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1983 CX650 Eurosport restoration thread.

Tim-That CX Guy

Tim-That CX Guy

Resident Window Licker
Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Location
Santa Rosa
Moto(s)
CX650 Eurosport, CX500
Not long after having the engine rebuilt, my Eurosport developed an electrical gremlin that I could never diagnose. I changed just about everything but the main wiring harness. This year, after basically three years of not riding the bike more than a few miles, I said enough is enough, and contacted the guy who rebuilt the engine. Originally, the plan was to just fix the gremlin, rebuild the carburetors, return the exhaust to OEM, and a few other moderate fixes.s
Wrong.
This is going to be an off frame restoration.

For those who don't remember the history of this bike, it was imported from Canada back in 2008. I bought it around 2009.

Over the years, I kept finding really odd things about it that differed from my other Eurosport. Turns out that it's a prototype.
The first known and documented Canadian frame / engine number is 000013 / 000014.
Mine is 000004 / 000004. There were also some fit and finish items that were just a little off - an unmarked badge on the engine, matching bolts that were almost, but not quite a perfect fit, but had the same patina and wear as everything else on the bike.

So, here's where it starts.
 

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One of the more interesting things that was discovered during tear down was the decals.
The bike's decals were almost entirely French (meaning that it was originally sent to Quebec), however, the French decals were covering English decals.
There are no French restoration decals available, so we are having BDesigns create them for this project. The restoration will include the decals exactly the way they were found, French decals on top of English.
 
this is so awesome!
what are some other features of the Eurosport that are different from what we might see on us models?
 
For one, there are no U.S. models. Honda opted to not send this model here, so there are only a handful of Eurosports in the States, all of them imported from Canada.
Aesthetically, take a Honda GL650 frame style,
add CX650 turbo wheels, side covers, tail fairing, CX turbo shape chromed mufflers instead of black, rear disc brake, TRAC anti-dive front suspension.
CB1100F Super sport bikini fairing.
Basically, it looks like a naked CX turbo.
Transmission gearing gave it the highest top speed of the naturally aspirated CX's, although the CX650 Custom has a faster quarter mile time.
 
There is a build thread of a CX650 Eurosport that Larry worked on over the course of four years.
The bike that he built used to be my other Eurosport. I traded it to him for some work that he did on one of my turbos.
Article here:
CX650E build
He sold it recently for $15k.
 
Fortunately, Larry is sure that he can repair it.
He's built custom frames before, right now he's mulling over how to fix it to the tolerance required to hold the bearing race and handle the stresses on the neck. It just ground the restoration to a screeching halt until he gets it figured out. In the mean time, I'm figuring out how to budget for these rather irritating surprises.
 
Build thread GOLD ! right there.

Determination, resources, cost, technique, execution and completion. It's a sure thing to keep me off of YouTube when new progress is reported, accompanied by pictures.

More please.
 
Pushrod said:
Build thread GOLD ! right there.

Determination, resources, cost, technique, execution and completion. It's a sure thing to keep me off of YouTube when new progress is reported, accompanied by pictures.

More please.
Click to expand...
Yup... stay at it. I am going to pick up my H1f today. Will update my build thread, but man it took a minute.
 
Update from Larry today,
”Alright, here we go with an update. I started out bending a section of 1/2" steel to replace the bad area. It went ok, but I wasn't happy with the result. So, dug around and found a piece of thick wall pipe that I machined with the correct ID & OD. Then that ring was cut off. I already have the bad section cut out and am ready to cut a piece of the ring to fit it. My goal is to have a perfect ID after the repair. But before I can start welding, I need to machine an aluminum bar down to fit in the ID of the neck so it holds perfect shape, and also keeps the weld from protruding inside. That way there's less grinding or cleanup to accept the All Balls bearing race. Yes, this is a complicated repair, but it will work".20240616_095711.jpg20240616_192152.jpg
 
"I finished the replacement part yesterday and welded it in today. It's coming out good. I'll finish up the surface finish after I get the stop reshaped. That's going to be a challenge in itself."20240618_140251.jpg20240618_140309.jpg
 
Tim,
Glad to see that you're back on this project. I was not aware that it was such a special bike! Good for you.
 
"I put your new tree in place using the modified/narrowed bearing races I have for the ball bearing style. They slide in without being pressed in. I didn't want to use the tapered All Balls bearings for testing. I had an old set of 37mm tubes that I clamped in so I can set the stop position properly. I have cut pieces of stir sticks with a space that equals 1/2" taped on the tank for the space from the forks.

The stop tab has been quit a PITA to clean up and rebuild with welding up a bit at a time, letting it cool, grind, test, weld more etc... that thing was really butchered! I have it pretty close now. The next step will be figuring out where and how to set it in position so I can tack it in place and get an idea of how much to grind off or weld more on for a perfect stopping point. "20240620_175659.jpg20240620_175602 (1).jpg20240620_175552.jpg
 
That baby is stripped down to serious bidness time :thumbup
 
Yeah. Other than the rear shock (which, we still have the original and will be rebuilt, but not installed until I decide to sell) and Race Tech emulators, this is now going to be a bolt by bolt restoration.
 
any guesses on how the frame was damaged the way it was? never seen anything like that.

impressive fix and great pics … :thumbup
 
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