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1986 Honda V45 Magna

Discussion in 'Other Motorcycles' started by Timbox, Jul 24, 2019.

  1. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    I know....four bikes in two months! All the same guy, he was just giving me a great deal as I was helping him out with the bikes.

    I will get some pics on her tomorrow, this bike is red, looks to be in okay shape. 36K miles on her. What I found when I got her home, battery had juice, both front brake and clutch were in nasty shape. Cleaned both reservoirs and started the process. The front brake came back fast and I was able to get good fluid through both calipers. I was happy about that.

    Then came that wonderful Magna clutch! Over an hr of messing with it to get all the bubbles out of the line, but at the end, she is working fine.

    All the lights seem to work, one broken RR turn signal.

    Took the air cleaner off to make sure nothing was living in there and then touched the starter button, she turned over! Let the batter charge for some time while I was draining the gas out of tank and finding a good positions to let is sit and soak. Hooked up a AUX gas and added a little choke. After a few cranks, gas is flowing out of the carbs so I shut down the AUX gas can. I hit it with a little starter fluid and it fired, good enough for me.

    Now to watch a few vids on how to pull those carbs out of a Magna. I remember what a PAIN they are to pull. I will do them right as I hate pulling these guys out more then once.

    Rest of the bike looks good as far as rust, not much, the exhaust looking good. Pics to follow.
     
  2. Chitwood

    Chitwood Well-Known Member

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    Be extremely careful with the brittle plastic parts on them! They are almost impossible to find. And yes, they are a PITA to deal with. I'll take XJ carbs any day
     
  3. Toomanybikes

    Toomanybikes Well-Known Member

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    If you buy nothing else, intake boots are available. If the old ones are like concrete it’s money well spent.
    16211-MB0-000 17$ each
    hondapartsnation.com
     
  4. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    I am trying to remember how many Magana bikes I have worked on..I think three. So from my trial in error days of trying to pull, push, pry, heat, spray and lever from engine to carbs, this is what I came up with. Two sets of ratchet straps. Just make sure you have them in places that will not break or bend parts on the carbs. I applied pressure from the top and from the upper front. Got them tight and then just used a little hand pressure on the cloth part of strap to get them moving out of the carbs.
    [​IMG]20190725_091029 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
    [​IMG]20190725_091024 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
    [​IMG]20190725_091045 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
    Now some might say this is wrong and it put undo pressure on some part or another, just what the choke lever on left side and make the pressure even as you go. Loosen only the clamps that attach to the carbs and add a little spay in there to help loosen things up. I use the same method to put them back in.

    The winner for the nasty carb of the bunch.
    [​IMG]20190725_093855 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
     
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  5. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Well I was corrected today buy the bike. I was looking it over and noticed the side covers say only "Magna" so that and the fact that the bottom of the jug say "699" would made this a 700 Magna and not the V45. I guess that is why there is only the primary gas tank and not that little pony tank under the seat. I am so happy with this, that and working about the V45/V65 gas tanks is a pain. Could not save the float jets and maybe one 38 jet is still not open. Besides that the bike is coming along well. Brakes are done front and back, checked the rear oil today, looks good and new. Radiator seems to also have new fluid in it, nice color of green. Carbs is the only thing holding me up. I should check the plugs just to make sure, but the valves are hydrophilic so no checking them.
     
  6. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Thought it was time to take the white vinegar out of the tank today.
    [​IMG]DSCN0004 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
    This is what came out on the first siphon pull
    [​IMG]DSCN0003 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
    I flushed the tank with at least 15 gals of water. Pulled the internal gas gauge and just poured pressured water to it until it was clear. Add about half a gal of gas with some mystery oil as an additive and swished it all around so it would not flash rust. Looks good so far and with as big of a fuel filter this thing has in it I hope to be okay. Still waiting on the float jets to come in but the rest of the carbs are ready to go.
    [​IMG]DSCN0005 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
    [​IMG]DSCN0006 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
     
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  7. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    And to correct myself, this is a "V42" the 700 of this type. in 1986 I guess this was under the 750 rule that HD made the USA tax the heck out of the metric bikes over 750. This is my first 700/V42 and so far I am liking it. I love the single gas tank like most bikes have. The V45/V65 have the two gas tanks.
     
  8. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Note to self, when you have a carb rack that is so hard to get in and out of a bike, always bench test it with gas! Cut the new gaskets, installed the rack and watched as gas came out from the bowl seams! walked out of the garage, got a drink, thought about the days when I was in the AF stuck at some place waiting on air flow (longest seven days) and calmed down. Ordered new rubber gaskets.
     
  9. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    The tarrif expired just 14 months after it was implemented. Are you reading the '86 from the title or from the VIN? Lots of 84/85 machines were still in showrooms in '86 (and beyond).
     
