Well today was no fun at all. I had a late night/early morning work appointment which tired me out so I figured I owed it to myself to take off a bit early and go ride the bike. So, I open the garage, turn the petcock to on and notice that gas is leaking all over the floor. After inspection I notice the fuel line had snapped in half. I saw trouble coming with the small cracks but didn't expect this. Anyway, I go to the autoparts store and pick up more fuel line and install.
Now, I turn the petcock on and notice dripping again. Can't be the fuel line. I snoop around and find the float is not shutting the fuel off when the bowl fills. It's the same odd D shaped plastic float that I noticed didn't match during my carb cleaning. Anyway, no worries. I pop the bowl off the bottom and do a quick adjustment. Not sure why it wanted to start leaking all of a sudden.
Ok, so the third time, I open the petcock and notice fuel leaking AGAIN. This time it's dripping from the bottom of the tank somewhere. I can't seem to pinpoint it no matter how hard I try so I take the tank off. I scrape around the edges a bit with a screwdriver and find a pinhole in the tank. The fuel tank doesn't have much rust at all so I'm wondering how the hole got there. It's not brown around the edges, it almost seems like it was drilled out but it's very tiny. So, since it was still early afternoon, I figure I'll fix it up right. I drain the tank, blow out all the gas fumes, let the tank air out and pull out the welder. Well, turns out that area of the tank is so thin, the welder just wants to make more holes instead of patch them. After an hour of trying to fill holes and grind away excess welds, I give up and go to the autoparts store to get tank putty.
Ok, I clean the area, put the tank putty in place and put some tape over it to protect it as I figure I'll sand the cracking paint off the tank and spray bomb it so it is a little more respectable. Well, dinner time comes and goes and I figure the putty is nice and dry as well as the paint so I go back to my workshop, clean everything up, put the tank back on the bike, fill it up with gas and connect my hoses. MORE LEAKING! Turns out in my sanding and wire wheeling I unearthed more holes in the tank. I quickly grab the tank putty and stop up the hole only to notice another one in the back. They're all pin holes.
So, 10pm rolls around and I've finally got everything back together and sealed up. I take it for a quick ride and park it for the day. So much for a nice evening ride. Not sure what's up with those pin holes though. The tank is in good shape and has not been laid down or banged up, aside from a dent on the top. Anybody else get those?
1968 CB77 - Just picked up and lots of questionsNot pin holes in particular. I do have a 40 yr old bike that finds joy and purpose in screwing up those nice evening rides. I feel ya.
Just got back from my first extended ride. It was a nice three hour tour of the local area and I really got a chance to know the bike. The more I ride it, the more I put on my "to buy" list unfortunately. Most of it is just standard maintenance though. The brakes need new shoes and I definitely need to grease the clutch cable before it snaps on me. Of course, I'll be buying all new cables when I switch to the low bars this winter.
So, the main thing though is the transmission. Overall, it's a bit notchy. I'm not sure what oil the last guy used but I need to see about getting something nicer and see if that fixes any issues. For the most part the shifting is ok, but 2nd gear sometimes doesn't catch all the way and can fall in and out of gear rapidly if the shift isn't firm enough. I get a little bit of clutch slip in 3rd which is ok for now, but definitely upgrading after this season is over. There was one time where I thought I was in neutral but I ended up being in between third and fourth. The clutch was out and I was stopped at a redlight. I shifted down to what I thought was first but ended up being third. Two other occasions, the bike refused to go down past third. Kind of like I was just tapping at the bottom of first gear. it would go up to fourth but not down to second and first. After I engaged the clutch and got the bike moving, that cleared up. Other than those issues, the shifting went well. The long gears are a bit odd getting use to as I've been riding six speed bikes my whole life. I'm guessing the gear crossing that I've been reading on here makes it a little more drivable in the lower speeds? Does it decrease the top end at all? I'm in the country so not much city driving. Alot of the trip was in the 55-60mph range. The bike seems to get to that speed rather effortlessly. RPM's at 60mph are about 4500 in top gear. e3steve, The picture of the Canadian CP-77 is the bike I owned a few years back...I bought it from Brad Powell, a bike dealer in Marietta, Georgia. I kept it about a year and then traded it back to him. I don't know where it is now. It was a great runner, with electronic ignition, and was possibly the best shifting CB I have ridden since they were new....wish I still owned it, the CP I have now is nowhere near as nice cosmetically.
Jan
Cyclon36,
"2nd gear sometimes doesn't catch all the way and can fall in and out of gear rapidly" This sounds like my symptom before I split my case and took some pictures that the expert sharp eyes on this forum used to diagnose worn dogs on 2nd gear, a common problem solved in my case with a new mainshaft 2nd gear. "The long gears are a bit odd getting use to as I've been riding six speed bikes my whole life. I'm guessing the gear crossing that I've been reading on here makes it a little more drivable in the lower speeds? Does it decrease the top end at all?" Xing 2nd and 3rd gears lowers the ratios for 2nd and 3rd gears. It reduces the 1 to 2 gap, 2 to 3 remains the same percentage gap but seems less because they are both lower. The gap from 3 to 4 is larger, and 4th gear is the same ratio as before. The ratios in 1, 2, 3, 4 I calculate after counting gear teeth are: before crossing--17.445, 10.396, 7.329, 6.260 after crossing --17.445, 11.652, 8.214, 6.260 The jumps from 1 to 2, 2 to3, 3 to 4 are before--1.679, 1.418, 1.171 after --1.498, 1.418, 1.312 For my taste, "after" is much nicer. In fairness, there is some loss, which is the lack of a third gear very close to 4th when you barely need to downshift to pull a steady grade at highway speed. With the relaxed pace I use, 3rd gear was so close to 4th it was almost wasted, I am sure racers would feel differently. The #s of teeth on each gear in my gearbox before Xing were: Mainshaft 1, 2, 3, 4 --18, 24, 29, 31 Countershaft 1, 2, 3, 4--34, 27, 23, 21 Let me know if there are errors in my numbers! Sounds like you have some fun ahead, the hardest part of my job was removing/replacing the motor. Good luck, Larry -- Pasadena, CA
Thanks for the feedback Larry. I adjusted the gear change lever to the 11 o'clock position per LM's instructions. It was previously at the 12 spot and causing a bit of issue letting the lever work appropriately. Seems to me Honda would have engineered that part a bit better. Anyway, I still get a bit of 2nd gear pop out/in so your feedback is helpful. Too bad this community isn't big enough so I could just find a local with the crossed gears so I could try it out beforehand. Sounds like i'll be going that route though when I take the bike apart this winter. Can't wait to find out what's inside the box. The odometer is reading 30k miles which is a good bit for an older bike.
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