June 1, 2010 — Last October I read a book about the pleasure of working with one’s own two hands. In a way, all that Shop Class as Soulcraft did was remind me of things I already knew I enjoyed, but that reminder has really impacted my quality of life since then. I was already a tinkerer, but in kind of a half-assed way. The scope of my mechanical ambitions was usually pretty timid.
I think we can all relate to the intimidation of something like an engine, or an electronic device. Yet really, everything we interact with is simply a combination of peoples’ ideas — usually then assembled by more people in a factory somewhere. What’s more, if we look for it, there’s usually a manual — a book — that will tell us how it all works and how to fix it. I think it’s our removal from those thinking and making processes that makes the inner workings of machines such a mystery — and it’s easy to fear a mystery.
In the weeks since The Mrs and I procured a pair of old Honda motorcycles, we’ve uncovered a handful of mechanical things that these bikes need before they’re truly roadworthy. There’s dry rot on the CM400’s tires. It needs a new chain and sprocket set. It’s running a bit lean, and needs its front fork seals redone. Worst of all, it’s got a significant fuel leak from the carbs and I’m not sure where from yet. My CB650 needs a new tach cable and desperately needed its carbs synchronized. It’s nearly due for a new rear sprocket and chain, and both bikes were in need of overall tune up and maintenance. So the long Memorial Day weekend was a perfect opportunity to get my hands greasy and get these motorcycles sorted out.
Starting with The Mrs’ CM400 twin, I consulted the service manual for the tune up procedures. Air filter, then plugs, then valve clearance, then carb sync, then compression test — I love how methodical these procedures have to be. No use in syncing the carbs unless the plugs are correct. I tore into the bike, removing first the seat and then the side covers and fuel tank. It’s amazing how quickly the bike gets bare. I pulled the air filter and it’s still looking pretty new. Some canned air through the element and it went back where it came from. Plugs were a tad scorched. The bike is indeed running lean. I hopped on the Vespa for a quick run to the O’Reilly’s down the street, where I bought them completely out of NGK plugs for our bikes and borrowed their compression tester. Next I cracked open the valve covers and removed the engine’s side cover so that I could turn the engine over at the generator. Valve adjustment is strange business, but if you follow the instructions, it’s actually pretty easy. It’s hard to imagine that the difference between .003″ and .004″ should matter, but it does. Sliding the feeler gauges in and out of those gaps feels a bit like dentistry — or at least what I imagine dentistry to be like. I’d much rather stick my hands down into greasy engine than somebody’s mouth. Yuck.
With all the cold service mischief managed, it was time to fire up the CM400 and get it warmed up to operating temperature for a compression test. The fresh plugs and adjusted valves gave the motor a fresh, sharp sound it didn’t have before. It’s still popping lean though. My money is on the Air Cutoff Valve. I shut it down and extract both plugs again, only to find that the borrow-a-tool compression tester kit from O’Reilly’s doesn’t include an adapter for this size of spark plug. In the end, I had to buy my own tool, but it’s worth it now to have the equipment in-hand whenever I want it. Both cylinders were within one psi of each other. Hooray for healthy rings! Unfortunately, in hooking up the gauge I noticed a pretty epic fuel leak coming from somewhere underneath the carbs. That will warrant further investigation. The carbs are due for a cleaning and I’m going to replace the Air Cutoff Valve for good measure anyway, so that leak will have to wait. I’m just hoping it’s something simple like a loose bolt or a bad bowl gasket.
The CM400 twin was pretty easy to wrench. Now for the CB650’s four cylinder mill. Twice the valves, twice the plugs, twice the hassle for everything. Plus this bad boy needed a carb sync, which I’ve never done before. Four carbs — this should be interesting. I started down the same list as the CM400. Air filter, plugs, valve clearance, etc. The valve clearance was a very different animal on the CB650. Instead of gapping where the rockers meet the top of the valves, you gap the other end of the rockers where they meet the cam lobes. It took me a few rotations of the crank to make sure I was at top-dead-center on the correct cylinders. The valves were all pretty tight. The “free play” I was supposed to feel according to the book for was really hard to perceive. There were a couple moments there where I wasn’t sure if I should just leave them alone. But after consulting the book a couple more times, I decided to trust the book and trust myself. Besides, leaving them tight will only get them burned in the long run.
