Greetings one and all

[ChuckB]

I believe I am the newest member here and probably the newest owner of a 1981 CB650 Custom. I'll be working on it to get it back on the road hopefully by this next weekend.

The front brakes seem to stick and the battery does not hold a charge. I'm hoping they will be fairly simple fixes. I'll be buying a new battery for it this week and ordered a new front brake master cylinder. My friend and I were able to jump start it by hooking up cables to a truck. She purrs really nice and doesn't smoke. However, upon disconncting the cables, she dies. Hopefully it is just the battery from sitting for a year.

Anyway, it's going to be nice to go riding again. I haven't been since, are you ready for this.... 1976!

Chuck

[Chris]

Welcome, Chuck.

[pae]

Hi Chuck, and welcome. Any questions just let us know. There's a lot of knowledge here, and it's readily shared.

regards, Phil

[Volker_P]

Welcome here!
So you got a bike of the standard when you quit riding "some" years ago. A deceased battery may short your electrics or suck too much power in idle so it could be just that. That's fine when it just runs smoothly without noises and smoke from the start. Front brake not automatically means master cylinder. At a bike of that age rather the stuff gone down blocks the calipers or even the brake lines may be swollen inside. Good luck!

[ChuckB]

Welcome here!
So you got a bike of the standard when you quit riding "some" years ago. A deceased battery may short your electrics or suck too much power in idle so it could be just that. That's fine when it just runs smoothly without noises and smoke from the start. Front brake not automatically means master cylinder. At a bike of that age rather the stuff gone down blocks the calipers or even the brake lines may be swollen inside. Good luck!

32 years IS a long time, isn't it?

I enrolled in a motorcycle safety class for this weekend. That should get me re familiarized.

I took the caliper apart. It was the front left that gave me the grief. It was as you suspected. I think I had original Honda parts in there. The fluid was so old, it had turned to a gel. Once I cleaned that out and buffed the parts, it all worked smoothly. Bled the brakes and I can tell I need to take the right side apart due to the color of the fluid coming out. However, my friend took it for a quick test spin for me (as I wasn't licensed at the time) and it runs really sweet. No undue vibrations and smooth shifting up to 55mph. There is a slight misfire, so I'm going to pull the plugs tomorrow and put in new ones. The wires all look ok so I am hoping new plugs will fix that.

Got tags for it today. I'll post some pics this next week. I want to repaint the side plate logos as they are slightly worn.

[Volker_P]

Good to hear your problems are solved or soon will be.
A motorcycle safety class is a good idea. But be aware that the really old fashioned chassis will not allow maneuvers at the same speed like others (even beginners) can achieve with more recent bikes. The rear brake easily blocks, but you often won't realize it until you release it again. Old tires (>5 years) would mean an additional handicap.
If your brake fluid looked that bad, a change of the fork oil might be a good idea (engine oil is obvious), too. It can help to improve chassis properties somewhat.
Getting carbs out is tricky and seems unnecessary if it runs fine but I would try to remove the floater bowls to check whether they are clean inside. At least the outer ones should come without special tools or too much tricks.

[ChuckB]

If your brake fluid looked that bad, a change of the fork oil might be a good idea (engine oil is obvious), too. It can help to improve chassis properties somewhat.
Getting carbs out is tricky and seems unnecessary if it runs fine but I would try to remove the floater bowls to check whether they are clean inside. At least the outer ones should come without special tools or too much tricks.

I didn't think about the fork fluid. Thanks for the tip there. I changed out the engine oil. While it was dark, it was still slick with no grit.
Carbs I'll probably wait until winter to attempt.