Honda-SOHC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVYdXUHDddk&feature=youtu.be

I've been convalescing at home since early July after my stroke and one of my set rehab goals was to clean and polish various parts of the 11/70 K1. It's now starting to come along nicely. Over the last few days I've been carefully removing and primer and paint from the petrol cap and lock brackets as the cap and lock wouldn’t fit over Mennos lovely thick paint. I finally got it all trial fitted and painted the bare steel with a thin mix of my Triumph TR6's Pimento red and Humbrol gloss black (managed a pretty close match to the candy ruby red) to protect the exposed metal, most of which you don’t see anyway.

All pretty nerve wracking stuff and the level of concentration was rather tiring, so could only manage a few hours a day........but I'm very happy with final fit and even though that bloody little plastic hinge washer did it's best to give me another stroke, I got the bugger fitted eventually!

Below are few photos of before, during and after - I reused the cap lock as a it's nicely patinated (like the rest of the bike), but got the original petrol cap rechromed as the masak was badly pitted and cleaned and rebuilt the seal/spring/breather plate thingy, as it all belongs to the bike was saveable - but I decided to order tank new badges and lower tank strips as the damaged and faded originals would not have looked very nice against the new paintwork. 
 
Next on the 'rehab list' is to complete fitting up the tank 'furniture'........and then get back to cleaning the rest of the bike. It's just a shame that I won't be able to ride it when it's finished until at least next July/August as the DVLA now have my licence.











The stuff on the inside of the filler neck isn't rust, it's where Menno touched the tank during liner application and nothing to worry about:

Got an email from Menno yesterday to say my K1's paintset is on its way and it looks absolutely stunning - what a boost to my recovery!

I’m feeling positively re-energised and really looking forward to it arriving and getting to work on the K1. However, at the moment I’m taking things slowly and won't be rushing into anything, so I'm focusing on cleaning up all the badges, de-gunking and rebuilding the fuel tap and polishing up the petrol cap which is pitted but nicely reflects the age of the bike.

Bugger, I accidentally deleted the previous post (knob!) - apologies to those who commented.
Take two:

I like to research the history of whatever classic bike or car I buy to learn its history, exchange some photos with previous owners, get anecdotes etc.  So when I bought UK Pete’s 1970 built US spec K1 (reg in 71) just before Christmas last year I set about trying to track down the last owner in the States. Not an easy job on any car or bike that’s been imported from the US.

Chris Rushton was very helpful and emailed me several photos from when the bike was in the US and when it was imported in 2009. Chris also sent copies of the original US Title and import documents which had the last owner’s (believed to be the first) name and address; it belonged to a Mr Kenneth H Rosenthal from Wisconsin.

After lot of searching on various sites I found out that he’d move to Buffalo, NY State - right, I’m now narrowing it down.  I did a trawl for Kenneth and Ken Rosenthal on FaceAche and found a few likely candidates which I messaged, but none had owned it.  However, one particular ‘Kenneth’ struck a cord as he seemed the ‘type’ to ride a Honda CB750 but didn’t reply.  So, I searched his ‘Friends’ list for ‘Rosenthal’ and message what I believed to be his wife and got a reply a few days later.

Yes, he did own the bike for many years and loved it to bits, but sadly passed away earlier this year.

The family were surprised that his old bike was now in the UK, but glad it was owned by someone who appreciates it.

RIP Ken:

Sent the K1's tank off to Menno yesterday (Parcelforce via ParcelHero) to be chemically cleaned and the dents repaired in advance of the other bits - the rest will follow in mid-May when I will next get chance to remove the headlight brackets and bowl.

The numerious threads on here and personal recommendations convinced me that Menno was the right man to trust with my paintset and I'm already looking forward to seeing the various stage photos, and it's not even outside the UK yet!

Cheers
Andrew

Hi Folks,

I'm stripping down my K1's tank to send to Menno, but can't see any easy way to remove the bottom tank mouldings without damaging the tangs or the moulding, does it just slide out - the profile suggests it doesn't?

Grateful for advice, thanks

Cheers
Andrew

Can anyone recommend a supplier for top quality black and silver pressed aluminium rear number plates?

Many thanks
Andrew

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