Honda305.com Forum

Guys, my resto-project starts here: I have finally bought the CB77 for the task ahead (see pic - it's not a CP; the winkies are generic and work very well, so I may keep 'em for road-riding). It was restored in '96 in UK to a quite reasonable standard, but the last 12 years of mainly being stored (few miles were added over the period) have obviously taken their toll on the overall quality of that resto. So, here we go.
The tank needs painting (crazing is prominent here), as does all other paintwork apart from the frame, which has been either stove-enamelled or powder coated (I can't quite decide yet). The silver parts have been finished in cellulose (Ford [UK] Silver Fox). The l/h toolbox cover unfortunately had a slight petrol spill when the tank balance pipe was removed to lift the tank for some carb work - the resulting damage is streaked paintwork. Not a problem, as the whole thing's
getting done anyway. It rides very nicely; goes & stops beautifully. I'd almost forgotten how torquey this engine can be, if a bit rattly which becomes most apparent around 6000rpm (70mph). I'll adjust the tappets today to see how that helps, and change the oil & clean out the filter. It's left 3 tiny drops of oil on the garage floor since I put it there 2 days ago, so that needs investigating before I set off on Steve And CB's Big Adventure - a ride across the northern provinces of Spain - at the end of this week. Crazy? You betcha! I was 53 on the morning I picked up CB; CB's 44 on March 12. We've decided we're celebrating life! Can a bike be Piscean......?
Many thanks to Chris & Rozie Woolston of Oakham, Rutland (UK) for parting with the bike and just being really lovely people.

Nice bike, Steve, welcome to the forum. What a perfect country you live in for motorbiking! Do you follow Moto GP ? Have a nice time on your adventer, let us know how it goes with a report please. Dave, in California.

We made it! 13 hours, 444 miles and one seizure (CB, not me!). We disembarked the Portsmouth-Bilbao ferry at 0800 GMT+1 and crossed the Greenwich Meridian on Saturday at about 1630 from west to east (no timezone change), making Barcelona by 2100. Battery has died enough to prevent starting on the button and, embarrassingly, the kickstart is temperamental, missing the ratchet on occasion and requiring either pushing the bike astern in second gear about a metre or a bump-start!. A litre of oil, about 65mpg and 2 chain adjustments; lost the tacho, then the speedo (hairsprings have failed, I think) and the lefthand rear wheel adjuster screw. The front parking light lamp has popped (a Stanley, so possibly the original!?), the 3 oil spots are now 5 blobs. The lefthand footrest/shifter fulcrum thread has stripped in the alloy peg bracket, which I'll Helicoil. Plugs have stayed a nice, sandy colour. Then pressure from the clutch cable sheared the petrol tank balance pipe where it attaches to the righthand spigot, leaving about 2 litres of gas on the car deck of the ferry. Luckily I was present when it happened, just securing the bike for the crossing. The crew guys on the ferry were marvellous, producing a bag of sawdust and clearing it up for me within 5 minutes; mind you, I was parked in front of a brand-spanking new, Swiss-plated pearlescent Champagne Bentley Continental GT, upon the bonnet (hood) of which the bo'sun placed his opened pocket knife; no respec'! Didn't want that catching fire, but sod the paintwork. Yada yada yada....

CB's now taking a well-earned rest ready for the start of some resto work. Oh, and the rattly top end is, I believe, the carb slides chattering; the noise abates during throttle shutoff or giving it a fistful, being only apparent on a feathered throttle.

e3steve, Wow ! Neat trip, sounds like fun. Thanks for sharing. Kustommusic

Nice adventure! :)


Ron

Well, my fellow band of brothers, my ol' CB77 Super Sport lives on. I'm picking up a loose thread here; my intention, always, was to kick-start my resto 'proper' at the end of last season -- that's mid-Jan in our Med climate -- but domestic circumstances and work dictated otherwise! Then: Spring appeared, around mid-April; and, thereonin, I just couldn't resist riding!

So the rattles are still there, as are the unabated leaks! All shall be sorted. I have all the parts I need in order to carry out the powertrain's refurbishment; I just need the time. Well, I s'pose, I have the rest of my life, really!

The odd titivation has taken place throughout the past eighteen months, most of which are documented here on the forum, the last of which http://www.honda305.com/forums/viewtopi ... 3367#23367. I have been pretty lucky, compared with some of you here; my purchase has been fairly lightweight in the resto department.

As previously stated, I pulled the front end to carry out some routine maintenance: tidy up the paintwork, replace the steering head races, change the stem for one with a lock boss and swap out the mudguard (fender) for one from a set of cycle parts for which I bid a third world country's education budget. I bought the ball bearings for <€3 and, upon stripping (the bike's bitz, not my own!), discovered that a PO had replaced the ball races with taper rollers; so why does it 'crack' when I brake and the front takes a dive? To be continued.....

The steered element's paint was very tired; not from just age, but from poor ATD from a PO! The fork shrouds, legs and the headlamp were dull -- almost matt -- black, to say the least. All items have been treated, where necessary, with rust converter [incl inside the lower shrouds], then the visible portions rubbed down with 360 WoD, primed -- left 12 hrs -- flatted-off with 600 WoD, primed again (repeatedly until no metal was revealed). Soon to paint; final pics to follow. L-o-o-o-o-o-ng process!

Compared to some of you, I've been pretty lucky insofar as 'restoration' is concerned: my purchase was a runner/rider (as you can see from the previous posts in this series) and, during the last two riding seasons, has been quite well behaved. One carb strip/clean, two oil changes and several chain adjustments -- plugs & points aside -- are all the tweaks that have been necessary. And it does get kicked in the bollocks occasionally, fistfuls abound!

The fork legs have been unbelievably easy to tart up, as the PO's paint seemed to have been unprimed; all that was needed was a decent engineer's scraper -- looks like a sharpened & polished triangular file -- and the old paint ran into a corner and hid! All will change now..... I've not photographed this part of the log, mainly because those of you who have really had to restore your bikes will laugh at me!

Despite my opening gambit in this topic series, this shan't be a serious resto. It shall, however, be my rider. I was going to really 'go to town' on the old girl; but I just don't have the heart to make it into a such an untouchable, cotton-wool-wrapped, show-quality entity; it never will be 'show'. It's a mutt. But it's my mutt, it shall be finished to my standards and it shall be ridden. It's such fun; I'm even starting to enjoy riding among the retarded Majorcan drivers! A kind of 'Russian Roulette'...... in(bred) Majorca.....

So, onward and upward. My main point of interest is to be the powertrain; no leaks, no rattles, no sh1t! Really! The rest shall be taken care of in my own way. Rock-roll!

EDIT: link added

hi steve,

Nice bike, once restored, a real eye-catcher.
Looking at the map, I didn't realize until now that Majorca has not so many roads to ride on.
I bet you'll be taking the boat on regular bases to ride the continent.

By the way, what do English have with islands ?
I must admit that the weather is much better on this one.

In the summer I'll be in the neighborhood, my brother (sailer on the HAL) lives in Javea, wich is a few miles from denia. Maybe we can ride together.

Jensen