My 1979 CB650

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jdub
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am

My 1979 CB650

Postby jdub » Fri May 04, 2012 9:30 am

I've had the bike for a little less than a year. It was sold to me by an MC shop under somewhat false pretenses, it has issues. But most old bikes do.

It doesn't really have a unified theme like Cafe, I just did whatever I thought looked good. It's not really aspiring to be anything specific.
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Last edited by jdub on Fri May 04, 2012 9:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

jdub
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am

Re: My 1976 CB650

Postby jdub » Fri May 04, 2012 9:30 am

More of how it looked when I got it...
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jdub
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am

Re: My 1976 CB650

Postby jdub » Fri May 04, 2012 9:32 am

And now the recent shots...
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jdub
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am

Re: My 1976 CB650

Postby jdub » Fri May 04, 2012 9:34 am

Since taking all of these I have lowered the headlight to pre-metric cruiser era levels with ebay brackets. I also got rid of the googly gauges. In fact I pretty much rolled the bike into the garage and did all that right after I took the shots. Wish I would have waited.

On deck is a MAC 4-1 exhaust and I plan to paint the wheels so they're all black. Remove the crash bars too. Probably won't take pics again until then.

Eventually I would like to rewire the entire bike and move all the electronics under the seat hump. I also can't decide if I want to lower the front by pulling the forks up through the triple tree and switch to clip-ons. CB650s have fucking long forks compared to my CB500 which looks tiny next to the 650 (it's also lowered a bit).

But for now I'm going to do little projects and ride it. Because we're supposed to ride these sometimes, right?
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jdub
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am

Re: My 1976 CB650

Postby jdub » Fri May 04, 2012 9:35 am

It needs new tires and I need to fix the choke cable. It is cold blooded pretty bad. It does not warm up and run right without the choke unless you actually ride it for awhile. I've been using the throttle stop to keep it running so of course by the time it's warm my idle is 4000 and I have to back it all the way out. After that it rides fine. But I need to fix the damn choke.

It also sometimes will not start at all. Push the starter button, headlight dims, nothing happens. I replaced the battery with a true gel cell that cost me an arm and a leg and it kicked right over. I did some other stuff, came back 20 minutes later and jack shit. Then another ten minutes later it starts. I then replaced the ignition switch. Nothing so far. I'm thinking it's the starter relay at this point. If not then it's something stupid like dirty battery connectors.

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Volker_P
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Location: southern Germany

Re: My 1976 CB650

Postby Volker_P » Fri May 04, 2012 9:48 am

Welcome here! :D

Guess this is a 79 (first year at all), not a 1976. If however really 1976, this would be very interesting.
Cold blooded is true, typical you have to use the choke longer compared to other bikes.
Cleaning cables and contacts on a 30 year old bike is always a good idea before buying any parts related to electrics. Also cleaning the starter from inside may help. If required, even the starter relay may be disassembled for cleaning the internal main contacts.

BTW, white grips are brave! :lol:
Cosky's great (free) online manual: http://cosky0.tripod.com

forum links to common technical issues

If you really like this site and you would not like to see it vanish soon, have a look there: Urgent: Future of HondaCB650.com Forum

jdub
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am

Re: My 1979 CB650

Postby jdub » Fri May 04, 2012 10:06 am

Yep, it's a '79. Typo. I couldn't find my own thread for a second.

I am going to start with the battery terminals. The shop I bought it from replaced the battery and they repeatedly demonstrated that the starter worked as they tried to keep it running after their "carb rebuild."

This shop has such a good reputation here in Denver but either they didn't give a crap about this $750 bike or they let the shop sweep do all the work on it. When I got it, I could barely twist the throttle, my hand cramped up in 30 seconds. They did not get the cable in the "cam" thing correctly, it was wrapping around the shaft, basically reducing the mechanical advantage by who knows how much.

Anyhow, so I rode the bike to my dad's and the next time I tried to start it I got nothing. This was after seeing the shop start it many times on three occasions. I tried charging the battery and still nothing. So I trailered it to my house. This was last September. Then I let it sit (with the tank off and carbs drained) until yesterday. I put a new battery in, bump the starter and it worked. Then I messed around a bit more with the bike, hooked up the fuel line, cleaned some stuff up and I got nothing. Waited around a bit and then was able to fire it up. It died 20 times and I was able to fire it up that many times without issue.

Then I rode it around, got home and replaced the bars. It has not started since. I replaced the ignition after that but obviously it was not the issue.

The headlight dims but the relay does not click. I have not tried jumpering the relay yet. I will try that and then clean the terminals before buying a new relay.

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Volker_P
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Location: southern Germany

Re: My 1979 CB650

Postby Volker_P » Fri May 04, 2012 11:22 am

Looks like several issues.
Start with a look into the tank and consider to clean it out.
Then spend some time cleaning out every electric contact you can spot.

This investment will save you much time (and probably also money for unnecessary parts) later!
Cosky's great (free) online manual: http://cosky0.tripod.com

forum links to common technical issues

If you really like this site and you would not like to see it vanish soon, have a look there: Urgent: Future of HondaCB650.com Forum

jdub
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am

Re: My 1979 CB650

Postby jdub » Fri May 04, 2012 11:36 am

The tank is fine.

The problem with keeping the bike running is that the choke cable is currently just a rudimentary piece of wire that you have to pull on to keep it closed. So you can't ride with the chock, which you really have to do on this bike to get it up to operating temp. Once I fix the choke so I can ride with it closed, it should work a lot better. It runs great with choke when cold and runs great without choke when hot. It's just that the choke is not very useful right now.

The cable itself seems fine. The shop told me the carb is broken and that the cable can't be attached. I have to check on that. They could have been mistaken because they're clowns. Either way, I think I can get something to work with a little imagination.

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Volker_P
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Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:53 am
Location: southern Germany

Re: My 1979 CB650

Postby Volker_P » Sat May 05, 2012 3:18 am

The choke cable plastic mount at the carbs is a known part to break so I think one could believe this statement.
BTW, the stock choke cable also tends to slip in when you release the knob. I bent the solid metal rod below the knob a bit so it just slips in about half way.
Works perfect like that now. :wink:
Cosky's great (free) online manual: http://cosky0.tripod.com

forum links to common technical issues

If you really like this site and you would not like to see it vanish soon, have a look there: Urgent: Future of HondaCB650.com Forum


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