Purple People Eater Project 81 CM400T

Ok i will try it with the air, and see if i like it or not, it actually rode nice with the spacers, but i'll be on the lookout for a better spacer option, these are solid wood so you have to remove them to add fluid. Not sure if that is good or bad, they didnt leak before since all fluid was trapped below the plug.
 
esmith250624 said:
Ok i will try it with the air, and see if i like it or not, it actually rode nice with the spacers, but i'll be on the lookout for a better spacer option, these are solid wood so you have to remove them to add fluid. Not sure if that is good or bad, they didnt leak before since all fluid was trapped below the plug.
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The spacers I've used are either PVC or galvanized pipe.
 
Hmm, interested spacers can be an option. My CM400T forks seem weak and close to bottoming out, and air does not hold long. My 82 CM450 is a little better, not so close to bottoming out and holds air maybe longer. I am uncertain how long they hold air, it's not real easy to get a measure, they hold such a small quantity. The forks do seem to extend an inch or more and firm up some when getting some air in them. But I believe both tend to loose the air after hours or days. I am overdue to give them some TLC.
 
kbongos said:
Hmm, interested spacers can be an option. My CM400T forks seem weak and close to bottoming out, and air does not hold long. My 82 CM450 is a little better, not so close to bottoming out and holds air maybe longer. I am uncertain how long they hold air, it's not real easy to get a measure, they hold such a small quantity. The forks do seem to extend an inch or more and firm up some when getting some air in them. But I believe both tend to loose the air after hours or days. I am overdue to give them some TLC.
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Air them up and apply soapy water. Schrader valve seems to be the most common issue.
 
I'm working on the seat today. I have not liked the shape of this The first 2 times so this is my third attempt, I stripped it down and started over the other 2 times. This is not a stock seat cover. It is an old new old stock that I found on eBay from a differen model, possibly an old harley i dont know. Front to back, It was within one inch of the stock seat length so I thought I would try it. Original seat foam was already gone when I got the bike, so I had to try something. The seat PAN is the original one, as far as I can tell.

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After first pass with heat gut to stretch the material tight
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I guess I jinxed myself when I called out those cheap 5K ohm spark plug caps. I was out riding today and engine started spitting and sputtering all over the place at low RP. M. I made it home and pulled the plugs and the wires and checked resistance on the wires. One of those Was open Circuit. I honestly don't even know how I got back home. I guess at higher RPM. They will pass a little bit of current due to the higher voltage but it was getting no reading When I got home. i think I will try the VD05F plug caps They're still available in NGK brand so I'm hoping those will work out. They are 45°, instead of a 120°, like the originals, but they should fit.

On a side note, the shocks are still holding air. So good news there, they may be getting down a few PSI but they're still holding.

EDIT..... vd05f are 120 deg instead of xd05f are 105 deg
 
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esmith250624 said:
It's been a while since I posted on my project. To get you up to speed, I ended up buying a set of side covers on e bay, but they're missing the clip inserts for the mounts next to the carburetors, I know someone on here was 3d printing them, but i'm open to what else others have done for these.
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I'd sent you this link in a private message, but in case you didn't see it and because of the importance of having one on each side cover, here's the link again:

www.claussstudios.com

Honda CM400 CM450 Side Cover Rubber Grommet 83705-447-000

1979-83 Honda CM400 CM450 Side Cover Rubber Part #83705-447-000
www.claussstudios.com www.claussstudios.com

In the photo, he's got the rubber grommet upside down - the grommet's center is a "female" that goes onto and surrounds the vertically-oriented metal tab on your bike's frame that points downward on the frame.

When installing my side covers (always with both hands), I align the "female" slot of the grommet with the bottom of the frame tab and then, with the index fingertips of each hand on the lower prongs of the cover, I carefully and gently wiggle the cover upward until the cover's lower prongs have centered into the rubber-grommeted lower frame attachment holes, before snap-inserting the lower prongs home.

When removing my side covers (always with both hands), I find the inner points of the cover's lower prongs with my index fingertips, then push the prongs out of the grommeted frame holes before carefully gently wiggling the cover's upper grommet off of the frame tab up top.
 
Shocks are holding air, that's fantastic, there may be hope for my 400. I really should check the valves as LDR suggests, but frozen down here in MN, have to wait for spring.
 
esmith250624 said:
I made it home and pulled the plugs and the wires and checked resistance on the wires. One of those Was open Circuit.
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Not sure if you had changed the caps recently and maybe not the issue here, but if the caps are screw-in type, it is good to remove a small amount from the end of the wires so you are working with fresh material. (Assuming that new caps are being installed on used wires.)
 
stl360+450 said:
Not sure if you had changed the caps recently and maybe not the issue here, but if the caps are screw-in type, it is good to remove a small amount from the end of the wires so you are working with fresh material. (Assuming that new caps are being installed on used wires.)
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Thanks for the double check, cause I do forget simple things like this, in this case I did unthread the cap and test with no wire attached...."open Circuit" So I ordered some new caps
 
kbongos said:
Shocks are holding air, that's fantastic, there may be hope for my 400. I really should check the valves as LDR suggests, but frozen down here in MN, have to wait for spring.
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Well...... Holds air but now leaks fluid. leaking at the seal, so I need to do some testing to see what might be the problem. I may have to remove the shock and work on the seals again. I wonder if it is ok to put a very thin coat of sealant on the seal (silicone or RTV) but that will also depend in if it is going around the seal or up the shock tube.

