swing arm, Rubber cushions for the fork ears, plus misc nuts and bolts.

I took the engine cases to the local engine re-builder to have them hot-tanked and degreased before reassembly. Vapor blasting all of these parts generally runs about $350, so I may just paint the center cases with cast-aluminum paint and do the clutch cover and kickstarter cover in the Duplicolor paint that is close to the Cloud Silver colors. I am not going for a 100 pt show bike and plan to use it for local runs to the post office, so am trying to keep it on a reasonable budget. A big budget item would be the new stock style exhaust. The stock CL72 pipes are very loud, even with the Snuff-or-Nots installed, so something else will have to be considered, so I don’t get thrown out of the neighborhood.

And all back together again…

I have squirreled away CB77 parts whenever I came across them over the years, perhaps hoping that that one last Super Hawk would come my way and the shiny bits could be put into use. I did have a set of re-chromed fork seal holders available, which brightened up the forks. Other little bits like a side-stand return spring and good used chassis parts all were put into use for this project. The chassis came back together fairly quickly, but the engine languished on the bench as competing project bikes took up time and space. A CL77 project took up 2 months on the bike bench while bits were re-chromed, powder-coated, polished and finally all reassembled. Once the CL77 was completed, a CL160 took its place for a week or so, then finally the CB got it’s place on the stand.

The CB400F bars had a nice bend and height to them, but the wiring holes for the switches were a little far in to allow for the grips and lever brackets to all group together, so I had to lop off an inch or two of the ends to make everything fit up again.

I took time to grind off powder-coat from various locations on the frame so that the rear fender would have a good ground path to the frame. Otherwise, the tail light wiring does weird things without a proper chassis ground. I was able to reuse the main wiring harness and the ignition switch. I even put the original rectifier back onto the frame mount after cleaning off the powder-coat on the tabs.

Apart from a little short circuit in the dimmer switch, the rest of the wiring all went back together properly and the headlight bulb was still functional on both filaments.

Once the new rings were received, the pistons were scrubbed up and ready for installation. I did have my machine shop do a fast hone job to break the glaze, but aside from a few little marks, the bores should be fine to seat in the new rings. I lapped in the old valves and seats together and put a little bit more tension on the camsprocket return weights to help the spark timing return properly. There is inherent slop in the whole mechanism, so you can only do what you can with them. My friend Tim Miller down in TX can take them apart and rebuild them with a different advance curve that is more engine-friendly, but this one was good enough. I actually had several used units, so picked out the best one.

I did decide to install the endless camchain while the cases were split, so that always adds some consideration when reassembling the top end. You have to install the inner ball bearings in the head, then feed the camshafts in from both sides while you hold the camsprocket up with the chain, all the while watching that the crankshaft stays at TDC during the assembly.

I always plane the gasket surfaces off with a big, flat single-cut file to knock down the high spots on the cylinders, cylinder head and clutch cover gasket surfaces to minimize any leaks. I decided to use an inexpensive Allen (hex) bolt kit for the fasteners to assemble the engine. The only other challenge was to figure out what to do with the clutch setup. The Barnett clutch plates were the old Kevlar units, and there was no place to install the retainer wires to keep the plates from moving as a unit instead of spreading apart during disengagement. I wound up using a hybrid clutch setup using some original 6 plate clutch components interspersed with some of the later metal backed -020 plates from a 5 plate clutch setup. Interestingly the whole clutch outer was a billet unit, apparently from Barnett made years ago.

I replaced the low gear bushing, kickstarter pawl and installed some offset gear cotters to maintain good gear engagement while the transmission was apart. For a bike with 20k miles, most of the internals were still pretty nice.

I did have to extract the broken off starter motor mount bolt from the engine case. The starter chain was missing, so I cut down the old camchain and put a link in it to get the starter motor all setup. Only after the bike was pretty much together did I discover that the starter motor had no armature inside! So that lead to a appeal for a working starter motor, which was fulfilled by a vintage Honda friend in Los Angeles who sent one to me for free. My friend Jack Stein gifted me with a good used kickstarter cover, which was rebuilt with the parts from the original bike, plus a NOS clutch adjuster that had been in safe-keeping for the last few years. Little by little, it all started coming together.

