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.

Replacing Nuts and Bolts

On a bike this old, especially a salvaged bike, pieces inevitably fall off once in a while.
Recently, I lost a couple nuts off the exhaust. Also lost the bolts on the rear axle that hold the wheel tension to exactly the right place.

Luckily for me, it seems they were all the same size/type. Metric, wouldn't you know.
M-7x1 45mm, which is surprisingly hard to find. I ended up getting the bolts off ebay, though local shops typically carry the nuts.

Spent a fair amount of time rummaging through the contents of my local hardware store to find the right stuff- bought some extras, and replaced some of the nuts that hadn't fallen off yet, but were clearly rusting to death.

nut was just gone...

Also, I have finally put some actual miles in this bike.

Had to pull over and snap a picture....

At about 23,000 I added oil (it was LOW), did the bolt replacements, clean/oil the chain, adjust chain tension, and checked just about everything. It seems to be doing well! It seems I burned through a lot of oil since I changed it last. Will do a full swap in another 700 miles or so, including the filter.

Still looking at getting a new chain / sprockets. Not sure when I'll end up doing that. I'm kind of nervous about taking it apart to that extent. Not to mention I have no idea what kind of chain/sprockets this bike has, so I'll need to have them off to order them from the shop. Looks like I'll spend a few days off the bike.

It's a labor of love!

Sunset

Quickie post: Some days, I think I could just ride forever...

Beautiful sunset ride yesterday along Route 66.

The bike is behaving very well. Everything seems to be functioning as it should.

Horn Change & Glove Upgrade

Found my horn (probably the original from 1981) was out of commission the other day. That simply will not do, so I dropped by my local motorcycle shop and snagged a generic $14 replacement until I can do proper research on a really badass horn.

Really quick replacement procedure.

1) take off the two electric leads (pliers helps)
2) take off single bolt

Had to drill out the hole on the new horn, which was originally too small. Bolt on the bike is 5/16 or something like that.

I'm really hoping for a big F**n airhorn. I've found some killer ones in the ~100db area for about $50. Should be fun once I get around to it.

Also upgraded my gloves recently. The pair I originally bought for $20 when I picked up the bike are not holding up well. New ones are leather with padding for the knuckles and carbon fiber accents, since I'm such a sucker for carbon fiber (really though, I am).

Chain and sprockets are still on the list, though I think I may have overestimated the damage in previous assessments. With a thorough cleaning and light lubrication last week, the chain seems to be performing much better. I think it just wants attention...

Front brakes and oil change

So I did the brakes a while back - just never got around to posting the process.

Overall, it was pretty easy. Took a little longer than I thought because the new brake pads were SO much thicker than the old ones that some additional adjustments were necessary.

old vs new

First, stripped out all the old parts and gave them a once over with a rag to clean off the excess gunk.

Tried to drop in the new pads after we cranked out the caliper, but that was a no go. Too tight. Had to put the brake assembly back on the bike (for leverage) and crank loose the floating thingamajig (can you tell I'm not a mechanic?) to push it wide enough for the new pads to fit.

leverage!

freshly installed gap...

Reassembled fairly well. The right pad seemed it was touching the disc - though after a quick ride it loosened up just fine.

They're a little squeaky right now - the whole bike needs a bath and to get all the gunk cleaned out and off the pads.

Today, I finally got around to an oil change, which it turns out was desperately needed. ALL kinds of crap was stuck in the filter and the oil that I drained was *nasty*.

I flushed it with a couple quarts of good oil to make sure nothing else was hanging out in there. I will probably do more frequent oil changes for a while to make double extra sure everything is running well. Every 2,000 or 3,000 miles for now.

I'm putting 10W-40 in it for now - that's what the people at hondatwins forums seem to like.

Naturally, nobody in Flagstaff carries the FRAM CH6008 filter that I need for this 1986 'Hawk 450. I've got it on order from O'Reilly with the promise that it will be in Tuesday morning.

Grand Canyon Ride

Took a ride out to the Grand Canyon on the 21st - my birthday!

My longest ride yet. About 4 hours total, just over 200 miles. Fairly chilly on the way out, but perfect coming back. There was a particularly good 20 mile section on 64 in the sandstone where it warmed up and I really enjoyed myself.

This is the closest I could get it to the edge of the canyon.

Bike performed great - no issues at all. I have since replaced the front brake pads, which are doing well. It may want a new chain though. I don't have any idea how old the current one is and it's got a fairly significant difference in tightness between two points. Discovered this while attempting to tighten the chain, which was probably just fine where it was. Oh well!
My research indicates that this is due to wear and that it probably wants a new one. Damn shame. Depending on how the sprockets look, I may replace those as well.

Post coming soon about the front brake job.

FREEDOM!

Brake rebuild + control lever replacement

As previously mentioned, I knew the brakes on this bike needed some work. My buddy Amanda and I Sat down for a couple hours and got to it. We learned how to take apart the front brakes from a lovely YouTube video. It was made by a dude who Amanda and I affectionately call "bubba" because ... well when he talks you can't help but think he sounds like a "bubba." No idea what his real name is, but the video he puts together is both informative and hilarious. All school should be like this.

