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Maintenance and modifications, now 6 years on

ancientdad

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May 22, 2020
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Location
Nature Coast, FL
The original build synopsis of this bike is here, and the previous round of pre-vacation maintenance is here. Now I'm getting the 450 ready for another week of vacation this spring along with a few changes, some minor and one a couple of them not so much. When I first built the bike I wanted to use something a little different for the headlight and though I rarely ride at night, the brightness of the LED was more than adequate (and excessive in the mirror of my favorite mountain riding buddy, @12ozPBR). After over 6 years of use I thought I'd go a different direction, so I posted a parts wanted ad and bought a CB77 headlight and gauge pair from VHT member bilbikek411 and plan to adapt it.

That means a serious change to my main harness wiring and connections. Since the off-road single beam LED was self-contained with nowhere to hide the wiring, I chose to run the right handlebar switch, illumination and indicator connections back under the tank. While it looked clean enough when fully assembled, it created a wad of taped-up main harness and connectors for the basic functions with a harness cover over it.

rdSXu2t.jpg


So it's time to unravel all that and go back to an original main harness arrangement. The only wires shortened and covered from the original harness were the turn signal and starter solenoid wires and with no need for a left handlebar switch, I used the starter button for the horn. So with this arrangement I have to extend the light green horn ground trigger back into the CB77 headlight case and create an extended handlebar ground wire since the stock gauges will no longer be mounted on the top bridge with the handlebar ground going to one mounting stud on the gauge bracket. I'll pick it up at the green ground multi-female connector from the main harness.

Coming apart...

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Meanwhile, I put multiple coats of paint remover on the CB77 headlight case. It was blue when I got it and didn't look original, and it turned out there were a few layers beneath it as well. Hard to be sure what color it was originally though it might have been blue based on the darker shade underneath.

After the second coat
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After the third coat
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While it was soaking loose as much old paint as possible, I worked the remaining wires needed into some vinyl sheathing for the journey back into the headlight case.

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The view from the front now. Some relocation of things will be necessary, and I have a couple thoughts about what I might do to improve the appearance of things.

KwoajQe.jpg
 
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Here's the gauge that came with the headlight and case. Upon closer examination it looks like someone previously had it apart and put tape over the back of the hole for the jewel that probably fell out of the indicator spot at the top between the tach and speedo readouts. Not sure how that's going to look if I use that location for my neutral bulb, I may have to put it in the jewel location in the top of the headlight case. I was able to straighten the chrome ring a bit where it had a couple of small dents but overall it looks every bit of its 60+ years of age.

dd9UxWc.jpg


I've been working on the cracked rear chain guard mount too. The chain guard @MrPepper sent me free of charge a while back really looked the part and I didn't compare them until I lowered the swingarm a little and removed the original from the bike. Turns out it might be from a 500T as it has similar mounts but it's longer (500T swingarm is said to be 2" longer).

6Cb8ZDF.jpg


The rear mount is also designed for the rubber grommet and spacer that was used on the later 450s so I cut the tab from the longer chain guard and bent it to fit over the cracked/broken tab on the original. Now I have to get it welded up and repainted.

sZb6ibX.jpg


TsWpnfA.jpg
 
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Working with wiring is always so much fun especially trying to cram 10 inches of wire in a 6 inch space. I love the old style gauge though even with all its blemishes and will look perfect once mounted.
 
Especially when the 15" or so of wiring was doubled back and taped up under the tank for about 7 years, it was fun trying to straighten out all the kinks. I spent more time struggling with my 900 airbox than I should have and got back to this stuff later than I wanted to, gonna have to hustle a bit to get it all done now. I have a few other little things cooking too but I'm waiting for parts to see if I can do things the way I want to.
 
The bolt holes in that headlight case were so boogered up that I couldn't be sure if they were 9mm or 10mm, and neither Partzilla nor CMSNL showed anything but the part number. Knowing that some of the older models had different thread pitch in some cases, I PMed @MrHonda1948 to ask him what they were and he confirmed they are 10x1.25. Of course the aged cheapie tap and die set my father left me only has 10x1.0 and 10x1.5, so I had to make a thread chaser out of an old 10mm motor mount bolt from a hardware lot I bought previously.

xWCtE9h.jpg


Even then it was very difficult to get the 'thread chaser' started correctly in one side of it, which is weird to me because the threads didn't appear rusty or stripped, but they must have had something in them that made it impossible to start a bolt into. Finally got through that and found a couple of decent condition chrome 10mm bolts and washers to use. Angled the headlight ears inward just a bit and slipped the headlight case in place to see how it looked.

