my 66 CB160 refresh build

gregz

gregz

Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2026
Total Posts
12
Total likes
25
Location
California
Hey everyone just here documenting my journey of refreshing my CB160. Ive owned it now for about 2 1/2 weeks and its all been riding around and experiencing the bike so far. It sat since 1979 in a garage when i got it and all i did to it was basic points maintenance and the basics, battery/chain,tubes ect. Now I'm ready for a total refresh of the machine primarily because my riding buddies told me its smokes a little when punched and I'm sure the cam chain adjustment was at max.
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tearing it all down

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Puling Valve cover off and inital inspections
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Kinda dirty in there although it just wipes off...
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Cylinder head off

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Measured the piston and bore and determined its a standard bore, bang on 50mm
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Cam chain tensioner is totally cooked

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another angle
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you can even see the chain has dug into the roller past whats left of the teeth nubs.


Annnd that's where i stand for now until parts come in. Made a huge order of NOS goodies and custom aftermarket upgrade parts will post back when make more progress.
Also i know this may be controversial but using the inside micrometer on the bores looking for egg, taper and lack of any real ring ridge I've made the decision to just hone and re ring the stock bore. The only Concerning bit I noticed is how thin the stock rings got they have both even wear on both cylinders but definitely are much thinner than they started life. Well to be honest it is sort of expected since the bike has 18,000 original verified miles..
 
I'll be following your progress closely as I'll be reassembling my 65 CB160 this spring as well. It also has 18,xxx miles but has reportedly only sat since 1990. Cheers.
 
So for a quick in between update here is a picture of the top ring and the bore

Top ring notice how thin near the ring gap the ring has got from wear
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Not the best pic of the bore but i suppose it will suffice lol

cb bore.jpg
 
In between time waiting for engine components I've decided to pay the chassis some attention as it has surface rust and just over all wear and tear so here's todays update


Swing arm off and general rear disassembly. When I got the bike i tried using a grease gun to grease the swing arm grease nipple but they did not accept any grease and just pushed the nipple out.
when it came to removing the swing arm big discovery with frozen like a rock 47+year old grease and what a pain to get apart.
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Removing all the electrics and any misc parts in preparation to pressure washing frame
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After pressure washing removing all the old baked on grease and oil, I wire brushed the frame with a drill wire wheel and lots of various abrasives to prepare for the next step.


From a few other project en-devours of mine I've come to really like this stuff,rustoleum rust reformer. It Dries to a black matte finish and as long as you wire brush the surface and clean with acetone after it will convert any rust to a dark black oxide and stop it.

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after about 10 minuets it flashes off and after about 3 hours it is ready for its final top coat.

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Final enamel top coat

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Now moving back to the swing arm bolt. That ancient rock hard grease was so difficult to get out just using brake cleaner and wd-40 but eventually i got it.
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Using the ultrasonic to clean the swing arm bushings
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then final thing for the day was to finish paint the odds and ends
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More of another in-between update till more engine stuff gets here but it all needs to get done so might as well use the time i have now.
 
rebuilding my cam chain tensioner with parts from Cappellini motorsport

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Drill out the stock rivet holding the roller in
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The old one is a little smaller mostly from I assume is wear. stock lowest point to lowest point = 35mm new is 37mm

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New one installed oil holes lined up with the bolt and the bearing shaft red loctite and peened the nut with a punch
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Got first shipment of parts

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The oem cam chain for $30 off partzilla was an exact match thanks to PugMug for showing where he got his from helped me a lot.


Now to the part I may regret soon but for the price of admission (set of rings and a small hone tool) I'm going to give it a try
Threw these in the ultrasonic parts washer and cleaned the groves with an old piston ring

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Pistons back on with new rings installed

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New base gasket and rebuilt cam chain tensioner with new cam chain

I put threw a cotter pin between two of the chain links so the chain doesn't fall down into the case while working

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Now for a small sidetrack as I will be installing my new oil filter housing since I ended up breaking the centrifugal filter cap and I already have other bikes that use the same suzuki oil filter this kit uses.

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Now the body of the centrifugal filter needs to be cut so so the new filter housing can fit so into the lathe it goes

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Job Done now back to putting the jugs and head on..

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UPDATE PT.2 I took it out riding all day today, my front suspension is all sorts of messed up and occasionally the forks stick all the way down on compression. So i guess that's next :(
 
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They appear to be emitting a black goo
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Under further investigation and tremendous research, I have come to the shocking conclusion that they should in fact NOT emit black goo.
 
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I just made wooden clamp blocks to take the forks apart. The older style seals are hard to replace and mine looked ok so I just did a thorough clean out and flush. With 15wt fork oil they work great and don't leak.
 
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