CL 450 Timing Chain

[exeric]

I certainly appreciate all the good advice I have been getting; THANKS. I have a genuine Honda manual for this bike which is quite good, and much better than the Haynes manual. I did a link count on the new chain and it is 128 links. Experience is everything with a new motorcycle and I don't know what is too tight, or just right. It seems tight to me, but when I think about it, a sloppy timing chain would play hell with the timing. So, I'm going to go with what I've got. Thanks for the Western Hills Honda recommendation, Fred.

[Steve Swan]

Eric, given you are going with factory 128 links you are on the right track. the cam chain cannot have any slack and it will feel taut when properly adjusted. Two other excellent parts resources i've used are

https://www.davidsilverspares.com/

and

https://www.cmsnl.com/honda_model8286/

[whp]

I certainly appreciate all the good advice I have been getting; THANKS. I have a genuine Honda manual for this bike which is quite good, and much better than the Haynes manual. I did a link count on the new chain and it is 128 links. Experience is everything with a new motorcycle and I don't know what is too tight, or just right. It seems tight to me, but when I think about it, a sloppy timing chain would play hell with the timing. So, I'm going to go with what I've got. Thanks for the Western Hills Honda recommendation, Fred.

Eric, I'm in the middle of a CB450 rebuild as well... Weird motors... I'm at the same point where I need to install the chain. Unfortunately the chain that was shipped had a link fall out right away... Waiting for a replacement. The heads on these are weird.

I had the same issue with my CL160 with the chain not reaching and was short. It ended up being the "NOS" gaskets I so happily picked up were too thick and pushed the head up just enough to make the chain tight without the tensioner installed. I bought some new gaskets and it fit together MUCH better. My CL also has a traditional clip master link with no peen/rivet nonsense...

Probably not your problem but just sharing my experience. I also got frustrated with the 160 (it also got cold) and didn't touch it for a year. Now it's happily fixed up and the cam tensioner bolt is stuck .

[exeric]

This has really turned into a great thread, and far exceeded my expectations thanks to the people that have posted their knowledge, and advice. The 450 is a strange motor, Will but I think it is the best looking Honda engine, and I guess I like it so much because it's historical weirdness makes me think of the knucklehead. You mentioned the gasket thickness, and how that very slight height difference could have a profound effect on the chain tightness. I'm thinking that the head will need to be re-torqued and that may loosen things up a bit. . . I've not parked it yet, as I'm still in love with it, so I'll keep plugging away and my goal is to feel confident enough to put the motor in the frame.