'87 Honda Magna 700 Carbs - thoughts?

[bwringer]

Well, the patient is on the slab...

Overall, if this bike were a dog, I'd dig a hole and take the mangy beast to the vet for the big pink shot.

75,000 miles, banged up and rough shape all around, absolutely nothing is straight, uncorroded, or un-scraped, ancient front tire, leaky fork seals, seat a mess of duct tape, turn signals all busted, radiator fan switch failed and jumpered to leave the fan on all the time, janky melted K&N air filter and airbox lid totally mangled and letting filth into the engine for who knows how long, headlight connector melted, 1/4" bolts here and there, missing and chowdered fasteners everywhere, oil pan leaking, something leaking down by the secondary gears, battery damn near expired (but I did get it to charge after a couple of attempts) etc. and so on.


Anyway, I haven't removed the carbs yet, just the airbox, but three out of the four vacuum diaphragms are bad and oh yeah, there's a coolant leak from one of the many coolant lines underneath the carbs. I drained the float bowls and nothing horrible came out. Gas is very "off", but not terribly deteriorated.

I would also bet a considerable sum that the valves have never been checked once in 75,000 miles. And who knows how much dirt the engine has swallowed through the cabbaged airbox and filter.

IMnsHO, this bike is used up and ain't remotely worth saving. Part it out or sell the carcass and start over with something with a better foundation. Yes, it would probably be possible to get it running again. Maybe. But it would take a ridiculous amount of money and time, and even more (or just be impossible) to get it remotely safe and reliable.

So now I have to find a way to convince the owner of that...

Feh.

[RichDesmond]

Well, the patient is on the slab...

Overall, if this bike were a dog, I'd dig a hole and take the mangy beast to the vet for the big pink shot.

75,000 miles, banged up and rough shape all around, absolutely nothing is straight, uncorroded, or un-scraped, ancient front tire, leaky fork seals, seat a mess of duct tape, turn signals all busted, radiator fan switch failed and jumpered to leave the fan on all the time, janky melted K&N air filter and airbox lid totally mangled and letting filth into the engine for who knows how long, headlight connector melted, 1/4" bolts here and there, missing and chowdered fasteners everywhere, oil pan leaking, something leaking down by the secondary gears, battery damn near expired (but I did get it to charge after a couple of attempts) etc. and so on.


Anyway, I haven't removed the carbs yet, just the airbox, but three out of the four vacuum diaphragms are bad and oh yeah, there's a coolant leak from one of the many coolant lines underneath the carbs. I drained the float bowls and nothing horrible came out. Gas is very "off", but not terribly deteriorated.

I would also bet a considerable sum that the valves have never been checked once in 75,000 miles. And who knows how much dirt the engine has swallowed through the cabbaged airbox and filter.

IMnsHO, this bike is used up and ain't remotely worth saving. Part it out or sell the carcass and start over with something with a better foundation. Yes, it would probably be possible to get it running again. Maybe. But it would take a ridiculous amount of money and time, and even more (or just be impossible) to get it remotely safe and reliable.

So now I have to find a way to convince the owner of that...

Feh.

Some years back, a buddy who owned an independent bike shop had a guy come in with a bike in about that kind of shape and want to sell it to him. Buddy and I go out and look at it, he walks around it slowly a couple of times and tells the guy:

Buddy: "Hey, this is OK, it just needs a little Ronson treatment."

The Guy: "Really, what's a Ronson treatment"

Buddy (pointing at the Walgreens next door): "Just go in there and buy a can of Ronson lighter fluid, hose this pig down with it and light it on fire."

And then we walked back inside. Funniest damn thing I ever saw.

So, tell the guy the Ronson treatment is the only thing that makes sense for bike he has, and if he wants you'll be happy to administer it. Otherwise, come get his pile out of your garage...

[chuck hahn]

DO NOT remove the plenum when removing carbs. Do it and youll know why you leave them bolted up.

[83GS1100E_Tornado]

DO NOT remove the plenum when removing carbs. Do it and youll know why you leave them bolted up.

