Hey everyone I feel compelled to comment here and request you please watch the entire video and/or previous videos before commenting/emailing on my methods here. I do in fact have an FSM but the process goes out the window when the engine is seized. I go over this in the previous episode but regardless I will make this bike better than new when done and it will be by the book so don't worry. Great care will be taken.

He took apart a CBX and put the pieces away like it was just another day. It's like watching someone at a museum restoring a painting with Qtips. It would be one thing if it were some old backyard p.o.s. but it's a CBX... I'm just blown away. Amazing episode.

You're a great wrench and many teachers could learn from you sir. I appreciate the absence of fake drama and bad language.

I worked in a motorcycle shop back in the late 1960s early 1970s and I wish I had a nickle for every time I had to correct a mistake done by a shade tree mechanic so that I could have retired by the time I was 30 ! Then I switched over to cars and trucks and my work really got interesting! But knowledge coupled with patience and a desire to always do a perfect job makes a good mechanic and you fill that title very well! Remember; a mechanic that knows his craft never has to cheat!

I just love the way you work. Meticulous, careful, clean, step by step. Great stuff!

I bought a new 1982 CBX as a left over in 1984. At 4000 miles on a trip the engine developed a lower end knock at 7000 rpm. I was concerned but seeing that it's used mainly for touring I usually didn't run it at that rpm very much anyway. As I put miles on it the knock started making its' presence felt at lower and lower rpm. I had ridden it out to California and back and the noise was there at 4000 rpm and above. It had about 24K on it so that winter I pulled it into the motorcycle dealership I was working at and took the motor off and replaced everything that might cause a noise. A thorough inspection turned up nothing obvious, so I ended up replacing the cam and primary chains along with the guides, new main and rod bearings along with transmission bearings. I was paying the employee price of 10% over cost so I didn't scrimp. The only thing that I found that might have caused the noise was a machined nut that joins the 2 halves of the jackshaft that the alternator runs on was not tight. Anyway, I reassembled it and the knock was gone and it ran smoother than it ever had. I didn't put any more miles on it because I sold it that spring and got a 1987 Hurricane 1000. I wouldn't worry about those cam mounting holes, that joiner piece is what mainly holds it into position.

It's great to see a CB/x being rescued. I loved my '82, but life intervened and it had to find a new home. It's hard to believe it's been 40 years since it was made, and 30 since I sold it.

Had a 79, was idling one day and I guess had some vapor build up and it thru a rod out side of case. Had to have the case welded, was good as new after rebuild.. Best bike I ever owned.

Had a 1980 bought new. Sold 5 years ago to a museum in progress. Last project for me was the valves. I was lent the use of the local Honda dealers complete collection of shims. Amazing engine

Wow I remember buying my second bike a CBX 6 into 1 in Scotland in 1985 what an awesome engine sound!!

I still own a 1979 CBX that I bought in 1983. It was lightly crashed and repaired in the late 80's buy me back to full glory and then some. Part of the repair involved a new cylinder head, a resleeve big bore kit now 1304cc, Falicon rods, yada yada yada, but reused the stock cams. When I reassembled the motor I "Degreed" the cams to Get the centerlines where i wanted them by elongating there holes and red lock tite. It's an absolute animal of power with formula one sound. Hope this all went well for you.

Great video thank you for making it. This type of video adds to the pool of knowledge on KZfaq that unskilled people like me can access.

1983, Daytona Beach... 1979 CBX.. came into shop... elongated cam slots with what looked like hardware store bolts sheared off from cam tensioner taking a rather large constitutional. When owner got it back from previous shop he went beach racing with it. Blew in under an hour. We had a "blast" repairing it. Even back then it cost him 3400 dollars. I came back to Missouri shortly after that. Dunno why.

I had a CBX back in the 80's and it was a wonderful machine so its great to see this example go to a good home, just in time by the looks of it. Thanks for this video.