4BvuxwH.jpg


It sits out a bit further than I'd hoped, and maybe one day I'll look into some shorter ears for it but for now it's not bad. While looking for other parts recently I found a 60/55 watt halogen bulb and glass from Niche Cycle and bought it for a very reasonable price, and it came with W clips to use it in the stock CB77/early CB350 rim which I'd already bought a few months ago (not gonna ride with that puny 35/25 watt bulb). It was a little tough getting things to fit but it does, and the cool part is it has the Euro-style parking bulb too (which I have an idea how to use)

F4noeY4.jpg


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I'm going to try to sneak the (non-functional) side adjustment screw in the hole to fill it, not sure if it will clear the outer ring of the headlight but I'll try.
 
Nice glass and reflector. I had to get creative on the connections due to clearance with the speedo and cable in the Dream.

Maybe electric start next year, huh?
 
Nice glass and reflector. I had to get creative on the connections due to clearance with the speedo and cable in the Dream.
I haven't packed it all in there yet but it looks like there will be enough clearance, especially with my trimmed-down harness. Interestingly, the tach and speedo cables will swap sides now and will have to cross over from their previous positions. Not sure how I'm going to manage that yet but it'll work out.
Maybe electric start next year, huh?
Maybe. I should have all the parts, or at least most of them. I was thinking about it last night before going to sleep and the solenoid and cable would be the only things to deal with that the bike isn't currently set up for easily. I still have the big ground cable, starter cable, starter motor, clutch and sprockets but I'm not sure if I have the chain yet. And since I'm only running one button and using it for the horn right now, it occurred to me I could use a relay to flip the function of the starter button to horn button when the headlight is turned on and kill two birds with one stone. That way you couldn't present the starter load to the battery at the same time as the halogen bulb load.
 
Took the chain guard to the (new to me) local welder and $20 later it's reinforced, with a larger hole for a grommet and spacer this time.

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A little bit of the rib on the edge of the guard itself got melted but otherwise the welds are clean and stout. Had to enlarge the hole just a bit for the grommet I had on hand. I thought I had stripped it bare before paint the first time around and the spray can paint would come right off with paint remover, but I must have painted over the original as it was thick and a little tougher to get rid of. Lightly wire-brushed it down and it's almost ready for paint again.

KU9s4oQ.jpg
 
While sitting here admiring your masterpiece for many moments, I imagined an aesthetically pleasing arrow line drawn straight-thru the center of the pod-carb-chamber-header pointing directly at that double-disked ComStar on the Formula SuperSport - Bravo !

I just spent a week drooling at a Pleiades Silver Metallic '82 on BaT with 712 original miles that went for $10.3k (with fee) and watched (several times) the 2 video links seller posted of Fast Freddie bullriding one, including his victory at the '82 Daytona 200 with bonus victory wheelie down the infield straight !
I immediately thought of you and guessed you were likely there spectating the spectacle alive in the flesh (being a fanatic Honda racing Floridian) :cool:

P.S. Is that a CR-Racing Only KeiHin behind that Not For Highway Use sticker ? o_O
 
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The bolt holes in that headlight case were so boogered up that I couldn't be sure if they were 9mm or 10mm, and neither Partzilla nor CMSNL showed anything but the part number. Knowing that some of the older models had different thread pitch in some cases, I PMed @MrHonda1948 to ask him what they were and he confirmed they are 10x1.25. Of course the aged cheapie tap and die set my father left me only has 10x1.0 and 10x1.5, so I had to make a thread chaser out of an old 10mm motor mount bolt from a hardware lot I bought previously.

xWCtE9h.jpg


Even then it was very difficult to get the 'thread chaser' started correctly in one side of it, which is weird to me because the threads didn't appear rusty or stripped, but they must have had something in them that made it impossible to start a bolt into. Finally got through that and found a couple of decent condition chrome 10mm bolts and washers to use. Angled the headlight ears inward just a bit and slipped the headlight case in place to see how it looked.

