General Questions for anyone who knows.

Daegan

Member
Why is there such variation with regard to the angles of handlebars on the 70's? I have a 72 HK1 and its bars are pretty straight and even with my shoulders while my 71 KO has bars that bend in and the grips are closer together. I have seen these closer together bars/grips in a lot of photos (same as my KO 71) but the photos in my owners manual show the bars more spread apart like my HK1. What is the deal with that? Were the bars bent? Can they be modified? Should they be?

Was there a difference in the performance of the HK1 (4 speed Manual) and the KO 3 speed auto? It seems like the HK1 has more power, a slightly larger seat and an apparant better ability to hold two riders. Is this a fact or just major differences in the condition/performance of my bikes. Did Honda have two riders in mind with the HK models or am I just trippin'? Is it just the difference between the gear ratios and manual vs. auto?

Also, what compression level should the bike be at when it is time to rebuild?

Has anyone heard of Enzo Motors or had any feedback on their services?

Thank you for your help for the new guy!
 

steampick

Member
KO bars were a bit smaller/shorter than later bars, I think. They certainly sit lower, but that could be due to the smaller front forks. As for being closer together, that's just bent bars. These bars are nice looking and all, but if you drop the bike, you'll likely be bending the bars. I've seen 'em practically touching, which is not right.

The seat foam changed throughout the years, but I don't believe the HK bikes were ever meant to hold an extra rider, at least, no more than any other CT70, as the CT was supposed to be the two-rider bike that the Z50 wasn't. Many CTs had buddy pegs, and if not, I believe most could accomodate them.
 

Daegan

Member
Thank you for your response. The bars don't look right when compared to the manual (down view) photo. What can I or should I do about it. It doesn't appear to have been dropped into bending them and they appear to be equal on both sides....

All I know is that it is a lot more uncomfortable a ride than my HK1 with straight bars. It feels like I could steer with my knees. Would you have the bars bent into correct shape?
 
The ko bars are closer together than a k1. All the repro bars you see are correct k1 bars. If you find of set of mint ko bars they look a lot different.
 

MSZ

Moderator
Also keep in mind the bars that are closer together in various pictures are BENT! For most of the years of bikes, the bars should be parallel to each other. On some later years, their is a slight bend outward away from each other.

Most of the older bars are bent from crashes or the bike falling over, and the left bars are usually bent worse from years of having them tugged on during the kickstart process. No kidding..
 

Daegan

Member
What can I do about said bent bars? Bend them back? Is this recommended? How should I handle it? Thank you again for your feedback.

Also, do you know what kind of compression I should have on a heathly engine? At what point do you rebuild?
 

steampick

Member
Yeah, you can bend them back, and probably should. The bars can be kinked and twisted at their curves pretty badly sometimes, which makes it hard to bend them back to perfect. Good to get a big, strong pipe for the job, and if you can weld on a clasp or bracket that would fit around a bar, even loosely, you could perform the job a lot easier than hand power, but whatever works.

At what point do you rebuild?

You rebuild when your friends with CTs rebuild their bikes, giving them a better bike than you. Can't live with that for long, I'll bet. Past that, whenever the thing is smoking badly, it's probably due for a ring job. If it's a well-used bike you've inherited, a valve job on the head wouldn't be a bad idea. In the transmission case, if you're rebuilding things other than the clutch, you already know the answer to the initial question without me telling you.<!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message -->
 
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