  10. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    I was reading it from the down stem on the triple.
     
  11. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    sometimes the date on stickers or plate is date of manufacture which can be different that the year of bike
     
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  12. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    JH2RC2105GM202240 Looks like the RC21 is the make and yr? I cant find the 700 Magna on the list.
    RC17 Honda CBX750 F G 1986
    RC24 Honda VFR750 F G 1986
    Some place in between these two.
     
  13. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Good thing I tested these carbs after the install of the new bowl gaskets. Needed two fuel line "O" rings too. That was fun! LOL, once again, if I didn't get this bike dirt cheep no way!!
    Will put the carbs on in the morning and I hope to hear her run.
     
  14. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Got the carbs in, give her a crank and it fires does not run. After much testing and checking, I think my battery was too low or old to give a good spark to the rear cylinders. If I pulled the plugs out of the rear cylinders, the bike would start and ideal on must the front two.

    Cut off some of the wire and tested the coil, it is in spec. Cleaned up the caps and put some grease in them as well. I swapped out the front ignition trigger wires and the coil sill did not fire. Then the weird thing happened, removed the front plugs put them in the rear coil and there was good spark.

    Conclusion, new batter and plugs will go in the bike tomorrow. Also found the front brake MC was leaking fluid....but it is close to running.
     
  15. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Well sometimes you win and sometimes you get this:
    [​IMG]20190820_103602 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
    I didn't smell the sweet smell that normally comes with coolant burning. I know this bike had been sitting for some time and the weep hole has only water coming out of it. So I will keep running it and check that the fan comes when asked by the thermostat and go from there.
    1. Carbs cleaned with new float jets
    2. Bad rear coil (ebay)
    3. Maybe a head gasket?
     
  16. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Can you tell what plugs were in the rear two cylinders? The ones on the Left or on the Right?
    [​IMG]20190820_145005 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
    The ones of the left if it is hard to see the Pic that well. Those are E.36 plugs if you are wondering, from the E3 folks.

    Did a compression check as well, what the heck. The two at the rear that share the gasket are very close to each other at 125 psi. The front two are closer to 150 psi and within 4 or so psi.
    Drained the oil, noting in it for contamination. I didn't see any bubbles in the radiator filler cap but I didn't see them in my Subaru Forester either and that head gasket was gone. Coolant is draining over night and I have to read up how to either pull the engine or do the rear head on the bike. Fun times, but at least the bike runs very well and the gasket is around $40.
     
  17. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Thanks again to the AFT and Acetone mix that seems to be the go to for rings that are seized or stuck. Once the initial smoke burned up right away from start up it was good. Then there was the smoke but after about 5 miles of light riding, the smoke was gone. Pulled over to take a look and it had stopped!! I have about 3 OZ of sea foam in the oil just to clean things up in there. The oil window is not looking good. This bike has a oil stick but still like to see what the oil looks like and what is going on with it. I did add a little sea foam to the gas as well, but I am not a big fan of that. No smoke is a good thing! So happy that it was only dirty carbs and a bad coil. Now to take care of the little things, new fork seals and see what else I can find to make nice. Always looking for the next XJ though.
     
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  18. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    Bring back a old thread here, got this bike out the other day. No smoke like the picture above, but now she is not running on one cylinder. I really don't like pulling these carbs but I think I will have to. I check all the fuel bowls and they have gas, so I am guessing that I didn't clean one carb well enough. Or something in the gas system go through and plugged things up.

    I check spark yesterday and even took it out for a ride. It is dragging a cylinder for sure, just hoped it would open up on the 8 mile loop I test ride. It didn't.

    Looking at picking up a older 1995 1400 Intruder, but after reading the review on "bikez.com" I will stay with the Honda. Looking for a comfortable cruiser bike in the under $2K price range.
     
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  19. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    That carbs were all full of what I would guess was left over residue from the tank cleaning. I should have run a full tank of gas last fall through the bike. I just got her running and took it for a small ride and then put her away for the winter. Should have drained the fuel out of the carbs, lesson learned.

    I took compressed air and blew out the factor gas filter and all the fuel lines. Really hoping this does not happen again as I am not a fan of pulling these carbs. Will put her back together today and hope she pulls like a good V4 motor should.
     
  20. Timbox

    Timbox Well-Known Member

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    I see a pattern with my carb rebuilding. It is not that they are clean enough it is me not getting the top diaphragms to fit correctly. This is the second bike this is happen to me on, the other was the XS1100. So now the bike is running as she should with the small issue of two front carbs are now leaking. Had to order new bowl gaskets for those.

    The other mistake I made was not bench syncing them, what was I thinking? I could not reach the sync screws on this bike, they make a special tool for it but not going to pay for it.

    I am getting lucky so far pulling and putting these cabrs in and out. I could not to it without ratchet straps and pry bar.
     

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