4BvuxwH.jpg


It sits out a bit further than I'd hoped, and maybe one day I'll look into some shorter ears for it but for now it's not bad. While looking for other parts recently I found a 60/55 watt halogen bulb and glass from Niche Cycle and bought it for a very reasonable price, and it came with W clips to use it in the stock CB77/early CB350 rim which I'd already bought a few months ago (not gonna ride with that puny 35/25 watt bulb). It was a little tough getting things to fit but it does, and the cool part is it has the Euro-style parking bulb too (which I have an idea how to use)

F4noeY4.jpg


TXw6F6E.jpg


I'm going to try to sneak the (non-functional) side adjustment screw in the hole to fill it, not sure if it will clear the outer ring of the headlight but I'll try.
Is this also a headlight from a CB350? The type where the bulb can be replaced?

I was going to check if they fit in my Bomber to avoid having to find the expensive sealed units. And use different bulbs.
 
It's my understanding that the Bomber and the CB77 both used the same size headlight rim, though Bill Silver would need to confirm. If true, the Niche Cycle unit I bought would also fit your Bomber. That unit fits the CB77 and the early CB350 and comes with a replaceable halogen bulb (60/55).

 
Since I was running all LED bulbs (except for the neutral light) before, I wasn't concerned with the charging mod and left it run through the headlight switch as it was originally. But, with a 60/55 halogen bulb up front now I figured it was time to do it, and no time better than now while the harness was all exposed. Stripped, cleaned, soldered (and heat shrunk, not pictured), then I covered the forward portion of the harness in new vinyl sheathing. Taped the modified areas up followed by a few wraps of self-fusing silicone tape from Vintage Connections so things stay together for the long haul.

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Reworked the horn wires (again) due to vibration breaking the light green wire at the spade terminal, so this time soldered and heat shrunk the new terminals for more support.

MJdJ0fR.jpg


And zip-tied the old round plug for the ignition switch connection to keep it from coming apart by accident

WrNeyRR.jpg
 
That old round plug never let me down but doesn't it always look unsettling?
It does, and though I've never personally had one come apart while riding, I wanted to make sure this one won't. It was zip-tied previously as well but I didn't show it last time (I don't think so anyway).
 
Here's the gauge that came with the headlight and case. Upon closer examination it looks like someone previously had it apart and put tape over the back of the hole for the jewel that probably fell out of the indicator spot at the top between the tach and speedo readouts. Not sure how that's going to look if I use that location for my neutral bulb, I may have to put it in the jewel location in the top of the headlight case. I was able to straighten the chrome ring a bit where it had a couple of small dents but overall it looks every bit of its 60+ years of age.

dd9UxWc.jpg


I've been working on the cracked rear chain guard mount too. The chain guard @MrPepper sent me free of charge a while back really looked the part and I didn't compare them until I lowered the swingarm a little and removed the original from the bike. Turns out it might be from a 500T as it has similar mounts but it's longer (500T swingarm is 2" longer).

6Cb8ZDF.jpg


The rear mount is also designed for the rubber grommet and spacer that was used on the later 450s so I cut the tab from the longer chain guard and bent it to fit over the cracked/broken tab on the original. Now I have to get it welded up and repainted.

sZb6ibX.jpg


TsWpnfA.jpg
The chrome meter ring looks a Bunch better than before.
Did you open up the meters to remove that trim ring ?
 
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The bolt holes in that headlight case were so boogered up that I couldn't be sure if they were 9mm or 10mm, and neither Partzilla nor CMSNL showed anything but the part number. Knowing that some of the older models had different thread pitch in some cases, I PMed @MrHonda1948 to ask him what they were and he confirmed they are 10x1.25. Of course the aged cheapie tap and die set my father left me only has 10x1.0 and 10x1.5, so I had to make a thread chaser out of an old 10mm motor mount bolt from a hardware lot I bought previously.

xWCtE9h.jpg


Even then it was very difficult to get the 'thread chaser' started correctly in one side of it, which is weird to me because the threads didn't appear rusty or stripped, but they must have had something in them that made it impossible to start a bolt into. Finally got through that and found a couple of decent condition chrome 10mm bolts and washers to use. Angled the headlight ears inward just a bit and slipped the headlight case in place to see how it looked.

