CBX Racing

CBXs, new bikes, old bikes, cars, trucks, general chat, off topic, this is the place to post it.
Post Reply
Warwick Biggs
Amazing Poster
Amazing Poster
Posts: 952
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:23 pm
Location: Australia
Location: Australia

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

Well, a seat that comes off a bit easier than the pro-link's would certainly help in the pits. And where the rider sits is obviously important as in my case its about 93Kgs or a lot more llbs sitting up high.

I haven't measured the weight distribution of the CBX but according to specs its rear biased so if I'm right about that I would be inclined to move the rider further forward. Ideally, I'd like to be sitting over the front wheel of a unicycle.

I've been trying to work out how to marry a full TIMS Dyna S ignition to a fully programmable Ignitech TCIP4 and I believe a Mr St Clair has been trying to do like wise with his turbo project. Does anybody know???

Off to Mac Park in SA tomorrow (3,500KLMS round trip) to compete in their 'Seniors' mtg and the 100+ Cup (add the ages of the rider & bike). I'm going to be up against some very successful internationals and ex GP riders on their thoroughbred racers. The only track in Oz owned by a local m/c club, built in an old limestone quarry. Haven't raced there for over 40 years. Might catch up with some other relics I kicked around with in the 70's. And there's a Jazz festival on too. Yummy!

I'll let you know how I go.

R.

User avatar
NobleHops
ICOA Member
ICOA Member
Posts: 3867
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:17 am
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA

Re: CBX Racing

Post by NobleHops »

Awesome. Have a ball, go fast!
Nils Menten
Tucson, Arizona, USA '80 CBX, sort-of restored :-)

User avatar
FalldownPhil
ICOA Member
ICOA Member
Posts: 929
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:25 pm
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA. USA
Contact:

Re: CBX Racing

Post by FalldownPhil »

Good on you !! Enjoy the ride.
Phil
When you are up to your ass in alligators it is sometimes difficult
to remember that your objective was to drain the swamp !!

Larry Zimmer
ICOA Web Post/Pix/Video Archive Mgt
ICOA Web Post/Pix/Video Archive Mgt
Posts: 2195
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2003 2:32 pm
Location: Brighton, MI
Location: Brighton, Mich
Contact:

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Larry Zimmer »

If you're looking for an ignition upgrade, have you considered this one: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=8617&hilit=ignition
Larry Zimmer
cbxlarry@sbcglobal.net

Warwick Biggs
Amazing Poster
Amazing Poster
Posts: 952
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:23 pm
Location: Australia
Location: Australia

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

Hi Guys,

Roly has my CBX in Melbourne as I type and will be fitting the Ignatech with the original Honda pick up and sender. The Dyna S sender and coils come out and will be a spare system.

According to Dynatech there could be a problem with the high levels of "return voltage" that could fry the Ignatech so, best not to mix them. The Ignatech does away with the spark units same as the Dyna and amongst other features has a programmable rev limiter. We will be fitting a lanyard as well so that when I come off, it pulls the pin.
We will see how we go when it goes back on the dyno.

The motor is in bits as a consequence of blowing up at Mac Park. I thought it was a cracked valve guide as a result of some missed shifts but a piece of metal blew out near the base of no.5 exhaust valve due to the Honda oil pressure and some over enthusiastic porting. So the head is up at Bathurst with RPE getting repaired and we have taken the opportunity to split the cases so the gears can be undercut to help with the missed changes/ jumping out of gear and we have gotten to the bottom somewhat earlier than I expected and number 4 bearing will be replaced as well as it is showing a bit of wear.

Anyhow bike and rider are now sympatico. We both have holes in the head!

On the positive side, it was near the end of a full practice day when I was black flagged for smoking the opposition (literally) and I had enuf' time to assess the change to 18" Bol Dor rims and Conti RaceAttack tyres. In a word - impressive. No more high speed weaving, so my suspicion that the soft side walled Avons were not up to handling the weight and power of the big 6 were confirmed. We will have to wait a bit longer for the Georges Martin frame.