My first motorcycle engine overhaul was a CBX that had a rod punch through the block. That was a handful. That was in 1992. The engine was a beast. It weighs 232 pounds and I picked it up and set it on my shop table. That was 30+ years ago when I was a gym rat. I put another 35,000 miles on that engine, much of it on rallies with the CBX Club in California. Some years later I put a 1983 Honda 1100F front end, bikini fairing, and swing arm on it. Some ''expert'' was telling me that it couldn't be done, the swing arm bolts are different sizes, and all kinds of excuses. There were about 35 CBX's in the motel parking lot in Morro Bay on that rally. I let him tell everyone that I was full of it, 1100F parts don't fit. Then a friend said ''Hey, the bike behind you has the 1100F stuff, even the wheels.'' We shut him up in a hurry. The sound of 30+ CBX's blasting down the highway in staggered formation is a sound to behold. It's like being in a bomber formation. Oc course Mark had his black Turbo CBX and it would blast ahead at 130mph in seconds. Those were the days!

Love the choice of music and overall editing process has kept me engaged throughout

My, my, what a bike. Bought one in 86, a 82 model, put a pair of 79 cams into it, what a hurricane. Then had back problems and had to sell. Really miss that monster... Thanks for your web page and you candor about fixing it. Bring it to life, please!!!!!

Really great video BJ. Appreciate your work and dedication to quality

Can’t wait to see this project continue. Good job not rushing it into a “will it run” mode. Good thing you didn’t. There are not a lot of CBX’s out there. Love your channel.

Sounds like you have a solid plan, props to you for taking this on and committing to doing it right!

theres something very calming about your vidya's... i enjoy it

This is what I meant by engine work. I like the way you approach the job. Nicely done. Good luck with the rebuild.

What a fantastic video, thanks for posting.

This is really a great series!! Lookin forward to the next episode!!!

Bro. I love how clean your shop is and how organized you are. Great to meet you.

Really enjoy your videos ! You are one talented guy !

Ah, the CBX. That beast came out when I was a college freshman. There was a local Honda/ Suzuki dealer near where I lived & went to school. I was able to get the dealer to let me take one for a test ride as I was a very frequent customer for my '73 CB450 DOHC. It actually scared me as it was SO EASY to get it Very Fast and not so easy to confidently get it to slow down back to safe levels of speed & operation. Wow! Amazing piece of engineering & production. Then, I believe the next year Yamaha came out with the XS Eleven !! Even More incredible. Good Luck on this rebuild. It should be a very nice example when completed.

Dude that is Wild. Hey, at least you know the worst of the surprises are over. Also, that means we will see a full engine work done which is what I am looking forward to as well.

I went to the factory school for that engine. Couple of things do not bolt the valve cover on with cam drive in place it will break the gear and damage the cam. Early engines had a manual fuel shutoff, as the side stand would bend and the fuel valve left open, gasoline would hydraulic lock #1 cylinder but the engine would fire and bend #1 rod slightly. About the second or third time one hits redline that rod will break and destroy the cases. I have had to replace cases on a 6 for that reason

My God, this has taken me back to when I was 24 in '86 when I broke the cam chain on my CBX, I pulled it apart and rebuilt it after 8 valves got bent. My genius method to replace the chain was to undo the crankshaft webs, remove the crankshaft and feed in the chain and reinstall, it worked. this was my first ever engine rebuild and I used old pillows and blocks of wood to support the engine. All went great, until I made a fatal mistake in reassembly and got a bit of grease in cylinder 6 cam oilway. This caused a seizure and wiped out that cam. Luckily, the head of the CBX Owners Club UK came to the rescue and supplied replacement cam caps and camshaft and advice for £16. Now the dilemma was that the cam seats were covered in melted camshaft metal, so being a Dental Technician at the time I rubber wheeled all of the metal off the seats which are really hard, i.e. the the last microns just faked off and the engine rebuilt and it is still on the road.What do they say about a little bit of knowledge. The only other bike engine's I have rebuilt are an XS 250 Yam and a Honda Cub Lmao

Finally I have some time to catch up with your vids... Amazing! Before I forget "Enjoy the holidays coming"!!

