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When I was a youngster I couldn't afford a car and the only motorbikes I could afford were old pieces of Pommy dross because by the mid nineteen seventies everybody with half a brain in the UK realised they were utter shite and they were therefore almost valueless. Sure we used to talk about 'Jap Crap' but that was because like all young men we were stupid automata whose every waking thought was driven by our penises. It didn't stop anyone who could afford it buying a Japanese bike though because they were just superior in just about every way! OK, so they didn't handle as well but that was simply because the crappy British junk didn't produce enough power to tug the skin off a rice pudding! Never mind over tax its frame! They all had shite brakes and the first thing you did with any Japanese motorbike was put new tyres on it! Back then all Japanese bikes had Bridgestones as OE and Bridgestone seemed to have developed a compound that has no grip but the wear properties of granite! Riding on them was like riding on something carved out of a Cairngorm, only slippery! My first real motorbike was a BSA A10 with a huge Watsonia sidecar on it. There was an anomaly in the road rules that meant you could ride a bike of any capacity if it had a chair attached. I had been forbidden by my parents to get a motorbike so it had to live at a mates place and I lived in perpetual fear that I'd be seen by my father who was a GP when he was out on his rounds, (These were the days when doctors still made home visits to people who weren't actually dying!). It also was the reason I got into mechanics as I certainly couldn't afford to have anyone else work on it so I had to teach myself how to maintain it, badly, but I never managed to do anything that actually killed me! Over the next few years I went through a load of other old shite. In fact anything that came my way that would actually propel itself down the road, no matter how wonkily, with me on board. I even had an Ariel 'Bleeder' at one point a bike that combined a startling amount of threadbare ugliness with a two stroke motor of profound lack of both performance and reliability! Utterly loathsome. I even at one point picked up a Ducati 350 MkIII valve spring model at one point. The only Ducati I ever owned it was unspeakably horrid as well. I somehow managed to scavenge a Desmo head for it from some weasly little spiv in Huntingdon, rebored it, ran it in super carefully and the first time I gave it 'The Berries' down the Sawston bypass it blew the crank out of the bottom of the cases. The only salvageable part of the whole motor was the bloody Desmo head! I sold it, and the cycleparts, back to the spiv who smirked and gave me less than I'd given him for the head. Bastard. Anyway, that gave me a lifetimes loathing for Ducatis that remains with me to this day! I returned to riding shitty Pommy bikes but by the early eighties I'd learnt enough to be dangerous and my last foray was with my little Triumph T500. It rolled off the production line the same year I did but over the, in hindsight, few years I had it I hotted it up to way over Daytona spec and it was, for what it was, a bit of a weapon. It would give GPz 550's a run in the traffic light GP but, because the little head was still doing the thinking, all the effort went into making it GO and none into making it STOP so it still had the single leading show front brake that wouldn't lock the front wheel even in the wet! It was a f*cking death trap! I have no idea how I survived it! Along the way I had one of my favourite bikes of all time. A Jawa 350 with a Velorex chair. What a wonderful thing that was! And a revelation! Unlike the Triumph which would gleefully 'Nom-Nom-Nom' a timing side main bush every 5-6,000 miles the Gentle Jawa was stone axe reliable, had brakes that worked and would carry me, the girlfriend and a mate and all our camping gear down to Devon for the weekend AND get us back to London afterwards. Soon after I met Jude in '83 and wooed her by taking her to Paris in the spring on the Triumph, (Which for once didn't break down!) I decided enough was enough. Doing complete engine rebuilds every 5-6,000 miles had whiskers on it so I looked around for something else that wasn't a total nail. A few weeks later an ad popped up for a Moto Guzzi V50-II. A brand I knew nothing about but a bit of research said it was a pushrod twin so I knew it would be simple and it had, 'Gasp!' Shaft drive! It was also very cheap. I found out why when I when to look at it. The then owner was even more youthful and obviously feckless than me! He'd rattle canned the whole bike black! Everything! Forks, brake rotors, tyres, the lot! What a knob! But it was cheap so I took it away, scraped the paint off it and proceeded to thrash it mercilessly for a year or two and it never went wrong! I sold it when I went to Oz with Jude in '83 and when we returned at the end of 84 I used a small inheritance I'd been left by an aunt I ended up buying an SP 1000 that I owned for twenty years and took with me when I emigrated to Oz in '88. After going Italian I never looked back. Those Pommy bikes of the post war years had only one redeeming feature. They taught you how to wield a spanner! Why? Because you had to. The odds of you getting anywhere without being stranded or run over when you sputtered to a halt in the pouring rain, at the bottom of a hill, in the dark were very high. But unless you were riding on a day that didn't end in a Y that was what was going to happen. Dear god they were awful! Many people forget that and view the past as halcyon days to be viewed through rose tinted specs but the reality was much harsher. The only 'Good' thing about the 'Good Old Days' is that they are gone and anyone who says otherwise needs a 'slap up the head'! Bugger Norton! I fart wetly and lavishly at them, with pinpoint accuracy!

