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Date: Wed Jul 23 08:12:25 2003
Name: dave

rob
I used to get the equivalent of a first class rail ticket plus expenses i had a new family then and every penny counted !
dave

Date: Wed Jul 23 06:08:25 2003
Name: rob
Type: CBX 550F2 (Integra)

sorry Dave but i just have to ask if that commuting distance was right? or was it those japanese digit gremlins again!! you did say four hundred and eighty miles there and back?
must have been a bloody well paid job!

rob

Date: Tue Jul 22 22:08:19 2003
Name: dave

Basmaf
It just goes to prove the old addage one mans meat etc ......I bought my g5 in '76 just 12 months old and up until I stopped using her about 5 years ago she never let me down once , in the late seventies early eighties I did some work in redhill about 480 mile there and back and at that time she was one of the quickest things on the motorway ( don't laugh it's true, we're talking cortinas and marinas here) !sure the original exhaust fell to bits and the rectifier corroded but that was all, but I did do an oil change every thousand miles.
Dave

Date: Mon Jul 21 19:44:14 2003
Name: 
Type: CBX 550F

Rob
They were nice pies thankyou very much.
But I now have to leave them well alone, if I want to to go on my Ireland trip, and use my leathers as well.
bugger, and I am hungry

I had a G5, and what a huge heap of elephant shit it was.
Watch out for the self destructing camshaft, just to start with.
I think the indicator bulbs were the best thing about them.
They, at least, worked.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/basmaf/bikes5.htm

enjoy

-Basmaf

Date: Sat Jul 19 16:47:07 2003
Name: mark thames
Email: m.thames@unisonfree.net
Type: CBX 550F

i have a red/blue cbx550f 1982 and i am trying to find a new engine for it

Date: Fri Jul 18 15:09:14 2003
Name: dave

rob
as I have two old bikes residing in my shed, one, my dear old g5 ( poor brakes and sloppy suspension ) and next to it my cbx sans engine ( good brakes and taught sespension)so the plan was to graft the front and rear ends onto my g5.
http://users.macunlimited.net/liz.head/honda/index_1.html
oh and get rid of that ghastly 80's paintscheme.
dave

Date: Fri Jul 18 07:58:38 2003
Name: rob
Type: CBX 550F2 (Integra)

Dave.

G5/cbx hybrid? tell us more.

And yes Basmaf i was on about suspension NOT tyre pressure.
15 stone!! Who ate all the pies.......?

Bill, i just have to ask. What happened at the time of the change-over,i can imagine the problems with bike/car dealers trying to sell a motor with an mph speedo after the change-over.

A final question for all you UK based people, has anyone been down to London recentley by car or other congestion charged form of transport? Did you notice any odd blokes standing at junctions/traffic islands with cameras?
Who are they? Are they part of Red Kens secret army of spies to catch all motorists.Or am i just being paranoid.......i think not!

rob

Date: Thu Jul 17 12:28:51 2003
Name: Bill
Email: blchrist@sasktel.net
Type: CBX 550F

Fraz,
You bought a good bike. I have owned the same bike as you
since 1985 when I bought it with 63 Kms. Harry has been
extremely helpful with colour codes for European bikes. I
live in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and Harry does not know
if the codes he posted are universal. But now that I know
that you have the same Canadian bike, could you check your
codes for me? You can find them under you seat on the
rear wheel well. Haynes has a fairly good Workshop manual
for the CBX550F.

For Rob, Canada uses the metric system. Only the USA uses
the old imperial system. Canada converted to metric in the
late 70's.

Date: Tue Jul 15 20:06:16 2003
Name: 
Email: dave

basmaf
When I last used the bike in january I think the exhaust wasn't blowing but at the moment it looks like the latest find of "time team ".
dave. ps are we gettng our tyre and suspension pressures mixed up ?

Date: Tue Jul 15 19:55:29 2003
Name: 
Email: basmaf@ntlworld.com
Type: CBX 550F

Rob
I am interested in the exhaust
Is it really in that bad nick ?

I find that 32/32 front/rear and she runs fine, even with my slim line figure of 12, (who are you trying to kid, you laying fat basta*d, add another 3), stone.

My front tyre runs down to about 10psi after about a week and the front end then feels as if it is covered in glue, and stearing is nearly non existant, and as to leaning it over, a big no confidience at all, pharp, pharp, trip.

Bearings.
Harry.
You are a star, again.

From my Honda dealership, and part numbers
top. 324803
bot. 325505
cost 35.50 quid.
ouch

I have been told that if I take the removed bearings to a supplier, he can match them.
I will probably do this when I am on my hols, last week of of August, first 2 weeks September, before I go to Ireland on the RS, unless I get a cheaper offer......
-Basmaf

Date: Tue Jul 15 18:31:50 2003
Name: dave

rob
when my cbx was running ( sob ) I ran 45 psi in the rear and 12 in the front, but for some reason mine had a lot of "sag" in the front end ( even before my dainty 18 stone was added !)
if any of you chaps want a free exhaust ( motad neta ) its not a pretty site but with a wire brush and a lick of paint it would look ok , I still plan the g5 /cbx hybrid so I'm hanging on to the running gear, trouble is I live in warrington so it would only be worth it if you were passing anyway.
dave

Date: Tue Jul 15 07:00:30 2003
Name: rob
Type: CBX 550F2 (Integra)

After a first sentence like that me and Basmaf can see the tumbleweed blowing through the room!! (Sorry, you have to be a vic and bob fan to get it!)
To make it up to Basmaf and I, i think you should invite us over the middle two weeks of august. no wives/girlfiends!

Back to bearings...

i would have thought that due to the shipping costs from germany, it would be just as cheap to order from DS.

And just to go off at a tangent...what air pressure do you chaps use in your front/rear suspension. I have just checked mine for the first time in ages. Back was Thirty PSI, no change made. Front was nil PSI, put ten PSI in.
A quick spin tonight showed the steering to be a bit quicker.
I mention this because Classic Mechanics did a test/reprint of the cbx/gpz 550. They mentioned that forty PSI in the rear suspension reduced the back wheel patter!!But then again i'm not a tubby bike roadtester! Just a trim ten stone!
any thoughts?

rob

Date: Tue Jul 15 03:06:20 2003
Name: Harry Teicher

Eee lads

Can see you are having difficulties finding your bearings, so have ferreted out colour codes (in German) from Franks CBX page (http://www.cbx550f.de/). Pretty self explanatory, but I am not sure if these codes are international? Otherwise you could mail / phone the dealer below who should be able to help you further.

Die original Farbnummern f die 550

Wei(white): NH 121
Blau (blue): PB 120
Rot (Red): R 117

Hersteller: R.H. Lacke
Tel. 04243 / 8887

Mit diesen Angaben sollte jedes Mischzentrum in der
Lage sein die Farben richtig zu mischen.

Date: Fri Jul 11 20:59:30 2003
Name: 
Email: basmaf@ntlworld.com
Type: CBX 550F

Rob
zero APR over six years... Now your just being silly.....
For flat caps you are thinking of Barnsley.
We, in York, would never stoop so low as to wear a flat cap.. How common.
And as to ferrets, what brand of underpants are they ?
I have never come accross them in York.
Do M&S sell them, or are they only availabe at C&A ?
But whippets, we race them, with jockeys, from Doncaster, on their backs.
I thought everybody knew that.
But cracks...... Now I could say that that was my subject, but alas no.....

So now back to the real world, and bearings.
Ho hum..
-Basmaf

Date: Fri Jul 11 06:52:11 2003
Name: rob
Type: CBX 550F2 (Integra)

Basmaf, seeing as your a yorkshire lad, i would have thought zero APR over six years...at least.