Just stumbled upon you channel at the weekend... Loving all the content and presentation...!! Subscribed...!! You are doing a superb job.,along with excellent commentary and explanations along every step of the way...! Well done..,this is compulsive viewing and I'm hooked..!!! BG

WOW you are organized. I like your use of trays. I see a bright future for this motorcycle.

Sorry to see this girl had some bits inside her, looking forward to the rebuilding process. Wishing You and Your Loved Ones a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, also a Blessed Adventures in 2022.

Awesome upload.

My heart sinks when I see a beautiful engine that's been butchered by what we call 'Rockapes' over here. Still, you're on your way to making things right. I took a peek at your warehouse video and yeh, I have a similar situation myself. Someone asked me today how many bikes I have not including customers... I couldn't remember off the top of my head 🤪 I have the shop at home thing and several units for storage and other stuff.

Allot of work done there BJ. Good luck with it.

Interesting video, I had a CBX1000 back in the day, never had any need to strip the engine, I did take the valve cover off to chrome it, that was about it. Just had the biggest grin 😁 riding that bike, so much torque and the power was so smooth right the way through the rev range, almost 60mph in 1st gear!! It would pull away in 5th gear from like crawling speed, incredible engine and that straight 6 howl through the marshal 6 into 1 exhaust was very addictive. EDIT I had a suzuki 650 katana before this, went into my local bike shop for a rev counter cable, saw this CBX did a massive double take, assumed it was out of my price range and knew the shop was expensive anyway but just asked the price out of curiosity. Just £2,500 it was on a 'w' plate so an '81 I think, this was in the early 1990s so it would have been over 10 years old asked how much trade in he would give for my Katana and it was a good price to be fair, more than what I paid for it! So a deal was struck. Instead of buying my rev counter cable I put the money for that on it as a deposit for the CBX, happy days.😁👍

My mate had one of these in the ‘80’s, and we used to swap bikes regularly and so I used to ride his CBX often. He had the misfortune to get a failed rev counter drive which resulted in a half moon shaped bit of aluminium blowing out of the cylinder head casting by the valve cover joint. Another friend of ours chain drilled some holes in both mating pieces and stitched then together with wire and secured with Araldite. It was quite a neat and effective oil-tight repair. However we had another club member friend (who had a CBX Prolink), who worked for Honda UK at Chiswick. He “sourced” a new cylinder head for my pal. I went round his house and helped him lap 24 valves into the new cylinder head on his living room floor during the rebuild! He had many good rides on the rebuilt bike and so did I. Although I never pulled wheelies on it like he did-a proper boy racer he was🤣 Brilliant bikes.

Congrats on the engine stand functionality 👏🏼 Bummer about the previous bodgy work☹️ No doubts that this is gonna be sensational when done though👌🏼 Newcomer to your channel & really enjoying it. Thanks, & hope you have a great, happy & safe festive season🍻🇦🇺

super professional as always BJ. wow...finding all that non-engine stuff...in the engine. mad. i think your hypothesis as to the chunk is correct which is why you can't find where it sheared off.

Really enjoyed that, subscribed👍👍👍👍👍👍

Amazing i can't wait to see the finished😊

Excellent video, such a big engine to tackle, 6 of everything.

Cool engine stand! A CBX with a 6 into one header has got to be the sexiest sounds I ever heard a bike make!

Man look at that engine! Thats one of my absolute favourites from any bike, glad you found the nasties. Cant wait to hear it singing. 🤟

That CBX is a beast. Makes me appreciate how simple my 1964 Triumph TR6 is. Two cylinders with one carb is so nice when it comes to maintenance and tuning.

