Oil and Filter change

Been putting the miles on this bike, really enjoying late Spring weather!
It shows 26,000 miles on the odometer, so I figured it would behoove me to put give it an oil and filter change.

I ran a little bit of Sea Foam into the engine oil for the 8 mile ride from the Oreillys to the house, since I hear that is supposed to help de-gunk things.
After that, I put just shy of 3 quarts of 10w-40 oil, and a brand new Wix filter (#24939).

While I waited for the oil to drain, I pulled apart the tachometer cable where it enters the engine. Sure enough, the cable snapped right at the point where it attaches to the engine, probably due to the tachometer itself needing serious lubrication. My hopothesis is that the cable won't spin in the gauge due to lack of lubrication, so it stops the cable, while the engine continues to turn it.

I took apart the speedo a few years ago when it was behaving erratically, maybe it's time to perform the same operation on the tach.

Next up, I will need to buy more chain cleaner and chain lube. With all the dust the bike has been seeing on my forays into the forest, I probably ought to step up my chain maintenance.

Got some work done...

It's been two years since I posted anything to this site.
Basically, the bike sat for a winter and didn't quite run right after that. It needed a thorough cleaning and tune-up. I didn't (and still don't) possess the knowledge to do it, so I hauled the bike down to phoenix to have my buddy go over it piece by piece.

Turns out, it needed some new pieces.

• Fork seals and re-fill
• Clutch, brake, tach and speedo cables
• All new hoses
• New fuel filter
• Carbs removed, cleaned, rebuilt
• Rear sprocket (the OEM one, not the POS I installed)
• New tires

I got a ride down and picked the bike up after almost exactly a year of not having been near it. I drove it almost 400 miles in three days, putting it through its paces and getting comfortable with riding again.

Just as I pulled into the Mogollon Rim Campground, about 45 minutes outside of Payson, AZ - the tachometer quit. Even with a brand new cable, it couldn't be convinced to function. I'll probably have to pull it apart and lubricate it like I did with the speedometer. 

Then, it wouldn't idle at altitude. My camp that night was at 7,500' and as soon as I let the bike idle, it would die. I increased the low idle, but it's still coughing at me during low RPMs. Not sure if I need to look at the air/fuel mix or the timing, but I'll figure it out soon enough.

Overall, my repairs cost just over $1,200 - which is about what I spent on the darn thing to begin with. Not everything is fixed, but it is running much better than it was (no more gunked up carbs!) and that's enough to be going on with for the start of the season.

The new plan is to fit a crash bar (engine guard) to it so that my wife Kristen can learn to ride it!

Carb Cleaning Link

Saving this for later... have to do the carbs before too long.

http://www.hondatwins.net/forums/63-fuel-supply-carburation/10479-cm400t-carb-cleaning-now-cleaned.html

Front Sprocket Separation - New Battery

Sometime in September or October last year, I was riding home from a meeting just before sunset. As I pulled up to a light at about 2 miles/hour, the rear wheel locked up and the bike skidded to a stop.

Looking down, I saw the chain was really loose. Transmission was fine, so it wasn't that; it still went in and out of gear no problem. But the damn thing wouldn't move anywhere. Wouldn't even try. Here I am stuck in traffic, with a bike that won't move.

I shut it off and started hauling it to the side of the road so I can assess the damage. The guy behind me at the light gets out and helps me heave the stubborn bastard to the sidewalk, skidding the rear tire all the way.

Turns out, the front sprocket CAME OFF the drivetrain, and lodged itself against the frame, while somehow managing to still keep hold of the chain. Apparently I didn't take any pictures of it where it got stuck. In order for the sprocket to come off, the bolts had to come out, the washer/lock had to rotate and fall off, and then the sprocket had to move. Not sure where that washer/lock thing disappeared to, but I had my local shop get me a new one for $2.

(not my photo)

You'll notice there are two bolts and a washer type thing holding the sprocket on. Both those bolts were simply gone. No trace of them rattling around the inside of the sprocket housing, no sign of them shearing off. Just gone. Which meant that the sprocket was free to drift all the way off the end of the drive shaft.

Sketchy stuff. If that had happened at speed, it would have either thrown me off the bike, or sheared the sprocket to pieces and THEN thrown me off the bike.

Luckily for me, I was only traveling at the aforementioned two miles an hour.

I limped the bike home, since I only had about two miles to go, stopping every 100 yards to push the sprocket back into place. It took me two hours to go that last two miles, including half of it down a dirt road.

Now, those bolts have the best LOCTITE money can buy, and I check them much more frequently. Did about 220 miles on it over the last weekend of the season and it's holding up much better now.

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It's March! I've had the bike for two years now, and it's finally time for a new battery. The old one was having a hard time starting most of last season - it had probably been on the bike for a couple years already. Yesterday I dropped by Batteries Plus to get myself a new battery. This one is a slight upgrade from the "recommended" standard flooded battery, in that it puts out a little higher CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) and is sealed, which means I don't have to mess with water/acid, AND it has a one-year warrantee.

Specs call for a 12v 12a battery like this: 

The sealed version is the same size and weight, but for some reason doesn't come up as a recommended replacement/upgrade to the standard flooded battery. I had to spend some time with the sales crew to figure out if they had a "maintenance free" battery that would fit.

