Rebuilding 1981 Honda CB900F (Bol d Or)

My friend who moved to Montana let me have a 1981 CB900F that he didn’t want to lug up there with him. It hasn’t run for a few years and needs to be gone over from end to end. I turned the engine over and the carbs aren’t frozen. They were only imported into the U.S. for only three years and only imported 3000 in 1981. I was going to sell it but I’ve decided to spend a year or two rebuilding it. They are kind of rare and it came with the Hondaline fairing. I was wondering if anyone else has done or decided to bring an old bike back from the grave. I’m not looking at taking it back to an almost pristine state just doing a nice job and having a bike to play around on.

IMHO the best looking of the Japanese air cooled dinosaurs.
Not the usual fair for this forum, but its dark, cold and covid so we're bored. Photos and details of the rebuild please. We'll chip in with unhelpful advice and snipper fire as we go along

steve_h80 wrote:

IMHO the best looking of the Japanese air cooled dinosaurs.
Not the usual fair for this forum, but its dark, cold and covid so we're bored. Photos and details of the rebuild please. We'll chip in with unhelpful advice and snipper fire as we go along

Bored! I'm not in the least bored. Lockdown 2 ends tomorrow and at least in Tier 2 I'll now be able to go for Afternoon Tea in The Countess of York. The fully restored railway Pullman carriage where they serve it at the National Railway Museum. I've eaten Spam again for the first time in at least 30 years and found out it it’d far better than pepperoni or chorizo on a Detroit Style Pizza. I've reconnected with an old school friend, my Givi equipped Forza keeps off the worst of the winter chills, and Kymco have finally brought out their CV3 three wheels scooter.

I can put the next few months in trying to find out if it's going to be imported into the UK.


If you're interested in the Honda CB900F Bol D'or, there's a dealer selling a beautifully restored 1982 red and white one on Autotrader for £6495.


( I attended to the Bol D'or 24 Hours Race at Circuit Paul Ricard in 1979. My most vivid memory is not of the race, but the overflowing and stinking hole in the ground toilets they had all around the circuit.)

Had a suzuki gs850g a few years ago, 1988 must have been one of the last.

My dad had it from a year old, always remember stareing up at it as a kid thinking it was enormous.

Had it recommissioned a few years ago and thought as an adult how small it was.

Genuine 9000 miles from new, great bike pulled like a train from any revs.

Honda looks set to bring out a "homage" special to celebrate the CB900F pretty soon:
https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2020/december/honda-cb1000f-concept/


Hope yours looks just like that...

I can the lines are pretty much what my 900F looks like (except I have the black one). I’m going to do my best to do justice to the heritage of an obviously great bike. I’ll keep everybody updated as to how it proceeds. I’m one lucky fellow in that I still have main honey ( my 2007 Silverwing) to ride while I get the 900F up to snuff.

That will be a cool bike if you get it done right!

Sold one last year, bought it off a workmate, was going to make a cafe racer out of it but too many projects at the time. I must admit that they still have a lot of appeal and sometimes wish that I had not sold it. Good luck with your project. Pud.

Old bikes are a money pit but if you have the time it's worth it. Get it running right first. Time spent cleaning fuel tank and carbs is a must a little bit of dirt in tank and carbs. will need to come off again. I know!!!..

Research what parts are out there first. CV carbs are not that difficult to work on just don't take the whole thing apart unless O-rings between are leaking. Don't mix up the slides . Have fun.

Mech 1 twa wrote:

Old bikes are a money pit but if you have the time it's worth it.  Get it running right first.  Time spent cleaning fuel tank and carbs is a must a little bit of dirt in tank and carbs. will need to come off again.  I know!!!..

Ain't that the truth...I had the carbs off my 1990 ST1100 six times trying to exorcise the running demons. Turned out to be electrical (dirty contacts in a connector ) giving low volts to the ignition system...

New carb rubbers and bowl gaskets are a wise investment.

I’ve already started the parts collection game. One thing I’ve found out is that when your looking for parts on eBay is that it’s best to think of the many ways a part can be described. When I took my petcock off it just fell apart. So on to eBay. I could find lots of cheap reproduction parts but I wanted original parts. Also listed were OEM parts with hefty price tags. After searching several different ways I found one at a little less than half the price others wanted from Japan with free shipping. Just a FYI for anyone else who decides to take on a project like this. I’m going to try to attach a photo of what my starting point is.