$300 '97 ST1100 Refurb Thread

You're getting in pretty deep.
What works best for you, in keeping track of all the ties, fasteners, nuts and bolts -- where they came from and where they go?
Particularly of interest to me, because these pieces may be removed from their home for an extended period of time.
Much respect!
 
Sadlsor said:
What works best for you, in keeping track of all the ties, fasteners, nuts and bolts -- where they came from and where they go?
Click to expand...

Interestingly enough, this crossed my mind while putting the last post together. I think the key for me is compartmentalization of the work and lots of small baggies. And I try to rebuild things in groups that roughly align with chapters in the service manual.

As an example, the carbs come off and all the related parts stay together. Each carb gets a container to keep the parts separate, each container has baggies to keep the upper and lower parts separate but together. It's all in one box. I also like to leave the nuts and bolts in their respective homes where feasible.

Being familiar with the machine, owning a service manual and a torque wrench, and having some mechanical aptitude and a sense of curiosity helps, too. This website is hugely important. These bikes are so old, that I'm not really doing anything new and exciting. Just following an existing path with a personalized twist here and there.
 
Smudgemo said:
I also like to leave the nuts and bolts in their respective homes where feasible.
Click to expand...
Bang! Glad to hear it; that makes perfect sense to me, and is what I do "where feasible."
It could so easily become a nightmare, with pieces or systems removed for days or weeks, waiting on parts or working on something else, and then you have some bolts going "Where in the world did THESE come from?!"
 
I thought that was a "Saskatchewan socket set"
or a really high quality one might be a "Swedish Nut Lathe"
 
Sadlsor said:
You're getting in pretty deep.
What works best for you, in keeping track of all the ties, fasteners, nuts and bolts -- where they came from and where they go?
Particularly of interest to me, because these pieces may be removed from their home for an extended period of time.
Much respect!
Click to expand...

Mine was apart for months over the winter. As I removed parts, all related fasteners went in a ziploc and said ziploc labeled with a Sharpie. Put all the ziploc's in ONE box. I made this a habit years ago and it hasn't steered me wrong yet. I have had stuff torn down for long periods of time and this really helps. Another benefit of the ubiquitous smartphone is I now take pics of things as they come apart. Makes reassembly much easier.

RT
 
Wayal, another week goes by and another order of parts shows up. This time it's banjo washers and a rear master rebuild kit. And again, everything is assembled likedy-split and now I'm stuck again waiting for more parts.

In the meantime, I got the front brakes ready for fluid, but I bought a large container to do front and back and the clutch, so I'm waiting on a new rear line to do them all. You can get aluminum banjo washers, but doesn't copper just pop? I also dig the bleed screw at the master.

And I stole the Helibars for my '96 for the trip to Green Bay I'm planning next month. That was another mini-adventure..

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I finished rebuilding the caliper earlier this past week, so that's ready to go. Very cathartic, this project.

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The rear master was pretty crusty, but didn't appear to be in poor shape. The rebuild kit came with the rubber parts already installed, so Yay Honda!

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Darn, I was sure I took a photo of the new and old parts laid out, but nope, daydreaming again, I guess.

The rear came apart pretty easily, and went together even faster. Like 15 minutes tops. The rubber bits looked okay, but we're talking brakes for a 700lb rocket ship that is 25 years old. No downside to a rebuild unless it cuts into your beer budget or you screw it up.

I gave the master a quick once-over with the brass bristle brush - again with the corrosion..

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Master reinstalled and ready for action. The manual references a new roll-pin to prevent the push rod from potentially un-threading. Buy one. You'll never get the old one out in serviceable condition.

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As soon as that rear line shows up, it's drinks fluid all around! But what I'd really like to get is the elbow hose for the thermostat housing to radiator so I can finally try to fire this thing up and see how it runs. I assume it will be fine pending a carb sync, but it's still gratifying to actually have it happen.

I should probably get out tomorrow and see how the Helibars feel. The line to the master is a shade shorter than I want but I'm not sure I want to make the effort to change it out.
 

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I'm trying and failing to kick off this installment with something witty, so I'll just make note that after dinner on Friday I decided it was time to clear the bench of new parts, and all of a sudden it was 11:30.

I figured I'd just do maybe one or two things, of course. First there was addressing the cush drive. I got these and the final radiator hose I was missing from CMSNL in The Netherlands. It's amazing how fast packages from there show up on the west coast via our postal systems.

