1980 Freebie

[FreeB650]

Just got her home today. 1980 with 43k on it. My neighbor bought the bike a while back and never got it on the road (it did run though)... So, the price was right (free). Looks pretty beat now - needs new wires, plugs etc... but looks to be complete. Other than the funky mirrors & maybe seat - looks pretty original to my untrained eye. Do you see anything? Are those indicators original?

Looking forward to getting the bike up and running!

[cb650]

Looks all original except for the mirrors. I use mirrors about like that on mine. Also maybe the exhaust? I dont know as I've never had the 4-2.

[FreeB650]

Great - on looking the bike over, I see that 1&2 look a little moist at the base (oil). Hard to see in this pic. Any tips on checking for a bad head gasket?

I plan to change oil, check valves, & empty old fuel before trying to turn over. Do you think I should just bite the bullet & yank the carbs off while I'm at it?

Thanks,

[Volker_P]

Welcome here!
Looks all right for that price!
For a check of the head gasket, have a look on your boots after a ride. The head oil leak is well known, it is due to the O-rings of the oil lines to the camshaft. If you consider to replace them, read a bit around on the susceptible head cover bolts and sand removal from head bolts before you start.
After a closer look: mirrors and seat cover are not original, chain guard and passenger grab rail are missing. Front fender looks strange, edges are quite sharp and there are no rivets. Maybe not a Honda part. Exhaust looks also suspicious (too high, diameter small), bit I don't know the U.S. stuff that good. Being a Custom, it probably should have had the 4-4 as stock equipment.
All in all it looks quite all right. I would open the release screws at the bottom of the carb bowls and see what comes out before removing the carbs as this is a quite annoying job to do (limited space). Maybe flushing with fresh fuel and releasing it again and/or removing an outer floater bowl (with the carbs still installed) to have a look inside and decide afterwards.
If there is no mess inside the carb bowls, it is worth a try.
If the oil does not already look like close to water or tar, I would run it warm without load before the oil change to get out as much old oil as possible.

[FreeB650]

Thanks Volker,

I wasn't sure about the grab rail. It is a C model - not sure if it is Canadian model.

Why would I care? Only reason is the Honda manual calls for a different plug on the Canadian model (DR8 ES-L). The ES-L is a resistor plug - which the NGK site says,
may be better for CDI. (suppresses RFI)

On paper the plug doesn't look functionally any different than the D8 EA, other than the resistor. Anyone have any experience with the 2 plugs in question?

Also - any way to find any differences there may be between the US and Canadian model?
Or, how to determine which one it is? I don't have much history on this bike.

Thanks,

Oh, carbs have been off already & I have the bloody hands to prove it! Bike had a dead spark unit (purchased today) and a cracked coil. Hope that's all for now!

[cb650]

Yes a custom should have 4-4. Didnt catch that. I think the only diff in the canadian model and us models was the speedo in kph instead of mph.
Yes I did notice the missing brab bar but many anymore are gone already.
Oh another custom item is the sidecovers have a badge instead of a sticker.

[FreeB650]

OK-thanks!

I'll keep an eye out for the badges & grab-bar.

[FreeB650]

And - yes it does show KPH on the outer ring, with MPH (smaller) in red.

So-i guess the 43k KM on the odometer - is only about 28k miles....sweet.

[Volker_P]

Be careful with the plugs. There are resistive plugs as well as resistive caps (maybe labeled with "R" somewhere) and sometimes even cables. Find out what you have first before you replace cables etc. More than one resistive type component is too much. However a defective CDI (without the black stuff molten out?) and coil might be a hint that something is wrong there.
If you plan to replace the ignition cables and caps anyway, get usual cables and caps and resistive plugs to have the proven standard configuration.

[FreeB650]

Pulled the plugs that were installed & they were the resistor type. Installed new wire (using orig caps) and replaced a Spark Unit. Bike started up pretty well - got it warm & drained the oil.

Pulled the carbs again for more cleaning & to install the airbox first, install the airbox first... Runs nice, blows a little oil from 1&2 and head is definitely leaking oil - nice clean oil... It's almost ready for the road!