Agreed, and 700 Magna's aren't worth $hit to start with, not worth much at all. In other words, you could sink $500 plus into this turd and still be over your head, you can buy a pretty darn nice one in the $500-$1000 dollar range. Hell, the V65 Magnas (which I have restored 50 of), have lost value over the past 3 or 4 years. Not worth messing with, a losing proposition any way you look at it, and heck. You aren't going to sell many parts off of it either. Maybe the tank and side covers and maybe the mufflers if they are mint, nothing else will sell quickly if ever.

[robertbarr]

you can buy a pretty darn nice one in the $500-$1000 dollar range. Hell, the V65 Magnas (which I have restored 50 of), have lost value over the past 3 or 4 years. Not worth messing with, a losing proposition any way you look at it, and heck.

Interesting. There was a period of time when I had a pretty serious itch for a V65 Sabre, the 1984 vintage, and they'll still turn my head. I suppose I'm glad I didn't learn this first-hand. In my case, I kept hearing about trans problems -- don't recall the exact malfunction. That's mainly what kept me from buying one.

[bwringer]

Yep, the old dawg is done. Owner has been duly informed that the carcass will be returned to him soon.

I have also learned a life lesson about the power of one simple word: "no". I seem doomed to learn this lesson over and over and over... maybe one day it'll stick.


I knew that thing was beat when I looked at it. Why on earth did I even bother to drag it home for a closer look? Why didn't I just say "Sorry, no, there's just too much wrong here and I'm too busy."


I expect the full sequence to begin soon:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance

[bwringer]

Agreed, and 700 Magna's aren't worth $hit to start with, not worth much at all. In other words, you could sink $500 plus into this turd and still be over your head, you can buy a pretty darn nice one in the $500-$1000 dollar range. Hell, the V65 Magnas (which I have restored 50 of), have lost value over the past 3 or 4 years. Not worth messing with, a losing proposition any way you look at it, and heck. You aren't going to sell many parts off of it either. Maybe the tank and side covers and maybe the mufflers if they are mint, nothing else will sell quickly if ever.

Good point. I doubt the parts are worth much. At best, someone might want the carbs for parts. I think the '87 700 is just a one year model (87-88 are the "Super Magna" and I think the '88 was back to 750cc) so there are all sorts of weird little odds and ends that are different or unique. I'm not at all well-versed in Honda lore, so I may have some details wrong here.

Absolutely nothing on this pitiful bike is uncorroded or unbent. It's been dropped multiple times on both sides, three turn signals are duct taped and one is hanging, lights and bodywork askew, headlight's not working on low (burnt connector) tank is rusty, dented, and missing much of its paint, handlebars bent, airbox covers cracked and missing, exhaust rashed, etc. Electrics are sketchy, corroded connectors everywhere, and there's a tangle of thin wires under the seat with some unknown purpose emerging from a wad of old electrical tape.

I could go on, but I won't.

[Steve]

Tell him he can post it on Craigslist with the usual "Ran when parked" tag line.

.

[83GS1100E_Tornado]

Interesting. There was a period of time when I had a pretty serious itch for a V65 Sabre, the 1984 vintage, and they'll still turn my head. I suppose I'm glad I didn't learn this first-hand. In my case, I kept hearing about trans problems -- don't recall the exact malfunction. That's mainly what kept me from buying one.

