getting back on a cb-1.

[marty]

'sup fellas?

i joined this forum back in '06 or '07. at the time i had a yellow 1989 -1, but had to sell it due to financial reasons. in other words, i was graduating college, had no job, and needed money bad. about 2 years later and i have found my self buying another one. here's a picture of what my old bike looked like, maybe some of the folks who were here back then recognize it.



since selling that bike, i finally got a job and eventually picked up a 1989 hawk gt. i took it to the track, where i was bit by the track bug. i learned quite a bit from that bike, but after a few get-offs, the cost of the repairs were going to exceed what i felt the value of the bike was, so i fixed it up on the cheap and sold it.

here it is after one of many crashes. this one wasn't too bad.


and here it is when i sold it.


in the mean time, i had picked up a street bike. i bought this '98 vfr800 from atlanta, ga and rode it 600 miles home to IL in one day. nothing like a long-ass ride on a completely unfamilar bike to make you fall in love. here's a picture from a ride i took to teton national park in wyoming.


two other bikes also managed to find their way in to my garage, the first addition was an '05 gsxr600 track bike.


the most recent is an '08 yamaha wr250x. i freaking love this thing.



so you might be wondering what the hell i'm doing buying a cb-1. well, none of the bikes i've ridden so far have been quite the same. i eventually came to hate the hawk and was glad to see it go. i love my vfr, but it's a bit combersome and not very enjoyable when i'm riding less than 50 miles or so. the wr is a blast and is insanely flickable, but it's still missing some of the character and all the nice sounds the cb-1 made. and the gsxr? well, it's a track bike. for the past year or so when the sun has gone down, i'm slightly inebriated, and looking at ebay, i always find myself seeing if there are any '-1s up for sale. you know, just checking on prices, seeing what is available, and what kind of parts folks are selling. earlier this week, on one such a night, i came across an auction for a bike located about 300 miles from me. the price was right (very right) and i'm driving down to pick it up tomorrow. anyway, here's a picture of it.



it's going to need some cosmetic work, but i've got no problem with that because i've always disliked the blue paint they came with any way.

[Daveontheedge]

Glad to see you have found your way home!

[mrbones]

Nice story. I almost did the same thing but ended up with an insanely cheap and low mileage '00 SV650. Otherwise I was going to buy another CB-1.

[marty]

i've got the bike home now, it's going to need a new battery and probably a new regulator/rectifier. would any of you happen to have the wiring conversions that i'll need for installing one of the later regulators that actually works? or even better, a wiring diagram for the bike?

edit - nevermind, found what i needed here: http://www.hondacb1.org/forum/index.php/topic,312.0.html

hopefully i can make the spare gsxr regulator i've got work on this bike. heh.

[marty]

oh, how i love google! it looks like someone already had the idea to use a gsxr RR on a honda. it looks like the wiring is going to be easy.

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=42900
if you don't want to click the thread, here are the pertinent images. notice the difference in size between the honda RR and the gsxr RR.

[marty]

i got the bike running today. i've been slowly working on the carbs all winter long and finally put them back together and back on the bike. there wasn't much wrong with them really, i think the PO must have had them cleaned while trying to chase down what ended up being a badly clogged fuel filter and a dead voltage regulator.

i replaced the fuel filter, installed a spare voltage regulator from my gsxr, put new gas in it, and it fired right up.

[ptlcb1]

Happy Days are here again!!!

[marty]

well last night i finally managed to get the bike out and run it through the entire rev range. it's stuttering pretty bad at part throttle between 6-8k, and again at WOT between 10-12k rpm. any suggestions?

the bike has a kerker exhaust, stock airbox with the snorkels missing, 35 pilot jets and 108 main jets. the mixture screws (i think that's what they're called) are at 2.5 turns out. the carbs have not been synched.

[ptlcb1]

Sounds like its time for a trip to a dyno to get the air/fuel ratio correct.

[marty]

sychn'd the carbs and it's running better, but still not perfect. the part-throttle hesistation/surge is still there, which from what i've read could either be float height or needle height. the WOT hesitation is also still there and it's got me somewhat stumped. the bike runs fine both before and after the 10-12k rpm range.

[marty]

aaaand it is sold. after getting the bike running pretty well and riding around for a bit, i realized that memory is sweeter than reality and the bike just wasn't how i remembered it. oh well.

[Cote Dazur]

aaaand it is sold. after getting the bike running pretty well and riding around for a bit, i realized that memory is sweeter than reality and the bike just wasn't how i remembered it. oh well.

You are funny, too bad to loose you, what is your next bike project?

[marty]

i'm thinking about getting a 690smc, street triple, or monster 1100. will probably have to sell some more bikes to afford whatever i decide on.