4BvuxwH.jpg


It sits out a bit further than I'd hoped, and maybe one day I'll look into some shorter ears for it but for now it's not bad. While looking for other parts recently I found a 60/55 watt halogen bulb and glass from Niche Cycle and bought it for a very reasonable price, and it came with W clips to use it in the stock CB77/early CB350 rim which I'd already bought a few months ago (not gonna ride with that puny 35/25 watt bulb). It was a little tough getting things to fit but it does, and the cool part is it has the Euro-style parking bulb too (which I have an idea how to use)

F4noeY4.jpg


TXw6F6E.jpg


I'm going to try to sneak the (non-functional) side adjustment screw in the hole to fill it, not sure if it will clear the outer ring of the headlight but I'll try.
I like your choice of headlight rim and headlight glass lens assembly;it really needed them. (y)
I felt bad sending the mystery headlight bulb which was cracked and mystery trim ring(which was the wrong one)to you when I sold it to you.

I hope that headlight is 'Blindingly Bright' on the road;so it'll wake-up these errant-looking drivers out on the road who look like they don't care that they're even driving and I hope their cars break-down and force many of them to walk so they can wake-up and drive.. rant over.. Ah Yeah ! that felt good to say :LOL:

Were you able to repair the headlight trim ring mounting threads which also looked worn ?
 
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Were you able to repair the 2 headlight trim ring mounting threads which also looked worn ?
I didn't notice anything bad about them and I believe the screws were in the rim when I took it apart. Guess I'll have to take a closer look.
 
The chain guard and headlight case turned out pretty good. I had already put a couple coats of satin black on the chain guard the day before, but it was just a little bit too damp out and it blushed in a few places so I put a couple more coats on it yesterday. I sanded the hell out of the headlight case to remove the spider rust spots that were under all those layers of paint, then used some self-etching primer on it before a few coats of satin black. The pictures don't do it justice, it's actually smoother than it looks. Since I didn't inherit my father's auto body repair genes, I left the little tiny dents alone rather than try to smooth them out but only make them worse (as has been my history working with metal).

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I didn't notice anything bad about them and I believe the screws were in the rim when I took it apart. Guess I'll have to take a closer look.
I noticed one set of threads on the headlight case which holds the trim ring on,was a bit worn;it looked like the threads were barely holding.
The other side was solid.
 
The bolt holes in that headlight case were so boogered up that I couldn't be sure if they were 9mm or 10mm, and neither Partzilla nor CMSNL showed anything but the part number. Knowing that some of the older models had different thread pitch in some cases, I PMed @MrHonda1948 to ask him what they were and he confirmed they are 10x1.25. Of course the aged cheapie tap and die set my father left me only has 10x1.0 and 10x1.5, so I had to make a thread chaser out of an old 10mm motor mount bolt from a hardware lot I bought previously.

xWCtE9h.jpg


Even then it was very difficult to get the 'thread chaser' started correctly in one side of it, which is weird to me because the threads didn't appear rusty or stripped, but they must have had something in them that made it impossible to start a bolt into. Finally got through that and found a couple of decent condition chrome 10mm bolts and washers to use. Angled the headlight ears inward just a bit and slipped the headlight case in place to see how it looked.

4BvuxwH.jpg


It sits out a bit further than I'd hoped, and maybe one day I'll look into some shorter ears for it but for now it's not bad. While looking for other parts recently I found a 60/55 watt halogen bulb and glass from Niche Cycle and bought it for a very reasonable price, and it came with W clips to use it in the stock CB77/early CB350 rim which I'd already bought a few months ago (not gonna ride with that puny 35/25 watt bulb). It was a little tough getting things to fit but it does, and the cool part is it has the Euro-style parking bulb too (which I have an idea how to use)