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Once that was done, I wanted to mount the wheel but since it would be easier to mount the caliper first, I decided that it wouldn't take much to install the Galfer rear brake line. The one snag is that some of the clamping is done over sleeved sections in the OEM hose, but I was able to cut that off and press it into service with the new one.

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The brakes mounted easily, but it's only like 8:30.
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If I fill up the system, I'm working from one container of DOT4 and should keep going (I know it's not THAT critical, it's an excuse..) I really need to get one of those bleeding syringes. Filling the dry systems took forever..
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And since the bottle is a big one, I figured I'd take a look at the clutch fluid and just buy another bottle in the morning if needed. Well, I didn't need another bottle, and the clutch did indeed need a fluid change. Seemed a little less willing to flow than my '96, but in the end I had clear fluid coming out.
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For the front, there are two lines coming from the master on a double banjo bolt, and the bolt has a bleeder. So there was some back and forth between the two calipers to get the air out, and it took what felt like forever, but the fronts seem to be in proper working order. I'll probably do a little testing to make sure before I re-plastic it.

Saturday shakes out to be a morning of cooling system work, buttoning up the fuel system and let's see if it works. And then off to the tire store to buy a new set of Yokohamas for my vehicle. My young driver found an old X5 might be tough, but the curb will always win.
 
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My Saturday this time revolved around cooling and fuel matters. I needed to get the radiator in place and then some fuel in there to see where I'm at with this project. I got the final hose installed to join the thermostat housing to the radiator (that one is a bit of a chore, isn't it?) and ran down to the filling station to get couple of gallons of gas. I didn't film it but I just wanted to see if it would catch, and just like that, it's running. But the silencers were off and it's a quiet neighborhood so I shut it down and put them in place.

The next start it fired right up again and was running a bit rough, but that's expected. Out comes the CarbTune and the screwdriver so I can try and make this thing sing. Well, not bad, but it IS a Honda..


So I'm letting it run and warm up, and I notice that hey, the overflow bottle is overflowing. What the..? Turns out I'm stupid. I reversed the overflow tube and the one that runs over to the fitting under the carbs, so yeah, that'll do it. Which is actually good because the overflow tube was leaking when attached to the wrong spot. This is how it is supposed to look.

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I spilled some coolant while filing, so I dumped some water around the engine, and when it got up to temperature, I wasn't able to tell if the water was boiling off or if I had a leak. But as of this morning there were no puddles, and no smell of coolant when I ran it again.

I threw a seat on there and did a bit of driveway testing. Brakes feel good so far, and the clutch works properly. It's starting to look like a bike again.
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But while I ran it again today, I noticed what I think is an exhaust leak. I wasn't able to feel or see anything going on so I'm not sure. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I don't really want to pull the pipe and fit new gaskets, but the plastic is off should that be needed. Any tricks to verify?

 
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Disregard the ticking. I happened to have a gasket on hand for the PAIR system, so I replaced the #2 and it's quiet again. Rather odd and handy part to have laying around, but I used it as a template for the block-offs on the '96.

And those darn new tires on my car, I knew they'd be a magnet for more auto-mayhem. A guy backed into my daughter this morning damaging the corner of the front bumper. I decided to let it go because he's old, the car is old and I'm getting old. Something to be said for old vehicles..

But darned if that ST doesn't just run beautifully now.
 
I hate to admit I screwed up, but I'm going to do it so I can maybe save someone else from making the same error when rebuilding their carbs. The enrichener is activated by cable- it moves two long rods longitudinally to pull the short individual rods in the carbs. One pull on on each side is a fixed end of the rod, and the other carb has a part that slides on the rod and is fixed with a screw. The one on the left side was put back together backwards which caused the throttle to foul when the enrichener is on. It gets in the way.

So you can't really give it any gas until you turn the enrichener off, but one thing I recall it doing before I realized what was going on was locking the throttle in an open position causing the motor to race. I must have twisted the throttle enough to overcome the fouling but there was no way for it to return. I initially thought it was something funky in the cables and how I installed them, but nope.

Luckily with the plastic off it was a 30-40 minute job to pop up the carbs and get this sorted. And don't forget to cover the intakes while doing something like this. Today must be amateur day in my shop because I spaced on that part, too. Thankfully all the rubber bits are new, so it all went quite easily. And on the plus side, if it ever breaks down, I'm going to know these bikes inside out.

Anyhow, check your throttle function before and after you install your carbs and make sure everything has room to operate. This has been a public service announcement.
 
Humility is in no short supply, but truth be told, sometimes I'm short on patience. I'm working on it, though..

I tried to make the fix w/o popping the carbs, but my fingers aren't small enough, and the screw points in an angle I don't think I could tighten unless I used a visegrips.
 
