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1966 CB450K0 Black Bomber survivor

6K views 31 replies 13 participants last post by  SoyBoySigh 
#1 · (Edited)
Drove 2 hours to pick up my new Bomber on Wednesday. It was better than expected, literally looks like it has never been washed though. Good for me, because the seller's lack of washing plus poor pictures plus non-existent Ebay description (and probably the time of year) meant that I ended up getting a steal of a deal on what should have been a $4000-$4500 bike all day long.

The bike was purchased from the original owner who purchased it in '66 for the princely sum of $800. The bike has always been garaged and it shows. It hit 50 degrees today so I decided to take her around the block a few times :)

It appears to be stock except for the grips, battery, Buco saddlebag mounts, and the luggage rack. The mounts will be gone as soon as I have the time, but the rack will probably be useful. Even the tires appear original but I don't know what tires these came with stock.

Problem areas:
Front fender has some damage along the leading edge. Looks like someone bumped it up against something.
Mirrors are missing.
Speedo/tack trim ring has a dent.
The tank chrome on the left side has one tiny dent.
Tank badges have the typical spider-web cracking.
Tail light is missing a screw.
Seat latch knob is missing.
Seat hinges are cracked. They are still holding but I'm probably going to end up buying some of the repros.

Overall I'm ecstatic. Once the bike is cleaned up, I think it will be too nice to restore. I think I'll just stick with cleaning and polishing and ride the dickens out of it next spring :)

I'm glad I bid on it sight-unseen. I was willing to risk the wrath of Ebay and the seller if I had shown up and it had been worse than expected. I would have just walked away.

Here's some photos of it dirty. I guess I shouldn't rag on the seller for the bad photos as my photos are no great shakes either.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motorcycle Motor vehicle


Auto part Engine Vehicle Fuel line Motor vehicle
 
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#2 ·
Wow !! Great find. Now clean it up and show us more pics! hehe
 
#4 ·
Get some tires on it that are younger than I am, lol.

Motorcycle looks awesome and I'm glad to read that you'll be riding it like Honda intended instead of sticking it on a display stand somewhere.

Regards,
 
#5 ·
yeah, the tires will be the first things to get swapped in the spring. I feel safe on them for now just tooling around the subdivision. I'm not going to see too many more 50+ degree days between now and April...
 
#8 · (Edited)
mighty daniel, if you are referring to CSM I bought some CA95 tank insulators from him a few months ago and couldn't be happier with the quality. Unfortunately, what's actually missing is the knob. The rest of the assembly is there, I just don't have a knob to keep it closed.

If you are referring to another outfit, where did you get yours?
 
#9 ·
Doing some "clean up" while the snow is here. I can't call any of this "restoration" or my wife will kill me.

First up are the tank badges. Some of the black background was washed away with gas spills (pretty common for these types of badges, my CA95 had the same issue). Since the black and gold are applied from the backside it was just a simple matter of getting out the modelling acrylic and repainting the black on the back. It's not perfect by any means but it's definitely an improvement. You can see in the last picture where the new paint meets the old, slightly faded paint but it's good for a 10-foot bike.

I still need to polish the plastic on the front side, then they will be good to go.

Before:

Emblem Logo Badge Symbol Fashion accessory

Emblem Metal


And after:

Emblem Font Badge Luxury vehicle Symbol
 

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#11 ·
Rebuilt the petcock using Honda OEM replacement rubber parts. I soaked it in boiling hot vinegar/water mixture and cleaned it with a toothbrush, but the reserve hole was so clogged up that I ended up having to drill it out to get it clear again...

Copper Metal Spindle Mallet
 
#12 ·
Beautiful weather has returned to northern Colorado, at least for the next week or so. I washed the bike finally and now it's just a matter of mechanicals and getting the shiny bits polished up. I started with the front wheel which (other than a few very small rust spots on the rim) polished up beautifully.

I discovered that the speedo wasn't working. I removed the cable to find it snapped. Hooked up a replacement cable and I can't turn it by hand. Unfortunately that means cracking open the speedo unit. Wish me luck!

I also blew one of the almost 50 year-old coils when I tried starting it a couple of days ago, so new coils and a PAMCO ignition unit are on the way from 4into1.com (since they had everything I needed in stock and free shipping). Fortunately everything seems pretty straightforward from the wiring diagrams so I'm hoping I can be up and running relatively quickly.

Ordered new Heidenau tires (K33 and K34) from Revzilla since they had them in stock. $50 to get them mounted and balanced at a local wheel builder and I'll be good to go!
 
#13 ·
Just finished installing:

Pamco ignition
New coils
New plugs
New intake rubbers/gaskets
Used air filters/covers (to replace the Uni foam filters)

Set the valve clearance and put everything back together. Hit the starter and she fired right up!

Some notes:
The PAMCO ignition and new coils make a huuuuge difference in the "smoothness" of the engine. Timing is spot on and the timing marks don't drift around like they did with the points.

I had some issues increasing RPMs with the timing light on, the engine just kept bogging out at about 3k. I realized that the battery/charging system just could not keep up with the timing light at higher RPMs. Used a 12V battery charger to power the timing light and the issue went away.

The new rubber intake boots cured my revving/idling/RPM hanging issues. I could not find any leaks in the original boots, but figures since they were hard there was bound to be a leak somewhere.

Bike now runs great with the standard carb adjustments (mix screw 1.5 turns out). Just had to make a slight adjustment to the idle screw on both sides to increase the idle a bit. The jets were one size up from stock (I'm near Denver/high altitude) and was considering another size up to compensate for the Uni filters, but I finally found a set of stock filters and boxes. I think these bikes really do run better with the stock "constricted" filtering system.

Now to get the new rubber on the rims and get to riding!
 
#15 ·
There is an internal screen in the petcock, however the original had a tear.

I don't think it was a physical particle blocking the hole anyway, I think that gas sat for too long and solidified inside the reserve channel.
 
#17 ·
Got about an hour of around-town riding in today. Unfortunately at the end the winter-ravaged streets were too much for one of my fork seals and it totally blew out. Fluid was literally pouring down the fork. I guess it's time to get those new seals. I need to replace the left lower fork cover anyway so now's as good of a time as any...
 
#21 ·
Gordon

If you're looking for a perfect set of side covers, I just had a set restored and painted Honda Black by Marbles Motors. They're perfect. Ad is in parts for sale, but here's a picture.

Gordon

 
#23 ·
3.25 on the front and 3.5 on the rear. Got them mounted today, but of course I have some other issues to deal with like replacing some leaking seals/gaskets on the left side, draining the front shocks and putting in new seals and putting on a new chain. Soon...
 
#24 ·
Finally got everything buttoned back up. Unfortunately one of the fork seals is still leaking. Fork tube seems straight and is very smooth/no pitting. Maybe I got a bad seal?

New chain is on, leaking clutch rod seal is replaced, left engine cover was leaking as the PO used sealant as a replacement gasket. Scraped all of it off and replaced with a new gasket and that leak is gone. Still have a slight leak at the stator cover even with a new gasket and smooth mating surfaces, but I'll live with it for now.

The Heidenau tires are amazing, huge difference from the old, hard tires. Great grip and nice cornering. The tread style also beats the old parallel groove tires that were on the front which wandered all over the place on grooved pavement. Granted, the inaugural run was at sub-55 speeds, but I'm totally happy with the tires. Well worth the money (even though at ~$200/pair I didn't think they were all that expensive anyway).

The plan now is to make daily trips further out each time while I get everything dialed in, then once I'm confident in the mechanicals it's off on some of the nice, scenic rides that northern Colorado has to offer!
 
#25 ·
I know when I installed the first set of fork seals on my 450 I managed to nick one putting it in and didn't see it until it started leaking. Learned to be very careful (again) about putting them in.

Where is the leak coming from the stator? Had a sort of the same issue, turned out to be the o-ring on the bottom bolt was cracked.
 
#26 ·
I was suuuuper careful when I put the forks back together since the seals are stupidly expensive. It's not spraying out or anything, just a 1/2 teaspoon while it was parked. If the weather takes a turn for the worse for a few days I'll break it back down.

It's leaking on the bottom edge where the stator cover meets the engine cover. Again not enough to worry about right now cause the weather is nice and I'm going to RIDE!
 
#29 ·
Well I jinxed myself, got stranded 2 miles from home this afternoon. Field verified that I had spark on both cylinders, unlikely that both carbs decided to stop delivering fuel at the same time. May be a timing issue as I had some backfiring when attempting to start. I hope to god it's not a valve or cam issue...

Also, the fork leak is not coming from the seal, it's actually coming from the bottom of the lower fork cover. I fear it may have a hairline fracture, and it's hella hard to find someone willing to sell a single lower cover with good fender mounts...
 
#30 ·
Well, I found out why I got stranded:

Auto part Wheel Automotive wheel system Vehicle brake Rim


After checking everything else, I discovered that the PAMCO rotor had come completely loose, the bolt was backed almost all the way out. On further investigation I found that the key on the cam had fallen out completely. Not sure if the loose rotor knocked the key out or if the key fell out first enabling the rotor to spin freely and work loose. The key went back in but it seems kinda loose so I'll locktite the daylights out of it and hope it stays put...

Has anyone else had this issue with the PAMCO rotor? It doesn't come with any kind of lock washer, just a flat washer which seems like it would be prone to working loose since it's holding on a part that spins as fast as the engine...
 
#31 ·
May contact Pete about that, the original system doesn't have a lock washer either though, least mine don't and I've never had either back out.

The keys should be a good tight fit in the hole, if it is loose that can cause a wobbly timing problem on the original points system, ping rocks which lets the advance unit move one way or another which throws timing off. Can dress that hole up nice and peen/stake one of the sides in just a smidge to take the play out of it. I don't believe Pete's rotor floats on the cam shaft since he has a e-advance it should just stay put and not move. Don't have one, I like to tinker with points for some reason. ;)
 
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