My expectations on CB1

[schedMas]

I have been riding for three years now, my first bike was a China 150cc cruiser, after a year i was craving for a more powerful bike, i always loved cruisers and choppers.  I sold my bike and got myself a Honda VLX Steed, it has all i wanted in a cruiser, with dragpipes, extended fork, T-Bars, shotgun intake, wide rear tires and a honda performance engine.  After a year i wanted to try in line fours. I tried my friends CBR, but i am not comfortable with the low angled handle bars of sportbikes i shifted my interest on naked bikes.  I scouted for any available naked bikes here, bandits, super fours, etc. then i chanced upon the CB1.  after several readings on reviews on this bike i was convinced that this will be my next bike.  I got a red 1990 CB1, and yes its unique, one of kind, i havent seen any other CB1s here, all original except the handle bars, but the previous owner has kept the original ones.  I just got it last week and been using it everyday to work.  The acceleration, power, handling is superb i have no complaints.  Very reponsive brakes and its like a bike on drugs depends on how you like it driven, it'll respond to your reflexes.  I am still learning more about this bike, perhaps on my first visit to my mechanic for oil change i will have some more insights.  Safe driving co-riders!

[Falk]

Welcome here and have Fun - every CB-1 is unique - I've never seen 2 together that are really the same.
For soem reason some People here believe that red CB-1's are faster than other ones (got a blue one and think they're wrong).

[clarkdw]

Welcome SchedMas.
Enjoy your new bike. The little beast is pretty impressive when you let it scream.

Clark

[91cb-1]

Welcome to the site and don't listen to what you hear from blue -1 riders you made the right choice witht the red alot faster  . Hope you find it as useful as i do

[ptlcb1]

Welcome Welcome!  to the nut house!  LOL  There is no doubt that you are going to love your CB-1 experience!  Its a great bike no matter how you ride it.  Its great around town!  Its great on a twisty section of road as well!  But always remember to ride responsibly   

And just to clarify the color issue,     I believe it was only based on the US CB-1s.  We only got the smurf blue color here.  The 1989s had grey CB-1 stickers on the tank and the 1990s had red stickers on the tank. 

Someone    said that the '89s, (grey stickered ones) were the better handling year, and the '90s, (red stickered ones) were the faster year of the US sold CB-1s.  They were only sold here in the States for two years and mechanically they were the same.  Go figure... LOL

[schedMas]

Thanks guys, im looking forward on trying my CB1 on long trips, I have tested the reliability of my Honda Steed on several trips out of town.  I'm yet to test my CB1, but first I have to use it everyday to work.  I won't know or discover any defects on the bike unless I use daily till my first oil change, then see what improvements are needed.  Primarily the rear shock is too soft for me and is first on my list when i visit my mechanic.  The exhaust pipes from the engine are rusted, I am thinking of having it buffed or have it painted flat black, several photos here are very helpful, but i havent decided yet whether to have it buffed or painted.  Even the cylinder valve cover have water or chemical stains, it wont go away with rubbing compound nor metal polisher, again im thinking of having it painted, what color that i havent decided, ive seen some CB1 engines in silver, flat gold, and black, hmmmm.  There are lots of cosmetic improvements needed with all the scratches and rusts.  I want my bike not just sounding and performing great but looking great as well, that one wouldnt believe that its a 20 year old bike.   

[schedMas]

 After several days of daily commute to work, one of my carbs overflowed.  I thought it was just a loose clamp or cracked hose, I remove the tank and checked, it was definitely an overflow.  What i did was i drained the overflowing carb then restarted the engine, the leak was fixed. . . hopefully.  But then I observed the exhaust pipe of the carb that overflowed is not heating up thoroughly compared to the other three pipes.  Is it that the spark plug is no longer burning properly due to the overflow? or the carb itself?  hope its not that much of a problem, thanks for any advise.

[chingloy]

i would suggest that you first replace the spark plugs if you have not replaced them since owning the bike. the original plug for the -1 is CR8EH-9 NGK or U24FER9 nippon denso. i personally prefer the ngk CR8EH-9. replace the plugs and go from there. could also be dirty or clogged jets. it would also be a good idea to replace the fuel filter and air filter if you have not replaced them yet

[Daveontheedge]

Welcome to the site!

When you pull the plugs, have a look at all of them, especially the suspect cylinder. If the electrode is wet, then you have a flooding issue with that cylinder/carb, which if bad enough could cause it not to fire. Check to make sure all your wires are in good shape i.e. no chaffing or loose connections. When you have all the plugs out, you can also check to see if each plug is actually firing by inserting the plug back into the lead and grounding out the electrode on the frame of the bike. You should get a healthy looking spark.

BTW...black bikes are the best. We have less issues and look way cooler 

[schedMas]

I havent replaced nor checked the plugs and filters, I will first replace all 4 plugs then see if it goes well, if not, have to bring the bike to a mechanic to have the carbs cleaned and replace all filters.  Actually cleaning the carbs is quite simple but the problem is the synchronization, I might alter the jett settings, much better if I visit an experienced mechanic. I was planning to use Motul fully synthetic oil for my first oil change.  And yes black would be great, less hassles specially with the road condition and weather here the rains and mud and all. Thanks for the advise and warm welcome.

[Falk]

I don't like fully synthetic Oil. Had it one Time Engines sounded rough with it - Changed back to the cheapest 10W40 Mineralic ore half Mineralic Oil I can get. At least this is also what the bike is build for...

[chingloy]

fully synthetic oil is good, and perfect for engines using a dry clutch system. the -1 uses a wet clutch system, therefore it is best to use mineral oil or semi synthetic oil. fully synthetic oil reduces the friction of the clutch system in wet clutches.

[schedMas]

I always thought that fully synthetic oil are universally good on any type of engine, now i'll stick with semi synthetics.  Thanks guys

[91cb-1]

If it's your first oil change since owning the bike and you're not sure how well the previous owner took care of it it is a good idea to clean out the system with cheap oil first and then replace with the better 10w 40 semi synth, i use Rockoil it's great stuff, i also change it religiously at 6000 km's evn though the oil is usually quite clean coming out, just good habbit to get into! as to your rear shock there are alot of pages up on here that will profer different alternatives to the OEM cb-1 shock but one thing is for sure do not replace with an OEM shock, they're shit and have an expected life span of a dragon fly!