Holee-cow, it's been a month since the last entry in the Alameda ST Rehab diary. Actually not a lot to report as I took off nine days on the '96 for a rideabout through mountains and desert, but I got back to work on it this week. And as this project lurches to its eventual conclusion of being an utterly useful and loved old machine capable of mileage I'll never put on it, and as a stablemate to another machine almost exactly the same, the wisdom of my wife rings in my ears when I think of her asking innocently enough, "Why do you need two bike that are exactly the same?" And the answer is, "Because.' Best not to say too much and regret having said it, and best to stop off for flowers from time to time so it's just a joke between long-time friends.

Anyhow, I'm certain the current inhabitants of this board have been wondering just where this project left off, and now you get to find out. Last weekend it occurred to me that all I really needed before replasticking things was a few vacuum caps. So I got some and capped those fresh hoses. Yesterday I set about to wire up the Oxford heated grips, and the USB port. I decided to hard-wire them since the USB port has an on/off button, and the grips sense a non-running bike and turn themselves off. My new foot peg rubber showed up while I was away so I installed it. The '96 wasn't terrible, but this bike definitely benefited from it, and it pushed my last order over the threshold for free shipping, so they were essentially half price. This is the '96,

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The side panel above was pretty faded on the '97, so I busted out the Back to Black again and gave them a good scrub. Not new, but nice.
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Now I'm slowly cleaning plastic, and doing some fixes as warranted. It's overall in good shape, but I'm noticing a number of broken tabs that I need to figure out if I want to attempt a repair on. I know it will ride like the '96, but I'm still dying to actually ride it for the first time.

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The dash is looking snazzy with all the cleaning I gave it.
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I need to run out and get a battery on Thursday, but then it's down to just an oil change, the rest of the plastic, some repairs, and then a bit of bodywork and paint on the mirror covers and the side cases. Oh, and the clear turn lenses need to be installed. Getting those darn things apart is the step I'm not looking forward to doing again..

So that's where we stand - we're almost there. It fires right up, runs beautifully and the brakes feel as firm as can be. And it won't be in time for my ride to Tahoe this weekend.
 
A couple of weeks have gone by, and I haven't been hit with work like I expected just yet, but I'm pretty sure it's coming so I decided to spend a bit of time in the garage assembling my project. The upper fairings were hardest hit with damage in that the four tabs that are held in place under the map covers were gone. There was another section that had a chunk missing that isn't obvious what happened. So I broke out the Japanese pull-saw, a sheet of ABS and the bottle of cement.

Nothing fancy but I decided to replace the tabs in two pieces to maximize strength. Probably how they were originally, I forget, but anyhow, some careful work with a 6" bastard file removed material allowing for an easy fit-up.
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I drilled the holes by fitting the panels in place and marking the location. The speed nuts were from eBay and were longer than the stockers, not to mention ten plus some crappy aluminum cap head screws for the cost of maybe two from Honda.

Not sure how this broke and it's not perrfect, but it's hidden and a bunch stronger than it was.
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The tail was broken clean off, so I put the pieces in place and glued them up. I'm not going to do anything about the finish.
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The cockpit is very clean thanks to some scrubbing with Back to Black, and the fuel door now works properly and locks shut. Bar weights got a new coat of paint but the Grip Puppies are not installed yet.

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And rounding out the update is a full broadsides shot, complete with the silver mirror.

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It's ready to ride, just no insurance so I'll put off the maiden voyage until tomorrow at the earliest, which is good because the state was going to suspend my registration for lack of insurance. Figured I'd skip it since it wasn't roadworthy, but I guess they communicate with State Farm somehow. The bars, risers and windshield are all off the '96 so I can do some experimenting.

Remaining work is an oil change, install the bottom fairing, paint the silver mirror, do a bit of bodywork and paint the other, then both suitcases are in need of paint. Once actually needs a some plastic work. The PO got a hole punched in the corner when it flew off or something, and it looks like an epoxy and glass cloth or something repair, so I think I'll knock it out of there and cement in some abs sheeting before painting. I'm also trying to glue the original mirror back together but I'm struggling to tell where it's abs and where it is epoxy from the first fix. Oh, and the date on the fuel pump looks like it's original, so at some point I'll probably try to marry the Quantum pump to the OEM pressure regulator and drop it in. I have no idea whether this pump is going strong or not, but I don't want to find out the hard way.

Hard to believe this is the same bike I went to take a look at just because it nearby. It sure seems like it's ready for a whole bunch more miles.
 
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