Thanks, Bubba.

Unfortunately, the parts I got from my local motorsports store were WRONG. That is, they gave me the wrong brake pads. The ones currently in the bike are EBC FA45. The ones I got are different. Shame.

We also replaced the control levers: front brake and clutch.
These are black and whole instead of chrome and broken (old levers pictured below)

In the process of these repairs, whatever was ailing the front brakes seems to have disappeared. They are now SUPER responsive! Great. Now I know how to replace the pads when they go out, and the ones I have seem to work. Will confirm this with a ride when the rain/snow/wind has subsided. Flagstaff spring is brutal for motorcycling.

Overall, very happy with this round of repairs!

Next up: tightening the chain and probably and oil change before too long.

Freedom

I am quickly coming to realize that this bike represents not only a new kind of freedom, but a new way to interact with that freedom.

On occasion, I break out my skid-lid helmet. I know a lot of people say it sucks for protection. Fine. It's probably better than nothing and it lets me really interact with my surroundings. I can hear and feel the wind on my face. It's fantastic. Definitely colder than the full-face helmet, but more fun too.

This freedom is exactly what I was after when I bought the bike. So far I am loving it.

On a pullout on Lake Mary Road.

I have yet to do work on the brakes. Will get there, I'm sure. I hear one of the shops in town probably carries brake pads for this bike. 

Until then, I am learning what stopping distance I need and experimenting with what the bike can and cannot do comfortably. So far it is performing admirably.

Facing my fears: 89a

Yesterday was a perfect afternoon for a ride. After I got off work, I headed out for a ride with no real destination in mind.

First, I drove out to the county fairground to toodle around in the parking lots. From there, I could either ride to Lake Mary, or down the 89A towards Sedona.

The 89 scares me. It's one lane each way, fairly narrow, 55mph ride to the switchbacks, which drop you about 1000 vertical feet in 2 miles. Mercifully, speed limit in the turns is 25mph.

I knew that I was going to have to ride this way eventually. It is some of the best landscape you can get your hands on in Northern Arizona and there is no way I will pass that up on a motorcycle. I figured I might as well face my fears and ride it. So I did. 

Surprisingly, I didn't have a hard time of it. I took it really easy and let the bike do the work. Used the pull-outs on the way down to let impatient 4-wheeled vehicles pass me. I've been that person; I understand that following someone going slow sucks. Overall it was a beautiful ride. I wish I had my helmet had a visor because I spent some time with the sun in my eyes but I guess I'm SOL on that one for now.

While I was out, I also got my first motorcycle wave! Actually, my first three. It was great. I've been watching bikers wave at each other for years. Now I finally get to participate! 

(I know, I'm a n00b.)

In total, the ride was about 40 miles.

Also learned that the bike has a 1.7 gallon tank with another .8 in reserve. Should be 2.5 gallons total. With the reserve I should be able to do at least 140 miles. Not too bad!

Planned repairs/modifications for the bike include:
adding a digital speedometer OR a phone charger (by phone has a great speedometer, but it kills my battery)
front and rear brakes
new clutch and front brake handles

CM400 Speedometer repair(?)

UPDATE 8/6/2013 : I've put about 1,500 miles on the bike since this repair. Everything is working well. It does tend to get a little moisture in it when it sits in the rain, but a couple days in the dry and everything is good to go. My tach has started doing the same needle wobble that this speedo was doing a while back. I'll probably do this same repair to the tach over the winter.

 Tools required: Wrench to get the speedo off the bike. Pull on the wires and the bulbs will come out. Needlenose pliers help you get some leverage.

Once disconnected, all you need is a pair of pliers, a screwdriver, and something to do some prying with. I used hardened steel picks. A dremel tool will also be helpful to cut the crimp band that holds everything together. NOTE: This band is not designed to come off. If you break it, you will need a new one when you reassemble. Alternatively, if you don't care about how it looks, you can use some adhesive and re-crimp to the best of your ability.

This is the crimped band. I used a hacksaw (no idea where my dremel went) for the large section that I could get to, then pried and pulled with the pick and pliers to break the hold. After that, the whole thing comes apart pretty easily.

Adhesive was used to hold the rubber seals on this sucker. Mine had a small compliment of rust in addition to that. I was able to pry it apart fairly carefully without destroying the rubber. When reassembling, put small dots of adhesive back in these areas.

Here are all the pieces of the major assembly once they came apart. Not bad at all.

Once you've got it separated, you can get to and lube a bunch of the pieces, but NOT the most important one.

This little area in red is what is responsible for the whirring/whining noise that comes from the speedometer. It was once well lubricated internally with some form of grease. Over the last 30+ years, that lubrication has dried up and disappeared.

If you can get to the inside of this thing, you can lubricate it.

TEST it once you think you've got it. You can put the speedo back on the bike with the housing/glass missing. It will work just fine. Only once you've tested it should you spend the time to put the whole assembly back together.

Not having the ability to reassemble the metal crimp that I murdered, I opted for a very tight wrap of electrical tape to hold the housing on. Seems solid for now. (1500 miles later, still going strong).