After lots of feeling ’round and adjusting set screws, the valves were in order. Time for the plugs. The CB650 takes an 18mm spark plug, which fit none of the three spark plug sockets I had. I snagged a deep socket on another Vespa O’Reilly’s run, but it wasn’t a plug socket. I pulled the #4 plug first, which was easy to do with the gas tank off. I gapped a new plug, slathered its threads with anti-sieze grease and replaced it in the cylinder. Now for #3, except there was a problem. The socket wouldn’t fit down into the opening, so I stole the plug socket from the CM400’s tool kit.
Every once in a while, I want to travel to distant lands, find a particular engineer. and beat the hell out of him. Whoever designed that toolkit plug socket is on my list now. The fact that it doesn’t have a proper 3/8″ or 1/4″ driver receptacle is just ridiculous. Instead it’s just a pair of opposite holes for you to stick a screwdriver through and twist. Thing is, there’s no room for that on this motor. It took about 15 minutes to get the plug extricated from the cylinder, even after removing the tach cable mechanism for extra room. There’s just no excuse for that — and in my shop no less! I had the tank off the bike, a nice little stool to sit on and everything. Ideal conditions! I can’t even imagine having to use that tool on the side of the road somewhere, in the rain.
It took me about 4 hours total, just to do the carb sync. Every time I’d start to get the carbs close, it’d run out of gas. It was pretty maddening. Finally, the four readings matched for just a second before the engine started to sputter out of fuel again. I called it. Done. That was the best I was going to do. A quick compression test showed all four cylinders really close to each other. So it looks like the engine is in really good shape, but I was pretty tired getting there.
One thing remained. I simply had to ride the bike after so much effort. It was about 10:00 pm. With the tank and seat back in place and all this tune-up work finally done, I expected it’d run a little better or smoother. It turned out to run like a completely different motorcycle. The engine was so smooth it was like the bike ran on milk instead of petrol. It felt about 30% more powerful too. It finally felt like the superbike the CB650 is acclaimed to be. Amazing. As much as I’ve liked this bike all along, I absolutely love it now. So much power, and just so smooth. First gear starts are easier too. Love it!
I returned to my garage, where next door my neighbor and his posse were prepping a 24 Hours of Lemons car. The driveway contained his Lancer Evo, a Viper, and an Acura NSX. I didn’t care though. They could have them. I had my three decade old UJM now running spectacularly at my own two hands. That’s priceless.
Nathaniel, do you use a motorcycle lift when working on your cycles or scooters If so, can you tell me exactly what lift it is, or what thoughts on lifts you have?
David, I don’t use a lift at this time, but only because I don’t have one. I wish I did, and it’s on my list of things to purchase or build in the near future. What I did was cut a cheap, wooden kitchen stool from Target down into about 18″ and it’s turned out to work remarkably well. It’s just high enough off the floor to be comfortable, and the perfect height for working on the top and sides of the motorcycle. I just put the bike on its center stand and brace the frame with blocks if I need to pull a wheel. Then with a stool on one side and an upside down crate on the other, I’d switch back and forth from one side to the other to make adjustments or whatever. I spent all day wrenching and wasn’t any more sore or tired than I would have been at any other seated or standing height.
As for lifts, they’re reasonably simple things, so I’m thinking it’ll be a welding project once I’ve got access to that kind of equipment. I’ve seen lots of simple lifts online that use basic materials like square tubing and angle steel and are lifted either with a standard motorcycle/ATV jack, with pneumatics, or even using a small ATV winch. I’ve only just started researching that, so I don’t have much to share at this point, but have a look around the interwebs and I’m sure you’ll find lots of options. If you make a move, do please let me know what you wind up doing.