What an unbelievably helpful video. Not sure how I'd never seen this before. Thanks! I'll give that a try and see how it goes. Is it fair to say that the oil that sits in that bow probably doesn't get cycled very much? Which is to say, it might easily gunk up over time? Also, what solvent should I use to clean? WD-40? Brake parts cleaner?

 

Awesome. Glad to help

I'd figured that it might act as a trap for gunk and other crud. To clean it out I'd start by hitting it with petroleum-based solvent and let it sit for a while. Doesn't really matter which type, but make sure it's compatible with engine oil - the last thing you want is for it to emulsify

Then I'd dump it out and hit with a bit of air to get the rest of the solvent out. Then add oil and it should be good to go

 

Cool! I'm thinking of using either sea foam or liqui Moly. Both seem to be common options to clean out engine sludge, which should make them useful in this situation?
Edit: actually I seem to have a bottle of techron lying around. And being in the partially-quarantined bay area, I'm inclined to use what I easily have at hand . Is techron likely to be concentrated enough to do the job?

 

To close the loop: I used techron, and it seemed to work pretty well. Even the techron was enough of a damper that I could verify that the CCT was working properly - it resists high velocity motion, but moving the arm smoothly and slowly doesn't create much damper resistance. I threw come 20W50 oil in there, and after the initial terrible rattle subsided after a few seconds, it seemed quieter than before. I need to take it for a ride to see if the rattle now disappears at speed. Thanks to all of you for your help and advice!

 

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hi Guys
as an mech eng i write this
ive beeb through 4 on my bike
the original was the one with the short throw and the latter ones were the long throw ones
they are very expensive to buy now at honda about 270 euro
the last one i took out i stripped to see what was up
what i found was that the damper unit , through millions of damping cycles had worn so that there was 0.1 + mm of clearance
thus there was no more damping effect as the oil was just pushed out
what i have done is have the piston hard chrome plated and ground to a very close sliding fit to the sleeve
i will rebuild the frame and lever system to the damper and see how it fares as compared to a std honda one
i think it will fare a lot better and last a lot longer
ill report when i have a result
paul