[Sevalecan]

So, I tore apart the front steering on my 71 CB450 entirely to do some maintenance and painting.Had the steering bridge welded (the top strut clamps were both cracked, from what I've seen on the net this seems to not be an entirely uncommon problem?). Anyway, I didn't think to look at how all the cables were routed through the front end since I was so busy worrying about whether I'd remember which nuts and bolts went where(which I didn't have a problem with) :roll: . So, I was wondering if maybe someone could show me pictures or explain how the cables are routed through the steering area, the clutch, brake, throttle, tach and speedometer cables..

I noticed that my speedometer is on the right side of the bike, and as far as I know it's not supposed to be there... Except the reset knob is sticking out the right side so I don't think it'd work if I put the speedometer back on the left with the tach on the right, but the tach cable isn't reaching unless I pull it up above the bottom clamps on the tree, but then it gets kind of jammed behind the headlight and I'm not too fond of that.

I can't decide how the throttle cable should be routed, it has a lot of slack. The only thing I really paid attention to was the front brake line seemed to go in between the gauges and the steering bridge, but it has a lot of slack too and sticks way out in front of the gauges if I route it between them.

I'm sure I could just route them some way and try to be happy with that, but I'm curious as to how they were routed to begin with

I'm not sure what the previous owner did to this poor bike. : It had an awful paint job, it appeared to be originally red, but the fuel tank itself seemed to be originally blue. When the paint was stripped from the tank, we found a bunch of bondo underneath too to cover dents. I think this thing's been in a bit of a scrape at some point, the front rim is also a little bent in one spot, and on the front of the right side controls for the headlight, there is some bolt hole which appears to be ground off from the front, I'm not sure what it's purpose was, but there's nothing screwed into it now.

Another thing I wanted to ask, is how were the tank emblems mounted? There's a bunch of bondo on a couple of "dents" on the left and right side with some round metallic things under them where the emblems would presumably go.

That's all of the annoying questions I have for now. But the bike is pretty and bright red now. Just gotta get a new stud for the front wheel mounting clamps and I can probably have it running again.

 

[ihatespeed]

odd, my ('72) gauges are tach on right.. they probably came off a different model.. as for the cables / brake line they may have been the extended ones for the high handlebars so many people think are cool...... right... eBay is rotten with 'em (listed as 10" over etc) nos/ reproduction cables can be had for pretty cheap on line, might be a good excuse to upgrade that brake line to a steel braided unit too.. (makes a big difference in feel and braking performance..)

 

[rustinaway]

I've also got a 71 CB450 and the speedo is on the right. I ran my throttle cable run behind the head lamp ears, down right side of frame and through the rear mounts. Works fine with no binding but like you, not sure if that is factory spec. I remeber seeing some pics on here of cable routing. As for the mounting of the tank badges, there were some little tabs that slipped behind the mounting points and gripped the plastic tabs on the badges. Not sure if you can still get those or not. I was lucky and found some in a box of parts that came with the bike.

Good luck

 

[MNellis]

So, I tore apart the front steering on my 71 CB450 entirely to do some maintenance and painting.Had the steering bridge welded (the top strut clamps were both cracked, from what I've seen on the net this seems to not be an entirely uncommon problem?). Anyway, I didn't think to look at how all the cables were routed through the front end since I was so busy worrying about whether I'd remember which nuts and bolts went where(which I didn't have a problem with) :roll: . So, I was wondering if maybe someone could show me pictures or explain how the cables are routed through the steering area, the clutch, brake, throttle, tach and speedometer cables..

I noticed that my speedometer is on the right side of the bike, and as far as I know it's not supposed to be there... Except the reset knob is sticking out the right side so I don't think it'd work if I put the speedometer back on the left with the tach on the right, but the tach cable isn't reaching unless I pull it up above the bottom clamps on the tree, but then it gets kind of jammed behind the headlight and I'm not too fond of that.

I can't decide how the throttle cable should be routed, it has a lot of slack. The only thing I really paid attention to was the front brake line seemed to go in between the gauges and the steering bridge, but it has a lot of slack too and sticks way out in front of the gauges if I route it between them.

I'm sure I could just route them some way and try to be happy with that, but I'm curious as to how they were routed to begin with

Another thing I wanted to ask, is how were the tank emblems mounted? There's a bunch of bondo on a couple of "dents" on the left and right side with some round metallic things under them where the emblems would presumably go.

Honda made some changes between '69 to about '72. I seem to recall they went back and forth with the instruments. On my K4 the tach is on the right but it's at a slight angle so it may have been changed at some point. Obviously, the trip meter knob is going to determine what side the speedometer goes. Be careful on what you buy on the internet as well. There were some guages where the drive came straight out the back and others (later) that angled down.

Regarding the tank badge mounting. It sounds like yours got bondo'd over The badges just pop off and the little pin on the back of the badge was held in place on the tank by a small clip that pushes into the tank and is still available from the dealer.