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Topics - MrDavo

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1
Misc / Open / Rotten fuel pipe
« on: July 14, 2022, 04:53:34 PM »
Do yourself a favour, go and check your fuel pipes are holding up OK without cracking, lest your bike stops or combusts.

It's only a couple of years since I got my CL450 barn find project back on the road, so I was shocked to find out how badly one of the (then) new fuel pipes had rotted and cracked when it failed yesterday. Despite having only a fleeting sense of smell since I had Covid last year, I suddenly smelled petrol, and looked down to see this:



I limped home on 1.5 cylinders (luckily I wasn't far away) and replaced the pipes to both carbs as I had some left over from doing the Z1A.

As with any barn find, the original fuel pipes had turned to stone, but were useful as patterns to cut new pipes to the right length. I had used new (allegedly) nitrile fuel pipe bought from eBay, if my purchase records go back that far I'll find the details. The bike hasn't been left in the sun for any significant time, and I assume that if the ethanol in modern petrol is doing damage it would be from the inside, and that wouldn't explain the cracking on the outside that you can see in the photo.

2
Out & About / Out in the Outer Hebrides.
« on: June 27, 2022, 06:17:21 PM »
Somewhere on my bucket list for years, we took the Sportster, which I just keep as a holiday bike these days, to the outer Hebrides, because, why not? I'm not getting any younger so I have to do it while I can. We rode up to Oban, then its a 4 hour ferry to Barra, the most southerly island. We then worked our way up to the most Northerly island, Lewis & Harris, and came back to Ullapool from Stowaway.

Stunningly beautiful, and pretty deserted even in season, the weather alternated between gorgeous and dire, which the locals tell me is par for the course. I'm not keen on riding in strong winds, though the weight of the Harley becomes a plus. My weather app kept promising 3 days of windsocks, though our landlady declared it 'just a breeze' as the sea wasn't hitting her windows. As we left she said 'It's shifted to westerly now, that's not what you want' Thanks for that! When we arrived at our hotel in Stornaway, having braved sideways rain and that Westerly, I was ready for a large whiskey, after telling us that it was too early to serve alcohol, the barman gave us a free one anyway!

Back in Ulapool I rode off the ferry and nearly fell off, I knew straight away I had a rear puncture! The AA washed their hands of us, after nearly 40 years a member and 430 miles from home, (I knew I'd forgotten something, it was to re-tax my bike!) but when we went for a walk into town on the beach, the only person we met, Craig, had a mate with a bike shop, and gave us his number. Malcolm, a proper biker from BRC in Muir of Ord, which was on our way back to Inverness. He borrowed a van and came and picked us up, unexpectedly he had a 500x16 inner tube for an HD (offset valve), his wife took us to a cafe while he fixed the flat. He said he has plenty of work, but gets a kick out of saving bikers' holidays - hundereds come each year to do the North Coast 500, some not so well prepared. The nail he gave me was very old and rusty, the wife wondered if I should get the bike a tetanus shot.

A bunch of views, in no particular order.







Sheep take over a croft - the history of the highland clearances is awful, crofters were treated as mere slaves by landowners who bought Islands as playthings. On Uist the new owner, Lord Gordon, demanded all the tenants come to a mandatory meeting in Lochboisdale, from where they were bundled onto a ship to Newfoundland, Canada! When they got there there was nothing, they just had the clothes they stood up in.

Eriskey, where the SS Politician ran aground with 20,000 cases of best malt whiskey, inspiring the film Whiskey Galore.

Barra Airport, the world's only tidal airport with a daily service to Glasgow.

View from a petrol station (rare) on Harris.



Malc's bike shop, where we got rescued.





3
Member 4 Sales / Kawasaki Z1-A For Sale
« on: June 22, 2022, 01:23:08 PM »
A new project beckons, for the necessary cash and garage space the Z1-A is going to reluctantly have to go, to be honest these days I enjoy restoring bikes for the sake of it - I have 3 but can only ride one at a time.

Ideally I want to put it on the market after Crich (where you can see it) but if it gets sold before on here so be it. The price here is £17k, when it gets advertised it will be more like £18k or nearest offer, I'm not in a rush. PM me if you're interested. There is a build thread in the forum, detailing everything I've done, but here's my advert text and a few pics.