F4noeY4.jpg


TXw6F6E.jpg


I'm going to try to sneak the (non-functional) side adjustment screw in the hole to fill it, not sure if it will clear the outer ring of the headlight but I'll try.
Tom,in regards to that one(left?)side mounting bolt being mis-threaded some how(I never installed this headlight/meter assm.);I received this unit from my friend Dan(now passed in 2022')from up in Mi. in 2019'.
Dan was a 'Parts Breaker' I found on a CL search in 2016' when I lived in W. PA. who hunted for many Hondas which he parted out;I miss that guy,as we spoke for hours over the phone every week for years.
The one side that had a problem with threads came to me with a coarse thread SAE bolt smoothly threaded into it.. :rolleyes:
 
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Tom,in regards to that one(left?)side mounting bolt being mis-threaded some how(I never installed this headlight/meter assm.);I received this unit from my friend Dan(now passed)from up in Mi. in 2019'.
Dan was a 'Parts Breaker' who hunted for mostly Honda's which he parted out;I miss that guy.
The one side that had a problem with threads came to me with a coarse thread SAE bolt smoothly threaded into it.. :rolleyes:
I'll take care of it.
 
I'm rarely critical of Honda's design of these bikes simply because most of the things they did were typical of the era, and they were sold as economical and reliable small and medium sized bikes in an era of mostly large(r) displacement and often crudely-designed bikes from the US and England. But, if there's one thing I wish they'd done differently on the 450 it's the chain guard mounting points. It would be best done with the swingarm removed, as the forward left side bolt is behind the left passenger peg/muffler mount bracket on the frame and nearly impossible to reach to get the bolt started. It's even more challenging on my bike with the rear suspension lowered 1.5", so I had to unbolt both shocks from the swingarm and jack the bike up to lower the swingarm to improve my chances of actually getting the short 6mm bolt started. It took 6 tries with various methods of holding the bolt with flat washer (no room for a lock washer) to get it in place, then hold a long flat screwdriver behind the head of it to keep it in the blind bolt hole to start turning it with a wrench.

MOiCYwg.jpg


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So now the rear bracket is reinforced and has a rubber grommet and spacer to allow some movement, and hopefully to never crack again.
 
The shifter/linkage on this/your 'street rod' 450 looks good;how does it shift compared to stock ?

I ask because I owned/drove a stock CB450 as my daily driver back in the 80's and with the stock shift lever,the shifting was always nice.
The bike was easy to get in and out of gear,including 1st - neutral - 2nd in traffic;the clutch was a bit of a struggle though. I was living in a high traffic area so I noticed it.
 
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Worked on the headlight again yesterday. Carefully cleaned the old blue overspray off the jewel for my use of it as the neutral light, cleaned the crud out of the interior of the jewel and polished the lens of it on the buffing wheel. Still have to come up with some kind of holder to attach the bulb to the plastic nut on the bottom of the jewel. Cleaned a little rust off a couple of 10mm shock washers to add to the shock bolts for mounting the headlight case to the ears, which are definitely a bit long. I won't have time to do something about that right now, but later I'll look for some shorter ears to bring the assembly closer to the top bridge and fork tubes to clean up the look.

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After nearly 7 years it was time for a new sticker on the rear fender. Nobody really got the meaning of my old sticker anyway.

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And I've spent many hours over the last week working on something else... it's not quite done yet, nor will it be tested until the bike comes off the lift, but it involves a slight change in this already modified original rear brake pedal.

RHjkBST.jpg
 
That old round plug never let me down but doesn't it always look unsettling?
Late to the party as usual, but that round brown plug caused me no end of grief on my first 175 rebuild, the CK175. Mysterious random lack of sparks, usually at the most awkward time possible. Eventually traced to poor contacts in that plug. Chopped off and replaced with a modern block connector, as used in the rest of the 175 loom.
 
Found this site that has the rubber for $9.00 or the assembly for $19.95. Can't vouch for the seller as I've never used them.
Thanks Brad, I looked up the part number and did a typical search for it and nothing popped. I'd spring for the entire unit but I don't want a red neutral indicator... I'll probably just go with the rubber holder. It's funny, the text on the picture of the assembly says neutral, but the text below the the pic says high beam. And of course the appropriate blue wire for high beam attached to the socket. Site is not secure but I'll use PayPal.
 
