The 1983 CX650C Restoration

Well guys, I haven't been here because I've been doing this all winter. I sold my XJ and decided to put it all into restoring this bike. For people who don't know, Honda only made this particular model for one year. There were several Euro variants, but only 1 US model like this. The bike did not run when I bought it, but runs like a raped ape now. It has only 14,000 on the clock and sounds like it's new when running. I had a friend in Kansas City do all the paintwork.





My Grandfather passed away last November. Halfway through this restoration, I decided to make it a "rolling memorial" to him. The last photo is him in his Lola grad-prix car. He was in his 60's during that race.
The guy that did the paintwork has a trike shop in Kansas City, Wolf Trikes
Anyway this is the finished product. Still needs some new rubber, but that is only minor compared to all the other stuff I had to do.

 

Gorgeous bike man, nice tribute as well. Like a transverse V-45 or something

 

It's the famous Transverse V-twin. Honda made these for several years before they decided to go with the Shadow V-twin variant. They run forever. This particular model, the stator everyone claims to be problematic was redesigned for reliability. In other words, they wrapped it in a thicker epoxy to withstand the hot oil bath they take during running. The rectifier was also made differently too. I'm really happy with it. It has tons of torque. Right now it needs a clutch rebuild, which I am in the middle of. The nice thing about it is the ergonomics of the bike. My riding posture is MUCH more relaxed with this bike that it was with my XJ. That's another reason I decided to go with this project. Plus it's a unique bike now, show worthy.
I think it's cool when you peg the throttle at idle, the damn thing twists to the right really hard. I love it!!! :twisted:

 

That was the motor Honda used for their Turbo sportbike "technology statement" wasn't it?

 

Yes it was, the first bike with a turbo I believe. Don't know if the statement was true or not, but close to 100 HP from a transverse V is damn impressive. All the T-V's had 4 valves per cylinder. the CX650 in particular had a very tall 5th gear so cruising at 75 is nothing for it, it's got plenty of headroom after that.

 

I love the way you used more coats of the sparkling clear coat to create a ghost affect. How did you do it, with decals that were cut out or something like that?

 

Beautiful bike, what did it look like when you started?

 

hopefully the water pump doesnt go out ive had several of them . i do hope for your sake they did fix the stator. but plan on pulling the motor to replace the water pump you can replace it with it in the bike so they say but good luck trying you shouldnt have any waterpump problems unless the bike sat for long periods of time its rough on the mechanical seal. bike looks so much better then the 500s did for sure. and its the easiest bike in the world to ajust valves 10 min a side.but other then the water pump and stators the motors are bulletproof. also keep an eye on the chains in the motor if they start getting loose they will chew out the case and ruin the motor but you can hear them getting loud. would love to have a turbo model they really look good .

 

haha- that doesnt sound bullet proof- it's like saying- besides the exploding gas tank, the pinto was bullet proof. or besides the 2001 raptor 660 tranny going out, it was bullet proof

 

thats just about all problems they have very dependable . they usually run over 100k miles if taken care of .i had 1a while back it was a 500 it had 53k on it no smoke or noises and the former owner ran the living crap out of it. ran as good as the 1 i had with 11k . sold the pair of them bought a gs850 and my maxim x they were not me the 650 was a much better bike then the 500

 

I wish I had taken some before shots of it, there are some pics of the gas tank on Troy's website. The bike as a whole was very aged and corroded. I still have some ongoing rust removal, but very little. As far as being dependable, since the 650's were a 1 year run all I have to go on is what other people say of their GL650's which is nothing but good. The 500's sort of ushered in the 650, so many say the kinks were ironed out already. This bike has an electric fan instead of mechanical. The cooling system is a bit different on the 650's, but not much.
The stator has been modified, or was modified for the GL/CX650's However, if the motor needs to be pulled, from what I read it's much easier to do than on a standard bike. Thats not saying it will be quick, just a bit more simple. :roll:

I'll say this much, after riding for the last 3 weeks, it's a breeze to corner with and has a ton of power. Though the rear end stands up when you give it the wood from the torque, but I think it's pretty cool.

 

Sorry to answer your question, Troy did all the ghosting freehand with airbrush. There are no decals under clearcoat, it's all paintwork.