1964 CB77 Purchase

[hefyjefy]

Hello all,
I have the opportunity to purchase an all original black/silver Super Hawk. It belonged to an old friend who rode it in his younger days, he has looked after it well and it appears clean and in good shape, although I don't think its been ridden for several years. I have no interest in selling it on I want to keep it, ride it from time to time and maybe take it to vintage bike shows. I have ridden bikes for nearly 50 years and I ride one everyday now. I believe I am quite capable of doing whatever work is needed to keep this historic bike in good shape.
Are there any particular problems I should be aware of? I assume that since it hasn't run for a while it would be wise to remove the plugs and make sure everything rotates freely before trying to start it...?
Any tips are most welcome.
Geoff

[Rickytic]

Welcome to the Forum Geoff. Kind of hard for anyone on the forum to really answer your questions until you get the bike home and look it over.

Get a parts and a shop manual so you can identify parts and get an idea what they are and how to service them. Bill Silver on this forum has them for sale.

Ed Moore, on this forum has a recipe for tuning your engine. Go to the left margin (Yellow area) and bring up the search area and search for this recipe (follow it to a tee).

Guess you would do everything you would do with an old car that was sitting for a long time. Check Gas tank, fuel lines, filters, carburators, compression etc. Remember you need 3 things to get one of these things running, COMPRESSION, SPARK, GAS!!!

When you get the bike and start having specific questions we can help with specific answers. Keep us informed as to what your needs are. There are a lot of knowledgable individuals that love to share their knowledge so these old bikes can get back on the road.


Rickytic

[kfsrq]

Welcome to a way of life, Geoff. I owned a 1964 CB-77 for several years, and enjoyed it enormously. I should never have sold it, so in 2005 I bought a 1965 CB-77, which was almost running when I acquired it. After a while I got it running, then a small part, way inside, broke. It was the closing link for the cam chain. It took me a while to get the bike repaired and running, but now it is a dependable bike, and I am enjoying getting reacquainted with it.

The bike has some foibles. Its rectifier is antiquated, and there are modern replacements available for it. I have the new one, but have not installed it yet. The points are not very well designed, and you can find a modern replacement for the ignition system. I have not gone this way either, yet my bike runs well enough ... for now.

Here is a major failing that most of us encounter sooner or later. Second gear starts failing at about 10,000 miles. The symptom is that when you shift into second gear, the bike shifts into neutral, like it or lump it. There are a few parts you can buy, and these go way down into the belly of the bike, and fix the problem for another 10,000 miles or so. I am pleased that I managed to effect this repair while fixing the situation that stopped the bike from running, so my CB-77 has a dependable second gear.

Ed Moore is called Loud Mouse here, and he knows this bike better than any other three of us. He pays a lot of attention to this forum, and may take notice of you. If he says something to you, it is a good idea to tune in carefully. He gave me very precious advice that greatly simplified part of the reassembly process, and I remain grateful to him.

People around here refer to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which is mainly about neither of those. Pirsig, the author, rode a CB-77, probably with competence and zeal.

So I welcome you to this forum, and I hope you enjoy your CB-77. There are other Hondas that have significant numbers of followers, CB-1, CB-X, and CL-77 to name just three. Somehow, the CB-77 seems to be the most popular of the old Hondas, and you can count on it to attract the attention of some interesting people wherever you take it.

Good luck!
Keith

[kfsrq]

If the carbs were left full of gas, you may need to buy kits to replace the gaskets and jets and other cloggable pieces therein. I got a couple of kits on eBay for $28.99 and was pleased with the quality of the parts, and especially with the speed of delivery.

You can probably clean the tank and the fuel shut-off tap and the filter and bowl without trouble. To remove the gas tank, you must detach a hose that connects the left and right lobes of the tank; removal is necessarily messy, so take the bike outside to do this.

Keith

[hefyjefy]

Thanks to all, I hope to take a closer look at the bike this week. I gather that its still running, since the present owner said he needs to replace "some O rings in fuel system".
So it sounds like he has kept it in working order, although I know he has not ridden it for several years. I am very excited to be getting my hands on such a famous bike!
It is my intention to keep it as original as possible, I am old enough to remember how to gap a set of breaker points and check timing, dwell angle etc.
More news when available.
Merry Christmas!
Geoff

[kfsrq]

There is a big O-ring in the fuel tap, which is crucial to prevent fuel links. I got a supply of
O-rings at Harbor Freight, and one of those fit, but is a tad smaller than I would prefer.

There are many little washers in the carbs, and O-rings bigger than quarters prevent leakage between carbs and engine block. The carb kits I mentioned above include all you will need, and I suggest you get a couple, because everything you have typed makes me think there is some ancient fuel in the carbs.

Fuel hose gets brittle after a few years, and it's cheap.

There are expensive and tiresome treatments to seal the inside surface of the tank;
I think these are more trouble and cost than they are worth. Any reasonable attempt
to clean the gas tank is likely to succeed well enough. For example, shake the tank
thoroughly with ten cents worth of gas in it, then discard the gas.

I think you will find your project very worthwhile. The bike really is thrilling.

At least it is to me. Keith

[hefyjefy]

OK Keith - thanks,
As soon as I get it in the garage I will get back here. Unfortunately its going to be a while before I can actually get on the thing since I recently broke my left leg :-( Never did myself any damage in nearly 50 years of motorcycling but managed to topple off the dirt bike at Thanksgiving...
Geoff