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Just thought I'd start a diary of my 1970 CB450 K1 ownership and see where it goes. Hopefully, as I learn stuff about it, others will too and we can all benefit from shared knowledge.
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CB250 Rebuild Blog
Honda CB450
Super Sports
1970 K1 (UK Bike)
FLF 59 J
I'll use these pages to log my ownership of the vehicle and record any work done on the bike from hereon in. Hopefully, some of the content might later be of help to other CB450 owners.
Now that the bike is in my hands, I can see that the previous owner did some things very well and did other things nowhere near well enough. On the one hand, the bike looked pretty amazing to begin with. Fabulous powder-coating, chroming and paintwork. He rebuilt the top-end of the engine (new piston rings and valves), painted the engine, lacquered it and polished the cases. The tank and side panels were repainted, the seat remade by a specialist and as you can see from the shot below, it looked beautiful.
After I took posession of the old girl, I discovered the first problem. The left hand cylinder was misfiring BADLY!! I recalled the seller telling me (as he counted the money) that he'd bought some dodgy NGK plugs and it had resulted in the engine misfiring, but after putting a new plug in, it was fine. Well, the truth is, there is a problem with that left cylinder. I've not got to the bottom of it yet, but I suspect that the problem is either with the carb or the ignition system.
Anyway, if you put a fresh plug in and don't flood it, she starts and runs superbly! There's plenty of power and those exhausts sound brilliant. Speaking of exhausts, although they are triple-chromed and in sound working condition, they do show weld repairs which weren't mentioned in the advert!
Whilst out on a short journey, I noticed that the front brakes were shocking! At one point during a heavy braking test to determine braking distances, I heard and felt a "clang" and soon after found that one of the bolts securing the brake-torque arm had come undone and was hanging out. That could have been lethal!!
Another undisclosed problem was all the brown staining on the casing immediately behind the cylinders. This was a discolouration of the lacquer and it got much worse when I left the petcock in the open position for about half an hour - petrol from the righthand carb overflowed and spilt onto the casing.
The only other things which bug me are the non-standard front mudguard and rear shocks. They have to go!
Other than that, it is without any doubt a beautiful machine and I'm very proud to own it. It sounds SUPERB and is a bike that you could keep forever and always be sat in the garage having a little tinker with it.
I guess that's the difference between a bike like this and all the new/modern bikes I've had. You can't really do much with the modern stuff, whereas living with a 40yr old twin like this is like nursing a cripple, if you'll excuse the expression. LOL
Tom
CB250 Rebuild Blog
Honda CB450
Super Sports
1970 K1 (UK Bike)
FLF 59 J
I'll use these pages to log my ownership of the vehicle and record any work done on the bike from hereon in. Hopefully, some of the content might later be of help to other CB450 owners.
Now that the bike is in my hands, I can see that the previous owner did some things very well and did other things nowhere near well enough. On the one hand, the bike looked pretty amazing to begin with. Fabulous powder-coating, chroming and paintwork. He rebuilt the top-end of the engine (new piston rings and valves), painted the engine, lacquered it and polished the cases. The tank and side panels were repainted, the seat remade by a specialist and as you can see from the shot below, it looked beautiful.
After I took posession of the old girl, I discovered the first problem. The left hand cylinder was misfiring BADLY!! I recalled the seller telling me (as he counted the money) that he'd bought some dodgy NGK plugs and it had resulted in the engine misfiring, but after putting a new plug in, it was fine. Well, the truth is, there is a problem with that left cylinder. I've not got to the bottom of it yet, but I suspect that the problem is either with the carb or the ignition system.
Anyway, if you put a fresh plug in and don't flood it, she starts and runs superbly! There's plenty of power and those exhausts sound brilliant. Speaking of exhausts, although they are triple-chromed and in sound working condition, they do show weld repairs which weren't mentioned in the advert!
Whilst out on a short journey, I noticed that the front brakes were shocking! At one point during a heavy braking test to determine braking distances, I heard and felt a "clang" and soon after found that one of the bolts securing the brake-torque arm had come undone and was hanging out. That could have been lethal!!
Another undisclosed problem was all the brown staining on the casing immediately behind the cylinders. This was a discolouration of the lacquer and it got much worse when I left the petcock in the open position for about half an hour - petrol from the righthand carb overflowed and spilt onto the casing.
The only other things which bug me are the non-standard front mudguard and rear shocks. They have to go!
Other than that, it is without any doubt a beautiful machine and I'm very proud to own it. It sounds SUPERB and is a bike that you could keep forever and always be sat in the garage having a little tinker with it.
I guess that's the difference between a bike like this and all the new/modern bikes I've had. You can't really do much with the modern stuff, whereas living with a 40yr old twin like this is like nursing a cripple, if you'll excuse the expression. LOL
Tom
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What the what?? I was reading your blog as I'm in the process of buying my own example of this very bike and then you've gone and sold her?! (2 yrs ago realise)...
ReplyDeleteIf you're even still reading this blog, may I ask why?
Cheers from Melbourne
Well I guess I sold it because I realised that I was looking at all these old bikes through rose-tinted glasses and as much as I loved them, they were not very practical to ride - well not the distances I ride. After owning such sharply focused things as CBR600RR's and Blades, it's difficult to accept the shortcomings of the older classics. Still, I really enjoyed all the projects I've done over the last few years and best of all, I've saved a few bikes from the scrapyard.
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