New to me ‘81. CBXing in Alaska

[daves79x]

Well done! I'm thinking the pink wires aren't coded because the engine does not care which of the three spark units fires which cylinders. IE, you can switch any of the three spark units around and still have spark where you want it.

Dave

[crankwalk]

Well done! I'm thinking the pink wires aren't coded because the engine does not care which of the three spark units fires which cylinders. IE, you can switch any of the three spark units around and still have spark where you want it.

Dave

That makes sense to me. The rest of my wiring looked good except that one section so hopefully that’s all for a long time!

Nice work on what looks like a clean and tidy harness repair.
Electrics and wiring are my personal Kryptonite so i keep putting off the one i have that needs some attention.

Trust me, I hate electrical troubleshooting but because this was at least in a convenient spot and was obvious what was wrong it wasn’t bad. Tracking down intermittent failing electrical parts is my nightmare.

[crankwalk]

I couldn't bring myself to put the stock pipes back on so off they come for a clean up and then packed away with the rest of the stock parts:








Doing a little old school shopping:






Ebay had a used DG 6-1 in great shape for 1/3 the price of a new one which is important because it was $200 to ship it to Alaska.


This one had the baffle removed and shortened to half the length so it's just barely muffled.





Nothing can make it to or from AK in one piece so of course it arrives with the collector having a couple pipes out of round so a little heat and I can round them back out.



I wrestle it on and surprisingly gives plenty of room for the oil filter and the center stand:




I ran it just long enough to make sure my oil lines didn't leak (they didn't) and then shut it off. I couldn't run it long because we are having a bit of a windstorm right now and everything was getting blown around in the garage.




Not wanting to asphyxiate myself, I couldn't run it long (no video clip!) I knew I was going to end up with a 6-1 exhaust before I bought the bike and I know they lose power in some cases and some have reported flat spots in the power curve but....I just love the look/sound of them and the price was definitely right on this one.


It needs the pilot jets cleaned (minimum) as it's pretty gross and inconsistent delivery at idle with the choke until warm. I know I'll have to go through the entire carburetor assembly soon but until then, I'm going to keep it all in one piece for a little bit to appreciate this visual:

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Bike is looking great, Jay.
I have had a couple of DG systems and also like the looks and sound.
The only time i had a problem with a mid rev range flat spots was when i was using the K&N air filter. Back to oem and the problem went away.

[crankwalk]

Bike is looking great, Jay.
I have had a couple of DG systems and also like the looks and sound.
The only time i had a problem with a mid rev range flat spots was when i was using the K&N air filter. Back to oem and the problem went away.

I always plan on running the stock box and paper filter on this thing so hopefully I won’t have an issue.

Next on the list, I’m going to see if I can spray out some passages on the number 6 carb while on the bike. That’s the one that the exhaust pipe is barely hot and it runs on five at idle with the choke on. If that doesn’t help I’ll probably be messing with the carbs later this winter.

Any carb experts taking a vacation to Alaska in the next year that want to lend a hand for free boarding and beer?

[hondaman160mph]

Nice looking bike Jay. I have a naked '82 with a Kerker
6/1 header with a Supertrapp canister and a straight
through silencer. Stock jets, idle screws at 1 1/2 turns
out and stock air filter. Motor runs perfect from idle to
redline with no flat spots.

[crankwalk]

After closer inspection, the vacuum auto valve was filling the left side of my carb bank but significantly reduced flow on the right. So we are ditching that and just promise to remember to turn off the fuel. It's not hard for me because I do that with everything religiously. This is going to be ridden much less (due to our weather and other bikes in the rotation) so every time I want to start it, I don't want to crank it for so long.

Capped off:





Just running 5/16" lines with a filter and a brass T to feed the fuel rail:







And sounds were made. At 8 AM on a Saturday. I'm not normally that guy but today I'm that guy. Who wouldn't rather hear this than a Briggs & Stratton cutting grass at that hour?

Video: https://youtu.be/wFh2qByuLc4



Hilariously, the little bit of packing that was in the already shortened baffle immediately blew out.