My first 'big bike' was a '72 non-combat commando. I bought it Christmas 1981, for $350. After getting it running (I don't say tuned, because I was still completely ignorant) first thing I did was learn how to burn out in a circle like in Mad Max. Then, February 27, I and an equally stupid but better equipped friend left Detroit for Daytona. We rode about 30 miles, stopped at his parents' place, where I discovered only 2 of the 6 cradle studs holding the driveline in the frame remained. Fortunately, the marine hardware had exactly what was needed, in stainless steel so expensive it cost near what I paid for the bike. Then it rained from Toledo to Macon, Georgia. Took us 3 days to get there, but the bike ran flawlessly the entire time- discounting discovering that the reserve tube was missing from the petcock on I-75 in the bottom of Cincinnati, forcing a half mile push uphill to the previous exit. My 'snowmobile' suit turned out not to be waterproof, and the blue die stuck to me and I was a Smurf for a week. I remember blasting into Chattanooga sliding both ends in the rain at about 70mph, giving no shits about my safety; a hospital would be warm and dry and I was willing to make that trade. This trip was ten years dead before I could tell the story and laugh. So we make it past Atlanta, the temperature went up to about 55* and the rain stopped. My friend was on a '75 BMW R75/5 which had the precise same gearing as the Norton; the harmony next to each other was beautiful, and finally the trip was fun. On the Macon bypass, at 1 in the morning, at 55mph, I heard and felt a bang and my left leg was hit by something, then very hot and wet. I thought the timing chain had broken and cut my leg; when the State Trooper stopped with his flashlight, he found a hole in the cases big enough to stick the head in. That's when I discovered that Norton used aluminum conrods... I took my license plate, packed what I could in my buddy's panniers, left the key in it and left it against the guardrail never to be seen again. The trip home from Daytona was worse, but that's another story. Then there's that '70 Fastback in buckets on my garage shelf, waiting to redeem the Norton name.

Carefully watching this thread...

You have never been in a love/hate relationship until you have owned a British motorcycle .

I never rode a Hesketh but I do remember on the few occasions I saw one they looked like they needed a wading pool to park in to keep the oil anywhere near them. They were like a colander with a wheel at either end!

$175/hr to play doctor ? Hmmm. What , uhh , do you own a CBX or is this a desire to own a CBX . To live in Decoy , Ky I have seen some exotic stuff around here along w/no desire to own any of it. Be careful for what you wish , you may get it

You want the truth? a turn or 2 one way or the other ain't going to make a whole lot of difference to a V11. If you are 2 turns more on one side than the other thats the tyre centre line 1mm off centre. I'd be more than happy with a new bike if I could get the track withing 1mm. More important to make sure the pins are snugged up and locked down and there's no side to side movement. Phil

AFA all the prefix and suffix characters of bearings you will have to Google or look in a bearing manual to interpret the information. All that stuff has a reason so use all of this when purchasing replacement bearings. You do want the rear wheel tracking in the center of the path of the front wheel . I rigged up a contraption of two florescent lamp bulbs to show where the rear wheel is located in relation to the front. Use the center stand to keep the bike the bike upright and place the front wheel straight ahead . Make your adjustments to get the rear wheel in the center of tracking . When you get your alignment finished , tighten one adjustment screw to about 30 lbs to seat , back off and get it just snug (hand tight) then tighten the adjusting nut.

Backed off a full rotation seems like a lot to me, but I'm no expert.

Seems decent with 1 cylinder low on comp for whatever reason. Looks like the guy who's selling isn't an "engine guy" more a chassis aesthetics guy so isn't prepared to go inside the engine. Your question isn't answerable without knowing what the asking price is. Also you haven't mentioned the mileage believable or not. As for $175/hr labour well that's in the luxury/rich persons bracket isn't it? I had to laugh at the working environment, budget quality tools and cheap old rusty compression tester, working outside in the dirt. Probably best he left the engine alone. I often look at the background more than the item to get an idea of whats on offer. A plus is he hasn't been inside the engine but the reality of old bike restos is if you need to farm out the engine work to someone else the risk is high and your pockets need to be deep unless you are exceedingly lucky. At your mechanics rate i'd estimate a simple top end flex hone job with new rings and valve seat lap and re assemble would be 8 hrs work at least plus parts. So you can see how the costs can blow out if anything else crops up. Phil

It's coming up in two weeks, do not miss this super fun event, one in every major city world-wide! https://www.gentlemansride.com/

Docc , that has been a while back . You just want to get the front/rear tracking the same. What these pivot adjusting pin/bolts are doing or where they end up mean very little . Think valve clearance adjusting screws. The lash is what matters . The # of threads doesn't matter. BTW , the thread pitch is 1.0 so every revolution changes things by 1.0mm

1) hmm.... it is not that I could not fix it myself. It is just a matter of workspace and tooling. As for biker buddies, I do not have anybody that I know with a CBX 1000; at least at this point in time. Davey says he maybe able to help me with someone that he says used to own one. 2) I don't know if that guy is a great mechanic... actually, to understand if someone is "great", you need to work with him for a little while, so you can judge. This guy is young, self-taught, which does not mean much, one way or another. Take a look at the video herewith. In France, near Paris, we have a college that specializes in fixing automotive stuff. I would certainly trust someone who graduated from there. 3) I certainly don't need one. I still would like it though. 4) The forum is a nice comfort zone because it is like a blog of the well known issues of the V11. It is like a perpetual memory.

G'day mate. Honda CBX world and ICOA are both USA centric CBX forums as far as I can tell.... It may be worth a look? Our ole V11's are pretty basic bikes but they sure as hell have some foibles that this forum is brilliant at sorting! The CBX forums may possibly be handy for same or if only pointing you to someone reputable? Cheers

I looked into this for the kid that doesn't want contacts. Not as expensive as I'd imagined; they can be had for ~$120 for a TUSA. I'm sure one could spend many times that for higher end stuff.

I would treat it like other bearings you set, tighten it so it is tight, but not so tight it cause it to bind or drag. The swing arm should still move easily, but it should be as tight as it can be and still allow the swing arm to freely move. But I am no expert.

I also reckon that's probably too much. Sure, it is a fine pitch thread, but still.

Now has MOT, replacing engine oil and brake fluid this weekend

That is because he has air time and has to say somethin' . Lok at H-D , their forks are/were made by Showa , or whoever is the low bidder is now .

