Honda-SOHC

I have moaned to various people and to eBay themselves about criminal activity that takes place almost every day on eBay, yet they deliberately choose to do nothing about it. I rather suspect that there are criminals on the inside of eBay that permit this to happen. I just wanted to draw it to the attention of other members of this forum in case anyone here was caught out with this scam. There is a Honda CB 750 in the listing today so this would be quite close to home. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175261215270?hash=item28ce61ea26:g:EtUAAOSwuMtiawIJ

The scam is quite simple, basically the scammer copies lots of pictures off eBay of desirable cars, bikes, boats, other high value items. A profile is hacked into, quite often one that isn't used too often so the true owner doesn't notice. A picture is unloaded and the object of desire is given a unrealistically low price. Along with the picture there is a short description which usually gives away that it is written by a non European shall we say. The text usually specifies to get the vehicle at the price indicated, DO NOT BID directly on eBay, but to contact the seller directly on a email address which is always shown in another picture. The upshot is that you are asked to wire the money to them and they will deliver the vehicle or give you a bogus address to collect it from.
But surprise surprise there is no address or vehicle and you have suddenly thrown away hundred or thousands of pounds.
I was surprised to see two of my classic cars for sale on there one day, both parked at my home!
The give away's are:-
1. The vehicle is always too much of a bargain
2. If you look at eBay a lot like me, you will see the same pictures over and over
3. They will always ask you NOT TO BID but to contact them via email
4. If you look at what else the buyer is selling, sometimes they have listed literally hundreds of other vehicles of all types

I have challenged eBay over this scam several times and never received a reply, I actually reported this bike and several others over 2 days ago and it is still listed, which makes me suspect criminal activity from within eBay.
The sad fact is, it must work occasionally or crim types wouldn't do it.
If you want a bit of fun that will indicate that the scam is up, put a massive bid on any vehicle of your choice. I put a bid of £32,000 on a Saab 96V4 that's worth no more than £5K. Sadly I was outbid
But make sure you report it.

Hope it stops anyone here getting caught out.

As mentioned in my introduction to the forum, my CB400F has been gathering dust for far too many years.
I had the frame, swing arms, hubs and bits and bobs powder coated many years ago. A mate got me some parts galvanised. At the time I didn't really care about originality too much, in fact there was a plan to fit twin discs and use fork legs off a larger model. These days however, I would like it to look as standard as possible. I suppose if I were to do it properly I would strip the powder coating off and have it sprayed etc. But I'm not, so there. My big mistake was having the hubs powder coated in silver. Yes they look nice, but they look nothing like standard and this is something I will have to address. I did ask the question on the other SOHC forum as regards how do I replicate the original finish. I also asked the same question about the fork legs. There seems to be differing opinions on how to achieve the 'right' look.
As the original engine was all but seized, I picked up a spare engine many years ago. So I will probably use a combination of the two engines and new parts. I asked the same question as regards getting the crankcases painted, luckily having looked at  Nurse Julie's excellent rebuild article, I'm now sure which way to go with that one.
To sort of kick start the project again (pun intended) I bought a few bits from David Silver so I can see a bit of progress. I won't be spending every spare minute on this, as besides running other classic bikes, I also dabble with Classic cars, as well as doing DIY projects .
So my first picture I'll call Abandoned engineering, except it wasn't abandoned, it was just over looked for a while. A long while. The second picture is the box of goodies that arrived this morning.  My joy was slightly muted when I realised there weren't any screws in the boxes that clamp the two halves of switch gear together. Ho hum, I'll tack those onto my next order to David Silver who clearly should be offering a large discount to members of this forum....


 

Hi, my name is Rob, I just wanted to introduce myself to this forum. I am a long time biker (46 years), I still ride almost everyday to work and for pleasure. I have several other classic bikes and cars of interest.
Back in my youth, the CB400F became the second motorcycle I owned and I fell in love with it straight away. I had several of these bikes including a single seat racer which I put on the road, which had a full 460cc Yoshimura race engine.
Over the years my bikes got bigger, but I still had a soft spot for the CB400F. Many years ago, a college friend, (on his wedding evening) mentioned that he had one that I could buy off him that was a 'rat bike', for the princely sum of £90! I bought it off him, ran it for a couple of years whilst slowly taking the layers of black paint off everything and then it seized. .
I started to restore it years ago and had the frame and various parts powder coated, but after two house moves and several relationships and many other classic bikes and classic cars, the CB400F project stalled. My friend had two children, divorced and the bike is no closer to completion!
A couple of months ago, almost on a whim, I bought another CB400F on eBay which needed a little bit of work. I didn't want to play with it, I just wanted to ride it, but the urge to tinker with it and make it better was overwhelming and I started to sort it out bit by bit.
I had almost forgotten how much I loved these bikes. One evening I had something of an epiphany moment and realised I simply 'had' to restore my old project and not waste any more time on other bikes, because at almost 61 I have more years behind me than in front.
So, today, I sold my latest Honda to another enthusiast and my focus has now turned onto my project Honda.
I have owned a blue, a red, a maroon, a black and one with a 5 gallon alloy tank, but I have never owned a parakeet yellow one, so I think I know what colour this will be.
After owning several of these bikes I know how to fix and maintain them, but one area where I am reaching out for guidance is about restoring them so they look original and ‘correct’. No doubt I will ask the questions on another part of the forum.
So that’s me, looking forward to gaining and even sharing knowledge with other Honda Enthusiasts. Thank you to Nurse Julie for pointing me in this direction from SOHC.net
Pleased to meet you all.