Kaff's XBR (now sold to.... "don't worry, I've got this covered!" - ylisuuta

[guest1130]

Update time!
Firstly, I finally had a chance to take the XBR for a test drive and man do I love this bike!! Tho at 80MPH it may not be the easiest bike to handle, but I was looking for a city bike and a bike for some backroad fun and thats exactly what I got!

Then on to the build - it's teardown time!
This is where I started:


As I said before the electrics are a mess:


Calling this a rat's nest is polite...


But I'm not that concerned about the electrics, what I am concerned about is the face that it seems this bike has suffered a bit more serious crash than I expected.. See how this turn controller has bent:


Also there's something wrong with the front forks.. either the pipes, triangle pieces, the axle or the lower fork bars have bent seriously. I didn't notice this while driving, but look at how off the front wheel is in relation to the forks:


I couldn't tell what it is just by looking at it, have you guys seen anything like this before and do you know what could cause this?

Anyway, it's late and this is how the bike sits now:


I'll post more tomorrow

[Fuzz]

Stand at the front of the bike , wheel in between your knees.
Hold the handlebars & TWIST straight, same as you did with your bicycle when you were younger !

[guest1130]

Stand at the front of the bike , wheel in between your knees.
Hold the handlebars & TWIST straight, same as you did with your bicycle when you were younger !

...not sure if this was ment to be a joke, but if not, what do I need to loosen before doing this? I mean, if both triangle pieces (not sure what theyre really called) are true, then tightening them should keep the fork pipes straight, right? And if the forkpipes are straight, but the wheel between them is not, then the axle must be bent (right?).

[el vencejo]

Hi Kaff,
I had the same problem with my SLR, everything looked ok until the first 10metres of the test ride, got a price reduction...
When I stripped everything, the forks were straight, the alloy top yoke (triangle/triple tree) was OK but the steel bottom yoke and the spindle were both bent; replaced for 25quids.
Hopefully your fork legs and frame are ok.

[Fuzz]

...not sure if this was ment to be a joke, but if not, what do I need to loosen before doing this? I mean, if both triangle pieces (not sure what theyre really called) are true, then tightening them should keep the fork pipes straight, right? And if the forkpipes are straight, but the wheel between them is not, then the axle must be bent (right?).
[/quote]

I wouldnt joke about that !!

The triangle bits  ( Top & bottom yoke....)
They can be left as it is.
All that has happened is that the forks have twisted in the yokes , they will  twist back...

[el vencejo]

"All that has happened is that the forks have twisted in the yokes , they will  twist back..."
Unlikely with the damage to the lock-stop but...

Kaff: loosen off the bottom yoke bolts, hold the wheel between your knees and try to force the bars into the right position, if you have no damage it'll all stay like that.

Otherwise its time to check the fork stanchions, bottom yoke and spindle for true; its unlikely that the alloy sliders and top yoke will be bent.  Worthwhile to check the steering bearings and wheel bearings for damage and wear at the same time.  

[guest1130]

I did loosen the bottom yoke bolts, as I took the horn mounting plate off. I tried twisting the wheel in it's right position, with the bottom yoke both loose and tight, but it wouldn't budge. The top yoke is untouched.

Anyways, as this is a "lets-do-it-right-the-first-time"-project, I will take the front forks to bits, check for straightness and wear, and replace if nessessary. I'll leave the front end alone for a while, cause I wan't to keep the bike on its wheels for as long as I can, and I'll start to tear the rear end apart now.

On a side note to more knowledgeable people:

I'm having real difficulties finding used spares for this bike - €bay only shows 38 items regarding Honda XBR. My question is how interchangeable are parts (mainly interested in forks etc.) from a GB 500 to an XBR 500 - the bikes look awsomely alike...

EDIT: Also, if anyone has a picture of the lock-stop plate in original condition, please PM or post here - I think I need to make a new one and weld it to the frame before powder coat..

Back to the garage -->

[guest1130]

Teardown, day two:


I had some good progress today, but I'm now almost at the point where taking the bike off it's wheels becomes mandatory. Most of the parts, that I've taken off the bike will never get on it again. And I'm also furious to Honda engineers for the amount of brackets and clips on the frame, tho I know they all have a purpose on a stock bike. I'm going to attack it with an angle grinder as soon as I'm done with the teardown. The idea is to simplify as much as possible. I'm spending a lot of time just standing beside the bike and just looking at it, trying to figure out which brackets are useful and which are only in the way. The bike will have custom seat so I'll need to locate where the seat can be attached to. I'm also gonna do a tiny rear chop, hopefully won't kill the bike with the grinder... (I have a feeling I'll be in trouble with this later on..)

I'm still having doubts wether the frame is straight or not, can't tell by looking at it but the more I get into it, I see little knacks and scratches that indicate a serious crash..

[guest564]

Take the fork brace off and then loosen both top and bottom yoke clamp bolts (not too much or the front end will drop) then twist it back straight. You should be able to see if the lock stops are damaged, mine got bashed in by a tank slapper at Snetterton years ago.

[guest1130]

Teardown - day 3

I've made quite a lot progress today, I've stripped down almost the whole frame. Just the center stand and yokes are still there. Tomorrow I'll take out my trusty angle grinder and start slicing and dicing. Some pics from today, all the yellow/green taped bits will be removed:

Wiring loom:


Stage 1:


Stage 2:


Stage 3:


Engine happily off:


The engine was a real pain to take off, until I decided to ignore the factory repair manuals advice to "remove the engine from the LEFT side" and took it out from the right... I also have a question. Is the ignition swich supposed to be permanently attached to the top yoke or is it supposed to be removable by two screws? If it's supposed to be removable, then both my screws are broken, I could only see stubs between the ignition switch and the yoke.

[el vencejo]

You've met the usual overengineered-fit-for-any-bike-lots-of-brackets-and-miles-of-unnecessary-wiring Japanese bike.

If you really want a lightweight one person bike then a 30kg reduction in weight is very possible and the cheapest way to improve the power to weight ratio and the fun per kms too

Weight reduction beats engine tuning.... cheaper and more reliable

[guest1130]

If you really want a lightweight one person bike then a 30kg reduction in weight is very possible and the cheapest way to improve the power to weight ratio and the fun per kms too

Weight reduction beats engine tuning.... cheaper and more reliable

I'm with you on that - tho I'm not trying to build the fastest XBR - just more simple and goodlooking. And this bike will remain a two-seater as the missus might feel the need to hop on for a ride (on the bike ), but the seat will be far from the original one, I'll return to that somewhere in the future.

[guest1130]

Teardown - day 4

This is the part where all hard-core restorers need to close their eyes, time for some grinding.


Nothing dramatic happened, don't worry, just a minor rear chop and some bracket removing. Still needs to be sanded more before blasting and paint.


One XBR to go:


I came across a weird offset metal plate on the front of the steering stem attached to the stem with 2 studs and I have no idea what it's for - can I scrap it?

[tj63]

Sounds like a horn bracket, but I've not got an XBR....


Trevor

[guest1130]

Sounds like a horn bracket

Good guess, but the XBR horns are lower. This looks more like a guide of some sorts, it is shaped as a curve to match the steering stem, but is not aligned to the center but rather to the left side of the stem. It has some randomly shaped overhangs and one hole (with no thread) and it is attatched to the stem by two studs (can't tell if theyre threaded, tried turning them, but I can't get a good enough grip). My first guess was that it's some kind of a steering lock, as it's located under the ignition switch and is shaped so randomly..