And now that you have confessed to being a yorkshireman, would you like to let us all know if you wear a flat cap and own a whippet. Oh and whats the crack with putting ferrets down your trousers????

rob

P.S. Hi Fraz. welcome to our little bit of the internet. Any questions, just ask. with any luck if someone knows the answer you should get a reply.
You will have noticed that things can get a bit technical on here. The current topic is headbearings and ferret insertion. As I am not an expert in the latter subject, i am looking forward to Basmafs intricate response on the subject.
By the way Fraz, i always thought that north america used miles not kilometers. or is that the french connection.....

Date: Fri Jul 11 05:17:13 2003
Name: Fraz
Type: CBX 550F

we are from London Ontario canada. I just bought a 1983 550cbx for my son as a first bike. It has been stored in a heated shop for a few years. The odometer had about 10000km. on it and in two months he has already put it up to 1350km. It is Pearl white and blue with a read stripe. I want to know more about the bike so I thought i'd join your meassage board.
Fraz

Date: Thu Jul 10 16:47:21 2003
Name: 
Email: basmaf@ntlworld.com
Type: CBX 550F

Ah, but I am from Yorkshire...............
So I want it for 5 pence, including the fitting, which I want at 14:33, this sunday, outside the pub, where I will be drinking my pint of orange and water, with lots of ice of course, and you have 23 mins to do the full job, cos I then want to ride home on my bike, and not forgetting the two year warranty......... and whilst your on with that job, you will be able to get to the opil filter, so you might as well change that and the oil as well, and then there is.............
(oh, and I want it all on finace, at 0.0005 APR for 2 years)
So the problem is ???????????

PS.
To answer the real question.
She has a notch and is fine in straight lines, but you can feel it when trying to turn slightly. It don't want to.
At high speed she wanders slightly, and I gat a patter from the front end.
The patter is caused by the head bearings being loose, (When I do an update on my website, you might want to read about the major problem I had with this on my RS).
I may have to pull them out first, and take them down to a supplier to match.
I will keep you all informed as I go on.
-Basmaf

Date: Thu Jul 10 08:29:17 2003
Name: rob
Type: CBX 550F2 (Integra)

how odd! when i took the cbx for an MOT a few months back, they said that the head bearings were notchy. If you do find a low cost replacement Basmaf, please let us know.

By the way Basmaf, how did you notice it? The only time that i can see it being a problem is at low speed?
Was this the case?

And as for David Silver spares, i used them for the first time at the weekend. I ordered an oil filter. cost. six quid. with p&p. eight seventy five. not bad as far as i am concerned, considering i ordered on sunday and recieved it on wednesday.
In the past i have found m&p a bit slow on delivery, more than a week in some cases. If David silver deliver that quick to me, then as far as i am concerned, its worth the bit extra.

rob

p.s. i see that Bills question has gone unanswered, anyone have any ideas?
As i have a blue and white as well, i will have a nose around for the colour codes Bill.

Date: Wed Jul  9 21:02:43 2003
Name: 
Type: CBX 550F

Errrr..
Don't know, and I must admit, I never even thought about it
My mission, should I decide to accept it, is to......check.
Stay tuned to next weeks thrilling episode of,
Head Bearing, The sequal.
I now need to go and lie down in a dark room....
-Basmaf

Date: Wed Jul  9 00:12:59 2003
Name: dave

basmaf
aren't the 400 and cbx bearings one and the same size ?
dave

Date: Tue Jul  8 17:08:00 2003
Name: 
Email: basmaf@ntlworld.com
Type: CBX 550F

Dave
I don't mind the 23 quid for the bearings, it's the postage costing nearly as much that pisses me right off.
Thats how Dave Silver makes his money.
I got some for my 400/4, years ago.
Retail 20 quid.
Cost me 4 quid from a bearing supplier.
-Basmaf

ps
Adrian.
Still working on the speedo, keep with me.

