Yogi's 550 F (2nd)

Here is 2nd story from Yogi at Poland. (the first story is here.)
It is story of Dec. of 2009. I apologize of my laziness, Yogi.

Well, I finally decided to resign from wheels and to build just a simple engine stand. The final result is shown on the photo. Front 'legs' are welded, rear are secured by screws. Unfortunately the photo does not show the electrics and other accesorries. I am most proud of petrol bottle hook made of lawnmower's handle that fits my frame perfectly.

Unfortunately after running the engine with new piston sets, it was smoking again. I have spoken to many people and they told me that it is not possible to determine if it is fine or not because the engine usually takes oil after reassembly. I was a bit confused but in the meantime I got the info from local honda representatives that new piston rings are available to buy. Purchasing new rings and giving everything together to a service could be the solution.

It was end of June when I saw it on biggest Polish internet sale service. Wonderful 1984 cbx in a perfect visual condition with 50k kilometres. Furthermore, it was only 100km from my place of living. After 3 years of constant searching and investigating various advertisements, I found something like that and so close to me!!!
A destiny ???

Next day I took one day free at work and went to see it. It was amazing : lots of chrome, beautiful painting (unfortunately housing was renewed due to a tiny accident in a garage), even the info text on a tank was not missing. The 4 in 2 exhausts, seem to be genuine were shining without any sign of rust. The engine was running smoothly and without least cloud of smoke, even when cold. No sign of oil / grease under the oil pan that was unbelievable on such an old motorbike! I paid some advancement to the owner and promised to come for the machine in few days.

It was wonderful feeling to drive cbx after over 2 years break, although it was extremely hot day and my helmet was a bit too small and very uncomfortable. Of course I fixed some place in a garage for this miracle. During next 2 weeks I changed the tyres for new Bridgestone Battlax BT45 (100mm front, 120mm rear). I was pretty satisfied with those tyres and their behavior on corners – I can recommend it to everyone! (When it was done and I came to take the bike, the mechanic was blessing : you need to disassemble the entire exhaust when you have 4 in 2 system :/ ) Also the clutch was worn and the max speed was 140kmph when laying down on a tank (falling down rapidly when sitting again) Every time the mechanics were so impressed by my bike and its condition... After replacement I was able to reach 160-170 kmph, but I was avoiding riding so fast for longer time to safe the engine.

Next month I made about 1600 km visiting various interesting places enjoying the road and my wonderful bike. My dreams have alraedy come true and I was the most happy guy in the world! My patience and determination were rewarded. I checked the oil level before every ride keeping it at maximum line – was not difficult because The engine did not take more oil than it should have in this bike. Everything was fine all the time, except of some starter motor problems while hot – very common thing for this model I suppose.

Thanks for those lovely moments CBX

One day, when it was extremely hot again, I went for a longer trip – almost 200km each way. I have almost reached the destination when I noticed a strange noise from the engine. I managed to come back home riding slowly and carefully. It seems to be something with a shaft or its bearings. I had to replace the head by spare one, because the mechanic noticed that the exhaust shaft was damaged very badly. The engine's bottom was not verified yet and I am curious what I will see there. I had my new cbx for 6 weeks only! ;((

Anyway : here comes the conclusion. CBX is a lovely but so old and, I must say that, quite defective construction! It is a huge pleasure to ride it, breathing its exhaust fumes, feeling its vibrations and hearing its sounds. Especially when you have so beautiful, almost perfect one as mine. Sometimes I am thinking of a new motorbike, I imagine I can afford buying whatever I want, but I am coming to conclusion that there is no such motorbike I would like. When I think of nowadays motorbikes with LCD diplays instead of analog speedo-meters, with catalysts and fuel injection systems – motorbikes drived smoothly and without vibrations, then I am sad. I am sad because I realized that something beautiful came to the end, something has gone. I know that it is not so easy to sell machine like cbx today, especially broken, so I will start to repair it next spring if there is no offer until that time. Maybe I will ride it for some time but it won't be the same : my passion and love to cbx has died. It is not a reliable bike, you never know what is gonna happen. I have to ask myself if I wanna ride a bike or repair it infinitely. I should had done it many months ago, but I was idealist and belived in my dreams. Now the time has come.

(jogi997@o2.pl)
Dec, 2009