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NEW BUILD: 1980 Honda CM400T, to be: Cafe of Glory

55K views 106 replies 27 participants last post by  donraz 
#1 ·
When I bought it had been outside about a year in new mexico, only rust by battery box (no breather tube for battery), oil grime, not chopped or made to look stupid.

I bought it off CL for $250. Turns over. Havent been able to test engine because of electrical issues. So far, I've cleaned/fixed the wiring harness. New Starter solenoid, speedo cable. disassembled. cleaned frame, prep for paint. hope to paint tonight. then start cleaning/replacing some of the parts I took off.

Thinking of buying a ural headlight setup (with the speedo/indicator lights in the bucket), clip-ons, signal lights...other than the oil leak, im hoping the motor is in good shape. This is my first project, so any help or ideas will be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
#27 ·
the seat is not quite stock. the pan im pretty sure is stock-the mounts and the locking mechs. all line up, with different/smaller upholstery.

i think im gonna have to hold on to this one for now, i only have enough money left for some rearsets at the moment.

as for the headlight: ebay search "ural headlight" and look at ebay stores for "mhmetalheart" its the chinese ural knockoff bikes. reasonable parts FAST shipping. considering it comes from china. i paid $90 shipped for mine, then bought a ural speedo. i had to grind out the speedo hole a bit for it to fit, and it doesnt have a gasket, im thinking silicone.

other updates: got my UNI pod filters in and mounted yesterday. now its a little bit of reworking my ignition switch (had to move the mount as it hit my speedo in the bucket), and getting my indicator lights in. still waiting for front turn sigs (mini bullets), and mirrors. modding the taillight mount a bit and repainting. pics to come soon.
 
#28 ·
been a while, some pics of the bike. these dont really do he hours i have spent justice, and its no head-turner, but here it is anyway.

from the side view...not really that different looking. kinda depressing when i ponder the hours spent.


from the frontish. the side covers are plastic, but they look pretty nice. i had to rivet one side to fix it, so i put a rivet in the other side for uniformity.


oh the joys. here we see my in progress tripleclamp mod...used one of the holes for a choke, getting rid of the instrument tabs. also, you can see my custom fab indicator light front and center. i also had to rivet the actual lamps inside the thing, rewire, etc. and not being electrically inclined, that was the most bewildering thing so far.


very slim profile. hey, its a parallel twin. what'dyou expect?


i like this angle a lot.


my battery's kinda hanging out there, gotta do something about that.


from behind. i like this angle


from the front

so, to call it "finished" would be untrue, but i really want to ride this thing before it gets too cold.
I NEED SOME HELP, please. i tried starting it for the first time yesterday, and both pistons are turning over, the right side really wants to start, the left is just puffing out coldish air. i pulled out the plug and checked to make sure it is sparking, it is. so im assuming this is carburetor related. all ive done to that end was spray the hell out of them (offa the engine) with aerosol cleaner. im a newb. this is my first bike ever. i know shit about this. tell me what to do, and i will try to do it. ideas?

im also thinking in terms of. "what can i do over the winter after its too cold to ride?" the answer to that is:

id still like to do the cx500 tank and make a rear cowl, potentially move my battery, etc. into there, but the more i look at it, the less i hate the side covers, so i dont know. thoughts? obviously a new tank means paint, for both cowl and tank, probably black with some handpainted white details (im an artist by trade, so...)? probably cut the pipes at a 45 angle facing out. and to finish my triple clamp mod and get the rest of that paint offa there. then if theres time, maybe polish up the engine a little better. its still got some dirt.

oh, i almost forgot. i have some rearsets from a guy i met on FZR forums, now i need to figure a way to use them...mount them. so that will be good.
 
#31 ·
I like what you've got going on this one, good job. Personally, I'd leave the seat, it's not bad at all. Pitch your rear fender and hang a small cat-eye tail light off the back of the seat and you're golden. As well...you'll have someplace to carry a female.

You could also hang a couple oval number plates on the side to cover the battery and associated spaghetti.

It does sound like rebuilding the carbs should be your next step.
 