So, travelling nearly 4,000 kilometres to blow up was disappointing, especially as I was just getting the hang of the beautiful Mac Park circuit that has changed out of sight since my last foray there at the 1976 Australian Grand Prix. Almost worth moving to Mount Gambier for, but it is cold. One of the furthest south bits of the continent and near a flat coast it cops the roaring forties in the winter. Still, a great credit to the Mount Gambier Motorcycle Club. Fast, much wider than I remember with good run off,good camping and facilities, well run, fantastic clubman atmosphere and some top old riders to dice with, even Peggy Hyde, the first woman in the world to win an A grade road race in around 1969 and still attractive and fast at 74. What more could you ask for? Oh yes, the jazz and great fresh regional food with a world class cellar.

Hopefully, the bike will be back together for testing at Broadford with Roly Skate and Trevor Manley on the 20th June. But slowly, we are converting a roadster into a racer and an old racer into well.... an old racer. Can't hide the years but can ignore the ravages.

Photos:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Rick.

User avatar
FalldownPhil
ICOA Member
ICOA Member
Posts: 929
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:25 pm
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA. USA
Contact:

Re: CBX Racing

Post by FalldownPhil »

Thank You Rick for a great write up. It is truly appreciated by another old guy :-)
Very Best,
Phil
When you are up to your ass in alligators it is sometimes difficult
to remember that your objective was to drain the swamp !!

Mouse
ICOA Member
ICOA Member
Posts: 569
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2015 9:56 am
Location: Canmore Alberta Canada
Location: Canmore Alberta Canada

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Mouse »

Warwick Biggs wrote: Anyhow bike and rider are now sympatico. We both have holes in the head!

So, travelling nearly 4,000 kilometres to blow up was disappointin

Almost worth moving to Mount Gambier for, but it is cold. One of the furthest south bits of the continent and near a flat coast it cops the roaring forties in the winter.
Rick.
1- To bad about the CBX head.

2-But you did ,hopefully, get to size up the competition, so not a waste.

3-:laughing-rolling: The roaring forties around here are in the below zero category. In my neck of the woods, your roaring forties is when we get our bikes out of winter storage , so as not to miss the good riding weather. :D
Canadian Amateur Radio Call sign VE6 VES

steve murdoch icoa #5322
ICOA Member
ICOA Member
Posts: 4068
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2003 9:12 am
Location: St. Catharines, On. Canada
Location: St. Catharines, On. Canada

Re: CBX Racing

Post by steve murdoch icoa #5322 »

Excellent follow-up, Rick.
It also made me go look up Peggy Hyde. http://www.amcn.com.au/news/interviews/ ... at-a-hyde/
Sounds like a great woman.

User avatar
Jeff Bennetts
Posting God
Posting God
Posts: 2408
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2003 8:38 am
Location: Ohio, USA
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Jeff Bennetts »

Very nice write up Rick, thanks for taking the time to keep us up to date, Do you have any pictures of your trip you can post up if you get some time?

Thanks,
jb

Warwick Biggs
Amazing Poster
Amazing Poster
Posts: 952
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:23 pm
Location: Australia
Location: Australia

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

I keep forgetting that some motorcyclists have to confront ice & snow. We do get them here but its not common. So, my sympathies gentlemen.

I recall riding through Orange County during a Californian winter back in about 1982 and deciding it was a bit nippy (I had just arrived from Papua New Guinea in the tropics with a light weight nylon jacket and bought a Suzuki 1000G in San Francisco). So I looked at the map and saw a nice warm desert. Not realising until I was climbing up thru' snow drifts that the Mojave is a high desert. So the road is now closed and there is no traffic, I'm freezing, my pillion is becoming catatonic and its getting dark and the bike is developing some lurid slides on the ice when I see a single light, far off to the left.

The snapping dogs couldn't get their maws through my frozen moleskins but the sight of a woman pointing a double barrell shotgun at us was sobering. Turned out the Manson family had lived not far away and the ladies husband was stuck in LA. She kindly defrosted us while the kids played with our PNG Kinas (the money has a hole in it like a washer - endlessly fascinating for American ankle biters, it seems).

I don't like riding on ice. Its dangerous. Mexico was bliss tho' and we shared a motel in Ensenada and a lot of Tequila with a couple of guys who had just ridden their Katana 1100's down from Oregon in one go. I remember being impressed by their resilience. I don't remember much after Husong's Bar tho'.