Thanks for taking time out to give us a brilliant vid. Reminds me of the strip down done on a Honda VFR 750 👀We sourced an alternative cylinder head from a written off model where the engine was in good order .. just a complete swap.. 👍For newbies / novices.. engine parts from Japan et its agents can be MEGA expensive ... a tear jerking moment on the wallet.. believe me I discovered that in my early days replacing a rectifier unit (charging circuit on a C90 ) that cost an arm and a leg.. 👀🙂Shipping ... oh yes can be jaw dropping.. Stay safe !

I bought a basket case 1984 Honda cb700 Nighthawk s that the alternator chain had broken and I had to split the cases on it. It had so many pieces of the chain in the sump. I got it all cleaned and put a later model chain that is much tougher since Honda found out that they had so many failures and I’ve put around 10k on it since assm.

Hi dude. Just caught up with this after watching your cx500 videos (my all time favourite bike) I'm 64, ex UK Air force and used to work on Hawker Hunter jets in the 70s. The way you treated that bike was like a baby. You took such care and respected it as you should. I salute you young man for your obvious love of motorbikes, your work, and what you do. Take care when riding, and get back to the cx500s when you can One of the best bikes ever made.

That was awesome!

I just across your video, glad I did! I did mine opposite to the way you are doing yours, I rebuilt the bike first and now have to do the engine. It runs fine, but smokes quite a lot when off the gas and then back on, so valve seals for sure, and who knows what shape the cylinders are in. If they are bad I'm just going to do a big bore kit. Subscribed!!

new to the channel really enjoying the content you do excellent work!! getting lots of insight for the two 84 v30 magnas im getting back on the road one is almost done just some tires and tuning to do these v4's are tricky ones but nothing like that Six cylinder

Eta teu lieur kang... Onerdil motorna loba pisan.... Mantafff lah pokona c akang... Berebetkeun....

Dang! So we'll have to wait a couple of months for another video on this beauty. But sounds like a good plan to save such a iconic bike 👍

Saw CBX and knew I had to watch this one, the CBX is and always will be one of my favorite Honda's alongside the MC22 250RR and the VFR750R

I always wanted one back in the day. I did have a very early pre-K1 750.

Excelente video loco, saludos desde argentina!!!

I had a ,79 silver one.. Had my hands in a turbo,d one. Had to pull the bottom off it.. I did all the maint on mine and my friends bike...was fun. Sold it and bought a cx turbo. Still have it..

I found another bike mechanic to watch, you as good as Ronald Finger .. cheers :)

Love the engine stand B.J...I'd say it's paid for itself already & otherwise it'd be real 'Heavy'.. Nice teardown vid. 😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🤘🙏

Beautiful engine. I remember them in my younger years

4 dang cams. That BAR of carbs is magnificent and anxiety inducing.

Great decision to, not “just make it run” another excellent video, thanks!

Years ago I re built a cb900. Damaged head and piston caused by the rev counter cable retaining screw. It was out and resting by a plug. I took plugs out to change, fitted new ones and happily pressed the starter button. Motor locked up in one second. Took a bit of fixing

Well, now that you know, the previous owner took you for a ride on this bike. Are you still going to hang out and have beers with him? I hope we get to see a complete cost analysis of this rebuild when completed to get an understanding of what a total rebuild cost really is. Excellent video as always. Much appreciated in showing real life dilemma.

Great bike from the golden era of bikes. I’ll bet parts are hard to get.

In the U.K. they announced the new twin cam 750kz, 900f & the CBX in 1979, I was 18 at the time and couldn’t score enough credit for the CBX so I had to make do with 750. I rode a few of them over the years it’s a major regret I never owned one. I’ve seen digital pizza so I’m interested to see your progress 🇬🇧👍

That engine has the most amazing sound.

The size of that engine… omg. Big build for sure, big bike when finished!