G'day. I also had a mate with one and got to ride it back in the 80's. His one is still going strong too I believe. Mate there is a thriving owners club here in Oz but also very active clubs for them overseas so maybe contact them for advice. From what I know they are or can be EXPENSIVE to restore and like anything have their foibles so maybe specialised advice may save you $ ?? Try CBX world and ICOA both seem USA centric? Cheers

There was an auction in Houston, two weeks ago. There was one CBX 1000 in top shape for sale, it went for 30k. Kaplan cycles had one, 2 weeks ago, but I don't know how much it sold for. Same year, same ugly handlebars, by the way. Once I get into the nitty-gritty of where the owner got it, then I will know.

My experience with the CBX 1000: a bloke I shared a house with in the early nineties had one. It was in pretty good nick, and I was able to ride it a number of times. My bike at the time was a 1976 Kawasaki Z900, so as you know what I was comparing to, but I rode a lot of different bikes belonging to various friends at the time, so I wasn't "one-eyed". Incidently, the bloke with the CBX also had a Le Mans 850 III, and it is predominantly his fault (for letting me ride that as well) that I now own Guzzis. Anyway, the CBX is big and heavy, and has a late 70's japanese frame. 'nuff said. And it is an enormous amount of fun. That motor is absolutely fantastic. Although the motor looks enormous, it actually isn't any wider than the Z900 motor. I know this for certain. I measured them. The one in the photos: I reckon you're right about the "buying it as a project". Either he's done a "pimp my ride" on it to turn it over, or he started in on renovating, and has given up for some reason. The photos indicate that he got into the carbs and brakes, not purely cosmetic things, so maybe he really intended to finish it off. If I had the readies to get it finished, I would buy it. I reckon a CBX in good nick must be like hen's teeth, and if you do find one, it is likely to be astronomically priced. I'd be inclined to take the risk. When it is finished, you know what you've got. The risk is that there is something in there that needs doing and might break the bank. But then you might not, and at the end of the day you would have a brilliant bike. EDIT: if you buy it, throw away those stupid handlebars immediately, and put something useful on there. The ones in the photo would undoubtably turn a reasonably sporty bike, according to the standards of the time, into a heavy pig.

I am. I used to dive with contact lenses; I don't recommend. You need to be able to remove your mask underwater, put it back on, and expel the water. You can do it wearing contact lenses by closing your eyes until your mask is dry again. Unless someone knocks your mask off, and then you lose the contact. Later on, they made contacts that you wear and throw away. So it wasn't as big of a deal. As Audiomick correctly said, you can get prescription masks, but they are not as practical. Because the correction is only localized. Also, when you have younger kids, their shortsighted vision evolves a lot.

Had breakfast every morning with the John Player team that year, NICE. Cheers Tom.

Thx for the report! One of these years…

Those Norton Rotary racers are some of the coolest racebikes ever made. The sound, the spectacle of them, is amazing. That is a more interesting Norton to me. The guy behind them made a few new versions, track only, a couple years ago as I recall.

While I accept the thrust of your argument, winning the 1992 Senior TT with the rotary was an achievement, and a worthy revival. Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk

Personally I like the new / old Commando. I think the Kenny Dreer version was better, but this latest version seems all right. Funny, there is a tie in with this thread; Because I believe ever since the Kenny Dreer remake it has been a 270 degree crank to reduce vibration at the displacement and rpms they are running.

At least the Hesketh had sex appeal. I wanted one in the worst way, even stopping by the importer's house in California, or Colorado...Brian something maybe? *edit* Roger Slater. It wasn't easy to find his residence in 1979. Probably best it didn't happen.

At least yours has been sawn properly. I just got my jacket from the alteration lady this afternoon, and the patch is slightly slanted. Of course, she may not have the eye for it. Never mind that I warned her before the job! Grrr!

Thank you, again, @p6x !

Hi @ScuRoo are there any Aussie commentators like this you could recommend? I follow Matt Barrie (here he is on the Equity Mates show) and would be interested in others of a similar bent. I find it odd that people escape from the UK to Oz, and yet the situation almost seems worse there (from the outside). cheers!