Skip to main content

Adding an Oil cooler from a cb900 - part 2


 

After thinking about the cooler install all winter, I decided that I needed to make a bracket to mount the cooler. I could have used zip ties to hang it, but felt like it wouldn't be mounted securely enough to not rattle around on bumpy roads.

A little cutting with the angle grinder and some drilling to shape 2 pieces of steel to fit above the cross brace on the frame and trying to keep everything lined up while I apply a few tack welds to hold things in place. It didn't go quite as nicely as I had hoped since the holes in the cooler were slightly off from the nuts that I welded to the brackets. Since they were only slightly off, I widened the holes in the cooler just enough to allow the bolts to find their homes in the newly attached brackets.  I'll probably find a rubber bushing or spacer to reduce vibration but the cooler looks pretty good for now.

I cut the lines to fit properly with the Dremel and a cutoff wheel to break the stainless weave and a hose cutter to cut through the inner hose without making a giant mess of shredded rubber bits and I'm hoping the weld splatter on the lines will not cause a problem later on. If I have to replace these lines again for whatever reason, I think I'll skip the stainless braided lines.  I ended up cutting them a little too short but will run them like this. Hopefully they won't leak.

While I had things apart, I also pulled off the clutch basket cover to paint it before adding oil to the crank case. Unfortunately, I waited a few years since I painted the other covers and the other parts have yellowed slightly to the point where the newly painted clutch cover doesn't match the other parts.  Crap.  I guess it will end up matching eventually. I can always repaint all of them together when I have the chance.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Universal Speedometer/Tachometer install

I wanted to replace my original speedometer and tachometer for something more compact. I'm not sure why, but the original 85mph speedometer always bothered me. I guess I felt like the bike deserved better even though I've only pinned it once in 10 years of riding.   After casually looking around and almost pulling the trigger on a cheaper universal speedo with an analog sweep needle for the tach, I stumbled across this product. It can be found in all the usual places such as Amazon and eBay but it's usually buried behind 2 or 3 pages of search results with vastly different prices ranging from mid 40s to mid 80s (US$). The description typically includes a listing of what each wire is intended to be connected to, but in typical fashion for these kinds of imported products the English translation leaves a lot to be desired. For example: the product detail notes: "Oil Quantity Indicator" as one of the display areas, but they really mean fuel level (my bike doesn't...

how to open your door when neither handle works

My recently acquired 2003 Honda Accord EX 4 cyl had a faulty door lock actuator in the front passenger side door.  Here is a run down of what I did wrong in case you find yourself in a similiar situation. Shopping for door lock actuators - Prices go from around $10 to over $40. I mistakenly ordered a pair of door lock actuators ($20 for left and right) for a coupe and received 2 black actuators that were not sized correctly for my 4 door sedan which has smaller white actuators. I did not discover the problem until after I had the door panel off and the actuator removed from the door latch assembly. It was hot, the flies were landing on me and drinking my sweat and I just wanted to button the door back up and stay cool inside so I searched for the closest parts store that had the part in stock and went there to buy it for $45. (I did return the 2 wrong parts but did not get a full refund, but I'm ok with that...$16 back in my pocket is better than $0) Reassembling the door l...

Nighthawk CB750 rear wheel swap part 1 - decision

I've always had a very slight side to side swaying sensation in certain conditions that I was not able to pinpoint.  It was especially bad back when I had a trunk/top case on the back of my bike.  An old timer on a forum noted that the tall rear tire mounted on a 16" wheel can get a little wobbly (concerning a top case causing 'sidewall flex, by increasing the leverage on the vertical axial moment of the bike') and that pretty much got the thought in my head to swap the rear wheel to a 17" or 18" at some point. the 1979 cb650 would have been an easy and cheap path forward since it's pretty much a direct swap to a 17" wheel with the advantage of the wheel design matching my front tire.  Unfortunately, those wheels were not cheap and getting more expensive by the day. I found 2 or 3 listings on ebay and was looking at a minimum of about $90 to get one shipped to my house and then I would still need to clean it and swap out the bearings.  Since I...