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Clean up on my 1972 CB450 K5

Rizingson

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2020
Total Posts
39
Total likes
179
Location
Parker, CO
Spending the Labor Day weekend doing labor. Cleaning up my '72 CB450 K5. Also it ran crappy yesterday so will have to track down that problem as well. This Candy Bacchus Olive has to be Honda's ugliest color
🤮
, Candy Ruby Red would have been my first choice! Finding out which parts are acceptable for now, but I may be lacing new wheels at some point down the road. Back rest will also have to go!

Starting from the front and working to the back.
IMG_6785 HDR.jpg

IMG_6811 HDR.jpg
 
Rizingson said:
Spending the Labor Day weekend doing labor. Cleaning up my '72 CB450 K5. Also it ran crappy yesterday so will have to track down that problem as well. This Candy Bacchus Olive has to be Honda's ugliest color
🤮
, Candy Ruby Red would have been my first choice! Finding out which parts are acceptable for now, but I may be lacing new wheels at some point down the road. Back rest will also have to go!
Click to expand...
Is this a new acquisition, or one that has been resting and waiting for its turn on the table? Either way, I hope you continue to post progress pictures as you work on it.
 
Some followup on my CB450: My noon time ride didn't end as planned. Saw a little fuel leaking around the petcock but didn't think much ran out. Must have been quite a bit as I ran out of fuel and had to have the wife bring out a gallon to get home.
☹️
New petcock rebuild kit on the way! Here's a couple pictures from the first real ride with it.
IMG_6845 HDR.jpg IMG_6849 HDR.jpg
 
Some further updates on my CB450. After running out of fuel on my last post, the problem was tracked down to a couple of full length splits in the petcock riser tube, causing me to burn my reserve without realizing it. A new petcock has been installed.
IMG_6867.JPG
So fast forward a couple of months, as I have been working on a different winter project. (1964 Suzuki) I finally am going back to the 450 for carburetor cleaning and any issues that are causing a running issues, particularly in the mid range. I've already removed the battery and all fuel so it won't be running until next spring however. Here it is with carbs removed for going through.
IMG_7174.JPG

I didn't see any issues in the carburetors (723A's which were cleaner than expected) which had the original jets still in place. 145's & 38's. Displayed here with idle jets still in place.
IMG_7171.JPG

Cleaned up and reassembled so I don't lose any parts. I've decided to go with 130 mains since I am located at 6350 ft elevation. Hopefully that will help my over rich running condition and my mid range problems as well. If not I'll be looking at ignition problems next spring.
IMG_7168.JPG
 
That's a healthy jet size jump. You'll be ready for Trail Ridge Road. Do you advance a degree or two? I know this ain't your first rodeo.
 
ballbearian said:
That's a healthy jet size jump. You'll be ready for Trail Ridge Road. Do you advance a degree or two? I know this ain't your first rodeo.
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It is a big jet size change, but was so rich it was fouling NGK's, (which foul way to easy IMHO) had to switch to Auto-Lites as they can handle being wet and recover without removing and drying off. I always try to run 2-4 degrees advance. Old school rule of thumb (in 1969/1970 when I was in tech school) was 1 deg for every 1k ft starting at 2k ft elevation. So in Denver (Mile High) we always advanced 4 deg.
 
Rizingson said:
Spending the Labor Day weekend doing labor. Cleaning up my '72 CB450 K5. Also it ran crappy yesterday so will have to track down that problem as well. This Candy Bacchus Olive has to be Honda's ugliest color
🤮
, Candy Ruby Red would have been my first choice! Finding out which parts are acceptable for now, but I may be lacing new wheels at some point down the road. Back rest will also have to go!

Starting from the front and working to the back.
View attachment 36319
Click to expand...
Candy Bacchus Olive
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That commands a 25% premium at sale time for the rarity. (y)

I have a 1972 Honda CB350F that also came in that colour from the factory and was a rarer choice.... or a less liked choice. It's like the Sulfur Yellow 1976 Goldwing GL1000's that were disliked initially with stories of dealers painting them to help move them off the floor. (likely an urban myth) Now they are the most desirable to a certain crowd, since a one year only colour and not too many around vs the other more popular colours of the day.

I did custom mix a better green colour when I restored the CB350F that pops a little more than the factory finish.
 
ballbearian said:
:ROFLMAO: but, as my friend Mark says, "All Hondas should be red".
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Yeah, only Hondas and Ferraris !
..also cool to see the carb slide pistons and their tophats look nearly identical to those on my ten year newer CM450Customs...
..When an engineering design or formula is mastered, no need to change it...
 
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Ha! I had a 1976 CB550 Four that I bought brand new in that brown color. In the BMW world, they called the same color "Havana Gold." Not that the Germans thought the brown color was gold, they named it after the color of the outer leaf wrap on a Cuban cigar. The bikes were pinstriped in actual gold, which was the color of the cigar band. I have one of those bikes as a long term project.





 
For as funky as the brown paint schemes look on some bikes, I think Kawasaki got it right with the ‘73 Z1.IMG_4476.jpeg
 
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