Hi all,
thanks for your attentive and thoughtful forum.
I am the very proud new owner of a CBR600F PC23, 1989 UK model, which I purchased from the UK and had shipped to me here in Australia.


Fresh off the boat and safely in its new home.

I'm super excited. Its my 9th motorbike.

Here is my 8th, but this picture is 34 years old! This is one of the first sold in the UK and I rode it for two or three years, toured a bit of France and Switzerland on it, commuted to work, went on fun rides with mates -- all that stuff. It was pretty nice. And it was very new. It had none of the issues of age about it. Because I was working and had little spare time or equipment, all the work was done at the motorcycle shop. I loved giving it a new chain, it would change gear so sweet afterwards.

The observant may notice I had sheared off the left handlebar weight and was yet to replace it. I hope I never attempt that kind of lane splitting again.

Boy did I love riding that bike.

So, once I peeled off the crate from my new red one, I started it up, which was great. But I found a little pool of fuel gathered on the gearbox casing under the carbies. That and a few other bits and pieces need attention. Of course, this bike is now 33 years old. Its not quiet the fresh young thing I remember ... but it could be very good. Luckily I have a bit more time now than I used to have for workshop projects!


Lots of cleaning, lots of small things to attend to.

Lots of helpful information here. I hope I can contribute some of what I learn.

 

Looking forward to seeing more of your project!

 

I arrived in London in 1987 and started commuting 100 minutes each way to work. So, found a GS550. Was a bit clunky, so got a Honda CX650 E. But then I noticed in the classified this bike with a fully enclosing fairing. It was a new image for a motorbike, so that is why I went to buy it. I assumed it would have the goods to match its looks and that turned out to be right. For various reasons, I stopped riding but I did read. I read books about the Honda company, primarily management text books, but then others. Obviously I looked for references to the wonderful CBR I had owned.

The more I got into it, the more I realised that the enclosed fairing wasn't the only remarkable thing. (Tell me if anything I say here is wrong.) The engineering turned out to be a pivotal model in the history of motorcycles. There were management debates on what the design formula should be for the original CBR, but in the end the design mix was to be water cooling for better heat dissipation allowing wide bores, short strokes and high revs, low cost steel frame and an aero wrapping. Even though these elements were unremarkable in themselves, the design integration was outstanding. It was a huge leap forward. At the time it wasn't to be known that the 600 would redefine its class. A 750 and 1000 were developed concurrently but most sales went to the 600. It was a racing breakthrough. A freshly uncrated new CBR600F was entered in a race against fully prepared bikes from other manufacturers and kept pace with the leaders (Cycle World May '87 page 42) In Daytona one year, the first 14 racer crossed the line on the CBR600F1. (Robert L. Shook, Honda, 1988 Prentice Hall Press, page 58) Basically the CBR600 owned the class, if you weren't on one, you weren't in the race. Check out this video . But still, you can ride it down to the shops for a milkshake, or commute to work on it.

And that is part of why Cycle World looked at the new CBR600F and saw 'the dawn of the age of the 600cc superbike". (page 44)

Buying an old CBR600 and giving it some loving care is a worthwhile thing. This Honda represents a very special achievement. I haven't even commented on the importance of the new aesthetic this design introduced and how that served to distinguish and benchmark the design.

I have a list of stuff to do and I'm slow at doing it.
Removed heated handlebar grips.
I have replaced the o-rings in the carbs, but they still leak. It must be the needle and seat, which I didn't replace.
It starts and runs. I think I hear some cam chain noise cutting in, disappearing. Seems to have a lot of vibration when I rev it a bit, but until I ride it, I won't really know I think.
Can't ride it till its registered and it needs to get checked over before that happens.
Fairing is pretty good, but where its had a re-spray it could be done a lot better. The cover over the fuse box is warped, I'd love a new one of those.
Exhaust missing the bolt near the footpeg.
Downpipe 4 has burnt part of the fairing. Maybe its a custom replacement, unsure.

So, lots of amusement in store. It looks completely promising.

 

I replaced the o-rings on the carbs using a kit from LiteTek, as suggested on the forum. When I reassembled, bike started up, and idled okay. But petrol was leaking from under them as before! I am using the same float valve, probably I haven't check/replaced/cleaned these properly? I didn't check the float levels either. So I need to go back to that. I am learning, but not quickly enough!

But I have another question that is really puzzling me. When I went back an hour later after starting it, I saw a 5" diameter oil spot under the rear calliper. I traced the oil back on the underside of the swing arm, then to the top of the swing arm nearby the rear brake calliper. The trail disappears under the water overflow bottle. The bottom of the bottle seemed wet. Any suggestion what this is? It seems like clean engine oil, perhaps putting some heat allowed some spill from topping up the oil to be released - but that is already lower? The back of the gear box is dry. I took the battery box and rear mudguard off but still can't see what's happening. Suggestions welcome!

 

Hmm, this oily stuff is actually petrol residue. Feels like very clean, light oil, smells like petrol.

 

Yeah, leaking petrol from carbs flowed along engine & swingarm and picked up oil along way.

Carbs need complete restoration. Disassemble done to every last nut & bolt and individual component. Everything scrubbed with PEA-based fuel-system cleaner. Including hidden secret hidden passages in carb body. Everything soaked in ultrasonic cleaner using caustic radioactive solvents. Everything micro soda-blasted on re-assembly. Replace all rubbers: float bowl seals, float valves, fuel-rails O-rings, pilot-screw O-rings and washers, even slide diaphragms if neeed. Measure and adjust float-levels with final wet-test.



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Thanks very much for the advice. Clearly the voice of experience. At least I'm more familiar having been into them once and the task doesn't seem as scary as before! I haven't seen that tin of cleaner that you can dunk each carbie in overnight, in the local auto parts shops, here in Australia. Will keep looking.

My wife tapped me on the shoulder the other day and said 'garden'. And it may take time for me to get the replacement float valve. But it will happen.

Merry Christmas BTW.

 

I installed a new set of o-rings, cleaned everything and it started and ran okay. But fuel was leaking from the carburettors. The kit I purchased didn't have float valves.

I purchased another kit that included jets and float valves. I decided to take it to a nice man at 'Old School Motorcycle Service and Repairs' in Perth. When I collected it, he had not replaced many of the jets as the specification was incorrect. So there is a little difficulty in that this model was sold in the UK, its VIN number bracket is not on the US honda parts catalog, so perhaps that's why things don't match up. I havn't found the parts catalog that applies to UK bikes. Anyway, he replaced much of the parts, reset the floats and when I installed it, the bike ran and sounds very good. No carbie leaks. Bike is not yet licenced, so I didn't ride it.

Later I discovered another fuel leak which appeared to come from the petcock. Those are easy to get so I installed a replacement. Bike ran very nice. But then, still a fuel drop forming around the grommet that is right near the petrol tap. Hmm, this suggests a tiny leak through the seam of the tank in that location.

When I initially started the bike, wow! A very noisy vibration, at around 4k rpm. Second time, this noise cut in at 3k rpm. Then I discovered a missing bolt and bush just after the 4into1 of the exhaust, just under the right footpeg. I fashioned a bush and bolted that up. Vibration gone and that was a big relief. Engine sounds very good now. I checked tappets when the carburettors were off, and adjusted three of them so they are all right on spec. A bit of cam chain noise. Until I can run the bike properly, I can't warm it up to do an oil change, which could take care of that. The cam chain tensioner I removed and checked, seemed to work okay.

Today I found a motorcycle petrol tank lining kit in Perth. Called Repco - nothing. Called Auto One, got a suggestion to go to KBS coatings. Talked to a helpful guy at KBS coatings who explained the process and mentioned their wholesaler in Perth, who is Auto Body Supplies. Went and picked it up. Searching on the internet is okay, but phoning people is heaps faster. So the three step process, clean, etch, coat, is waiting to be done.

I'm in Perth on the west coast but 80% of Australia's population is on the eastern sea board, some 3000 miles away. Patience is needed when chasing parts - including from overseas.

Some enthusiastic young fella did a home spray job on parts of the fairing at some time previous. Only problem was there was no cover thrown over the bike, so everything has a fine layer of red paint dust. What a pain! This has kept me entertained with a rag and various cleaning agents - with partial success. Plastic parts come up good. White wheels turn pink as the solvent mixes the red mist with the underlying white. Hmm, slightly annoying.

Start up and run, 20 seconds Did that work?

 

Managed to find a replacement petrol tank. I've checked everything over as far as my experience allows, now over to someone with a lot more knowledge and experience.

So I took my first ride, Hmm, nice throaty sound! Everything working.
Dropped the bike off to Old School Motorcycle Service and Repairs. I think the tank is from an F-J, while this is an F-K ('89)
Very exciting. I love this bike. All the controls fell to hand. Throttle control seemed okay, but just wandering around suburban streets has its limitations. Think the tires might be a shade down on pressure, should have checked them again before I left.

 

Yep, pressures were down about 20%. Makes a difference that I could feel even after decades out of the saddle. Also, note-to-self, worth putting on the right boots, for that close connection to the gear lever and that smooth snick snick through the gears. What fun to be actually in charge of the whole thing again after the isolated, cosseted feel of the car.