The moment of truth...

[DayvW]

Good news Drew ... and the weather looks promising over the weekend down 'ere .. so hopefully you'll get out.

I have just completed a (year long) renovation (my first complete one - my first anything was the 400-4 engine last year) of another 70's bike - Suzuki GT550 - and I've just got my MOT this week too .. feels sooo good to get to this stage (I too have had a few issues .. dont we always .. but pretty much sorted now) .. I guess if it was too easy it wouldn't be so rewarding (I keep telling myself that anyway!!).

Good luck with maiden voyages!

Cheers,
Dave

[Drew400]

Thanks Dave,

Empathy indeed!

Cheers, D.

[hairygit]

Please Drew, make sure you sort that brake fluid leak before you go riding it again, safety first, especially when it's the front brake, which provides 90% of the braking force you need on a bike like that! Anyone who doubts that fact, try riding using just the rear brake (Very carefully!) it's not a nice experience

[Drew400]

Thanks Hairy,

I'm well aware of that, but no harm being reminded.

Cheers, D.

[Lobo]

....back in the 70's I used to ride my 400F from 'alifax to Leeds / visit my g/f (= wife now) in St James Hospital, nurses home. Used to park it underneath a fire escape... one night got back to it and some effing low-life had cut the brake hose. Not a nice experience riding 20+ miles back on the M62; thence all the bloody hills abouts 'alifax...

To this day I'd like to meet the git, and simply ask, "Why?"  Arsehole.

S

[AshimotoK0]

....back in the 70's I used to ride my 400F from 'alifax to Leeds / visit my g/f (= wife now) in St James Hospital, nurses home. Used to park it underneath a fire escape... one night got back to it and some effing low-life had cut the brake hose. Not a nice experience riding 20+ miles back on the M62; thence all the bloody hills abouts 'alifax...

To this day I'd like to meet the git, and simply ask, "Why?"  Arsehole.

S

Same happened to me with my CD175 sloper. Once visited Durham  with G/F (now wife), which I always thought as a nice quiet place. After owning the bike for two years and leaving it outside in the back streets of Hull, Newcastle and Sunderland nobody touched it,. On returning to the bike some lowlife in Durham had taken the side cover off, ripped out the battery and chucked it in the hedge. sadly, you would never leave a bike out in a back street all night any more and expect it to be there the next day.

[hairygit]

On the subject of thieving scumbags, I went to visit my mum in Hastings on my 750F1 a few years ago (500mile round trip from here) Parked in the seafront carpark, came back 3 hours later, and some lowlife had stolen the front caliper, in broad daylight. Sadly Hastings council which has cctv in the car park, doesn't cover the motorcycle parking bays The good old R.A.C. took the bike back to Devon for me, but it took more tham 4 months to find a replacement caliper that was salvageable. A few weeks after I got it sorted D.S. started selling repro ones for the F1 ! This is certainly the impression I have of hasting and st. Leonards

[Nurse Julie]

Things have moved on a bit in Hastings since then Hairy............they now nick the whole bike, so a lot less aggrivation for the rider in the long run 

[Drew400]

Gosh, looking back on this thread, it was March when I fired up the old girl after 19 months of restoration work, much of which required your most appreciated help.

It then took me until August to send it to the MOT chaps, after all the chrome problems previously shared.

A whole load of other priorities later (like buying a helmet to replace my 20 years old one, doh!) and here we are almost 2 years to the day that I started stripping her down, and I've commuted to work! She's parked outside the office in a motorcycle shelter looking very small, very clean and very classy (surrounded huge over-faired BMWs etc.)

Not much of a value-add in terms of this forum, but just wanted to share the love (especially for anyone else out there who's still working on their Jap money pit and a long way yet from their next ride).

All this just in time for winter! Hey ho.

Cheers all,

D.

[Nurse Julie]

Well done Drew, I bet she looks just lovely sitting out there. Now......tell us all about your next resto project 

[Lynx]

Well done Drew. Makes it all worth while . Used mine a few times for work and always got some complements.

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[Drew400]

Hi both and thank you.

On the way home I stopped by the chap who ground my crankshaft and bored my barrels. He was delighted (as he normally only sees the insides of engines rather than the finished thing... and never hears them running)!

All neatly tucked away in my garage now.

Next project, hmmm?

D.

[Lynx]

Great! I've just purchased my next project. Not a SOHC I'm afraid. A 1987 VF500. Not the basket case my 400 was but still quite a bit of work to do .

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