#32 ·
Looks fantastic! great job. Definitely keep that seat, it's very unique and good looking. The only reason why i started cutting my stuff up is because my seat was ripped and the seat pan was completely rusted out.

What kind of exhaust are you planning to run?
 
#33 ·
PINCHE: woot to the mirror. it really cleaned up well. thanks again for throwing that in.

7ZARK7: thanks for the vote of confidence...if i have time this weekend (and its not too cold), im gonna give that a try.

SWAGGER: seriously, i appreciate the kind words. difficult sometimes to be happy with something when id imagined it being so much cooler...thanks for the suggestions. im thinking something similar-chop the fender down to almost nothing, then put the light butted right up behind the seat, and the license plate dangling off. i do really like having the potential to carry two. of course i dont have any passenger footpegs at the moment. :) i had imagined myself making a removable cowl/cap so it could go as 1 or 2up. thats still vaguely the plan if i get a new tank over the winter.

PAVEL: once again, thanks for the encouragement. i think i like the seat too, and i have no plans to trash it. as for exhaust, youre looking at it. im probably gonna cut the pipes abut an inch further up at a 45deg. angle facing out. and that will be that.
 
#34 ·
Hey no prob on the mirror. I noticed after I installed my clubsman that I couldn't see squat as the mirror wouldn't adjust far enough to be usable. So I hacked it up and tried to position myself on how I would sit and hold the mirror inplace to weld it. It doesn't look like it would be hard but that stupid little mirror would keep it's position when I tacked it.
 
#35 ·
ok, so i HAVE NOT pulled the carbs off to troubleshoot yet, as i have no clean work space at the moment. in the meantime, i tried to start it again over the weekend. same results, except it idled with one cylinder for a few minutes (at full choke) before dying. i kinda thought maybe id "warm up" the right cylinder if it idled long enough. yes, i am ignorant.

SO ANYWAY... i accidentally left the petcock on afterward, and didnt notice until a few hours later. i walked out and saw a puddle (or rather, a dark stain) under the bike. it was gas, dripping out of the bottom of the left carb (this is the problem carb) out of some overflow or runoff valve. could this be related to my problem? how might i fix this?
 
#36 ·
get some rebuild kits for your carbs and a bucket of carb dip and a dipping basket. Then disassemble the carbs and dip them. install the new carb kits. total for all of this is about $100 or so but its the best way to get your bike running right.

That rear tire looks huge! but i love the headlight.
 
#37 ·
Agreed, Get a couple carb rebuild kits, Berryman's bucket w/basket, DO ONE CARB AT A TIME!! (don't ask) If you've done all that, servicing the carbs will have you scratching your head, goin, "What was so hard about that?"

I like the looks of this bike, good job so far, especially for your first. I like the seat. Keep it. Yes, it's hard to get that trad cafe look with an 80. They're kinda swayback, cruiser frame thingies. Looks good though. Like the headlight. Keep that armor all of your tires like what was said before or you'll be enjoying picking asphalt out of your hide.
 
#40 ·
I have been told that non-OEM needle and seat are a bad idea because they do not hold up and will cause the thing to flood again eventually.
 
#43 ·
quote:Originally posted by pampadori

...K&L seems to throw random parts in a bag and call it a kit.
Ha ha haaa!!! I just pictured opening a head gasket kit and finding a soda can tab and a fishing hook.

-Deek
 
#44 ·
so ive got the carbs apart and it looks like all the parts are in good order, just a lot of gunk everywhere. mostly tiny little rust particles (dust). ill just buy new float bowl gaskets, and apparently the diaphragm from the air cutoff valve is missing, so i have to buy the whole valve. im thinking once i get em cleaned and back together, ill clean out the fuel line, replace the inline fuel filter, de-rust the tank, paint the tank, then put it all back together. should be done by tomorrow...umm, or not.
 
#45 ·
Exhaust: Your neighbors and everyone around will appreciate you taking care of the noise a little.
http://www.supertrapp.com/product_sections/cat.asp?CatID=35
People hate motorcycles with loud pipes. Hate. Hate is a very strong word, and I do mean that people HATE loud motorcycles. Spread the love. Put mufflers on it.

