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1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:44 am
by cmouta
Hey all, picked up my first bike a few months ago from a coworker for $100. Seemed like a good deal to me!

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It's been sitting covered for about 12 years but is really clean. The previous owner said he had a fuel accelerator problem 12 years ago and ended up buying a ducati. I found it was missing the little rubber boot for the diaphragm rod. So far I've pulled and rebuilt the carbs, purchased a fuel accelerator kit for a 750k that needs the rod cut to length, then I can reinstall everything.

Fuel tank has some surface rust on the inside that needs cleaning. I'll probably go with the CLR/Chain method but after I do that, do I need to get the tank installed and get some fuel in it or will it be ok for a few weeks?

front brakes were locked up when purchased it so I need to go through whatever that may be. I guess there is a small pinhole line in the master cylinder that clogs up fairly easily?

picked up a new Yuasa dry battery that will need filling although I may wait until the bike is a bit more complete before doing that.

So far those are all the known issues besides maintenance items like tires, spark plugs, etc for a bike that's been sitting around. My biggest concern is a proper procedure/checklist for starting up a motor that's been sitting. I've read to pour a teaspoon of oil in the spark plug holes and turn the motor over several times. I'll have to do a bit more research on that when I'm ready.

Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:08 pm
by cb650
What ever u do baby the tank!!!!! Hard to come by unless u have deep pockets. The sidecovers as well but the bike will function with out them.

Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:58 am
by Volker_P
Welcome here! :D

cmouta wrote:Hey all, picked up my first bike a few months ago from a coworker for $100. Seemed like a good deal to me!

You're certainly not alone with this guess! :lol:

cmouta wrote: I'll probably go with the CLR/Chain method but after I do that, do I need to get the tank installed and get some fuel in it or will it be ok for a few weeks?

Fill in a bit of fuel oil / diesel fuel, just enough to distribute over the inner surface of the tank and turn the tank to distribute.
Did that with a spare tank in 2001. I recently had a look, still only shiny metal inside. Seems cheap and effective.

cmouta wrote:front brakes were locked up when purchased it so I need to go through whatever that may be. I guess there is a small pinhole line in the master cylinder that clogs up fairly easily?

Right, there is an obvious hole and another less obvious one next to it. Looks like only half drilled, but in the center there is a very small pinhole.
Brakes will not open when it is plugged. A fine wire may clear it.

cmouta wrote:My biggest concern is a proper procedure/checklist for starting up a motor that's been sitting. I've read to pour a teaspoon of oil in the spark plug holes and turn the motor over several times. I'll have to do a bit more research on that when I'm ready.

No bad idea. Moreover do not try to use force to turn a seized engine by hand. Piston rings corroded to the sleeves will kill their grooves before they finally get free. In this case soaking or disassemble is required.
Maybe worth to have a look at the oil filter, too. Just to check out that it is still in one piece and in correct shape and not just a mess of oily paper that will plug everything soon.
Before really starting it, remove the valve covers and crank it without ignition until you see oil pouring out of all four camshaft bearings.

Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:04 am
by cmouta
Thanks for the tips! The previous owner mentioned he went through alot of different tricks to keep the sidecover knubs lubricated so they wouldn't break on removal. One already was when I got the bike. The tank has a small dent in it with a bit of rust forming. I've heard mention of pressurizing the tank to pop it out but that could ruin more paint. Might just leave it alone for "character".

82 is definitely an oddball year for parts. Almost no interchangeability with other years. I think that's why the P.O. was willing to let it go for so cheap. 12 years ago he probably didn't have the resources like forums and online vendors to keep this thing running. Fine by me!

Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:36 am
by cb650
FYI they did make the standard in 82 also so be sure you know what your getting when buying parts.

Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 10:51 am
by cmouta
She's getting there!

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quick and dirty photo shoot, no carbs in the pics but they are in now!
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Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:54 am
by cmouta
coming together nicely!

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Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:21 pm
by Folsoml
That looks great!

Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 8:26 am
by cb650
yes very nice!!!

Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:27 am
by cmouta
had some nice weather in CT so I've been riding to work. As a result, here is an over processed photo I took from instagram :D Bike has been running really well aside from a slight fork seal leak, slight cam cover leak, and a fickle warm up. The weather is supposed to be crappy for a while so hopefully I can tackle that stuff. Finally replaced the 10 year old metzlers with new Bridgestone Spitfire S11R's.

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Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 2:16 pm
by cmouta
I see alot of people on other forums or Instagram "cafe"ing out their "ugly" 82 650 nighthawks but I think they are just photographing it wrong! I think this is it's best angle.
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Didn't get as many rides in this summer as I wanted to thanks to stripping out the threads in my oil pain drain hole, which by the way, you shouldn't helicoil because it's slotted on the inside and won't drain properly afterwards, but a very dirty 20 dollar ebay replacement got me back on the road for a few more miles this season. Thanks to this site and sohc4 for keeping it running! I had an overheating issue this summer and read a suggestion to change the exhaust valve clearance from factory .003" to .005", so far so good but ambient was also 30 degrees F less so it's hard to judge.
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Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 8:01 am
by cmouta
For anyone interested, this is what you get when you order progressive suspension front springs for an 82 650 nighthawk:

stock on left, progressive suspension on right:
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The kit provides a couple of pvc tubes to cut two 1.5" spacers per the instructions. Each tube is about 4" so plenty if you mess up. Air assisted forks don't have a 17mm allen head cap like previous forks, just unscrew the caps, swap the forks, check your oil level, reassemble and you're off! Driving impressions to come later.
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Re: 1982 CB650SC - My First Bike!

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 9:41 am
by cmouta
when i did my cam cover seal last year, I ended up stripping out the threads of the last bolt in the assembly(even with a small torque wrench!) and its been weeping oil ever since. I didn't like the idea of drilling/tapping/helicoiling in place without removing the cover and came across this on sohc4:

MCRider: "SOMETIMES, a 1/4-28 SAE bolt will thread into a stripped 6mm hole. It is slightly larger than a 6mm, but will usually fit in the hole provided, and cut its own threads. If in fact it fits your application, it will draw down very tightly and without concern. Beats disassembly and heli-coil...SOMETIMES. Yes I have done it on CB750 cylinder heads."

Finally got the nerve to cut a 1/4-28 bolt to size, drilled the crush washer out to fit, and installed it. The bolt tightened up properly and no more oil! It wasn't pretty and If decide to do the headgasket I'll give it a proper fix but I'm glad this worked out!

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