I'm creating this thread to document my winter project as I progress, which is to rebuild my CBR.

The bike is a 1993 CBR 600 F2 with 39,000 KM.

I recently had this bike for sale, because it had some issues that I was reluctant to deal with as I have become impatient with this bike lately.

However, I came to my senses and decided I love this bike too much to part with it, so I am doing a ground-up reconstruction and removing the for sale sign.

The work I plan to do is as follows:

Esthetic:
Frame completely stripped and powder coated
Swingarm powder coated
Wheels P/C
Misc paint and powder coating (fork legs, engine covers etc.)
Engine completely cleaned... look how dirty that thing is!
Undertail

Mechanical:
All suspension linkage, swingarm,steering headandwheelbearings replaced.
Misc. thread repair on frame
Wiring clean-up
Fork springs swapped for my weight + heavier oil
Suspension set up properly
Brake bleed
Radiator flush
Carbs cleaned and dialed in to the T
Head needs work- Valves may need replacement, look like ****, stem seals also.
Pistons need inspection and cleaning
Cylinder honing
General inspection and replacement of faulty engine parts (water pump, oil pump etc.)
Clutch cable


List to be added to as I go along.

I've purchased a new bank of carbs, a new swingarm and a new slip-on exhaust on Ebay to be shipped and arrive in a couple weeks.

The carbs are from a low mileage bike and are to be used for donor parts to make one good set of carbs.

My current swingarm is damaged from my Hindle exhaust that was mounted improperly by the previous owner, there was no clearance for the exhaust when load was put on the suspension and so there is a deep rut on the swingarm where the muffler has rubbed away - the back side of the exhaust is also chewed up.

Feel free to comment and follow along as I dive deep into this project, it should keep me busy until February or so as I plan to pace myself with this project and do everything "the right way". The finished outcome I hope will be a brand new CBR that feels better than it did when it rolled out of the factory.

This morning it looked like this:


A couple hours later:


Not much later:


The fun part:

 

More progress and pictures to come, now it's time to sleep.

So much for pacing myself, I got too much done today... Although disassembly always goes by quickly.

 

Lookin good so far man. Im usally pretty good at taking things apart too. Its just the putting it back to gether i dont realy understand. lol

 

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but when I do a large project like this I have everything incredibly organized.

That way everything goes back together smoothly, when things are labelled and kept in rows and groups.

 

No i could tell in the pics that everything wasent jus laying aroung u in a circle. lol Thats me i jus rip it apart i guess without slowing down to see how its going to go back to gether.

 

Went back and did a little more work to the motor, some cleaning of the cases and further tear-down.

Pulled the valves


The exhaust valve guides are worn and will need replacing, i'm going to have to call around and get some quotes on head work.


Stator cover, Clutch cover,Pulser cover, Oil cooler, Water pump, andThermostat removed


One of the water pump cover bolts was corroded very badly and snapped in the water pump, I drilled it out and tried an easy-out but it wasn't budging so I may have to drill a little more and re-tap it.

I'll be splitting the cases tomorrow, cant wait to see the motors guts.

 

I'm curious as to what your main bearings, piston and heads look like. You say your bike has about 24,000 miles on it? Mine has roughly 33,000, and like you I'm kind of at a crossroads because I really do love the bike, but I'm thinking of moving toward an SV650 EFI. You didn't happen to do a compression check before you tore the motor down did you? It'd be interesting to see what kind of PSI each cylinder has at that mileage compared to from the factory.
I will definitely be watching this thread as I consider doing some engine work like this myself. I think it would be helpful to others if you could post links to where you get things like gasket sets and other internal engine parts if they aren't from the dealer or the other usual suspects (bikebandit or ronayers).
Also, if where the cases go together don't have a gasket, I highly recommend the HondaBond semi-dry gasket maker for when you put it back together, its better than the high temp silicone stuff you'd buy in the auto stores and cheaper too.
Good Luck with the project!

 

I checked the compression months ago and remember that at least one cylinder was below spec, I was trying to diagnose an unrelated problem so I forget the exact numbers and never tested if it was rings or valves.

The pistons, bearings and cylinders all look mint. The cylinders still show honing marks and very little vertical lines - there is also no ridge at the top of the cylinder which tells me there is little to zero wear.

The head looks great also but the ports are filthy and the combustion chambers are completely built up with carbon or possibly burned oil (big chunks of black crap). The intake valve seats look good, and the intake valve guides are not worn at all but the exhaust seats, valves and guides are going to need work.

I will be replacing the piston rings (obviously) and will price out crank bearings which don't NEED replacement but for peace of mind if they are not outrageous I will replace them.

Elmer, I don't know if I would recommend the SV650 if you are looking for an upgrade... I think the F2 is probably faster?

There is no gasket between the halves so I will check out the HondaBond product, thanks for the recommendation.

I am usually quite good at sourcing parts online so if I find deals I will post information about where I find them.

Pictures to come tonight, just need to get to my home computer.

 

Clutch and cam sprocket removed


Oil pan removed


Cases split


Crank and pistonsout


When splitting the cases, be sure to put the motor upside down so that the tops of the pistons are towards the bench. You lift the bottom half of the crankcase off and the transmission and crankshaft stay in the top half.

When removing the pistons DO NOT PULL THEM OUT OF THE BOTTOM OF THE CYLINDER. The piston rings will get stuck in a relief in the crankcase and lock your piston in place, then you're screwed. Pistons must be pushed out of the top of the cylinder.

Closer look at the crank bearing surfaces


Very light wear, not even worth mentioning... Cant really see from the pictures

One of the cylinder bores, almost no wear at all


Piston close-up


In good shape, but nice and scummy on top.

One of the combustion chambers


I had already wiped away most of the carbon, but you can still see the black scum built up, it's the same in all chambers.

 

Good luck with the project. Looks like you're off to a great start. I just wanted to mention that in the first picture it looks like your frame may be a little short. It could just be optical but it appears that the front tire is a little close to the lower fairing and the upper is a little higher above the fender than it should be. I.e. the rake angle is steeper than it should be.