CBX250RS-E #2, mid 2012

I'm a sucker for an eighties Honda. I'm also a sucker for singles, anything with a red frame, white bodywork or piggyback twinshocks. So imagine what happened when I saw a Japanese imported CBX250RS-E with red frame and white bodywork on ebay.. Even though the seller wouldn't say if it ran or not, I had to have it. It was mine for £280 and as sold as seen as you can ever get. It even had the original piggyback shocks, I was over the moon. The reality of what I had bought was about to set in, however.

"No idea if it runs, mate" said the seller. "Never tried" he proclaims. The story went that some bloke had left it on its side for a couple of years or so, in his garden. This was why the tank was rotten, and the lead acid Lion battery was beyond scrap. The guy I was buying it off had taken it in part exchange for something, but had no interest in fixing it up or of bikes in general. I came to believe the first part of this story, but the second is suspect.. I think he knew what was up and didn't fancy it one bit.

I hand over the money and it's thrown into the back of a van, and brought home on 16/6/2012. Initial testing reveals the engine is seized solid. I shouldn't be surprised, it had sat outside for years, but all I want is the head and valves for CBX #1 because the ones it has fitted are making suspect noises. I try and remove the plug for a look-see, but it won't shift. I mean.. It really doesn't want to know. After using the longest spanner I can find on a plug socket (!) it finally twists.. Have I snapped the plug? It continues to twist, but is very tight in a certain spot.. It's so tight that the spanner is cutting into my hand. Eventually, after a bit of sweating, I am confronted with the awful truth:

What have I got myself into? What has happened? The piston is still there, and the engine now turns a little.. Only one thing for it, get the head off. I have some idea of how this goes by now..

Wait, what? Where's.. Oh.

The eagle-eyed will notice the fresh hone marks on the bore, and that the spark plug was new. Who would go to the trouble of getting that done? And were they competent to put all this back together properly? The copper grease on the threads of the head bolts suggests not, engine oil only for that particular application. The amount of blue goo around the rocker cover seal also suggests not.

Removing the barrel reveals more bolts covered in copper grease, and this bizarre sight:

The piston looks almost new. Except it's also scrap.. The valve has punched right through, looking like this on the underside:

The lack of discolouration on this piston is astonishing, it has to be new. Comparing the bore and piston sizes to my standard items from CBX engine #2 (with the knocking main) reveals that this is actually first step oversized. Someone really put some effort into this, only to have it all go catastrophically wrong. The trip metre reads 1.2 miles, surely not..?

The amount of blue goo everywhere is of major concern, it's even around the float bowl seals. I remove the clutch cover to see what is caught in the oil pump gauze..

Please people, don't do this. Despite all this the crank seems okay, the mains don't seem to allow much uppy downy movement and the big end bearing seems sound enough, though there is a considerable amount of lateral play. No way am I getting it rebuilt, that didn't go at all well last time so I'll just patch it up and see if it works. Oh, and in the meantime I'll use the better cams and rockers this one came with in CBX #1 as that actually does things like fire and propel itself.. For now. So much for using this head on it though!