Update on "Clutch Disks Missing"...

Ok all you Rebel guys and gals...

I finally got all the parts and have reassembled. I got everything adjusted and I finally was able to get it back out on the road. I cleaned it up real nice, put the windshield back on, and set out for a test drive.

WOW! It is so nice to actually pull back on the throttle and let 'r rip. Everything worked as planned. I enjoyed the test drive so much.....I wanted to keep going. Maybe this weekend I can convince my wife to go out for a ride. I'll let her ride my Royal Star while I enjoy the rebel (we take our boys with us).

Ok, now for some advice and/or lessons learned:

Lesson Learned......research to find a new gasket for the right side engine cover. I finally found one. I bought some gasket material and traced it out so I will have one for next time, being that it was so hard to find. I originally ordered through www.crotchrocket.com, but after not receiving the parts in a reasonible time, I called them and they refunded my money because they indicated that Honda no longer makes it. I went out on Ebay and done a search for honda engine gasket. Of course I didn't find one, but I contacted some of the sellers of other gaskets and asked around. One of them led me in the right direction and I finally found one.

Advice.......changing the clutch plates is really no big deal. I would highly recommend attempting to do this at home versus paying a mechanic to do it. You'll save money and you'll be have a sense of self accomplishment when you're done. Of course having this forum helped out tremendously!

This whole experience has been great! Now I can enjoy the ride and begin restoring it little by little.....not that it needs much. I'll probably save on gas driving it to work over riding the Royal Star.

Thanks for all the help and I'm sure the next time I need assistance that y'all will be there to help out again. I'll continue reading the posts and maybe help others out as well.

Thanks!

Seymour66

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CONGRATS, Seymour, that's excellent!

Glad to hear that you're finally getting some quality saddle-time in on the Reb. They ride GREAT, eh ? :wink:

Couple of questions.....

What about those 4 "missing" clutch parts ? Were they indeed needed ? Were they already integrated in the clutch assembly, but not immediately located until later ?

Seymour wrote: "Of course I didn't find one, but I contacted some of the sellers of other gaskets and asked around. One of them led me in the right direction and I finally found one."

With the right side engine cover gasket being hard to find, is there a website that sells 'em that you could please share with us in case others need to find one ?

Thanx.......Enjoy the ride......and "Ya done good!" :wink:

Well, here's the scenario on the clutch......not ever doing a clutch before and looking at the micro fiche parts breakdown, I was under the impression that the 4 missing parts were supposed to come off when I took the basket off. Without knowing that these are integrated into the clutch assembly and held onto the basket by the snap ring.....I totally overlooked it. I ordered another complete clutch basket from ebay and I still could not locate the 4 parts I thought I was missing. I found 4 more people on ebay selling complete clutch baskets and I asked them about the missing disks. One guy gave me his number and talked me through it. I felt pretty stupid when I figured out that I was never missing the clutch disks at all......but I guess now I have some spare parts. My original clutch disks were so warn out.....that was what caused the slipping. When I got the complete basket from ebay ($25) the clutch disks were in almost new condition, so I replaced my warn out disks and it's now back on the road and running. Call it a lesson learned......but I enjoyed taking it apart and learning how it works.

As for the gasket......I contacted someone on ebay that sells motorcycle engine gaskets and inquired about the availability for the right side engine cover on the CMX450. He told me he didn't have one and refered me to a place that deals with vintage bike parts.

I ended up ordering the parts from www.westernhillshonda.com

I highly recommend checking them out for parts, although they are limited on CMX450 parts.

Again, it's a blast finally getting to enjoy the Rebel 450. I'm currently planning a trip to the Shenandoah Valley Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia. Here's a website to check it out:
http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/u...va/drv_she.htm

Again, Thanks for all the help and I hope my lesson will help the next guy.

Seymour66

:D THANKS Seymour: I just checked the Western Hills Honda site and found the throttle cable I have been needing for my 82 Honda Express. You have made my day THANKS again.

Howard

Agreed....

Thanx for sharing that info & your experiences, Seymour. Might be using the Western Hills Honda site if the OL's '74 CL175 needs parts before selling it.

Please don't feel bad at all about the trial 'n error aspect of the clutch-work. We ALL have to learn this stuff by doing & none of us were born knowing all there is to know about motorcycles. Have said it before & will say it again......I keep learning as I go along & that's cool as it keeps the Journey exciting & refreshing! :wink: