Hi - 1979 to 1983 DOHC CB750/900/1000/1100 Honda Custom

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:31 pm

Well I hpoe this is the correct forum. I got sent here from the F forum,I guess they don't like C's over there. I hve spent some time reading your forum ..alot of great info I wish it was arround 10 years ago.
I have had my 1981 cb900c for 21 years, it's like my middle Kid. It is now starting to show it's age, started smoking a bit (valve seals or????)
I bought 2 more a 1982 with a seized engine and an 1980 that was in a barn for 15 years. I have to decide what to do? do I restore my 81 that I still use or restore one of the other bikes? How far would iI need to go in the rstoration to make it reliable and what do you think I would need to budget for. Any idea's.

Paul

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:39 pm

Pictures would be nice. Milage has alot to say when it comes to restoring an older motorcycle.

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:45 pm

Welcome to the site Paul ... Smile

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:42 pm

Howdy

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 1:53 am

Welcome to here wave

You can't really tell until you get into them. It's not like complete rebuild kits are marketed, so you have to decide what it needs and what's available. You've come to the right place though. We have the Honda Shop Manual online, and after you've read that and the new members thread you can ask questions and search out info.

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 3:52 am

W'sup

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:12 am

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:17 am

Hiya, Welcome Smile

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:24 am

welcome, I'd start on the bike thatll take the least amount to get on the road and then start on the next.no point in havin 3 bikes without bein able ride at least one once spring comes.

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:22 pm

howdy,, if you are not mechanically minded, avoid building engines, even though you can be guided thru the process here, it will be frustration and expense,,,what is the least mileage, the barn one sounds good if the engine is good. i would go for cleaning, painting and bolting on,,allow a mental budget of between $400 - 1200 depending on what you want to achieve. i have spent thousands over the last 4 years on all my bikes, bit here, bit there, dont notice it..would never lay it all out in one hit.. dont forget untold man hours. whatever you do, please dont hack it up, restoration is the new customization..

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:27 am

Thanks for all the hello's. Well you really are a friendly groupe.The reason I joined this site is to learn some more about my bike and I was blown away with how popular the 900"s are, I had no idea there were so many other people out there that had a passion for the old bikes.
I just got down sized after 38 years as a service person for corporation..so I am now redirected ..I started doing word of mouth home repairs.
I have a small but well stocked workshop.
So the time has come to make my 1981 900c new again.It has 44000 KM on it and has been well maitained over its life, but it is smoking abit. I think will learn on the other bikes first.
The 1982 900c with the siezed engine has 80000 km on it. I have completly taken it apart to the frame. Had to pound pistons out with a block of wood.
I learned alot about the 900's doing this.
The 1980 900c I found in a barn has not ran in 12 years has 45000km on it,I can manually turn it over with a ratchet. There is aproblem with the frame, the studs that that hold the top of the shocks are both broken flush with the shock.
What I would like to do is strip and paint the 1982 frame and move the engine from the 1980 into the 1982 frame. The 1982 and the 1980 frames have different part numbers . Do you think this will work. would you wait and see how the engine runs or do ???. Paul

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:31 am

I'd make sure the motor is going to run with minimal parts and effort. Any 900C motor can go into any other year 900C frame.. There are minimal differences. The 80 only had 1 horn, and 10 amp fuses. The other years had 2 horns and 15 amp fuses.

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:32 am

And each year had structural frame improvements , according to what I have read .

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:40 pm

Minimal. In 81 they went to the offset front axle. Maybe some other frame changes, but I doubt if you'd see them without stripping the bike. I'm not sure what the big changes in 82 would be except for the brakes. None of those changes affected the motor fitment at all.

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:51 pm

Quote:

None of those changes affected the motor fitment at all.

True , Gene .

I just recall reading about frame improvements a while back . Seems it had more to do with the back bone and a few gusset improvements .

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 4:01 pm

They really crowed about it on the 83 CB1000C, which did get a substantial geometry change. But you know, a lot of marketing drivel doesn't necessarily mean that much to reality.

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:45 pm

Yup , I know what you mean .