Service/fixing up question

[Icemaestro]

Hi, bike is a honda CBX250rs, single cylindar. How much would you expect to pay to get the rings done? Also, there is a small amount of pitting up at the very top of the right fork, with a little rust in it - should I worry about it/do something about it? there is no oil seepage, and something I read suggested that if there was no seepage you can just aryldite it? Also, as far as chain maintenance goes, what kind of lube etc should I use, and what kind of price are we looking at for that?

...I'd really like to learn about how to service/maintain my bike... It's awesome to ride, and I'd like to keep it going for as long as pos!

Cheers (from a newbie:-P)

[Conquiztador]

Hi, bike is a honda CBX250rs, single cylindar. How much would you expect to pay to get the rings done? Also, there is a small amount of pitting up at the very top of the right fork, with a little rust in it - should I worry about it/do something about it? there is no oil seepage, and something I read suggested that if there was no seepage you can just aryldite it? Also, as far as chain maintenance goes, what kind of lube etc should I use, and what kind of price are we looking at for that?

...I'd really like to learn about how to service/maintain my bike... It's awesome to ride, and I'd like to keep it going for as long as pos!

Cheers (from a newbie:-P)

Lets assume that she is running well and you want to do the rings because... well just because. You would have the barrel honed and rings replaced.
Honing: approx $50
Rings: approx $ 50 - $70
Gaskets: approx $80
Work: say 2 hours @ $65/h = $130

So all up $300 - $350 approx. (as long as nothing goes wrong...)

But she is a simple girl. Buy the manual and do the job your self. Or find a KB'r that is prepared to show you how for a doz of beers.

I would forget re the pitting. But as long as it is not inside the range of the travel of the bottom leg, then araldite away!

Chain maintenance: Keep the chain at proper tension (when sitting on bike approx 20mm movement at the middle is what I do on smaller bikes). There is chain spray that does not fly around the place and glues on to the chain. You get that stuff for $20 or thereabout.

Good Luck!

[tri boy]

Cost would be closer to $500 than $350. Cheapest labour rate I know of is $70/hr, and don't forget consumable charges etc.
Why rings? Burning oil?
Chances are it will be due for a piston kit by now if you want it done right.
The difference between doing cheaply, and doing it right, is about an extra 30,000 trouble free km's.

[AllanB]

Pretty sure there was a big-bore kit available years ago for these, cannot remember what it ended up as, 275 or something.....

[Icemaestro]

But she is a simple girl. Buy the manual and do the job your self. Or find a KB'r that is prepared to show you how for a doz of beers.

I would forget re the pitting. But as long as it is not inside the range of the travel of the bottom leg, then araldite away!

Chain maintenance: Keep the chain at proper tension (when sitting on bike approx 20mm movement at the middle is what I do on smaller bikes). There is chain spray that does not fly around the place and glues on to the chain. You get that stuff for $20 or thereabout.

Good Luck!

Thanks! The manual is rather hard to come by, theres a 18 Euro one for sale on ebay uk I believe, and thats about it! The previous owner briefly used one from a Zx or something but yeah.
As far as I can tell she runs smooth - gear change can be a little clunky, is that to do with the chain length? where abouts do you call the middle? the point midway between the gear and rear cog? I spent a couple hours cleaning all the crap off the chain and used some nice lube from honda that makes it look heaps better (and now no noise when spinning the back wheel. plus none seems to have flown onto anything as I gave most of the bike a good clean.

I've only ridden it about 7x in the last 2 weeks or so but the oil level doesn't seem to have gone down at all, so maybe Timmay was exaggerating about the amount of oil it goes through!

The front disc brake is also sqeaking a fair bit (braking is still smooth though) - is there somewhere I can CRC/lube to get rid of that?:-P

Thanks for all the help!!

(Btw I got an email quote from Wild west honda for a full service and the rings at 600 though he said he'd have to look at it first obviously though - I'm thinking might just take it in sometime for a basic service to get a good check of everything, just to see if theres anything urgent)

[Icemaestro]

Here's a picture of the right fork

[vifferman]

Brakes: Try cleaning them with some brake cleaner (aerosol can is less than $10 from SuperCrap). DON'T use any oil on it!
Rust: rub it down with some metal polish, and then spray it with some silicon spray, WD40, CRC, etc. It's going to keep rusting and look unsightly, but if you keep the air/water from getting at it, it will slow the rusting down.
Only other option is re-chroming (not worth it) or sand it back with fine sandpaper and spray it with some silvery (zinc) paint.

[Conquiztador]

Brakes: Try cleaning them with some brake cleaner (aerosol can is less than $10 from SuperCrap). DON'T use any oil on it!
Rust: rub it down with some metal polish, and then spray it with some silicon spray, WD40, CRC, etc. It's going to keep rusting and look unsightly, but if you keep the air/water from getting at it, it will slow the rusting down.
Only other option is re-chroming (not worth it) or sand it back with fine sandpaper and spray it with some silvery (zinc) paint.

Two ways I have done it w/o spending the money on re-croming:

1. Polish off with Autosol, then wash with thinners and then spray with clear laquer.

2. Fitted a sleave over. Black heatshrink is good. Fit one that is a little bigger then the leg, then heat up and it shrinks tight and looks decent. For balance you needs to do both sides.

[cactus]

Thanks! The manual is rather hard to come by, theres a 18 Euro one for sale on ebay uk I believe, and thats about it! The previous owner briefly used one from a Zx or something but yeah.



In reply to the PM (apparently my post count is too low to reply directly)
Yes, I have a workshop manual for my GB, strangly enough from memory it is actually one for a CBX, identical bike mechanically, just difers in the look a bit. It is only a photocopy that I have but I reckon you could probably make a copy of it and still have it readable.