Instead of the Snuff-or-Nots for the Scrambler pipes, I bought a pair of $11 each VW Bug exhaust tips and with a bit of fiddling around got them to fit into the stock pipes with a bit of hammering with my plastic mallet. These do take some of the exhaust note bite out and makes the bike look a bit more interesting with some extra long pipes now.

Teething problems, of course…

I rolled the bike out to take a few photos and noticed that the new tire and tube were flat on the rear wheel. I aired up the tire to 34 psi and then spit on the end of the valve stem to check for leaks.. and it was leaking. I removed the old core and replaced it with another one.. aired back up to 34 psi and it was still leaking! I cranked down on the cap and it has held up some, but obviously that isn’t the final solution.

I had cleaned the tank with Metal Rescue leaving the petcock in place. I added a couple of gallons of gasoline to the tank, put on Reserve just to be safe and the bike stalled out on me 3 blocks away! I pushed/rolled it back to the driveway and pulled off a fuel line. Nothing on RESERVE, but it was flowing in ON! Duh! I drained the tank, removed the petcock and cleaned out the reserve hole and passage into the 4-hole gasket. Refilled and it was good to go again.. except when I throttled it up under load, the “hybrid” clutch started slipping! Arrrgh.

I went online and someone had a NOS late-style clutch hub (shallow splines) for sale at $45 and then I got a set of new aftermarket -020 metal friction plates for $35. So, I’ll wait until next week and replace the clutch plates with something fresh. Maybe I’ll put in some heavier springs, as well.

(Update: While sifting through my old engine parts bins, I discovered the late-style shallow-spline clutch hub for a 5-plate clutch. I had a stack of used 268-020 metal-backed friction plates, so I removed the whole hybrid clutch setup and replaced it with a good used 5-plate clutch assembly. It works fine now!)

Oh, to begin with, the left side carburetor (of course, right behind the exhaust pipes) had a bit of a fuel weep around the float bowl gasket. The bowl gasket was original. Despite looking pretty nice, it was hard as a rock and needed to be chipped out painstakingly a little at a time. I replaced the original round bowl float with the new aftermarket square bowl floats which give plenty of room around the float inside the chamber, well away from the gasket edges.

So far, the carburetor is not weeping and the bike usually starts up with little or no choke at all. It’s running #140 main jets and #38 idle jets and seems to be pretty crisp.

I have found that those original gray plastic spark plug caps that all the restorers seem to want to use on their restorations are now checking in at 8-11k ohms, instead of 5k ohms or less. So both of those were replaced and I readjusted the Pro-Trigger electronic ignition system after a few miles or run-in. One of the several problems with the 250-305 point cam design is that when you install new oil seals in the point side cover, there is quite a bit of friction on the point cam, so it is slower to retard when the engine is returned to idle Once the seal has been run-in for a few hours, it usually relaxes its grip on the point shaft, allowing a smoother advance and return to idle speed.

Today (3/25/24) my Google photos sent back a few memories from 8 years ago and that was the time that I had built another one-off CB77, aka the “Silver Special” which was a completely silver powdercoated bike. And today, we have the Pink Panther equivalent. I really didn’t want to disturb the original “artwork” paint job from the 1970s, so it is what it is….Swirly pink paint and a Scarlet Red chassis.

I began the DMV/CHP odyssey, waiting 45 minutes just to get the bike verified at DMV only to have them immediately refer me to CHP without even looking at the numbers. I have to wait until April 10 just to get an appointment for CHP to inspect the bike to verify the serial numbers. I already have an appointment to have the CB1100R verified, so hopefully they both can be seen at the same visit. After that, it is BACK to DMV again to submit all the paperwork and finally in an additional week or two, the DMV in Sacramento will issue clean titles for both bikes.

(UPDATE: The cooperative officer at the CHP verified my CB1100R which was in the back of the truck. When I called earlier, he said he couldn’t do both bikes at once and gave me an appointment another month away! On a hunch, I brought the paperwork for the CB77 and with photos in my phone, he decided to spend an additional ½ hour and finalized my paperwork for that bike.)

I’m hoping to ride the Panther bike to the Distinguished Gentleman’s ride in May, close to my birthday on the 24^th. There are always a lot of cool bikes and riders at these events, but I doubt that they will overlook the Pink Panther CB77 this year.

                                                            DGR .... MADE IT!

Bill Silver

aka MrHonda

03/31/2024

www.vintagehonda.com