Honda’s CBX 1000
ROB DAVIES, GLEN PRICE, ALAN FISHER AND PAUL PURSEY
Triumph Tiger Cub that I had built up from a box of bits bought from my cousin for £15. This was already my sixth bike, having started with a Raleigh Runabout at the age of 12. I had the bug and I still have it today.
“Since 1978 there have been another 27 bikes of all makes and models, in all shapes and sizes. Alongside the CBX in my stable right now is a 1974 Suzuki GT550 and a 1999 Triumph Speed triple. So, how did I come to finally own a CBX? Well, with prices rising at an alarming rate, I didn’t think I ever would. I had just sold a Triumph T150V when a purple (yep) CBX Z of 1978 vintage came up on good old eBay, 40 miles away in St Leonards-on-Sea.
“It was a classified advert priced at more than the Trident had added to my pocket, so I watched it intently – as you do. The photos showed it to be generally tired and shabby, but it looked complete, which was a bonus. The odd colour and general condition clearly seemed to deter buyers – great – and the price gradually came down until it got to the point where I just had to go and have a look.
“So have a look I did, and sure enough it was shabby and tired and purple, plus the engine had been painted black at some point. Someone else had tried to get the black paint off, but only where access had allowed it – not a good look at all. But it was a CBX wasn’t it – and it looked complete.
LAST CHANCE TO OWN A CBX
“It took a bit of cranking to get it to fire up, and when it did, it didn’t sound right at all. Cylinders number five and six were not firing. “Probably just the plugs,” said the vendor. “Okay, let’s whip them out and have a look” said I. “No tools,” was the reply. This was the point where I was ready to walk away. Before I did, I made a rash offer of £1500 – less than it was originally listed at. It was a rash offer because the dead pots could have been caused by something expensive. My offer was turned down, so off home I trotted.
“Almost as soon as I got home, the phone went, and it was the vendor ringing to say it was now running on all six. He had borrowed a plug spanner from a neighbour and voilà. “Told you,” he said. “I’m going to have to sleep on this,” was my reply, but sleep was hard to come
by that night. The next day, after much deliberation, I made an offer of what the Trident had sold for. This was probably going to be my last chance of CBX ownership, and I knew it was going to cost a whole bunch more money to get it how I wanted it. But I had to go for it. It was now or never. My offer was accepted, so the next stage of the saga began.
“I collected the purple wonder the following Wednesday evening after work, it was pouring with rain too. The first thing I had to do was fill it with petrol. The ride home was not pleasant. The appalling weather coupled with me not wanting to bin my new steed made for a tense journey. The engine seemed to vibrate more than I thought it should, the tyres were old and hard and the front brakes were, well, rubbish. It pulled well though and seemed to reach 70 with no effort at all – until I realised it had a kph speedo!
“After a good clean up the following weekend, it didn’t look much better. I had hatched a plan which was to ride it through the summer months, then take it off the road in October to have the paintwork restored to the original red and black. Then I would drop the engine out, get it soda blasted and paint it silver. As with many plans, this one strayed a little, well a lot, the further I got into it.
“I mentioned before that the engine vibrated. There was a patch between 2500 and 3000 revs which returned at 6000. This was a worry; these bikes should not vibrate. A compression test showed some interesting results. There were similar values across the six, but not as high as I was expecting, at 120-130psi.
LOCAL EXPERTISE
“Luckily I am blessed with local expertise in the form of Steve Gosine, the South East regional rep for the club, and font of all knowledge. Steve loaned me the club’s vacuum gauges, but the balance was really rather good. He then had a listen, and I could tell by the look on his face as much as what he said that more investigation was in order. A valve clearance check showed four valves to be tight; so they were corrected. It was at this point that it became obvious that someone had been in there before me; about six of the cam cap bolts were non-standard, some were chromed, and two even had Phillips heads! This did not bode well.
“Another cause of vibration could be a worn primary chain and there is a trick to tell how worn it is that is worth knowing. First remove the alternator – where you will find lurking behind it a 10mm bolt holding an oil feed tube which sits under the top run of the primary chain. As the chain wears, it touches the tube and takes chucks out of it. Steve said that any chunks missing dictate the necessity for a new chain. Mine had a few small ones. The final turning point from a cosmetic clean up to a full engine strip came when I took off the sump and looked at the oil strainer – I have never seen