Honda CBX 250 Restoration

Just heard back from Jap Bike Spares, they're going to send me out the new eyes and bushes today free of charge! Will definitely be buying more stuff from them in the future.

 

Well there had to be something go wrong during the reassembly. You may remember in a previous thread my wasp infested right hand controls and how I mentioned I was going to use some electronics cleaner and compressed air to blow it out.... DON'T DO THIS (at least the compressed air part).

After I crawled around on the ground trying to find all the small springs, ball bearings, and brass clips from the headlight switch I found the real reason my starter button was not working. One of the wires soldered to the brass on the back of the switch had come off causing it to only sometimes complete the circuit.

I attempted to solder it back on but my excuse for a soldering iron couldn't get the brass part hot enough to melt the solder, however it did get hot enough to melt the plastic switch...




It's probably salvageable but not in the frame of mind I'm currently in. I'd rather just find another one from a wrecker. There's some right hand controls from an '85 VF500F currently on ebay that look fairly similar. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Honda-VF...de-Controls-/331518504224?hash=item4d300aed20 Are these fairly universal? The VF500 has the same 3 position headlight switch as well but it also doesn't have a starter button. Anybody got a plastic starter button lying around that would fit?

The other option is to get something from a later model and wire the headlights so they're constantly on.

Also speaking of headlights what are some tips when realigning it so I don't blind oncoming traffic?

 

New bushes arrived for the the JBS suspension today so I didn't waste any time pressing out the old ones and getting the new ones in. Just have to figure out what I'm doing with the right hand controls, might have a go at fixing them over the weekend.

Hopefully I get to go for a ride on the weekend. Can't wait!

 

Thanks for all the praise, I'm really enjoying this build and already planning the next project. Can't wait until I can get it back on the road and show it off.

I woke up this morning with a fair bit of enthusiasm and managed to get that pesky wire soldered back on before heading off to work. Also put a blob of hot glue over it as well just to make sure it doesn't come off again.

Not sure what has caused it but for some strange reason I'm unable to get the bike in neutral at the moment so rolling it around the garage is quite difficult. I guess I'll wait until it's running again and once I've got the clutch adjusted properly hopefully it'll be fine.

 

She's back on the road but now I need help!

I took it for a ride and after taking the below photo I went to start it up and there's a horrible bearing noise. The noise is apparent when the clutch is in but goes away after I let the clutch out and start riding. If I'm in neutral the noise is there whether the clutch is in or out. In the video below I've got it in first gear and you can hear when I let the clutch out noise goes away, clutch in very noisy. Suggestions?

 

Thanks Linkin. Unfortunately I wouldn't have the first idea of what to look for or what parts to order. Is this going to be an engine out job? That's going to be a major pain seeing as I've just put everything back together.

I guess I start by draining the oil and pulling things apart and having a look.

 

Crisis averted (I hope). Turns out the starter was stuck.

I hope riding it home with the starter engaged hasn't done any permanent damage.

 

After riding for a few days now I think I've nearly sorted out the last couple of issues.

- It seemed to be swaying slightly side to side after first putting it back together. Checked tyre pressures and rear tyre alignment but I think it was just the fact I did the steering head bearings up a bit too tight. Have loosened off slightly and seems to have fixed the issue.

- The clutch has started slipping when cold. This isn't too bad as it was on my list of things to do. I've ordered some new friction plates but is it best practice to replace the springs at the same time? Even when I bought the bike the clutch never seemed to have a definite 'bite' point and just sort of gradually engages.

- Still on the look out for new right hand controls so I actually have a starter button. My gloved fingers have a hard time trying to poke the brass switch inside the casing to start the bike.