Late to the party as usual, but that round brown plug caused me no end of grief on my first 175 rebuild, the CK175. Mysterious random lack of sparks, usually at the most awkward time possible. Eventually traced to poor contacts in that plug. Chopped off and replaced with a modern block connector, as used in the rest of the 175 loom.
I've never personally had one come apart while riding but I've known a few people who did, and I zip-tied it previously when I first built the bike so I made sure to do it again. I remember it happened a lot more often to those who moved their ignition switch up to the handlebar mount bolts with one of those flat metal brackets, usually when they turned the front end.
 
Found this site that has the rubber for $9.00 or the assembly for $19.95. Can't vouch for the seller as I've never used them.
Considering they were going to bend me over for a ridiculous $12 shipping minimum and the cart has to total $20 for them to even sell anything, I spent too much and ordered the entire assembly for a grand total of almost $32. Fortunately I haven't spent much money on the bike lately and I want that part of it right, so I bit the bullet.
 
I've never personally had one come apart while riding but I've known a few people who did, and I zip-tied it previously when I first built the bike so I made sure to do it again. I remember it happened a lot more often to those who moved their ignition switch up to the handlebar mount bolts with one of those flat metal brackets, usually when they turned the front end.
That would explain it. Mine came like that. I moved the connector and switch back to the correct position but I suppose the damage had already been done, pins and sockets loose in the casing.


ign.JPG
 
Ouch! but still reasonable since I have seen OEM ones on flea-bay for as much a $80
Oh I know it could be a lot more, and I really appreciate you finding one when I couldn't. I did look around on eBay but didn't see anything there, but it's just as well. Thanks again.
 
I'll look for some shorter ears to bring the assembly closer to the top bridge and fork tubes to clean up the look.
Just remembered I have a set of Tommaselli headlight holders. I'm never going to use them so they are yours if you are interested. The distance from the fork tube to headlight is about 4.5".
HLbracket.jpg
 
Just remembered I have a set of Tommaselli headlight holders. I'm never going to use them so they are yours if you are interested. The distance from the fork tube to headlight is about 4.5".
That's a nice offer, let me give it some thought. I was considering a pair of stock CB77 headlight ears to go with the headlight itself, but they're probably hard to find in good enough condition that they wouldn't need body work (something I suck at). Thanks again, and I'll let you know.
 
Found this site that has the rubber for $9.00 or the assembly for $19.95. Can't vouch for the seller as I've never used them.
Still have to come up with some kind of holder to attach the bulb to the plastic nut on the bottom of the jewel
I've used these on mine.


EdIt: Sorry I'm late. They're cheap, don't fall off like the OEM and fit starters, solenoids etc. I'm on my second batch of these. Yeah, I trimmed bit of the length for the mini bulb holder.
 
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Worked on wiring, cables and the gauge today. The foam ring is hard, of course, and also had blue overspray on it. Early crusty stages, so not much could be done with it and for now I have bigger fish to fry. So I taped off the chrome ring and put a little satin black on it, though in hindsight flat would have looked better. Came up with decent solutions for the little stuff like cable retention points, routing, etc and things are worked out pretty well. I thought about using the tabs on the top bridge that previously held the gauge bracket on the stock units, and I remembered I still had the original cable guide from the handlebar mounts on the stock setup. Found it and increased the arch in it to narrow the holes to fit and it looks decent, plus it helps span that oversize gap a bit. Mocked up for the moment.

rkBDVuN.jpg


I might have cooked up a cheap and dirty fix for the need for a gray lowbar throttle cable with the carb ends having enough inner cable length to work with Mikunis. Originally I trimmed the outer sheath to gain some inner length but it was tricky and risky and this isn't the time for that. I've bought a couple cables recently to try to find one with a longer upper section than mine does, but most are the same except for the CB77 highbar cable I just picked up. But it's just too long... I'll take a pic of it tomorrow.
 
I was considering a pair of stock CB77 headlight ears to go with the headlight itself, but they're probably hard to find in good enough condition that they wouldn't need body work (something I suck at).
I might know where a decent set is but you will also need some other bits and bobs to make Superhawk ears work.

Edit: On second thought, I’m not sure Superhawk ears would interface with the later style 450 upper triple clamp you have.
 
I might know where a decent set is but you will also need some other bits and bobs to make Superhawk ears work.