Can be found cheaper than the manufacturer site, but its a good list of sizes and part numbers. They will tuck up cleanly underneath the frame.

Get yourself some newspaper to lay the carbs out on, a good phillips head screwdriver, a thin flathead screwdriver, some assorted small sockets (7-8-9-10mm), and a can of carb or brake cleaner. And nitrile gloves to keep the nasty stuff out of your system. That's all you need to disassemble the carbs.

Lay them out on the newspaper in the order that you disassemeble. Assembly is the opposite. Pull them completely apart, remove all jets. Make sure you can spray cleaner through the jets and see through them completely.

Working on motorcycles is rather straightforward. Just lay things out in order, do lose anything, and don't leave things laying out for a few days because you'll forget how they go back together. Cleaning the carbs should take two hours max.
 
#46 ·
I like what you've got started. Great choices for controls, speedo, and lights. Don't be so hard on yourself about the result. It's a work in progress (probably always will be). Tidying up the tail-light will likely change the way you feel about it.

I agree with ungawunga about muffling the bike for your neighbors. Here's a link to a CB400T (Geeto's fave bike ever, has clubman's too...probably Geeto's bike now that i think of it...) with what i'm pretty sure is a MAC 2-1 on it (another of Geeto's faves...this HAS to be his bike). I have read that the chrome/surfacing of these pipes are not fantastic, but the i think the lines are nice:

http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/1486961/

The header pipes might look better taped anyway. I've read on this site and others that the CB400 and CB450 twins can suffer in performance when the exhaust collector is removed. That said i've seen a few photos of CB/CM400's with these 2-1's on so maybe they work. When you get your carbs sorted out, i'm curious to know how it's running without the collector.

Nice bike all around. Who supplied your clip-ons?
 
#47 ·
bike started for the first time yesterday evening. LOUD AS HELL. definitely gonna consider some kind of exhaust/mufflers. fired up again this am and rode around the block, no pegs and no rear brake, stock shifter lever on backwards so i shifted gp style up through 3rd in my neighborhood. idle speed needs to be adjusted up, but theres an adjustment screw for that.

i might just be getting used to the clutch, but the bike feels pretty weak. also, after a 5 minute warmup and a few more minutes around the block, the left header (which was cold before the carb rebuild) is HOT, while the right is only sort of hot (pretty warm for sure, but not 2nd-degree-burn hot like the left). feel like im getting some misfiring/backfiring. im thinking new plugs. anybody?

carbs are cleaned, assembled, reinstalled. turned out i was missing the air cutoff valve diaphragm, which i replaced along with the float bowl gaskets. other than that just cleaned everything with a combo of WD-40, carb cleaner, gasoline soak, air compressor, q-tips, and toothbrush. i did lose a washer in the garage, so fab'd one to replace it. looks like i still have some kind of problem, as i am still leaking gas out of the left bowl's drain valve, even though the drain screw is seated and the o-ring is new. no biggie as long as i leave the petcock off when not riding. it doesnt leak when running, only after sitting for a while.
 
#50 ·
looks good. i know where you are coming from with all the time and work and not seeing what everyone else sees. other than the mags i like it a lot. on another site i saw a seat with a removable cowl like you want to do. he used a cowl from a newer euro triumph. i will try to find a link for you.
 
#51 ·
so, im thinking ill go ahead and put the stock exhaust back on, we'll see how that does with the uni pods i have on it now. it will at the least sort out the noise level. this means ill have to clean off some surface rust from the bottom of both mufflers and some acid staining from the top of the right muffler, as well as patching the *punctured* collector...ah, well.

in the meantime, im having an issue with the right cylinder only firing some of the time. i have so little power that its almost impossible to start moving in 1st, and i cannot shift past 2nd gear. i have new ngk plugs, will try those and check my wires/boots first, if that doesnt help, does anyone know (maybe geeto) whether/how i can adjust the ignition timing on the CDI?
 
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