Hello from UK, will be watching progress with interest. The mighty CBX is still on my radar (despite already having owned a serious amount of bikes already). We have a magazine over here called Classic Mcycle Mechanics and years and years back the then editor had a CBX which had to have serious engine surgery to make it right. Seem to recall a partially blocked oil gallery had caused engine oil starvation in that case. And it was thought to have been like it through production too !! It went through a proper engineering workshop and quite a bit of money before it was finally right. On the good side, these bikes are making serious money over here now and I guess the same in other markets ? So, worth the outlay to get it how it should be I would imagine. Good luck anyway and looking forward to seeing an eventual finished bike. Think you are doing right to try and keep as oe as possible. 👍

L like yours motor stand ,very good jobs ,it s really smart👍

You make it look easy

There are some odd things about the CBX engine. The clutch system for the alternator is one. Another is the cam sprockets are threaded as opposed to the cam flanges. It makes timing the cams for performance cams a PITA. The cam chain system off the exhaust is odd ( with lots of tensioners) too though all the DOHC Honda's of that era had the same system.

Excellent job with the engine. I defiantly will be following the progress. Sorry about the piston and who the hell worked on this engine before, the stuff inside it.... beyond words.

Love the stand

I enjoyed your video young mân 👍👍

Good stuff.

Nice motor stand ! 😉

A CBX I did work on had the same issue with cylinder 5. They stripped the piss out of the spark plug threads. I believe it’s because that cylinder is so close to the frame, they weren’t careful when reinstalling the spark plug and cross threaded it. I was surprised to see your bike with the same issue.

You're so lucky, that's awesome, just a good clean and tidy up and she'll be awesome and original, especially in your hands aye bro 🤗, please don't over size her xo. 🙏

18:23 I use ready meal containers. Sometimes they can work out really useful.

Those motors have THE BEST exhaust note ever.

That is a beast of an engine 😬 Really nice to see you dive all the way into it and give it a second life 👍 Do you want to restore the bike to it's original look, or do you consider a custom / cafe racer style?

I painfully remember having to strip my CBX and rebore it after i was unable to remove plug no.3 which eventually snapped part way out. It sat on the bench for 5 years with 5 plugs in and 1 open due to a snapped plug and you'll never believe me when i tell you there was a nail hole in the tin roof...... EXACTLY above no.3. It filled that cylinder with rain.

Looks like the same person tried to repair my 78 F2 750, it just confirmed my thought that there are some people that should not touch tools, example - the swingarm bushes the ends of the swingarm where the bushes are pressed into, both sides were cut off about 8 - 10mm, all three items Bushes, Swingarm and the centre spacer tube, What were they thinking ??, one of many such mindless acts of butchery. All he said is shook his head.

Do you have a recommendation of where to get parts vapor honed in the area? I really enjoy seeing the guts of a CBX, albeit sad that it has damage, Thanks!

the slotted holes in the cams is because someone back in the day degreed the cams (timed the cams)

an easy way to test Big end clearance is to position the Engine so that the Cylinders are beyond horizontal I.E. leaning down turn each Piston to T.D.C. and slightly beyond so that the Con Rod is pulling the Piston toward the Crank then place a rod of plastic or timber on the Piston Crown...strike the Piston top with the heel of your Hand.. any Big end clearance will be taken up and it should be silent. any click or knocking sound means that there is Big End wear.

My story on CBX's is very different. I'll try to make it short: I've had four 1981 CBX's #1 was a demo as I was a salesman at a Honda dealer. Put 24k miles on it. Then I bought one for myself. #2 at 75k miles on it got hit while parked (Lady was a pro as she had a primered fender that was dented before she hit my bike). Totaled. So #3 I bought with supposedly 12k miles on it. At 138k miles it still exists but I traded it for a paint job on a car and the guy has not touched it (and won't sell it). So #4 I got with (supposedly 30k miles on it). It has 104k on it today. #1 and #2 I had maintained per schedule. But with #2 I had someone adjust the valves and it burned a valve shortly after. Then I had someone fatten the carbs to accommodate the DG 6 into two exhaust. That resulted in one carb dumping fuel into the engine and running on 5. Replace carbs. Then it got T-boned. At this point I noticed the the valves never needed to be adjusted when checking them. So #3 got the valves looked at at 60k mile intervals (or if the clutch basked had rattled. Which it never did). Parked it at 138k miles having never taken the carbs off. Enter #4 which I have not touched the carbs or adjusted the valves. I did recently take the cam cover off to see if any of the valve buckets were tight. None were. So 330k miles on 81 CBX's . The exhaust system on #4 is from #2. The front forks are from #3. I've replaced chains, sprockets, chains, fork seals and alternator brushes. Never an air shock and no alternators, steering head bearings or ProLink bushings. Recovered the Corbin seat twice. I did have a turn signal bulb fail once but I wiggles it and the light came back on. It's a Honda.

