1965 CB160 Restoration Project

I had a used '66 CB160 . Clanking in the engine should have warned me but I bought it anyway. Eventually lower connecting rod bearing seized. When I got the engine apart i took the crankshaft to the local Honda shop. He told me "We can't repair these. We could replace the bearing but you need a special jig to align everything before it is pressed together. Only the factory has the jig". I bought a new crankshaft and the bike ran fine after that. I have seen the parts of the crank for sale on another site and have wondered about the reason for selling parts that the regular guy cannot use.
 
Gregg said:
I have seen the parts of the crank for sale on another site and have wondered about the reason for selling parts that the regular guy cannot use.
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Only because those parts listing are as old as the bike, and back then there actually were dealerships that could rebuild the crankshafts or knew what machinists to send them to locally. But since these bikes are no longer current and the demand for that type of crankshaft rebuild long since faded away, no one does them anymore aside from a few individuals like VHT member @G-Man.
 
ancientdad said:
Only because those parts listing are as old as the bike, and back then there actually were dealerships that could rebuild the crankshafts or knew what machinists to send them to locally. But since these bikes are no longer current and the demand for that type of crankshaft rebuild long since faded away, no one does them anymore aside from a few individuals like VHT member @G-Man.
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Interesting. Thank you.
 
Hello there!

Work is progressing on my CB160 rebuild. Here is an update...

I purchased a newly rebuilt crank form VHT member @G-Man. All I can say is the new part is a thing of beauty and the experience was as painfree and quick as one could imagine. I send him my old crank in the hopes it will someday be resurrected and serve other members of this community!

My machinist was reticent to install the Schumann valve guides in the head so I will be doing that myself. I sketched up a brass drift that is being machined now and will serve both during removal and reinstallation and minimize the chances of distorting either casting itself or the new guides.

I have a small oven in my shop that I will use to gently warm the head prior to both procedures.

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Also, I fnally got my lower front fork tubes apart. The chromed seal carriers were a complete pain to remove.

I read in another thread about gripping the tube in a vice whilst turning with a strap wrench. I even added rosin powder for extra grip but this was totally futile. Mine were stuck badly - I had tried soaking for a couple weeks with penetrating oil, heat, you name it.

I ended up fabricating a collar spanner tool from a 1 in. length of schedule 80 2 in. steel pipe. I used 'dog-nose' M5 set screws available on Amazon.

link to dog nose set screw

I ground the dogs down to fit the blind holes in the part, and cut 4 such screws to length such that when engaged into the part the set screws would be about flush with the collar when tightened. This required cutting off the allen wrench end, and cutting new slots for a flat blade screwdriver.

With the tool in place and tight in the vice, I applied the largest pipe wrench I own directly on the collar. They came off effortlessly this way.

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I have seen tools for sale with two engagement screws but they are expensive, and well, provide only two points of engagement. This tool I made was considerable effort but quite inexpensive!
 

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Head going in for reconditioning soon (bead blast, new guides reamed, new seats cut).

Take a look at the ugly discontinuity in the both exhaust ports. On the inside of the turn, ther is a flat section of port that ends in a step causing a sudden (not smooth) widening. Looks poor from a flow standpoint.

Curiously, both exhaust ports have this, so I gather it is/was a feature of the casting.

Has anyone observed this ugly shape in the exhaust port(s)? I think I can easily smooth that out with a dremel. Worth doing?

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Both of mine were like that. I didn’t bother since it’s an exhaust port that’s already decently sized for that small of a displacement, but I’m sure a flap wheel on a dremel would take care of it pretty quickly if you were so inclined.
 
Are there two types of upper handlebar holders? I am talking about part number 95014-22100 from the handlebar section of the parts manual (page 40).

When I disassembled the bike, the upper holders had large washers that looked strange but I did not think much of it.

Later after polishing the top triple clamp (called 53230-246-010 BRIDGE, FORK TOP, sam page of manual) I noticed that a previous owner had drilled out the holders to a huge size and this explains the strange washers (see picture below).

Lokking more closely the holders were drille huge because they are the wrong part and this was the only way that the bolts would line up. I measured the bolts and they are M8 as they should be according to the parts manual.

So I purchased two new top holders. When they arrived the first thing I notice - they are identical to my drilled ones, the holes are way too small for M8 and they don't line up with the triple clamp. I am actually at the same point the previous owner was when he decided to drill them out. So are there two 'versions' of the top holders (95014-22100) out there? Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks in advance.

Top holder and triple clamp.jpg
 
That is bizarre. There are two different versions of the fork lowers, but I’m not aware of that extending to the triple or the bar clamps.
 
According to Partzilla there are actually 3 types of holders and 2 different top bridges.
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The "283" holder was first used on the CB450K0 and the "268" holder on the CB72. Maybe one of the members with a CB450K0 or CB72 could measure the bolt spacing on their top bridge to confirm which one you need.
 
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I was curious so I grabbed an extra one I’ve got and matched it up to the one in use - they’re both 35mm center to center on the bolt holes. M8 hardware.

Both bikes have the “early” steel lowers.
 
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