KAWASAKI 900cc Z1-A, BUILT MARCH 1974, TOTAL REBUILD FINISHED 2021







US spec model Z1-A , imported into the UK 1995, completely rebuilt. Candy green, with (expensive) optional twin disc and steering damper.
Frame and bodywork professionally painted by Spraypoint to a very high standard. Alloy parts were all professionally polished, chrome parts are new or replated. New replica 4 into 4 exhaust system from Delkevic.

Wheels rebuilt (by Hagon) with new rims, spokes and bearings. Converted to modern ‘O Ring’ chain, using correct new sprockets, spacers and engine plate mods as per Kawasaki service bulletin. If the asking price is met, I will include the original (very rare) chain oil pump, tank and bracket, I would have fitted them but was too much of a coward to drill the necessary hole (for the dipstick) in the already painted side panel.

Engine and carbs (correct 28mm) completely rebuilt, bored to first oversize with new OEM pistons and rings. Carbs have all new jets etc and genuine KHI float valves (£180!). Uprated camchain. Bike has done 500 running in miles only post rebuild, then given a full service including timing and valve clearance checks. Starts instantly on the button, looks and runs like a new bike.

Almost all of the electrics are brand new, including looms, switchgear, voltage regulator and points plate assembly. I will include the original Stanley sealed beam headlamp, but it is for the US market (dips the wrong way), for safety I have fitted a modern Lucas halogen unit.
All correct OEM Stanley reflectors, indicator and rear lenses, rear light has correct date code.

The bike has been to one bike show (2021 BMPS Ashton U Lyne branch), where it won the Best Bike Trophy, so I have retired it with a 100% record! For the purist, the front discs have been drilled, and the speedo is from a Z1-B (even MPH numbers as well as odd) but is the correct OEM ND speedo, not a replica, also the ND rev counter has the correct (working) stop light. I have fitted a Pingel fuel tap as it gives a much better fuel flow than the new PKM replica one which I can include. All three (new) locks work on one key. I have a spare Takasago front wheel which has the correct date code of 3/74 as per the swinging arm etc, which will be included at the asking price.

4
Other Bikes / My 2 non Hondas
« on: May 30, 2022, 02:31:32 PM »
The Zed and the HD outside together last week.



the Zed is fine but sometimes there's a dribble from the carb overflow that soon stops (I need to recheck the float levels, one may a a bit high), plus a leak from where the Pingel tap goes into the tank, more PTFE tape needed?

We're off to the Hebrides on the HD next weekend - I only keep it as our 'holiday' bike, but the bike has other ideas. Having got an MOT a couple of weeks ago, we went for a test ride on Sunday, only to find a fork oil seal had failed - the right side of the bike was covered in fork oil, it was smoking where it had gone on the pipes and my leather jeans now have one leg more waterproof than the other! Luckily it didn't get on the brakes. I'm afraid I ain't going on the Z1A, I don't want to mess it up from its brand new condition plus I worry if I can't see it, it's worth thousands in bits. This may bring me to sell it, no point in keeping it if I'm going to be so precious about it. :(

New seals ordered and in the post, it should be sorted by Friday as long as I'm not let down, glad it went now and not once I got to Scotland! I'll keep you posted.

5
Humour / Barry Cryer RIP
« on: January 27, 2022, 02:42:12 PM »
I was just listening to a tribute on Radio 4 to Barry Cryer, who has just passed away. At one time, if you laughed at a joke on TV, he probably wrote it.

A couple of people interviewed were asked what their favourite joke of his was:

1) A man is shaving in the bathroom, his wife walks in wearing her new dress, and asks 'Does my bum look big in this?'

He says 'Yes, but to be fair, it is a small bathroom.'

2) A woman is walking past a pet shop, when she sees a lovely parrot in the window, with a £5 price tag on the cage. She goes in and asks why it is so cheap. The pet shop owner explained that it came from a brothel, so has a rather fruity vocabulary. She decided that as it is so cheap, she'll take it anyway.

She takes it home, and takes the cover off the cage. The parrot looks around, and says 'New curtains, new place, lovely!'

Her daughters come home, the parrot says 'New girls, new place, lovely!'

Her husband comes home, the parrot says 'Hello Keith!'

 ;D ;D

6
CB750 / HONDA CR750 Mike Hailwood Replica???
« on: October 19, 2021, 06:59:44 PM »
I know he rode GP Hondas in that livery, but did Hailwood ever ride a CR750? A nice bike but even Dick Mann's CR750 had twin discs.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294466994687



7
Humour / It's a biker thing
« on: April 08, 2021, 12:09:01 PM »
I saw this T shirt on the bay of fleas, and couldn't resist!


8
Other Bikes / Dragging gear change - Z1A
« on: March 08, 2021, 02:49:41 PM »
I assembled the transmission side of my 1974 Z1A project, only to find a gearshift that was refusing to centre and staying at whichever angle you put it.
Clearly something is wrong, and it needs fixing.

The clutch was adjusted and frees off perfectly, and without the transmission cover fitted the gearchange return works absolutely fine. If I just loosen the four cover bolts the gearchange shaft frees up, but that's with the the bolts so loose you couldn't run it like that.

My suspicion was a bent gearchange rod, when I got the bike (in bits) the cover wasn't fitted, and the shaft could have been bent in storage if all the engines weight had ever been put on it. Suspiciously about the only spare part the bike came with was another gear change shaft, so I decided to change it anyway as the splines for the lever were in better condition. Here it is fitted, and all working perfectly. The return spring is the correct 3 turn early one. It is the shorter modified type, so there is no issue with the spring fouling the boss with the dowel. I presume I've got the arms into drum selector right, unless you can see different.



Happy with my work, I put the covers and sprocket etc back on, I checked all was working well before I tightened the cover up, all was fine.
Then I tightened the cover up - and its binding again, no attempt by the lever to return to centre if you push it up or down. Bugger!

The bosses on the inside of the mission cover are pefect, so its not going crooked when tightening up. I have backed off the clutch adjuster, so the cover isn't being tightened against the clutch pushrod. There's not that many things it could now possibly be. I'm wondering whether to replace the three oil seals the gearchange shaft goes through in case they have turned to stone over time and are causing the drag, but I'm not hopeful - they would drag just as much before the cover is tightened. Also, it can't be a sideways endfloat issue causing binding, as the shaft is free to slide as far as it wants in and out of the cover inside those oil seals.

I'm assuming the parts in my bike aren't that unique, so someone is hopefully reading this thinking 'been there, done that!' I hope so, it has me stumped at the moment.

9
Humour / Forza Monza!
« on: September 07, 2020, 02:29:05 PM »
Nothing gets on my wotsits more than people who have nothing better to do than spend their lives posting cute kitten videos on Facetube, BUT....

Here's Storm enjoying the Italian Grand Prix yesterday. He enjoyed it, his twin sister not so much. I do worry about his eyesight though.




10
Other Bikes / Z1A - Electric Boogaloo
« on: August 17, 2020, 06:17:50 PM »
In the dark and distant past I used to use Scotchclips, Halfords crimp on bullet connectors, and even that old favourite, two wires twisted together and wrapped in insulting tape. Then I wondered why I had no lights in the dead of night, or why my bike had just stopped in the middle of nowhere.

I think things took a turn for the better when I became a radio ham, and learned to solder, and make proper connections. Doing my Z1A restoration, I am damned if I am going back to my old ways, I want every connection to be like factory. I found most of a new loom in the boxes, which was a big help, but have found a couple of issues. First was when I went to replace the bow tie shaped centre loom, which is made of brightly coloured spaghetti and fits snugly behind the electrical plate. There were a couple of non standard  bullet connectors, but when I removed the socket from the rectifier to the white plug, I found this horror:





Clearly the plug has overheated and burned out where the black wire attached, it was cut both sides and a nasty crimp on connector added, there must have been a short bridge wire that bypassed the plug and repaired the bike at the time. The centre loom has the necessary white plug, What I need is a new white socket, properly attached to my rectifier. Is there any firm or talented forum member who could take this on, as well as source the correct socket?, I'll happily pay to have it done right.

I've seen a couple of DIY automotive block connector kits on the bay of fleas, but they don't look at all compatible with Kawasaki connector blocks.

I don't want to go down the solid state regulator / rectifier route, before you ask, not the least because I have found a genuine NOS voltage regulator in one of the boxes. CMS list that at a jolly  Eu191.00 (if they had one, which they don't), the rectifier they do have, but at Eu155.00 plus p&p I'd rather pass on that and see if mine works for now, thankyou. If not I'll have to sell a kidney, the wife's car or something.

The other electrical snafu is the lead from the alternator coils. It came used, with a D&K looking label saying 'Z900' attached. The 3 wires are different colours, not yellow, but as far as I am aware that doesn't matter. What does matter is the aforementioned Halfords bullets, plus the connectors on the neutral switch and oil pressure switch which are going in the bin whatever happens.



As before if there is a firm or member who can put the original blue plug on, please tell me. If not, I'm minded to buy this short loom from Zpower:
http://www.z-power.co.uk/alternator-wiring-loom-z1-z1000

and solder the three yellow wires to the cut originals, probably very close to the coils  where they wouldn't ever flex (the original connections are encapsulated in expoy, I'd rather leave them alone), and insulate the joins with heatshrink.

11
Humour / Drinking in the lockdown...
« on: July 16, 2020, 06:42:05 PM »
Shamelessly knicked from a comment in the Guardian..

Quote
Xollob58
15m ago

When the lockdown started, I said I would limit myself to one drink a day. I'm now on the 27th of November 2024.

12
Other Bikes / Z1 as a project?
« on: July 16, 2020, 06:06:49 PM »
I have hugely enjoyed doing the last couple of Honda restorations, and sharing it with you guys and gals, but am starting to think that at my age I may never do another bike from a barn find unless I get on with it. My classic car is a continuous rolling resto which will never finish, however although I can do most anything (apart from paint) with a bike, as a non welder without the gear and experience to do 911 engines and boxes I am stuck with paying others £££ to do stuff on my car properly.

As a last hurrah I'd like (but don't have to) to do a Z1. A mate of mine had a new one, and scared the pants off me when I went pillion on it, one of my contact lenses blew away at around 130mph on the M6, despite my wearing a Bell Star.  The down side is that apparently  a lot of other people would like one too, projects and finished bikes are almost (but not quite) sandcast money, good restos seem to start around the £20k mark. No way I'd pay that, which is why I want to restore one. Like with Hondas, there are so so restorations, and ones where the rims have the correct numbers stamped on etc...

Here's one that someone restored earlier, of course Frank has a bunch of them at £25k a pop, but then he would...

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1094172

The upside of the daft prices is I should always get back any money I sink into it, as I more or less did with my CB750 (the money went to get the 911's rusty bodywork restored properly). However, a Z1 project bike DK have with a fair bit missing and broken head fins keeps being relisted as not meeting the reserve despite getting north of 9K. Resto costs would be several thousand, like with Hondas a set of pipes is an arm and a leg when you can find them, for example.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1973-Kawasaki-Z1-900-Unregistered-US-Import-Barn-Find-Classic-Restoration-Projct/353135219569

By the way, I know they always say it, but how the feck did they get it running on easy start without an exhaust system?

I get the impression, looking at online ads, that there are semi/professional restorers that snap these up to restore as a career, competing for increasingly rare project bikes.

Has anyone here done one? Should you come across a little old lady who is sick of struggling to get her lawn mower past an old Z1 that has laid in her garage for years, let me know. James probably has a 1,000 mile one owner Z1 stashed away somewhere...




13
Out & About / Out and about - as a pedestrian.....
« on: May 04, 2020, 07:25:48 PM »
Well if we are only supposed to be out for our essential daily exercise, and the sun keeps shining then we should make the most of it. The skies are especially clear and blue as there's not one contrail to be seen anywhere in what is usually a busy sky.

The bikes stay in the garage apart from the odd essential mercy dash to the off licence, but as they insist that exercise is good for us, me and the Mrs have walked more in the last month than ever before. we may have, er exceeded an hour, but that's only a guideline. It would take a real jobsworth copper to try and pin 'too long a walk' on us, and good luck with that in court, an hour is only a guideline. The wife has taken up baking, cooks me big meals, and we polish off a bottle of wine or similar most nights, so I am putting on weight. The walks make me feel less guilty.  : ;)

We have tramped every footpath for miles around in the last few weeks, we have lived here for years, but most I didn't even know existed. I found some really old maps of the area on the Francis Frith website, and although whole industries and railways have come and gone, those paths were always there.

This is just a couple of minutes from our house, the flags are on an old footpath for workers from one now vanished mill to another. At this time of the year you can see why it is known as 'bluebell wood':



Week two we found evidence of what happens if you take your satnav too literally. There was a note for the police, I think the car is still there, it will probably cost more to recover than its worth. We live on the other side of the Tame valley, just over the ridge in the background.



Once we started to get our walking legs we got further afield and way up the other side of the valley until we were on the moors, looking down towards Manchester. Swineshaw reservoir in the foreground, Walker Wood reservoir behind it.



From here we kept climbing until we were looking down on the Woodhead valley, complete with fluffy baa lambs, which made the Mrs very happy.



We have had several trips up the moors, including the site of Buckton Castle, somewhere I see up above us most days but have never been to. Saturday was another on my bucket list, Whimberry Stones, way up above Dovestones reservoir, which some of you may have visited the tea van, it is popular with bikers. This is the view looking down from the top, it was a long slog to get up there:



One reason I wanted to go up there was to see where, in 1949, a BEA Dakota going from Belfast Nutts Corner, later to be used as a bike race circuit, to Manchester Ringway, flew into the hillside in low cloud. Pictures taken at the time suggest it was behind where Karen is sitting (waiting for old slowcoach, again) but there is no trace to be seen.



Up at the top there is s spectacular view from the rocks, however what got a lump in my throat was a very poignant pair of memorial plaques fixed to the rock, which we noticed just after taking this photo, just to the right of Karen.  I assumed they were related to the plane crash (24 died) but what I didn't expect was that they were bike related, and put there by someone I know...



I met Bill Swallow, a lovely bloke who has won NINE Manx Grand Prix, many times over the years when I was racing and still sometimes bump into him at bike shows etc, he lives in this part of the world. We first met when we camped next to him at Brands Hatch in 1992, we were both racing at a classic meeting to celebrate John Surtees' 60th birthday. When I did the Manx he took me round the TT circuit in his van, always eager to help a newcomer. At the Bungalow we met his son Chris, who had ridden up there on a pushbike. Tragically both his sons were lost at race tracks, David to a barbeque that was still smouldering at night while he slept in a van, Chris in an accident racing at last year's Manx. The two plaques are memorials to his sons, I assume they loved the place, and I'd no idea they were there.



We carried on up the valley until we saw some fit nutcase running up the steep hill towards us, and went down the track into the Chew Valley. At the bottom it felt proper middle of nowhere, it could be Scotland:



We came back along the trackbed of a narrow gauge railway line built at the very start of the 20th Century to take clay up to build the dam of the Chew valley reservoir way above us, that'll be another walk for another day if the lockdown continues. No more pictures as my telephone had run out of electricity, so we didn't have a Google map any more but we could see which way to go towards civilisation.







14
The Black Bomber Board / 1968 CL450 K1 on the Bay of Fleas
« on: December 02, 2019, 07:12:07 PM »
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1968-Honda-CL450K1-Unregistered-US-Import-Barn-Find-Classic-Restoration-Project/333416859755

This looks like a nice project for someone.

Later style tank / panels with early style seat (My '69 was the other way round), chrome looks very nice, particularly the exhaust, Impossible to find new (unless you are James). No clocks, but has lots of the hard to get bits that I had to hunt for.

The seat is a bit flat and has a tear, but looks saveable. Not got the usual rusty bits / screws, so has been stashed somewhere nice and dry. Unfortunately DK just can't resist having at it with the Easy Start, I wish they wouldn't, I'd prefer to know if it turns over and has compression, most sensible people will be pulling the engine anyway, as all rubber / plastic parts have probably turned to stone - it's been stood a while, the gaiters have rotted as per usual.

15
Anorak's Corner / Fork caps?
« on: October 22, 2019, 04:50:03 PM »
A quick question, which occurred to me just now in the garage while looking at my CL450.

Both this bike and my previous CB750 had fork caps which are 'handed' - they aren't symmetrical, and there is a gap one one side which, if you have them on the right way round should be to the rear - why?

I'm guessing its so there is an element of 'pinch' against the front wheel spindle (you really don't want that to be a loose fit!) but why not have the same gap front and rear, why only at one side?

You can see the gap here on a page from a manual for another Honda altogether, top picture, ignore the arrow and question mark, I nicked the photo from another forum. There is a very subtle arrow to show which way round the cap goes. Easily missed, don't ask me how I know.  :-[


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