I did clean away the excess leave it for a few hours and come back to check and it had leaked some more, so I wonder if I had air pressure too high. I released the air and let it sit overnight and it is not leaking more. more testing to follow, if you have a similar experience let me know your solution. I'm using the 4into1 seals and dust covers. it was cold the last week and yesterday was pretty warm in the sun, so maybe the expansion of the air at a warmer temp is and issue? I don't know.
 
esmith250624 said:
Well...... Holds air but now leaks fluid. leaking at the seal, so I need to do some testing to see what might be the problem. I may have to remove the shock and work on the seals again. I wonder if it is ok to put a very thin coat of sealant on the seal (silicone or RTV) but that will also depend in if it is going around the seal or up the shock tube.

I did clean away the excess leave it for a few hours and come back to check and it had leaked some more, so I wonder if I had air pressure too high. I released the air and let it sit overnight and it is not leaking more. more testing to follow, if you have a similar experience let me know your solution. I'm using the 4into1 seals and dust covers. it was cold the last week and yesterday was pretty warm in the sun, so maybe the expansion of the air at a warmer temp is and issue? I don't know.
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Note that the MAX air pressure is 1 Bar or 14 psi.
 
Well i got the parts to try another go at the leaking forks, they worked ok for about a week. But you know what works for a set of fork spacers, a matching pair of 3/4in sockets!! Other things done are dent in the tank is pushed out where i can bondo over wavy finish. I wrapped the headers, the chrome on those is gone an they have some pitting. I wrapped them for now. I did the led upgrade on the headlight using a stock lamp housing. So i will be working onthe tank paint next. I rewired the tail light since it was routed externally when i got it and the wiring was roached from sitting outside. One bonus not is i found a spare key inside the tail light. Is that one of those old school hacks?20260324_192047.jpg


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Oh forgot to mention, i got the K&S branded resistor spark plug caps, and they seem to be a decent replacement for the NGK ones. Available at partzilla, mikes XS, and more.
 
Take a look at these mufflers on my CM. I have been shopping some mufflers lately for a backup and none of the Honda branded stuff has this hole pattern. is this some kind of baffle insert that was available years ago? mine have the Honda stamp on them, but are there counterfeits of these out there also? The sound on these is pretty cool, significantly louder than my CB. I think there are some "EXTRA" holes in there too which are ASymetrical. So maybe someone just drilled these out on their own.

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Got the dent in the tank fixed and primed, undecided on what to do about the paint yet, tank looks pretty good but its not perfect. I put the windscreen on just to see if I like a little wind blockage, it has been windy the last few days and will likely continue for a while.

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stl360+450 said:
How was the dent pushed out? Did you do it yourself? Looks good!
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I cut a piece of steel bar the right length to use a prybar and push it out from the fuel opening. It has a skim coat of bondo. I was never going to get it perfect. there were 3 other small dents about the size of a dime that I used bondo on, they were in awkward spots to push out from the inside. I just wanted to make it look decent.
 
esmith250624 said:
I cut a piece of steel bar the right length to use a prybar and push it out from the fuel opening. It has a skim coat of bondo. I was never going to get it perfect. there were 3 other small dents about the size of a dime that I used bondo on, they were in awkward spots to push out from the inside. I just wanted to make it look decent.
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Was the bar curved? And I take it you levered against the filler neck to apply pressure on the inside of the dent? Thanks for the explanation — I have one dented tank at the moment and high hopes!
 
stl360+450 said:
Was the bar curved? And I take it you levered against the filler neck to apply pressure on the inside of the dent? Thanks for the explanation — I have one dented tank at the moment and high hopes!
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no the bar was straight, i was lucky that the biggest dent was pretty even with the filler neck, i held the bar with skinny nose locking pliers and pried against the filler neck as you said.
 
The random artifacts AI puts in photos sometimes is really cool/odd in a scavenger hunt kind of way. Just out of curiosity, is there actually a window in that space, or did the matrix decide to add one from the diffused lighting on the primer tank?

Anywho - the matte-metallic blue of the "Scrambler" style (with stripes, without all the noise on the side) would be a really cool look.
 
EzPete said:
The random artifacts AI puts in photos sometimes is really cool/odd in a scavenger hunt kind of way. Just out of curiosity, is there actually a window in that space, or did the matrix decide to add one from the diffused lighting on the primer tank?
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Good Eye, yes the reflection was looking out of my garage with an open garage door, so it actually did a pretty good job recreating that.

I also kinda like the matte blue with antique white
 
I think each design has something nice going on with the colors and the style of the actual lines, but the patterns created with those lines seem unnatural in pretty much all of them. With some additional prompting, I expect they could be improved.

I like the green/white and black/pearl, but I don't think I would ever want to have 'Cafe Racer' or 'C.R.' painted on my tank! 🤣

I used Gemini to do something similar for my XL350 and it took quite a few prompts just to do a few direct color substitutions, much less sophisticated than what you obtained.
 
Other updates with the bike are the fix to the loud pipes, I ordered some rubber stoppers to plug up the larger holes that were drilled out of the mufflers. there are some smaller holes still there but plugging these 8 larger holes (4 in each muffler has reduced the noise significantly, and improved the off idle throttle being a little erratic. it is much smoother overall in acceleration. But it does loose a little bit of instant torque when doing a quick twist of the throttle. The decel popping is greatly reduced too. it still gurgles a little which is probably the remaining small drilled holes. but it is not too annoying. I may start looking for another set of mufflers, but not in a hurry as this fix seems to work ok.

I finally got around to getting some soapy water and looking for leaks in the front shock setup. I found the leak, the left shock was leaking at the fork seal, So new seals and forks removed again and fork oil changed from ATF to 10wt fork oil, and put back together, they now hold air for around 3 - 4 days before needing topped off, (that is riding it for 3-4 days too, so not to bad) I put a valve stem extension on the Schrader valve and carry my small hand pump in my backpack. two or three quick pumps is all it needs. Spacers in the forks are the 5/8 sockets I talked about before. that seems to work ok for me.

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