Seeley Honda #SH7-672

[Zunspec]

My recently acquired Seeley Honda is in need of a replacement Pagehiln rear master cylinder, or at least a re-build kit.  It seems that Pagehiln closed down in the late 80's so new items are, not surprisingly, non-existent.  If there are any alternatives I might use that would be good too.



Needed for this beauty:



Cheers   Geoff

[Bryanj]

Loks simila to a Lockheed mate

[Zunspec]

Similar Bryan, but not unfortunately the same.  I have not been able to match a Lockheed (or AP) unit in my web searched, nearest is an Airheart unit but I cannot find a UK source for those.  Thanks for getting back to me though.

Cheers    Geoff

[Bryanj]

Can you not use a lockheed AP and modify or remake the mounting?

[Zunspec]

Hello Bryan,

I am trying to keep this bike as original as I can so although I could re-engineer the rear brake set-up I don't want to go down that route if I can help it.  So far I have stripped and re-built the Pagehiln unit so it will again move smoothly but I have no idea of the state of the seal etc.

I use AP Lockheed calipers on my Seeley T500 race bike, not master cylinders though, they cost a fortune (AP rear master cylinder in the region of £250 quid)



Cheers   Geoff

[Bryanj]

I like the T500, where i worked we built an Egli GT750 for racing, 6 1/2 to the gallon and went like stink. As to the cylinder all i can sugest is take the diameter of the bore and check all the girling lists/packs at autojumbles and things like steam rallies mate, I suspect that a lot of seals are fairly generic as long as the bore is good

[Zunspec]

Hi Bryan

The bore unfortunately had some corrosion at the outer end, that's why it was seized.  Also the seal has now been taken in, and out twice and was difficult to re-fit so I may have compromised it despite my best efforts.  Awaiting a new length of brake line (in black covering, nearest I could get to the original) to see if the re-furbished M/Cyl will work.

That Egli GT750 sounds interesting, and I can believe the 6.5 mpg lol.

Cheers   Geoff

[Zunspec]

Good news, the cleaned up Pagehiln rear master cylinder appears to be functioning well.  I have just successfully put the bike through the UK MOT test,  1 advisory to check out/adjust the swinging arm bearing.  The bike is now fully UK road legal  .  Still a slight misfire on #3 cylinder and that carb also appears to be weeping so a strip down and clean is in order.

Even on the 13 year old Avon Roadrunner tyres the Seeley feels very good to ride, once all the minor problems are resolved I think this machine is going a bunch of fun. 

I am thinking of fitting set of Continental Classic Attack tyres. 100/90x19 front and 120/09x18 rear.  Anyone have any feedback on these?

Cheers   Geoff

[Bryanj]

Metzelers are better mate in my opinion, aparently made by Pirelli now

[Zunspec]

I decided to fit a set of Avon AM26 Roadriders (110/90-19 F & 120/90-18 R), they are made not 10 miles from me so supporting a local product  .  I also use the race compound versions on my Seeley T500 so I am familiar with how they feel.

At the moment the swinging arm is out to address some play in the bearings, still working on that.

After stripping the carbs and giving them a clean the engine is running a lot better although it stills sounds if I have slight miss-fire, still working on that too lol.

Cheers   Geoff

[MCTID]

Lovely bikes, and a credit to you......I had a Suzuki T500 in 1975.....I rode across Canada and the US (Toronto to Banff). 6000 miles in 3 weeks and it never missed a beat. When I bought it new, the bike had an intermittent misfire and I had it back to the Dealer umpteen times......in the end I threatened to give him the bike back. He left it running in a corner of the garage and he noticed that in the shadows he could see the spark plug covers (galvanised steel) arcing against the frame rails under the tank. He simply cut off the covers - problem solved!

Hope you get your misfire sorted OK.

[Zunspec]

Hello MCTID,

The engine mis-fire seems to be improving after more running.  Rather frustratingly after removing the front callipers to extract the wheel for the tyre replacement I now have the RH disc binding, seems the pad is not coming out square and then won't re-tract (knew I should not have stripped everything to clean it all up lol).  Typically we are having a nice spell fine weather I can't get out to see how the new Avons perform.

If you like T500s, here's a photo of my restored T500 



Cheers  Geoff

[MCTID]

 

A thing of beauty.......the colour also reminds me of another old favourite of mine.....the Triumph Stag and TR6 which particularly suited Magenta........splendid. Thanks for posting.....I'm proper jealous.

[Zunspec]

I have a small silencer problem after taking the bike for a thrash yesterday lol :



There are also cracks on the underside, and the right hand silencer also has at least one rust hole.  I am hoping these can be repaired but if this is typical of the general degradation of the base metal it may turn out that fixing one hole will lead to another failure somewhere else. 

As the likelihood of sourcing a replacement set of Seeley silencers is pretty slim I may have to get some replicas made as I would like to keep the bike looking factory std. if I can. 

Cheers   Geoff

[Zunspec]

Happy Yule season all,

The headers came back from their re-chroming.  Also had the exhaust retainer thingies zinc plated.



New stainless replica silencers should be ready after the festive period.

Cheers  Geoff