1982 Honda CB450 not starting

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willistwigge
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1982 Honda CB450 not starting

#1 Unread post by willistwigge »

Greetings,

I recently purchased a 1982 Honda CB450 that I plan on restoring. When I bought it, the previous owner told me that the bike ran fine until the starter gave out. With this in mind, I tried to pull start it yesterday. I put the motorcycle into second gear and pulled in the clutch. Then I had my brother tow me with his truck until we reached about 10-15 mph, at which point I let out the clutch and the motor caught and started running. Once the motorcycle was running however, I discovered that pulling on the throttle didn't seem to do anything; even thought the bike was running, giving it gas didn't work at all. Any advice on areas to check a place to start would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Willis

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JackoftheGreen
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Re: 1982 Honda CB450 not starting

#2 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

When you say twisting the throttle had no effect, to what extent do you mean that? Did the motor sputter and chug but refused to spin up as you twisted the throttle? Or was there absolutely no change or effect whatsoever when you twisted the grip?

If the motor responded, but only sluggishly, I'd say the place to start is cleaning your carbs. Get your hands on a service manual for your bike and follow the instructions.

If there was absolutely no response at all, but the grip did indeed twist, then the problem's gotta be the throttle linkage. It's either just disconnected, which would be odd but not a big deal, or it's damaged or corroded in some way. Either way, it's no longer connected to your throttle bodies. Again, a manual is the place to start, which will walk you through identifying the throttle cable and checking that it's properly connected.

Let us know how it goes, and welcome to TMW!

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BRUMBEAR
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Re: 1982 Honda CB450 not starting

#3 Unread post by BRUMBEAR »

I recommend you get someone who has mechanical knowledge and can help you I wouldn't poke and hope cause if I am reading this right your not that familiar with mechanics and dude this machine has your life in it's hands when your riding. I am not kickin ya when your down here I would hate to see ya get banged up cause ya missed something is all.
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Re: 1982 Honda CB450 not starting

#4 Unread post by GS_in_CO »

Kind of like Dave says - you have to look and sort of know what you're looking for. If you're a total beginner, you need some help to get started.

If it were me, I'd look at the end of the throttle cable where it connects to the carburetor. If that description has no meaning for you, definitely get some help.
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Re: 1982 Honda CB450 not starting

#5 Unread post by Johnj »

Hello and welcome to the forum. You need your carbs rebuilt, with attention given to the intakes and the boots on the airbox.
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Re: 1982 Honda CB450 not starting

#6 Unread post by Dennyb »

Bad gas would be my guess. If it sat for a long time algea in the carbs. It has spark or towing it wouldn't have made it fire. If the gas smells good try knockoing on the carbs with a screw driver handle, the float valves could be sticking and it could be flooding. Pulling a plug will tell you that. If it's black and sooty or wet with cas it's flooding or at least way too rich. If the plugs are wet with oil and black you probabaly have a compression problem. But it sounds fuel related to me,

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Re: 1982 Honda CB450 not starting

#7 Unread post by gsJack »

Had a 81 CM400 (same engine) years ago with 80-90k miles on it that sat for 3 years in my garage untouched with no storage prep, just parked it.

Tried to start it one day and no go and after grinding away for a while a neighbor came over with a can of sarter fluid and the bike started to run and would keep running on the starter fluid. Shut it down and opened the carb bowl drain plugs and some white molasses like stuff oozed out. So we drained the gas tank and refilled it with fresh gas, opened the carb drain plugs and let it flow until the jelled gasoline was flushed out, rode it a short time around the parking lot and put it back in the garage and it became my winter bike (JAN, FEB, MAR approx) for the next 4 years sitting in the garage for about 9 months out of the year. Never touched the carbs except to drain them on that bike and it still ran as good as it always did.

You didn't mention how long your CB450 sat unused after the starter failed. Not saying not to pull and clean carbs if they need it but I don't until I'm sure they do. You seem to have spark so check compression next. Finger over plug hole, crank, and pop would be enough for me to see if it's going to run if you don't have a guage handy.

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