Date: Tue Jul  8 05:30:03 2003
Name: dave
Type: CBX 550F

Basmaf
twenty three quid is'nt bad for taper head bearings , if you check out m & p they're even dearer
http://www.mandp.co.uk/
I've tried going to bearing retailers but never found anything available or cheaper
dave

Date: Mon Jul  7 21:55:17 2003
Name: 
Email: basmaf@ntlworld.com
Type: CBX 550F

Hi chaps.
I need to buy some new head bearings, as mine are well notchy.
Does anybody know the part number or specs for them please.
I am after buying pattern bearings as these will be a lot cheaper than OEM items.
Dave silver want a hefty 23 quid, plus tax and postage.
thanks.
-Basmaf

Date: Mon Jul  7 12:07:59 2003
Name: Bill
Email: blchrist@sasktel.net
Type: CBX 550F

I am looking for the colour codes for my Canadian CBX550F.
It has a blue and white tank with a red stripe. Can anyone
help me?

Date: Thu Jul  3 07:44:41 2003
Name: rob
Type: CBX 550F2 (Integra)

a long,long,long time ago....i was helping a mate to strip his honda 400/4.cant remember why. having removed the head, imagine our surprise when the barrels refused to move.
after about an hour of lump hammers and large screwdrivers and some broken fins, imagine our further surprise when we found the last bolt/nut that held the barrels in place was not INSIDE the head/rocker cover. but instead, hand been hidden under a few years worth of muck on the OUTSIDE!

that bike was never the same again! he got rid of it not long after, minus the odd fin. wonder why?

now anyone want me to rebuild their top-end?

oh, by the way Harry, i was thinking about your poor brother in law. i know just how he felt........

a mate,a good one at that, once managed to put one of my bikes into someones garden wall. and guess who picked up the bill? and to cap it all we got dragged into the local magistates and convicted of assorted insurance offences and fined.

anyone else have a horror story.....

rob

Date: Tue Jul  1 16:00:46 2003
Name: Harry Teicher

Yeah, like the time I was cutting an article out of a newpaper and my brother-in-law came by with his new GSX.....stuffing the scissors in my back pocket I ran outside and was offered a ride - well, to cut a long story short I ended up paying for a seat recovering.

Raise me, Rob?

Date: Tue Jul  1 06:19:34 2003
Name: rob
Type: CBX 550F2 (Integra)

hi Phil

oh fork! why did'nt i think of that! At least its sorted.
You did say that you had just bought it,so i expect a former owner had failed to re-fill it.
Oh and dont feel daft. im sure we have all done somthing far worse......like the time with a mates 400/4.....on second thoughts i wont tell you that one. but if anyone else cares to start i WILL finish it!

rob

Date: Tue Jul  1 03:44:17 2003
Name: Phil Beech
Email: phil_beech@blueyonder.co.uk
Type: CBX 550F2 (Integra)

Hi Rob
Thanx for your input: i thought i was going mad with this problem, until I got to checking fork oil level: right hand leg had virtually no oil in it (Don't know why, the seal hasn't leaked on a subsequent road test), AND, most stupidly of all, the horn was in the wrong place. What was happening was that under heavy braking, the forks were diving excessively, the horn was hitting the mudguard and flattening it onto the tyre!!
With the fork oil level corrected, the horn re-sited, NO MORE PROBLEMS!
I do feel a bit daft though!

Thanks Again

Phil

Date: Mon Jun 30 05:31:58 2003
Name: Harry Teicher

Sounds like you are running too lean - fuel starvation. Bogging at 4500 sounds like wrong needle position (too low would give lean mixture) in the carbs, possibly following cleaning. I assume you have adjusted and synchronized the carbs after cleaning? Also, putting the slides in the wrong way round could give grief. A second possibility could be timing advance failure. A third possibility could be a clogged ventilation hole. Given the fact that you have cleaned the carbs, the first possibility seems most likely.

Date: Mon Jun 30 00:34:08 2003
Name: Richard White
Email: richjentrav@ns.sympatico.ca
Type: CBX 550F

Hello, I own a 83 cbx 550f. I am having problems with it. It idles fine and sounds perfect until about 4500 rpm....then its got a bad bog in the carbs. Had them cleaned then took for a drive and it boged again then quit. Was doing this for awhile but used to come out of it if you razed it. Any ideas of prob??? My new spark plugs were white tiped like they were getting hot?