Turns out they do. The poles are reversed against the battery I replaced, so I had to stretch the terminal cables to their limit, but it works. Found out the ground to the frame wasn't very tight either, so I cranked that down for a better connection.

Added oil, too. 

Next project is to replace the inner tachometer cable, which was ancient and broke at the end of last season. I've ordered a replacement for $5 and expect to be able to finish that this weekend.

I'm also hoping to upgrade the horn and possibly add additional lighting to the front; the single headlight is kinda wimpy.

Time to get back in the saddle!

Rear brake assembly rebuild

A month ago, in Mid-May, I rode out to the Overland Expo which is about 35 miles from my house, just to take an evening ride.

On the way out there, the rear brake was acting kinda funky. Almost like it would reset after I hit a certain point. I figured I just needed new shoes on the rear drum brake, which I resolved to do as soon as I got home.

Well, as I pulled into the parking lot at Mormon Lake Lodge, there was a mighty THUNK as I pressed the rear brake, which pushed with enough force to kick my foot off the pedal entirely. I was going approximately zero miles per hour as this happened, which is good, because the rear brake was no longer usable at this point.

As seen in the photos below (sorta) I sheared off the bolt on the stay-bar that holds the rear drum from moving. That caused the drum to rotate with the wheel as I braked, which rotated the rear brake rod that attaches the pedal to the drum, bending it all the way around the axle and destroying the attachment to the drum as well.

My lovely lady rescued me in her car and even took me out to dinner, we only had to delay the reservation for 15 minutes.

This week I did some shopping on Ebay and got the bike put back together. The process itself was fairly easy, just took a little while to find the right parts. I probably had 2 hours start to finish, including time for drinking beer and taking pictures. A savvy bike mechanic could probably do it in 30 minutes.

After taking the rear wheel off, this is what it looks like. The inside of the drum is in great shape, the shoes are even pretty good, but there was some trauma to the rest of it.

Old (broken parts)

New part off Ebay. Happened to come with all the pieces I need!

I also bought a new brake rod, which apparently I didn't photograph. Basically, the new one is straight and the old one was bent fairly seriously (all the way around the axle)

Curiously enough, the cotter pin that holds the bolt between the pedal and the rear brake rod is TINY and very difficult to get to without pulling the right footpeg off the bike, which I was not about to do. The most painful part of this process was removing and re-installing that tiny little pin, pictured below (middle) next to tools for scale

Took it for a quick test ride around the property and mashed the brake pretty good. It held up well, stopped the wheel, and didn't do anything else, which is exactly as it should be.

Reassembled!

Now it's time to get back on the road! Motorcycle season is here and I am not about to miss it.

CM400 Chain, Sprockets, tensioner, impossible to find bolts and more!

The bike has been off the street for the last two months or so as I arduously went through repairs that I did not allocate a lot of time to.

The chain I got on the bike was in rough shape when I got it. The rain of the Northern Arizona monsoon season (17" in three months) did not help. The chain, along with the sprockets and several other parts quickly accumulated rust at a surprising rate. I finally decided to get things going.

A few pictures from before:

The parts list:

• 1 new O-Ring chain. I got it at 120 links and had the crew at my local shop cut it down to 102, which is the magic number for this bike.
• 1 new front sprocket (17 teeth instead of the original 15)
• 1 new rear sprocket (32 teeth instead of 30)
• 1 new left rear tensioner-thingy
• 1 bag of incredibly hard to find M7x1 45mm bolts
• 1 bag of much easier to find M7 nuts
• Incredibly pungent all-around cleaner to help get rid of accumulated debris
• GREASE, which was sorely needed.

I used a couple YouTube videos to learn how to take the bike apart, which was a minor pain simply because I'd never done it before. Probably took me an hour or two to get all my parts and pieces off and organized. Then another 45 minutes cleaning everything near the drive system. Everywhere around the chain area received a thorough cleaning.
That's when the fun started. Getting the front sprocket off was pretty easy, but the rear sprocket the bike had originally was surprisingly thick and came fitted with a guard to keep the chain where it belongs. I could not for the life of me get this damn sprocket off the wheel because of the sort of 3/4 circle lookin spacer thing... (can you tell I'm not a bike mechanic?).

Anyway, I had the shop show me how to get it off and with much grunting, I prevailed.


The old sprocket was spaced perfectly on the rear axle, with essentially no wiggle room. The new rear sprocket is much more skinny than the old one - which leaves me with some lateral wiggle. I could have a new spacer machined or probably snag one from a bike that's a couple years newer.
Well, the new sprocket that I ordered was WAY cheaper and far more available (they don't make the parts for these old Hondas anymore) so I put the damn thing together, tightened everything down and took it for a cautious drive around the neighborhood.

Lo and behold, everything works well! I've done another 100 miles or so since I completed the repairs and everything is working. Time for an oil change and the bike is ready to go into winter storage in my pseudo-garage. Sadly, I don't think I'll get much more riding done this season after this week.

Next time I do the rear sprockets, I'll have a new spacer machined that fits in the space to eliminate that lateral wiggle. Until then, I'll ride it as is.

Just Riding

Haven't bad much in the way of adventure recently. Doin about 150 miles/week in recreational riding. Enjoyed a ride out 180 last week. Before most people were awake, I'd already done a 100 mile run.

Couple of pictures from recent rides.

Upper lake mary

If you gotta wait at a train, this is the way to do it.