My fall project is ALMOST DONE!

[Gogar]

Here's where I started:



The tour manager of my band used to race sportbikes in another life. He had bits and pieces of this 1987 Honda CBR600Hurricane in our warehouse amongst guitar amps, cases, and a buncha stuff. I always asked him, "What's up with that bike?"

He always said, "Unh. Well. It's toast. done for. Blown the F*ck up." It never really went past that.

Well, one day he called me and sait "Hey, man, 1-800-GOT-JUNK is coming, and do you wanna throw anything away? I'm getting rid of some old furniture, the bikes, etc."

THE BIKES? No way, dude. I'll come get 'em.

And thus began my journey..

Well, he was right. It was blown the f*ck up, that's for sure. The bike had about 9k miles on it and there was a crack in the block that had mixed oil and water together, and seized the bottom end. Then, unfortunately, someone took the airbox off to look inside the carbs and then left the bike outside for a few rainy months. Toast.

Anyway, I pulled the old motor out (much like a porsche, 4 bolts and a jack is all you need.) And for some reason, after it was out, I kept going and going and going.

So, I repainted the frame and trim bits, new tires, new brake pads, brake lines, fluid new petcock, fuel lines sprockets, chain, and a 3k mile donor engine from a 1990 model. And here I am today:


I gotta say getting the carbs clean and right was a b****. I spent about $250 in carb parts alone, all of the floats were cracked and broken from water, all new gaskets, idle jets, mixture screws, etc. But once I got it right, it was great.

The 1990 engine and all the race bits that came with the bike bring me in at right under 100hp, which is waaaay more than I care for on a bike. But It's great fun. I'll get more pics later, but I can't find the little USB cable for my real camera.

I still have a few pieces of plastic to paint and then I'm done! I had to forego a real paint job for now, So I've been working on my backyard sand and rattle-can chops. Maybe if I ride it for a while and enjoy it, I'll get it painted correctly.

Thanks for reading!
Gogar

[slodave]

Cool! Glad to be able to see the bike you have been talking about. Looks good!

Dave

[Chocaholic]

I'll bet there was nothing like hearing it run for the first time. Congrats!

[Wickd89]

Nice Gogar. How many hours did you put into it.....

[azasadny]

Excellent work there!

[djmcmath]

Very nice -- and encouraging to those of us who aren't done with our silly projects yet.

[Noah930]

Oooh. Very nice to resurrect a first generation CBR600. Congrats.

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by Wickd89

Nice Gogar. How many hours did you put into it.....

,

Well, I'd guess about 80; but 20 of it was reading the Clymer manual forwards and backwards 3 times, and about 30 hours was doing stuff over that I screwed up the first time. Some of it was tricky; those inscrutable Japanese like to change little tiny things every year or two. I spent 2 or 3 days scratching my head with "no spark" issues and "Dead CDI" fears before I found a little little tiny footnote in my Clymer that mentioned "1987-89 motors have a dual-trigger system, 1990 has only one." The pulse rotor on the 1987 motor has 5 "fingers", the 1990 has 8 or 9.

So, yeah. Those little tiny victories are awesome; and the sound once you get it right and know it's gonna work.

I would say the first ride is exciting, but it's a little too nerve-racking to ride and look all over the bike and go through your mental "torque spec" checklist.

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Oooh. Very nice to resurrect a first generation CBR600. Congrats.

Yes. Once I found out that 1987 is kind of a "special" year for those bikes, I was excited and more determined to make it cool.

I don't know if it's my kinda bike, but it is very nice. It was a little daunting for me at first (what is this stuff they call "antifreeze?") but in the end I was impressed with how easy they are to work on, compared to my other motorcycle experiences. I didn't even need the "magic smoke" jar.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by Gogar

I would say the first ride is exciting, but it's a little too nerve-racking to ride and look all over the bike and go through your mental "torque spec" checklist.

This is a big reason I sold my FZ750 shortly after I finished it as well. I just couldn't relax wondering about how even the smallest mistake in my assembly could cause complete lack of control at speed.

I was confident in my build, but I just could not relax completely.


Well done on the bike BTW, the Hurricane was an icon.

[Hugh R]

Wow, nice, pulled back from the dead.

[Noah930]

Well, then, you've got the best of both worlds in that rebuilt bike. '87 was the first year for it, so the chassis will be stamped with that vintage. And '90 was the last, so theoretically you've got the best year motor. After that, while Honda kept the CBR designation, they dropped the Hurricane moniker due to insurance concerns. You've put so much work into it. Hang on to it for awhile.

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Well, then, you've got the best of both worlds in that rebuilt bike. '87 was the first year for it, so the chassis will be stamped with that vintage. And '90 was the last, so theoretically you've got the best year motor. After that, while Honda kept the CBR designation, they dropped the Hurricane moniker due to insurance concerns. You've put so much work into it. Hang on to it for awhile.

Yeah, the '90 motor is spec'd at 93 hp, and '87-89 at 83hp. So goody for me. '90 had 34mm FCRs instead of 32mm (which is what I'm using) so I dunno if any of the extra hps came from the bigger carbs.

But, with a drilled airbox and a K&N and a Dynojet Kit and fancy headers, and a Yoshimura, I'm havin fun. Loud fun, but fun.

[Joeaksa]

Good job and glad to see another one saved!

[Gogar]

Here' some fun pics:

It'll clean up, right?




NO problem. Just a little machine work.



Aye, I think she's not a-movin, cap'n.



I think we're a little past the "Marvel Mystery Oil" at this point.



Some parts I could keep, though. Wasn't a total loss.

[Gogar]

And, after some headaches, some good "Learnin'", and about a case of B-12 Chemtool:



Love that '80s "Plastic stuff everywhere" look.



Racy headers and "Yoshimura" fart-can:



12K rpm? That's nothin these days. 150 mph? Mmmm, sounds scary.



Trick steering stabilizer for you "Ricky Racers" out there.



When I'm done with my spray paint extravaganza, It'll look kind of like this:



Alright! Good backdrop, too.

[Gogar]

I synched my carbs today with one of those mercury vacuum gauges from "Motion Pro." $60 and worth every penny. Fun, too. Made idle much better and everything seems much smoother. They recommend in the Clymer that you get less than 1.5 (inches?) of variance and when I started, the high-low was maybe 6 from #1 to #2. So I'm happy!



Drilled airbox and K&N - good for at least 0 -0.5 horsepower, right?

[charleskieffner]

i think yer turning japanese........................I REALLY THINK SO!

honda has unreal shelfloads of parts to support old bikes. amazing what you can get for old mini trails, 3 wheelers, elsinores, street bikes, etc.

looks good. time now for a trip to the twisties.