A noobs 1984 Magna rebuild

[JP0160]

I bought a 1984 V30 Honda Magna with 43k early April this year after selling my first bike, a 2015 CBR300R. I had put ~35000km on in 2 seasons and decided I wanted something a bit older I could fix up and mod a little bit. I waited until I found a bike that sounded and ran very strong, with plans to do a light resto-mod to end up with something a little unique and that I had put some effort and time into. I've done a few mechanical jobs before but this is by far the oldest tech and biggest job I've ever attempted.


First day I brought it home. Claims it hadn't been run in a couple years. Flushed the coolant and did oil/filter. The coolant was a bit milky but the oil seemed decent.

Front brake reservoir was filled with crystals and shmoo. Sight glass was corroded but not leaking.

This crush washer had been way overtorqued, but the plug and threads were clean and tight.

Clutch fluid, same issues as the brake.

When removing the slave cylinder to replace the front sprocket I found this:

It had thrown a chain and blown a hole through the soft metal sprocket cover. I cleaned it all off and JB welded it.

The large gap was missing material (I filled it all in and smoother it out before install), it also bent the upper slave cylinder bolt forward and stripped the threads when it broke. The slave would move in and out at the top when the clutch was pulled.

I drilled it out and bought a Helicoil kit, retapped it and installed the helicoil, the slave bolted right back up very snug. I did forget to install a new insulator gasket, that will come later. All works great

 

[JP0160]

New JT front and OEM rear sprockets. EK SROZ-2 gold o-ring chain. The chain guard had been damaged when the original chain broke so I cleaned it out and hammered it back into shape

New Duro shoes.

New seat. The old one had split really bad. Plans to shorten and lower the original seat and recover.

LED low profile black signals all round

New Emgo sport bars, mirrors, Biltwell Thruster grips, chinese 16mm clutch/brake masters.

Original paint was in 6/10 shape. Ordered reproduction decals and started priming

Basic gloss black with clear on the side panels, fender and tank. Headtube covers were left semi-gloss. Slave cover got flat aluminum spray with clear, has now been stickerbombed

 

[JP0160]

Left fork leaked badly. Made my own seal-mate and cleaned them but still leaked. Ordered and installed new oil seals, dust seals and fresh Dexron ATF oil.

Battery had died overnight twice in a row. New 12amp battery, filled it up and charged it, installed and replaced breather tube. Also cleaned out the crankcase breather rube, it was FULL and that **** was nasty.

New chrome 0.9 rad cap and 132db "Freeway Blaster" horn

And this is how she sat as of a few days ago.

Ended up doing a lot more than I thought I ever would. Done everything myself except mounting the tires. So far I'm loving it, bike sound and runs great, lots of power and I feel like a cool guy now She used to be Red, she's a Honda, and she's gonna get a bit rowdy, so I'll call her Rhonda Rowdy.

 

[jeff96]

Nice work! That's a type of project that some people talk about doing for years, but never pull it off. You just went and got er done.

Sent from my [device_name] using GTAMotorcycle.com mobile app

 

[Underdog]

Nice 1 buddy! Looks great!


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

 

[Baggsy]

Really good up to this point, and then it went south for me. (led signals? bar end mirrors?) It's a classic:

 

[roadrash]

Bike looks awesome! Great work!

 

[Riceburner]

Great job bring back the old girl!

 

[DJM]

Great bike, great write-up.

 

[JP0160]

Thanks all!

Really good up to this point, and then it went south for me. (led signals? bar end mirrors?) It's a classic:

I get ya, I know some will not like the repaint and led's, but I personally couldn't stand the huge pitted chrome oem blinkers. Also the mirrors mount to the cylinders and are about a 90% identical copy of the OEM, just black. I'm not trying to do a cafe racer or bobber, so I won't bastardize it too much

Does anyone know a good detailer that would get in all the nooks and crannies? I will be repainting the motor/frame but a detailing would work for the season

 

[pfbmgd]

Had a 84 VF500 what a great motor .

 

[Klaatu]

The Honda Magna, great bike. You will love riding it and it will run forever.
The one thing that I would recommend you do, is braided brake lines. You have a 34 year old bike with 34 year old braking technology.
It will make a huge difference in the stopping power.
Join a Magna forum, you will get tons of tips, especially since you are doing a lot of work yourself.
This is a really good one that I joined when I had mine. (and I've had 3 V65 Magnas, my favorite bike) http://www.v4hondabbs.com/
The guys there are great and have been working on Magna's for 30 years and they are more than happy to help.
Enjoy the bike! ccasion5:

 

[JP0160]

The Honda Magna, great bike. You will love riding it and it will run forever.
The one thing that I would recommend you do, is braided brake lines. You have a 34 year old bike with 34 year old braking technology.
It will make a huge difference in the stopping power.
Join a Magna forum, you will get tons of tips, especially since you are doing a lot of work yourself.
This is a really good one that I joined when I had mine. (and I've had 3 V65 Magnas, my favorite bike) http://www.v4hondabbs.com/
The guys there are great and have been working on Magna's for 30 years and they are more than happy to help.
Enjoy the bike! ccasion5:

Thanks, I am planning to do new fuel lines and brake lines along with a CB450 choke relocation after I put some miles on it. I'll check that out

 

[johnnnw]

Great job, I have taken on a few projects before and its always so much more work than you think

 

[Mad Mike]

Nice build.

I tinker around with older Yamahas, one thing I always do change to round headlights. Those old square headlights make me think of an early 80's Hyundai Pony.

 

[ReSTored]

Nice project. Maybe I missed it or you did it but did not write about it but given the condition of the brake fluid I'd be stripping the the calipers off the bike, removing the pistons and cleaning everything and reassembling with new seals etc... Hard to image the brake calipers would be working properly with the type of foul grunge you found in the master cylinder.

 

[JP0160]

Nice project. Maybe I missed it or you did it but did not write about it but given the condition of the brake fluid I'd be stripping the the calipers off the bike, removing the pistons and cleaning everything and reassembling with new seals etc... Hard to image the brake calipers would be working properly with the type of foul grunge you found in the master cylinder.

I have not rebuilt the front piston, the rear is a drum and working very well. I have been told that a few times now, it's on my list of to-dos in the near future. The front is currently working well despite being a little oiled up from the leaky fork. Current plan is to change pads, lines, and caliper rebuild all at the same time.

 

[J_F]

bike looks great!

nice project

 

[JP0160]

Thanks all Been very fun and lots of learning. Went for a safety on Saturday and had a hiccup. There was the slightest notch in the headtube bearings, and I mean slight. But, better safe than sorry. Picked up an All Balls needle bearing kit and did the job myself in about 4 hours. Froze the new races overnight, removed the whole triple tree/cluster/headlight/bars as one piece, made my own race removal tool, cut off the old lower steering race and pressed all the new goodies in like butter. Would have been faster if I didn't have to make 2 trips looking for a 30mm socket that was surprisingly hard to find. Smooth as butter now.

 

[JP0160]

Lubed the speedo/throttle cables today, and shortened a CB450 choke cable to replace the frayed and bent OEM enrichener cable. The OEM was about 3 feet long, new one is a few inches and smooth as silk. A few spider nests in there!

Also put the reproduction decals on. I think I will order another set and have the bike professional resprayed over the off-season. It looks pretty good right now, but the Canadian Tire special paint job is a bit fragile . Added a Road Krome windscreen and Airhawk 2 seatpad.

Tomorrow's project, 12v socket install!