1984 Sabre V65 stripped and parts in boxs

Finally after what seemed like yrs (it was) I got my hands on a almost full Sabre V65. It has a title but is missing the touring package that was factory. It also was missing both CDI's (one for front and one for back cylinders). A few of the OEM relays, fuel line tubing and the front fork brace is broke as hell.

After getting the CDI's, relays and going through the carbs, I got to start the bike today. Started right up and ran good, but I shut it down as the coolant and radiator were not hooked up yet.

Parts for the bike were in a box as I think they were parting it out. Gas tank is soaking with Evaporust in it, need to soak for a good week to make sure. I will go though the rest of the electrical connections while I wait. Take a look at the rear diff and change that oil if needed.

Hoping that the trans is good, not too sure why this night bike was being parted out. The compression check was 180 across all 4 so engine is good. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

the v65's are some good torquey engines..

 

Hey, Timbox.
Only had my 84 Sabre a couple weeks now. Was sitting for 4 years as the owner had health issues then passed away recently. I acquired from the widow. It's in beautiful shape (15K miles) and not a scratch or dent to be seen but knew it would not start after being in hibernation that long. Opened the carb drain screws and was bone dry with half a tank of gas. So, looking to rebuild carbs come Fall. I have never worked on any of the V4s but rebuilt many inline carbs. Are there any issues I may run into on pulling these out or really anything that might help to know in advance? Looking forward to the riding experience and was really surprised at how big this bike is. Never really seen one in person till now although I did ride the Magna when it was new.

 

@Blackbird
There is a trick to getting the carbs in and out of the space. You can watch a few vids on youtube and that will bring you up to speed.

Remove gas tank. Remove air box from the top of carbs. Remove the air box foot that connects the air box to the top of carbs. remove the radiaor covering on the right side of bike. There will be a 10mm bolt holding the top water tube to the air box. This will have to be removed.

I loosen only the carb side of the boots, make sure the clamps are very lose. On some the boot clamps the nuts are lose so don't back them all the way out.
Placing ratchet straps from the top part of the frame under the Top Hats of the lower or front carbs. Make sure not to mess with the choke linkage when placing straps.

Using a heat gun, heat up the boots for the carb holders very well. Spray some type of lubricant on the boots too, this will help make the carbs slide out better.
Start to tighten the straps and watch to make sure you are not hurting anything on the lower carbs. Once the carbs start to move up and out of the holders, take a long pry bar and see if you can get them the rest of the way out. Careful where you place the bar on the engine and the carbs.

Once the lower carbs are out of the boots you will have to do the same thing to the top or rear boots. Use the ratchet straps to help you keep constant pressure on the carbs. Pry bar and the cabs should be out of the carb boot holders.

The carbs come out of the left side of the bike and will take some effort to move them around a bit to make them come out. Once you get them half way out, remove the pull and push throttle cable along with the coke cable. You can even remove the coke cable before you try to remove the carbs, but after air box removal.

You might as well order some float bowl gaskets right away as they are old and will not seal once you take them off again. K&L makes good ones what seem to fit well.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me. You can also get lots of good info form the http://v4musclebike.com/ lots of great stuff over there.

Once you start your project please start a new thread would like to see your progress.

 

Took the rust remover out of the tank today. Unfortunately caused a few pin holes on the bottom back. Had to do some grinding and sanding and put some steal tank epoxy on the location. Hoping that will dry well and seal it for life.

Hooked up the AUX gas tank and ran the bike to temp. This gave me a chance to take the back tire up and run it thought the gears. So far trans is working but that second gear under a load is what I am worried about. No leaks and besides the light smoke coming from the rear exhaust for a bit, bike ran well. Once the fan kicked on, I let cycle a few times. Looks good enough that I ordered a new "supperbrace" for the bike so I can get it on the rd soon.

I still have to figure out what to do with the wiring up front. Have four relays up there that I guess I could relocate to under the seat area or even in the tail section. If I do that, it should make enough room for an aftermarket LED headlight and small fairing of some type. I sure wish I would have found the non touring bike that has all that done already.

 

Timbox,
Appreciate the time you took to explain the process. Sounds a bit involved but was kinda expecting it to be. I will be sure to post when I get going on it.
And that Evaporust is great stuff. I buy it by the pail (3.5 gal) and usually have a couple so I can fill the tanks to the top. Hope your patch job does the trick.

 

The holes were pin holes, I am sure from just sitting with gas in it for a long time. I will take a look at the tank today and see if it held. It was hot enough over the past 48 hrs so I hope it is fully dry. Holding to the scuffed surface is what I am hoping will hold.

Got the new grips in and still have to figure out what to do with the wiring box up front. I will post some pics of it this morning.

 

DSCN0025 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
DSCN0024 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
DSCN0026 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
So this is the mess I either need to move down or move to the rear of the bike. Kinda hard to put a headlight in this location with this mess. Any suggestions?
DSCN0004 by Tim Brown, on Flickr

 

Supper brace came in the mail along with the headlight. I will see how far I get today putting them together. I have the two lower motor mounts coming also, lot parts sale from ebay. The bike is starting and running very well, went thought the gears and so far so good. I don't know if it will slip out of second once it has some resistance on the drive train or not. Looking forward to getting her on the road for a shakedown ride and see if the wait was worth the buy.

 

Figured out the wiring for the turn signals and headlight (kinda). Mounter the turn signals on the headlight brackets, hope it is not too close to headlight so you can' t see them when activated. Took the bike down the road for the first shakedown, not a very long drive as the sky opened up on me. Just one of those days.

I will have to put a relay and new wires to the headlight. Seems the OEM wires a too small to carry proper current to the LED to activate High beam. Going to make time to get it out for another shake down ride. I am waiting on the front lower two motor mounts before I really get on it. This bike just seems to want to take long trips and sip gas. I forgot how tall the first gear is on these bikes. Will have to see if the Magna and the Sabre have the same gearing? I would guess they do.

 

Headlight and turn by Tim Brown, on Flickr

 

Headlight looks great. Bet it makes a big difference when driving at night. How was it getting the wiring stuffed into the back?

 

It was interesting, I made a new wire extension for for the headlight. Two relays in that box behind the headlight and all the handle bar control conectors as well. Once you get the relays in position not too bad. The cover really seems to fit secure too.

I have to wire in a relay and use bigger wires to run the high been. I have it wired up correctly but there is not enough power to light it up. I used my power probe to make sure it works and to make sure the swx is working correctly.

The motor mounts came in the mail, so now I can secure that engine to the frame and see how it really runs on the road. I know the back mono shock needs to be adjusted or maybe rebuilt. Road ready after the mounts and the relay.

 

Attention to detail got me again. The light is working just fine, I had one of the wires swapped. I guess the LED was grounding through the HI side when on LOW. Anyway, swapped two wires in the "three prong" and both HI and LOW work now.

Will order some new grommets for the side covers today. The ones on the bike are in nasty shape. All bolts are in place and torqued, so shakedown time.

 

The bike is doing really good, starts nice with a little choke and all cylinders are firing right from the start. That is good for this model bike. I am still having one issue, the speed. This model has the normal mechanical speedo drive that fits into the front hub. Instead of a cable running from the hub to the back of the speedo, there are three wires. Well, my little three wire adapter was frozen sold, would not move with the hub output. I finally got it freed up and ran it with a power drill for sometime to make sure it was moving freely.

So even though I have everything working from the hub up, speedo is not liking what it is seeing. Now what to do? Get a used speedo? Get a GPS speedo to replace the OEM? Have to look and see what is out there. Bike does run great and I love the sit on top feeling like the Seca is.

@Blackbird, this light is a sealed light all the way around. There is no bucket to put any wires into. On this bike, that black box behind the headlight is the wire and connector location. There are even two relays in there on this model. This was a factory touring model that had the front wind jammer on it at one time.

 

Those carb to cylinder head boots are only $10 each from Honda if the original ones are like concrete.

 

Last issue I hope....lol The speedo pickup or the speedo is not working. On this model there is a three wire sending unit from the mechanical drive to the wiring harness then to the speedo. I just ordered a GPS speedo to put in the place of the OEM one. I stop at a local one person shop and with the older bikes, they are doing it. Just gut the speedo in place and the GPS will fit inside the old cover.

 

Took apart the instrument cluster today, was gong to say out for the GPS speedo. Well lack of planning and and optimistic attitude did not help. The two not swap-able as other 80's bikes are. This bike has a fulled molded cluster and only the guts come out. Played around a little, cleaned some contacts, what ever I did by accident worked. The speedo is now working. I think the needle was just stuck in place from not being used for so long. Happy camper and get get a plate and insurance on her now.

 

Got the new solenoid on the bike. Had to modify the OEM plug to fit the new one, but it worked great. So Now the bike is road/trip ready. I think new spring I will get a wind shield for it and see it does. Nice to have one of these old mussel bikes in my stable. When they run right, they are smooth and got like the wind.

 

Bike is running very well. Headlight even works better than I thought it would. Now the issue of the rear shock! It is done, so I am thinking of getting the used replacement spring from a CBX and then mod it to fit the bike. Looks like there are lots of folks that have done that and are very happy. Right now the bike is a little scary to ride on country roads. Not good on the back and trying to keep a line in a corner is just not working. So, for safety and pleasure of riding, the shock will need to be changed.