Honda-SOHC

When I bought my 350f the dealer said 'always run these old bikes in the reserve position'....... in other words there's a problem with your fuel tap but I don't want to tell you haha

Anyway it runs great so no issues there, yesterday out of interest I thought I'd put the tap in the on position and see what happened. Literally 15 seconds later fuel is pissing out all 4 overflows onto the drive. Turn it to reserve, fuel stops flooding out the carbs.

Started engine with tap in reserve, lovely idle and good response. Turn tap to on position, bike starts spluttering and flooding carbs again.

Could it be that the tap is broken? It seems very odd to me as you'd expect if it was a float / seat issue it would also flood in the reserve position. Anyone had this before?

Cheers
Simon

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So I've passed my test woo hoo!

The dealer I bought my 350f from told me it had just had new piston rings fitted and a de glaze, as it was apparently smoking a bit.

It's not been rebored just what sounds like a light hone and new rings fitted. He did 140 miles on the bike and cured a few oil leaks which was good of him but told me to ride it gently for a while keeping the revs between 5 and 6k if possible.

Question is how many miles until I can let it rip?

Bike runs great, no smoke at all and no oil leaks. There's a really annoying vibration between 5 and 6k which reading period road tests is normal for a 350f but I feel I'd be better not staying in that zone for too long. Can I use more revs to bed the rings in if I keep them varied?

Cheers
Simon



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Yes k2 you're right about the sheer volume of 'news' nowadays, it's also too accessible and because of this we end up in a situation where we can read news about news, the journalists have to write about something all the time, simply to justify their existence.

It's part of the reason I removed myself from social media, cut it all out. I don't watch TV, or read the news. The only indulgence for me now is the odd motoring forum such as this. Its a major part of my Sigma personality, I don't need much to survive, just myself and my own thoughts and I'm far more efficient in life doing things my way. Interestingly as a lifelong  petrol head I'm not worried in the slightest about the demise of petrol and diesel vehicles. In fact I couldn't care less if my motorcycle or car are powered by electricity. The sole purpose of any vehicle is after all to get you from one place to another, that's it! I'm just using my classics as daily drivers while I can for the next ten to 15 years or so, I pay no road tax, have no mot's, have cheap insurance and smile everywhere I go!

I'm 33 and have never been happier

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When I rebuilt my 125s I torqued the head down properly (circa 16ft lb iirc) and I distinctly remember looking at the manual multiple times thinking is that it?! Is that the correct figure, have I misread something? That torque seemed way to low to me after having worked on car engines with aluminium heads countless times when your generally over 50ft lb on head studs.

However the 125s studs are on the small side so I thought OK that must be correct and duly proceeded to finish off the build. After about 400 miles of riding I noticed oil seeping from the cylinder base gasket. So I duly re torqued the studs and noticed exactly the same as what you did, the stud would turn with the nut for a couple of degrees, then go tight allowing the nut to turn on its own. I put it down to everything just settling in.

Only for it to happen again at about 1000 miles. This time I thought, this is really strange I've never known this to happen before so I approached one of the engine builders at work and asked him for advice. He said the torque spec does seem very low but if that's what honda specified then it must be correct.

We work on vintage/pre war cars so are used to dealing with worn out and re used parts. He suggested that perhaps the threads in the crankcase were stretching / already stretched and the studs and nuts likewise. Therefore although torqued to the correct setting they were able to fret loose with engine vibration due to the wear on each component. I had after all re used my studs and nuts which were original.

So I asked what he would do and he said come here my boy....... and pulled out a 12mm spanner from his drawer. Go home and tighten those nuts as hard as you can with the ring end of this spanner. I suggested that I might run the risk of over tightening them if I did that, to which he replied you can't, this 12mm spanner is this length for precisely that reason.

So I did what he said and a few thousand miles later hey presto all was well. I'm not suggesting that you do this to your engine, merely sharing my similar experience!

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Yes, you can rince it out with any oil and it will have a slight beneficial effect. No idea if the 350F aftermarket 4 into 4's are any good but unless you're riding it every day doing 12,000 miles a year, I wouldn't worry about it to much. The worse thing you can do is keep starting the bike up, creating condensation and then not running the bike for long enough to dry the condensation out. That's the main killer for the exhausts.

Fab thank you

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You wont find anybody worth going to who will do just carbs as its the last thing to do in a full service

Understood. Cheers

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Quote from: 350Simon on July 01, 2022, 09:14:12 PM

Quote from: SteveW on July 01, 2022, 07:58:49 PM

Welcome.

Where abouts in Bucks are you?

About 15 mins from aylesbury towards thame

Just down the road from me, I’m in Stokenchurch.

Fantastic, maybe one weekend I could ride over for cuppa!

I don't suppose you know anywhere local for Carn balancing do you? Cheers Simon