1982 Honda Silverwing Interstate

I didn't think I would likely get back into riding motorcycles, though I still have the '89 Honda Pacific Coast and the '82 Kawasaki 305.  I attempted to get the 305 running again but these bikes were so rare, and not in a good way, just in a there-are-very-few-left-and-no-one-cares, that there isn't much information on how to work on them and the parts can be hard to come by.  I have been saving up birthday and Christmas money for several years now and decided that I would look for a motorcycle.  I wanted a full fairing and saddlebags, however I wanted a smaller cycle.  Unfortunately most of the smaller bikes in the size I wanted were out of my prices range.  The Silverwing is a bit larger than I really wanted but it best met my criteria within my price range.  The Silverwing was made from '81-'83.  It had a 500cc engine for '81-'82 and a 650cc for '83.  They are plentiful and typically have lower mileage, parts are easy to get and there is a large forum presence online so learning how to work on them is very easy as well.  I found one with all of the options I wanted, including full fairing and bags (Interstate package), the optional extended mount rear box, crash bars, highway pegs, rear backrest and none of the optional radio equipment (no holes in the original plastic and huge, outdated speakers in the way.  It also had brand new tires.  It's a vertically mounted twin, water cooled engine with a wet clutch and shaft driven final drive.  One feature I think is cool is that the saddle bags come loose with the push of a button and have handles so they can be used as actual luggage.

There were several maintenance items I wanted and needed to address.  I changed the oil and replaced with a wet-clutch safe Rotella diesel oil.  With the engine at operating temperature and on the mainstand it is important to remember to drop the drain plug in the oil when removing it.

The next step is to remove the oil filter housing.

When the housing is removed it will look like this.  Some oil filters come with two rubber o-rings, and some oil filters do not.  If they do, the larger one goes into the location noted in the photo below.

These filters are supposed to have a spring and washer behind them, between the filter and the filter housing.  Over the years many of these items have been lost or left out.  If these are not present the oil will bypass the filter.  Naturally, my filter did not have the spring and washer present so I had to order them and wait a week for them to come in.  The part numbers are as shown in the picture below.  The shop manuals are readily available for free on the internet and I highly suggest downloading one.  I printed mine and put it in a three ring binder.

The shaft in the picture below will simply push out of the housing.  Near the hex head end of the shaft is a small o-ring which should also be replaced.  Inside this shaft is a check valve which should be tested for proper operation.  The photo below indicates the correct order of assembly of the parts when the housing is reassembled but before the filter is put on.

After adding the filter it will look like this; note the photo of the manual below also indicating the order of assembly.  Simply reinstall the filter housing and if you feel like it, add the fresh oil back into the crankcase through the dipstick hole.

I had a small leak in the shaft seal for the clutch linkage.  This is relatively simple to replace and a perfect time to do it is when the oil has been drained for an oil change.  This is the clutch cover below and the clutch shaft and linkage are on the left side of the photo.

The manual instructs to remove the clutch linkage from the adjuster, shown at the top of the photo.  I found this to be difficult and would have resulted in having to readjust the clutch when it was reinstalled.  I found it much easier to remove the clutch linkage after removing the clutch cover due to the way the clutch linkage mounts to the clutch arm.

When removing the cover make sure this piece does not fall out.  It is not held in with any retaining clips.

With the removal of a single C-clip the clutch shaft will slide right out if you ask it nicely.  Take note of the orientation of the spring before removal.

This is the new clutch seal.  It installs with the flat side facing to the outside and the cupped side (pictured below) facing the inside.

The shop manual instructions are ambiguous on how to remove the seal.  At first I wasn't sure if I would have to remove the roller bearings below and pull the seal out from the inside of the clutch plate, but fortunately that is not necessary.  The clutch rod seal simply pulls out from the outside and can be removed with needle nose pliers or a screw driver.  I pushed it back into its seat without damaging it by using a properly sized socket.  I also coated it very lightly with oil.

When reinstalling the clutch shaft make sure to note the orientation of the spring on the shaft.  The shaft will need to be oriented so that it produces resistance in the correct direction to provide a return force on the clutch linkage.  Also, make sure to install the piece in the center that makes contact with the clutch.  Another thing to take notice of is that this round, center piece needs to push in when the shaft is in the right direction.  You can rotate the shaft and when this piece is in the right spot it will fall into place.

This is what the clutch looks like with the cover off.  Make sure to clean the gasket surfaces and torque the bolts down in a star pattern when reinstalling, or don't clean the gasket surfaces and you can find your way back home by following the oil trail.