'65 CB160 "Ghost" Update

Dialed in and rode der Geist home today. 16 miles. Flawless. Too many thumbs up, shakas, call outs, and other ride acknowledgements to count. Had one group of young ladies (college age?) tell me, "That's hot!" as I sat idling at a red light.

I felt like my left hand was only sometimes on the bars responding to the fan base acolades.

I also picked up a "time period" helmet. Now I look like a lollipop-head riding along; or the robot from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - you make the call. :LOL:

So much fun riding a vintage Honda twin. 🏍️❤️

Screenshot 2026-06-13 at 20.32.35.png
 
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum...

Yesterday was a perfect day to be out and about on a bike (~70F and sunny), so I went for an extended ride. Less then a mile from home on the return trip old Ghost started making excessive noise. I of course pulled off and started looking the old gal over, and... found that the front right exhaust was nearly detached; nuts and washers nowhere to be found.

Upon further investigation I also found that the interior mounting stud was completely stripped mainly due to the PO's hack-job attempt to address an earlier issue.

Now I'm not a trained and certified machinist - but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn and Suites - so I drilled, tapped, and Helicoil'ed the offending stud hole, and then fabricated and installed a new (albeit 8x1.25) SS stud from a Lowe's Hardware 40mm SS bolt.

All back together again, Ghost is resting-up post surgery and looking forward to the next outing. Having just addressed her derrière, however, I'm hopeful that the next outing won't include a cycle-hip or -shoulder replacement...

Vintage cycles are a constant labor of love, aren't they? That is all. :rolleyes::LOL:

Exhausted.png
 
Not that I know if it makes any difference, the factory setup and as described by the parts manual is there are no washers under the exhaust flange nuts
 
Tony Clifton said:
Not that I know if it makes any difference, the factory setup and as described by the parts manual is there are no washers under the exhaust flange nuts
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I'm seeing them in the CB160 fiche on CMSNL and it certainly seems prudent to use them given what happened.

1365.png

Interestingly, 14 is shown as the spring washer and 13 is shown as the nut. <JOKE> That would certainly explain how they ended up on the side of the road. </JOKE>
 
stl360+450 said:
I'm seeing them in the CB160 fiche on CMSNL and it certainly seems prudent to use them given what happened.

Interestingly, 14 is shown as the spring washer and 13 is shown as the nut. <JOKE> That would certainly explain how they ended up on the side of the road. </JOKE>
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You beat me to it!
 
stl360+450 said:
I'm seeing them in the CB160 fiche on CMSNL and it certainly seems prudent to use them given what happened.

View attachment 58919

Interestingly, 14 is shown as the spring washer and 13 is shown as the nut. <JOKE> That would certainly explain how they ended up on the side of the road. </JOKE>
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Correct you are. I was looking at the CL160 fiche, apparently "offroad" bikes don't need no stinkin' washers
 
My CB350tarted getting some backfiring over the past few weeks and getting worse culminating in my attempt to service/tune her. I should note that the backfiring sounds isolated to the right side of the bike and appears to be only exhaust related; not further upstream.

I ran through the servicing and tuning specs - to include suggested troubleshooting options like swapping plugs (which are both gapped correctly and in good serviceable condition) - with not much change.

Today I decided I'd get a video of the points and advancer firing from a cold start and idling with limited choke to see if I'm understanding what I'm seeing/hearing correctly (which is a comical statement given the condition of my hearing :LOL: ).

Please see the video:
https://imgur.com/a/EIubaMQ

What I *think* I'm seeing/hearing is one side of the condenser failing, but not fully gone. What do you see/hear?

I should note that I'm in possession of a new condenser, but before going down that road and removing the tank, I thought I'd post the situation with video for comment. Thx in advance!
 
Sorry folks, I appear to be cross contaminating posts. The CB350G thread was - I thought - being posted against that thread... 🤷‍♂️
 
stl360+450 said:
Been there, done that. 👍

It occurred to me after I asked that one nut on each header would probably be enough for that one mile ride. (Assuming you had tools to move one to the other header.)
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Solid call! It would've got me home, 4sure. In the end I've added a couple nuts (6 and 8) to my onboard "bag of tricks".

However, with all of the extras in that little sack someone might go and call me Hermione Granger. I think if I looked long enough I may have a spare cycle in there tucked away in some library cubby...
 
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