Well, I can tell you this. If you are looking for an 80's "Superbike" and don't care that much about the "looks", the V65 Sabre is absolutely the best bang for your buck in 80s musclebikes! They are the red headed stepchild of the V65's and most guys can't stand them, because of the looks, but performance wise, they are identical to the V65 Magna and faster than $hit! Top heavy a bit, especially the ones with the big Hondaline fairings, but smooth and powerful and will cruise 80 mph at 4K rpm all day long and never skip a beat! I only restored a handful of them before I gave up, because I couldn't sell them when they were complete! You can buy a nice one in the thousand dollar range, ALL DAY EVERY DAY! Sure, there are idiots listing them for 3-4K but they never approached that kind of value and never will. I love riding them, and they are great machines, but they aren't worth crap and I'm not going to restore a bike just to lose money on it. The V65's were also notorious for bad 2nd gears, a repair that requires engine removal and case splitting and it's a money losing proposition, I have parted out many with this ailment. The "cam issues" they talk about are all total BS, that was propaganda made up by a crooked vendor to sell "oil mod kits" that are absolutely useless, although they do LOOK COOL! LOL! As far as the "700" Super Magnas, people love the Arlen Ness design with the upswept exhaust pipes and solid real wheel (700 cc version in 87 and 750 cc version in 88), they have a bit of a cult following but they are coming down in value too, in their heyday 5-10 years ago, the nicest examples would fetch 3500-4000 dollars. Nowadays, you can get a pretty minty one for half that, and it's not uncommon to see them in the 1000-1500 dollar range also. All of the 80's muscle bikes have lost value over the last 5 years, even the 1st generation VMAX's, which WON the muscle bike wars and are still made to this day, and I think it's an age or demographic thing more than anything else. The people that KNOW about these bikes and coveted them back in the day like myself are getting up there in age, I'm 55 and most guys this age are starting to slow down and jump on Goldwings, or God forbid, Hardleys. The younger generations don't know anything about these bikes and do not care for them, so their value continues to decline. I don't see any reason why this market would go back up, but anything is possible. I have quit restoring V65's altogether, but still have a 2004 and 2015 VMAX, but have been concentrating more on the big Eliminators, I currently have six ZL1000's and three ZL900's too. They don't seem to have taken as big a hit as the other muscle bikes, and I think that's a numbers thing more than anything else. They only make 3,000 ZL1000's in 1987 and they are few and far between, and nice ones will still approach 4K. It's too bad the younger generations don't care about these once great, iconic motorcycles because even with 35+ year old technology, they will stomp many modern V-Twins and any Hardley Ableson ever built!!!!!!!

[bwringer]

Welp, the carcass has been returned. Or rather, the owner asked me to drop it off with a friend of his. Why, I don't know exactly. As I told him, it would technically be possible to get it running, but it would not make any economic sense to pay someone to do the work. And honestly it wouldn't make any sense at all to drop the money for the parts into this tired old dawg.

I have no idea what their plans are, but I wish them good luck as long as they don't involve me.

Lessons have been learned.

[Spyder]

I am pressed to believe you didn't take any pictures of this turd to share with us. Though, I'm sure I can find a picture of it in a couple weeks on craigslist, lol. $1200 just needs the carbs adjusted?

[Wingsconsin]

I am pressed to believe you didn't take any pictures of this turd to share with us. Though, I'm sure I can find a picture of it in a couple weeks on craigslist, lol. $1200 just needs the carbs adjusted?

"ran when I parked it"

[bwringer]

I am pressed to believe you didn't take any pictures of this turd to share with us. Though, I'm sure I can find a picture of it in a couple weeks on craigslist, lol. $1200 just needs the carbs adjusted?

Oh, fine...

[Spyder]

Yeeeeechk, that is indeed one ugly Honda. Is that gel a$$ pad for comfort, or to cover up the hole in the seat?

I regularly shop CL, and see a lot of these, and the like. He could pick up a running better looking bike for what it would cost to get that heap safe enough to ride. Even after it is safe it will still LOOK like that, lol...

[bwringer]

Yeeeeechk, that is indeed one ugly Honda. Is that gel a$$ pad for comfort, or to cover up the hole in the seat?

The seat is patched in several spots with duct tape, so I think the cover was intended to keep his ass from sticking to the tape.

I regularly shop CL, and see a lot of these, and the like. He could pick up a running better looking bike for what it would cost to get that heap safe enough to ride. Even after it is safe it will still LOOK like that, lol...

Exactly. I don't know the guy at all, so I don't know whether he's specifically into old Hondas, or this bike has some sentimental value, or what. I doubt it. Overall, I think it was just a cheap bike he bought somewhere and rode until it wouldn't go no mo.

Even if you're into old Hondas or Magnas, this was a one year model, with lots of strange one-off bits including the carbs. There were much nicer running Magnas on Cracklist for $1-$1.2K.

Not worth dumping a penny into this one, and I knew that the second I laid eyes on it. I have no idea why I agreed to dig deeper.

Lesson learned. Again...