New member and owner, from Louisiana

[daves79x]

It's frankly a drop in the bucket as far as weight savings. I can't say whether you may find a 525 set-up or not, I can say it is not a question often or ever asked. There are lots of other issues to address of a 40-plus year old bike, I personally wouldn't get too exercised over this. The 530 stock set-up has proven to be just fine. I've seen guys go down lots of rabbit holes with these old bikes, trying to upgrade decades-old technology with what we see on modern bikes. Just about anything is possible, but is it wise and/or practical?

Dave

[Devonian]

I haven't done anything with the chain and sprockets yet. I did ride the old girl to a bike night, this week. Confirmed that she handles better with proper air pressure in the forks, and idles ok at around 1200rpm after i made that adjustment. However, she tries to stall when I open the throttle to pull away. There's definitely something not right about the idle/just-off-idle mixture and (I expect) balancing.

I found a CBR1000 radial master cylinder mis-labelled and dirt cheap on eBay. It seems to be in perfect condition. Will look a little out of place, with the urine sample cup reservoir, but will hopefully add a little braking power and improve the slightly wooden feel.

[Larry Zimmer]

Immediate thought with the stall from pull away is that the accel pump is not working in your carbs. Even a 1200 idle is a bit high Sounds like a carb rebuild is in-order.
As to the wooden brake feel, I'm thinking some different pads. Might start with some OEM. Then, consider other changes after a solid baseline.

[Devonian]

I finally got the right tool, and the time, to fiddle with the CBX carbs a bit. Found that all the idle mixture screws are slightly less than 3/4 turn open. As they are all exactly the same, I'm assuming this was an arbitrary setting, chosen by the last carb builder/tuner. I'm going to try adding 1/2 turn to each and see if that improves the slow idle/off-idle situation.

The weather here has finally given a break, after a long Summer of unrelenting heat and humidity. We've had some evenings and early mornings where it was actually comfortable to be outside. Yesterday, I took my better half out to a favorite breakfast spot. She found the CBX comfortable but wanted something to lean back on, and noted that she felt very low (not depressed - she's normally looking over my shoulder from a stepped seat on the back of my KTM1290 or Stelvio.) She also noted that the CBX is very quiet. You can only hear the exhaust note in first and second gear.

[Devonian]

Any thoughts on the idle mixture finding? I had a good look through the carb threads and it seems like 1-1/4 to 2 turns out is more likely to be the sweet spot (without any more sophisticated approach to fine-tuning)

[daves79x]

The settings you found are more typical of what Honda set them to at the factory. I set most of mine to 1 1/2 turns out. See what happens, but as we said before, your carbs are probably begging for a rebuild.

Dave

[Devonian]

I'm in the process of moving house. Once I'm in the new place and the dust has settled, I will get to work on the CBX. That will probably start with the brakes and suspension, then the carbs.

[Devonian]

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[Dynamohum]

I don’t see a pallet under them so how did you get them in like that?

[Devonian]

Used a combination of liftgate truck, ramp and muscle. The first two bikes i was just able to ride into the container, but the last one (CBX) had to have the back end dragged in.

The CBX just barely fits. The rack is essentially touching the wall behind, with the tire hard against the wall in front.

I THINK/HOPE I did a good job of packing and strapping down. Will find out in a couple of weeks.

[Dynamohum]

Gotcha, if they’re strapped correctly they shouldn’t move in any direction, even an inch.

[Devonian]

I've had a lot of experience strapping bikes on trailers, a dozen at a time, for training machines. They are also packed like sardines, sideways, in alternating directions. Ive never (knowingly) had a failure. However, those bikes are also half the weight and I'm a lot less fussy about them gaining the odd scratch. Furthermore, they have to endure a few hundred miles on the road, at most. This container got all that, plus a bit, several hundred miles of rail, and is currently mid Atlantic on a container ship.

I'm told the ride in a shpping container, is fairly gentle, even including the crane loading/unloading but I am a little skeptical. Also the cargo ships can occasionally roll up to 45 degrees (or so I was told.) Like I said - I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Will definitely share the outcome here.

[Devonian]

Good news!

Despite various trucks, trains, ships and cranes over a five-week journey, the CBX (and everything else) arrived in perfect condition. Safely unloaded, customs formalities all completed, ready to be registered in the UK.

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[Jeff Bennetts]

Most excellent, did you have a couple cocktails to celebrate!
Now the fun begins, keep us updated on your progress.

[daves79x]

Woah! I didn't realize your 'move' was out of the country! Not to worry, there are great CBX resources over there, including carb specialists.

Dave