So Close...... Updated

[wantser]

Well, what a kick in the nuts!

I was so close to having the beast back on the road and it all went tits up in a few seconds.

Lets start at the beginning!

My CX came off the road around december and I have been needing to do a few jobs here and there to get her back up together. At first it seemed nothing much, needed a new tacho-cable and the speedo had just stopped working, so straight away assumed that cable had gone too, needed new tyres and instrument panel lights.
Now, having a car as well meant that there was no real rush to get the maggot back up and running. So i dabbled here and there taking bits off as and when I could find the time.

The first job was the instrument panel lights, which turns out to be not as simple as it sounds. The entire front fairing has to come apart to get to them and then you have to dismantle the instrument housing just to change two tiny little bulbs so you can see what speed you are doing in the dark! Did contemplate the headtorch route but thought "no, 5 minute job!". I should have know this was going to be the beginning of an up hill struggle.
Next was to get the wheels off and tyres changed. I did chicken out on this and hand the wheels over to the garage to change the tyres. Dont really have the tools for that one yet. This job went swimmingly although it is a bit awquard getting the front wheel back on on your own due to having to lift the wheel whilst keeping the speed mech locked in position, with one hand aiming the spindle through the holes. In the end I sat down in front of the bike and lifted the wheel with my knees to free up the other hands.

The tacho-cable episode. What an utter bitch to get at the screw that releases the end of the cable from the engine pin thing. This has to be one off the most time consuming 5 minute jobs ever. It is located underneath the fan housing at a 45 degree angle from the floor. So to get at it I had to take off the following. Some of this was probably not needed, but as the haines manual didnt cover it, it was trial and error. Fuel tank, crash bars, Radiator, exhaust, thermostat housing, fan housing (which is an absolute arse as you have about 1 cm gap around the fan and the thing bends down behind the fan). All this for a piece of shit screw that even when you get a long enough screw driver to, it gams up immediately as it is so soft. So I went with the old hammer and punch method (carefully) which eased it round and the cable was eventually changed. Although the screw was a phillips, I modified it with a hack saw so that next time a large flat blade will get in there with plenty of depth to avoid slippage and rounding off.
Speedo cable was also a bit of an arse. It too has a soft, shallow, sunken, phillips screw in the speedo mech on the wheel which someone had obviously TRIED to get off previously. Punch and hammer time again which got that little shit out. Modified it again with pre-mentioned method for future ease.
Put everything back together and stuck the battery on charge (baring in mind this had been done over a couple of months). Battery back in and tried to start.........."click click click click" "Oh shit, what now?!" Solenoid going like that usually means there is not enough current/voltage (whatever, I am not an electrician) to kick the starter into life. So got the Jumpbox out and connected up to try again. "click click click click". BOLLOCKS! So a new battery had to be bought.

Still with me? We are getting there!

So put the new battery in tonight and tried to start her. Would she start.......would she f@%k! Went through the usual checks, spark, fuel, smell blah blah everything fine. So baked the old plugs in the oven. Stuck them back in and she burst into life with a mighty growl. I was well happy.

Just as I was patting myself on the back, thinking about riding to work in the sun tomorrow there was an almighty "PING" noise and she flew through the revs. Luckily the kill switch still worked!
One word and one word alone went through my mind. And that word was "SHIT!"
I started her again and again she rev'd up to 6thou and stayed there. WTF?
So off came the tank and out came the torch. After an examination, yet another cable seemed to have failed me.
The throttle return cable had snapped, ripping it out of the throttle mech on the handle bar, cracking the front fairing on its way back under the tank. Thank christ my hand was out of the way!
So, I have ended up taking the carbs off and am now purchasing new return and opening throttle cables, just in case the opening one fails too.

So thats my good/bad, ying/yang, so close yet so far tail that I hope has helped at least a few people get some sleep. I have attached some pictures of tonights offending item and work for anyone interested.

New parts should arrive thursday, so hopefully I will be out on the weekend. Now starts the fun of setting up the throttle!!! Oh dear!

Wantser
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An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field

[quacker_boy]

Putting sparkies in an oven? That's a new one, might have to give it a shot. What temp should the oven be at in degrees C?
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wizzzard wrote: Imagine God just stopping by, tidying your front room up and then quietly letting himself out again. Statisticly more likely to happen than Korn being on here.

[wantser]

Wrap them in foil and heat them for a short while (30-45 secs) at about 120 to get them upto temperature. A little trick my old man taught me. Has a reasonable success rate too.

Wantser
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An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field

[Gazdaman]

Others give them a good roasting with a blow torch.

Nice read btw, you never expect cables to fail, that's why it's so much more of a bastard when they do.

Gaz

[2Smoke]

Ahh done a lot of work on old cx500's in the past. Hate them
Wait until the altenator coils need changing.. engine out job
Camchain tensioner breaks.. engine out job
Water pump seal goes.. guess what has to come out?

All the best
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Currently in the stable.. '89 TDR250, 86 NSR250 '79 350LC, '79 DT175MX, 82, Pasola, '98 R1, '95 Speed Triple.. all of them total sheds..

[wantser]

Well it has been another evening of fun and games.

Got the new cables and started by taking off the old open throttle cable. Whilst undoing the thing I inadvertently knocked the front brake connector thingy which popped out, broke part of one of the contacts and only god know where the little spring ended up. "Oh goody" me thinks...... brilliant start.

Anyway I got the throttle cables connected and proceeded to try and work out how the fricking hell I was supposed to get the rubber thingymajigs that connect the carbs to the airbox and inlet on in the tiny little space that I hads to work with! I thought, that to give myself some more room, the best idea was to take the airbox out. Has anyone ever tried to get that stupid thing out of a CX before? If you have please let me know how you did it! It was almost as though the frame was built around it! I took the top off, the filter out and jiggled it around for a good half hour and was no where near getting the damn thing out! As it turned out I didnt really need to as just loosening it gave me the play I needed to get the carbs back in and secured. Put it all back together and got her started ..... eventually!
So she now runs, and is almost ready to rock and roll.

Just some shitty little jobs to get right before the MOT. Brake light doesnt work with rear brake, temp gauge not working, the clutch needs adjusting and the horn sounds like a dog fart so that'll have to be changed.

Oh and I will need to get a front brake light thingy to replace the one I have bodged!

The switch works by moving a connector between two copper strips back and forth depending on whether the brake lever is in or out. Out (not braking) the switch's connector is not in contact with the copper strips and is compressed by a spring. When you pull the lever in the connetor moves forward creating the circuit for the light. It was the spring that makes it move forward that is lost somewhere in the deapest darkest corner of my garage!
So where was I going to find a spring that small?
Well I snapped a pen and whipped it out of there. Cut it down and now its working a treat. Got a good joke pen out of it too!

Anyways, pictures attached. Will hopefully get out on her this weekend!!!

Wantser
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An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field

[Kram]

the carbs on my CB400 superdream are in that setup, but no way of moving airbox/inlet pipes (to my knowledge) and they are a pain in the arse to get out. Glad you got it working though


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FS1E -> SR125 -> CB400N -> CB650 -> FZR600 Genises -> VFR400 NC21 -> CBR900RR Fireblade -> Renault Clio 1.4

[Gazdaman]

On the XJ600 it's like the airbox has the frame built around it. But you loosen the bolts and it slides back a centimeter or two. Just enough to get the carbs on.

And re brake light switches, if they're hydraulic you can get banjo bolts with a pressure switch in them. Plastic switches physically pressed by levers break far too easily.

Gaz