I'll still need to do some carb work but it runs WAY better without that vacuum fuel valve keeping 4-5-6 low on fuel delivery. Before I pull the carbs, I think it's getting a chain and tires and I'm gonna just roll with it for a little bit. Choke was on 1/4 for most of the video since the air temp was in the teens. I took it off at the end as the packing for the muffler started blowing out. All pipes getting hot and number 6 was less hot. I'm going to try the on bike cleaning method to blow out the idle circuits later in the winter.

[crankwalk]

​
Tonight I did the "Mr. Mike Nixon On Bike Cleaning Method" Link: https://motorcycleproject.com/text/cbxcarbs_short.html for CBX carbs on cylinder #6 that wasn't getting the exhaust as hot as the others. This was very helpful.

I know I am preaching to the choir for the members here but I'm sharing for my documentation and it may help some random person in the future find Mr. Nixon's tutorials.

Removing the "don't tamper with emissions by adjusting any screws" tab because you can't unscrew it without doing so. :



200 watt solder gun to heat up the glue:



and oozes right off:



Now you can twist like the good old days:



 

Remove glue in the slot with an Xacto knife.



Quick cleanup on the needle and slides which looked pretty good.



And spray both directions on the circuit:

 



 

That got me a much hotter cylinder 6 (unscientifically spraying water on the header) and changed the tone a lot. It's hard to really capture the sound on a phone with a motor with the choke off probably prematurely and 15*F air temps. It's just not going to sound like it will 100% warmed up with a load but it's in a much better place:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/DM3emeBEbpU?rel=0

I know this will never substitute for a complete carb rebuild but I have all 6 cylinders and an idle so I feel comfortable riding it next season a little bit. I've owned the bike 3 1/2 months and bought it without hearing it run so I didn't think it would be this far along this soon with this little work. I'm not really a mechanic and it definitely shows sometimes. I am however very motivated and love this thing so I think that plus some good luck has helped speed up the project.


​

[daves79x]

Some nice work there. One thing - you can remove the whole vacuum valve with the carbs in place. You need to do that to get the vacuum line on #3 carb out of there. You'll need an aluminum plug screw to replace the brass fitting. Alternately, just plug the vacuum line until you get the carbs off.

Dave

[crankwalk]

I just have the vacuum line plugged for now. Its just the tiny line running up front correct?

[crankwalk]

Got my ICOA membership stuff and I’m glad to support the group however I can:



It’s been extremely cold here lately so just minimal work in the garage has been done. Pinstripe and decal replacement on the rear section since I had it here already:






Looking for tires and a chain now and I’m open to recommendations. Ideally I want a set of raised white letter tires like the Dunlop Qualifiers or Bridgestone Spitfires but they are so hard to find in the right size. I’ll be visiting family in Atlanta in December and might ship them down there to carry on back up here.

[Larry Zimmer]

For tires, check Shinko and Kenda. Both are quite acceptable and reasonably priced. Certainly some of the other 'high performance' tires are more than fine. Depends much upon what you will be doing. Chain, I don't know. Not hawking anyone -- but I have found Dennis Kirk usually have good stuff/selection and prices. And, their delivery has been 2 or 3 days max to Michigan. (Tires and chains). Bike looks great!

[crankwalk]

I made a recent trip to Georgia and since shipping a chain and tires is $200 to Alaska, I decided to be that crazy person carrying a ridiculous box around the airport. Alaska Airlines is great with the club 49 membership and lets us ship a couple giant boxes for free. Once the tires and chain go on I should be able to get this thing tagged and put it on the road. Come on April!

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Christmas comes early.

[Syscrush]

I followed you here from your post in the best photos thread. Really nice work.

I love my one-off 6-2-1 exhaust even though it's caused me a lot of headache. I generally advise people to stay with the OEM exhaust if they can, but nothing sounds better than some form of single exhaust on these bikes. If you're willing to suffer for it a bit, it's definitely the way to go.