nice bikes Worth the time (AND MONEY)

You are a braver man than I

Your intuition was working well. So glad to see you loosen the small bolts on the cam chain tunnel and at the ends of the heads FIRST. Did you ever find where the small screw came from? Any chance of finding a stock cylinder liner from someone? I also think the aluminum chunk in the transmission was sitting in the bottom of the engine, but not in an area where it fell into the sump. Your engine stand worked well. I prefer the type that mount into an upright stand on wheels, but they are time consuming to make. I look forward to seeing the reassembly.

Brick las camisas de cilindro se pueden extraer y reemplazar del bloque conjunto? Saludos

I see a big chunk broken out of the top crankcase where the #3 rod runs past. Maybe the chunk you found. I'd say the primary guides, chain, and tensioner might be in need of serious help too, and the engine had other serious damage in its past life. I believe the trans gears rotate the other way and would tend to expel that chunk out the bottom, BTW. My guess is the lock up was from the foreign bits in the cylinders. BTW - please don't "cafe" a CBX (I cringe at the thought)..... at least don't make any mods to original parts that can't be undone. I like to point out that Honda isn't making anymore CBX parts, so what is out there now is pretty much all we are ever going to get. I have to admit I am building a project CBX as a resto - mod now. Besides the resto-mod project, I have 2 mint rideable CBX's (one is a fully restored 79 model) and a room full of NOS and used spares. The resto-mod is being built from an engine and a spare frame I had on hand, bought separately respectively from Louis Mintrone and the local classifieds many years ago. And I'm not modifying either from OEM. Just repairs, a refresh, and re-finish on the engine and sandblast / new paint on the frame. No cutting the frame, no single shock or single sided swing arm. Not cutting up an original seat pan, or drilling holes in the OEM airbox. The rest are non - CBX bolt-ons (late model sport bike front forks, wheels, brakes, etc. adapted to fit the CBX frame and not the other way around) and resuscitated / restored junked or reproduction CBX parts to keep the original lines / looks. Like the 79 fuel tank I'm using from an old drag bike that had flipped over on its back. It was squashed, twisted, and holed and would have been unusable if I didn't commit a hundred or so hours repairing it. Also, my rule now that CBX parts are getting ultra - rare - don't throw any CBX parts away, even if you think they are junk.

The engine size:gearbox size ratio on these is insane. It's a wonder Honda (being Honda) didn't mount them inline with the frame and have a shaft drive. Back in the good old days when Honda would experiment unapologetically. It might be great, it might suck, but dammit they were gonna try. Nowadays it feels like if it's not a race/super sport bike, they're not gonna go crazy on it. Build a 160hp motor, but only give it 80hp so they maintain that Honda reliability.

@brickhousebuilds Friend, do you recommend grinding a fz400r engine crankshaft and reassembling it? I would really appreciate your reply...

Did an engine re-bore for a friend a few years ago now. Wisco 1146 big bore kit. Nova gearbox and then thought let's go for it. Polished ports tipped cams, Mr spark right kit, the works. Did that bike fly or what.

I had a screw from choke butterfly come out and do the same thing…. I got lucky & only had to replace gasket with no damage… BUT the screw was smashed same way

That engine stand is utterly brilliant! Please, please, don't hipster millennial "cafe racer" it with a hideous paint job, a brown quilted seat cover, micro led turn signals, etc.