R.

User avatar
NobleHops
ICOA Member
ICOA Member
Posts: 3867
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:17 am
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA

Re: CBX Racing

Post by NobleHops »

Photos added a few posts up in the race report post ^^^.

N.
Nils Menten
Tucson, Arizona, USA '80 CBX, sort-of restored :-)

User avatar
FalldownPhil
ICOA Member
ICOA Member
Posts: 929
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:25 pm
Location: Marina Del Rey, CA. USA
Contact:

Re: CBX Racing

Post by FalldownPhil »

Thank You Nils :text-thankyouyellow:
Phil
When you are up to your ass in alligators it is sometimes difficult
to remember that your objective was to drain the swamp !!

User avatar
Jeff Bennetts
Posting God
Posting God
Posts: 2408
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2003 8:38 am
Location: Ohio, USA
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Jeff Bennetts »

Thanks, everybody for the pics!

Warwick Biggs
Amazing Poster
Amazing Poster
Posts: 952
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:23 pm
Location: Australia
Location: Australia

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

The guy in the red pants is my old mate John Mann who used to be my chief cook and bottle washer back in the 70's altho' my pit crew was sometimes pretty scatty.For some reason he still turns up to help even tho' he lives on the other side of the country. The other fellow is me.

The CBX was photographed pushed into the back of the garage after it developed a hole in the head. Rather undignified for the old girl altho' interestingly, it still ran and made good power despite ventilating a lot of Penrite 10W75.

Rick.

Warwick Biggs
Amazing Poster
Amazing Poster
Posts: 952
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:23 pm
Location: Australia
Location: Australia

Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

Nothing much to report because the head came back from RPE all welded up and Roly put it all back together. But the crack in number 5 inlet tract opened up again on Roly's dyno. So altho' we took it out to Broadford for a practice day it wasn't run. Now the whole bike is up at Bathurst at RPE, hopefully getting a new head job. Hugh offered to re-sleeve it out to the class limit of 1300cc with Carillo rods but I can't afford the AUD$8,000 cost, so its just a repair job for the moment. It would be nice to have the 150-160hp from the bigger bore kit and would make the CBX into a serious contender against the XR69's but you can't always get what you want....

For those interested in the ignition, Roly ended up marrying the Dyna S coils to the programmable Ignatech and we have set the rev limiter at 9.500rpm in the interests of longevity. As currently configured power drops off the cliff after 8,000rpm (but making good power from 3,500rpm). It is also now running a lanyard so that when I fall off it pulls the plug on the motor. Roly's more highly developed CBX's are more powerful and higher up too, making maximum power at 9,500 rpm. And I'm pleased to report my dogs are all neatly undercut, so it should not jump out of gear under full throttle anymore.

Despite some generous offers of assistance, we don't think we will make it to the Isle of Man Classic in August 2017 because I just don't think we will have the requisite number of races. To pre-qualify you must demonstrate 6 full days of racing within the previous 12 months, with aggregate times within 90% of the winning time. Then there is the actual qualifying and with the competition doing 125mph laps it is a huge challenge just to get on the grid. The other possibility is the European classic racing scene that I understand is more relaxed than the IOM or the UK. We will just have to wait and see after the Phillip Island Classic in January and we may have to plan for 2018.

In the meantime, I'm hoping to have the bike back on track at Wakefield Park on the week end of 27-28th August for a 1 hour endurance event. We think that if we can do the full hour on the 300 Ah lithium battery and a full 22 litres of fuel we may be able to get thru' without pitting. It should be an interesting test and its a pity there aren't more classic endurance races. Back in the 70's the most popular road races in Australia were the Castrol 6 hour (Amaroo Park, now a suburb of Sydney and covered with houses), the Calder 3 hour (the CBX's maiden international production win) and the Advertiser 3 Hour at Adelaide International Raceway. They still seem popular in Europe however, with Le Mans and Spa springing to mind. And there are a number of CBX teams competing in these classic events, too. So that would be fun...

Rick Biggs.

Post Reply

Return to “Daily Discussion: By, For & About CBXers”