Edit: On second thought, I’m not sure Superhawk ears would interface with the later style 450 upper triple clamp you have.
Yeah, it did occur to me that there would probably be some challenges... that's for down the road, if I decide to actually bother with it. Thanks for the thoughts though.
 
Pretty productive day today while it was stormy here for a few hours. Got a lot accomplished, little things you discover along the way that take time to resolve like reversed wiring connectors because of the mixed years and models the parts are from. More soldering and heat-shrinking, making ground wires and routing/re-routing things until they feel right. I used the headlight plug and wires from the set I bought from Bill instead of the new one since it already had Honda colors, though red for low beam which I didn't remember from earlier models. I put a short piece of red heat shrink on the white low beam wire like Honda does at times. Many of the connectors were dirty and some needed to be squeezed a little for a tighter fit, but all the wires have proper mates except the running/park light and of course those do not match the green and yellow on the switch too. This will briefly confuse someone someday. :rolleyes: Kinda like the starter button being for the horn.

RSzBEu5.jpg


I fixed the screw hole in the mounting tab on one side of the headlight case where the threads were very weak, just JB Welded a nut on the backside with the screw in place. The only thing left in that area is the neutral light rubber socket and wiring set I have coming. And, I planned to use the switch in the headlight case for the running (or park) amber bulb that came with the Niche Cycle headlight. Everything has needed work on these CB77 parts, from tons of paint remover to overspray on parts like the gauge foam ring, nuts, screws, etc to chopped wires to totally boogered-up shaft on the switch that needed to be heavily filed flat to even think about attaching a knob. It looked like the original screw was supposed to go through the shaft and someone broke it off, probably explains the little dents in the top of the case around the switch location. Of course, no one in their right mind would pay $40 plus $15 shipping for an original switch knob so I copied the image of one and did a Google Lens search, found a "chicken head" switch from a music supply place and for $6 shipped, it looks good enough.

Qr0az74.jpg


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Low beam

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High beam

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I'd forgotten how below average the old yellow-lit gauges looked... and that's with only the left side bulb in place, right socket empty.

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Running/park lamp

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And of course, now that I'm done under the front sprocket cover I checked the lifter mechanism and thought all looked normal, put the cover on and... no clutch. Looked at the black-painted lift and there it was, a #8 ball covered in grease laying on the lift. R&R the cover again, ball reinserted and then greased up.

There were no actual gauge mounting screws and I really thought this was going to be a challenge because I'm pretty sure some of the older stuff had a different thread pitch. Searched my father's trusty nut and bolt drawer, which yielded at least five 5mm nuts needed for another part of the work so far, but nothing like the gauge screws. And then I saw it, sitting upside down near my computer... an CB175 plastic-bodied tach with a cracked lens I got for cheap, and 2 green-painted screws looking up at me.

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Got them removed, thought some carb spray would take care of the paint. Nope, not even left overnight yesterday in a jar with lid. Still the same today, so I used some paint remover in the jar and got them clean.

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So this is the throttle cable 'hack'... not finished yet but the length is near perfect, so hopefully it works. It occurred to me that I could add another short lower half cable section to the first splitter and run just 1 cable to pull the second splitter, so I added an empty second outer cable in the area that can be easily seen under and beside the tank in the front so it looks the part. The other splitter will be where the original was, basically right in between the top motor mount plates on top of the head. The x-factor in this is that I had to use the tiny little cutting wheel on the dremel to make a thin slot to slip the add-on parts over the inner cables involved, but I have a plan to (hopefully) take care of that.

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Definitely a lot of forward progress. The pictures are all very nice, too, makes me want better lighting in my garage. I definitely like the new headlight and gauges in comparison with the rectangular cyclops headlight!

Did I read it right that you added an empty cable housing so that the first splitter looks the part? I guess it's at least partially visible when the tank is mounted?
 
Thanks! Things have gone pretty well the last few days. The one place in my garage that needs more light is right in the middle on that side of my lift. Pictures are harder to take from that side because of the glare from the lights over the bench. But I shouldn't complain, it's the nicest garage I've ever owned, let alone a detached one.
Did I read it right that you added an empty cable housing so that the first splitter looks the part? I guess it's at least partially visible when the tank is mounted?
Yes and yes. Because of the extra length it will be visible now.
 
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