Project Honda Sabre V45

[GoonerYoda]

OMG...what have I done?!



Picked it up this 1984 Honda Sabre V45 w/26k miles for..........$200.

Buddy of mine is going in 50/50 with me so the risk is minimal for both of us.

Dead battery, flat tires, broken head lamp, leaking lower fuel reserve tank, some surface rust, etc....and hopefully, not a nightmare. LOL

This is going to be a long term bobber project. Any advice on V4's and shaft drives are welcome!

[MacNoob]

Even though you are going to bob it I still want to watch. Loves me the old Sabres.

[GoonerYoda]

So the bike will not start. Drain the old gas, put in new gas. Replaced battery. Replaced spark plugs. Seems to have good compression. Doesn't look like there any fuel flowing from the tank (didn't see any fuel drain from the float bowls). Ideas? Carbs gummed up?

[H96669]

Good luck getting them carbs out of there if that's what it is. I used to own one of them, and sure glad I never had to remove the carbs.

My friend just got one and I did look again. It should be possible to at least remove a fuel bowl or 2 and assess what may be lurking in there. His,however running reasonably well is sitting around with lots of seafoam in the tank/carbs. Been like that for a couple months.

[tntmo]

If it has been sitting for as long as it looks like it has, the carbs will have to come off. That is a fun job, make sure you write down all the words you invent so you can share them with us.

Checking/adjusting valves is another fun job. The early V-4 Honda models had some cam issues so you may want to go through that hell just to make sure.

[GHO100]

This ought to help a lot:

http://wiki.sabmagfaq.org/

If you have an interest in these honda V4's, you should consider getting on the SabMag email/digest. Inexhaustive fount of information, wisdom and old bickering men.

[Gramp-Z]

As an owner of 3 V-45s and 1 V-65 , let me chime in . Yes getting the carbs off is a real pain in the a$$ . It is time consuming and a bit tedious . I did that with my V-45 last winter . I would guess the float bowls are full of crap . Use as much care as you can when taking carbs apart and also fuel petcock . Utmost care if you get as deep as the diaphragms , they are hard to come by . Don't sweat the big bad cam problems , I didn't have any real problems on any of mine . The biggest way to kill them is lugging them much under 3,000RPM for extended length of time . If you use a 1/4" ratchet with a philips bit (short) , you may be able to remove one float bowl to see whats in there before committing to the removal . As far as valve adjustment , it is fairly easy after you have done it once . Good luck , I will be following along .

[pjm204]

The best part of taking the carbed off is having to buy all the little plastic connector tubes you inevitably break. Can I be the first to say, please don't ruin this bike by bobbing it. That would be incredibly lame.

[L.B.S.]

Originally Posted by GoonerYoda

bobber

*shudder*

No personal slight or offense meant


It's just for me, "bobber" instantly means the death sentence to 99.999999999% of any poor bike that could have been so cool if left unmolested.

I'm not some OEM nazi purest, I love customizing and tweaking of bikes, but jeebus, Bobber is the new OCC or something.


Bobber:

Chop off the rear fender, make an ugly 1960's looking diy flat as a board monstrousity of a seat (or better yet, make it a solo seat exposing the rear tire to the rider's ass if he hits a bump), slap on some hideous walmart looking tailight, remove the blinkers, stick the licence plate on sideways, hanging off the rear axle like the Harley guys do, take the front headlight off and also replace it with some ancient abortion found in a dumpster, spraypaint everything flat black, add mini apehangers (or old chrome clubman drop bars) (with white barrel shaped grips) remove one of or both of the front disc brakes, and last but not least, the absolute de rigueur of the Bobber poser "must haves": remove the front fender and add 1950's era tires straight out of the Sears catalog.

Oh, and not to forget, the absolute requirement to wear the costume- a "cool" orange glitter open face helmet with no shield, Raybans, a rebellious and edgy pre-holed and stained t-shirt with some WWII era MC or oil product manufacturer's name (the more obscure the better) plaid lumber jacket or distressed folding lapel leather jacket with patches, crests, pins, and/or a cartoon devil smoking a cigar, skinny faded jeans, a wallet with chain attached to belt loop, and Hi-top red or white canvas running shoes.

[KMC1]

I've had about 6 of the old V45 Magnas and absolutely love that motor.

That said, I'll bet money the tank is rusty on the inside, the carbs are gummed with varnished old fuel and the 2nd gear pops out if you shift into 2nd hard... that last part is obviously not related to the starting issue... . Oh and probably some leaking vacuum lines. Personally I would go through every rubber line on the bike and replace them, the full system most likely needs a thorough cleaning, new o-rings in the petcock, etc. in addition to cleaning the carbs.

The carbs are the key to having one of these run right, but they are not for the less mechanically inclined....a good honda mechanic is worth getting to know......

[KMC1]

Oh, and +1 on the don't bob it voting....

[Marco Moto]

Yep, cheap or even free bikes can be the most expensive and time consuming, especially because parts are hard to find.

My 2¢: don't "Bob" it.
In my opinion Bobbers are cool only if made with the "Beach Cruiser" bycicle in mind and a small, fairly light engine, better if single cylinder.
If you really want to chop it up you should make it into something that is consistent with the engine type and power.

That said, good luck on your project!

[MADSTROM]

Do yourself a favor and read up on JIS screws vs Phillips screws and save yourself a lot of problems rebuilding anything with screws on that bike.

http://www.instructables.com/id/When...rial-Standard/

[kellymac530]

I have a Studebaker truck and in the Studebaker world we have a saying..."There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Avanti".

I have found that often translates to most aspects of vehicles. The cheaper up front, the more they cost in the long run.

HOWEVER, this bike looks quite complete and if you get it all running with minimal expense then it may be one of those few exceptions. they are out there and they do happen.

If you are just looking to have some fun and a tinker project then this is cool. They were a good bike.

[baloneyskin daddy]

If you pull the carbs soak them for a few days in pinesol . There are a million internal passages in those carbs .There is also a company that will ultrasonically clean them and even have some available on a swap basis.Not cheap but as I said these carbs are very hard to get completely cleaned out.