Honda-SOHC

From this month's Classic Bike. Who made electric superchargers?
I wonder what it sounds like!

Hi All,

Well, now that I'm locked up again for the foreseeable future and unable to continue with my volunteer tour guide work at the Battle of Britain Bunker and the Bee-keeping is now also in hibernation I needed to look around for something else to do. 

The Triton rebuild I have previously posted about has now come to a complete stop due to being unable to rescue the parts I have in for chrome and zinc plating (it’s been 11 months now), and I need some serious machining work undertaken on the barrel but I am unable to visit the engineer to discuss the work.

My Brother in Law who lives 90 miles away wanted me to finish off getting his inherited 1981 Kawasaki Z400J1 running. As I couldn’t go there he sent the bike up to me via a courier.  I’ve posted previously about this bike and its history via another thread:

http://www.sohc.co.uk/index.php/topic,21367.0.html

When I put the bike on the bench I could see it was in a bit of a sorry state cosmetically. I thought Honda frame paint was thin but Kawasaki took it to another level, it’s not even tissue thin, it appears to be one very quick pass of a spray gun and that was it. The rust is actually coming up from below the paint and causing the paint to flake off in large patches. The engine paint is also really poor, bubbling and blistering and just falling off when I tried to clean it with soap and water with a soft brush.

What with all the above and rear shocks that were so rusty on the piston rods there was no oil left inside them and the petrol tank having serious rust issues on the seams and the same with the front mudguard it was time to bite the bullet and strip the bike. So the BIL has decided to go-ahead with the restoration in memory of his late father who purchased the bike in Guernsey whilst on a week’s holiday (PX’d a 250 Superdream for it). It’s a great shame the bike has ended up in the condition it’s in considering it only has a genuine 350 miles on it, it was never fully run in!

So, the engine is now partially stripped down as far as the crankcases, this will make it light enough I hope to enable me to lift it out of the frame. I have labelled, bagged, taken photos and made copious notes of everything as I’ve stripped it. I will repaint the cases and get the frame and all brackets etc powder coated. I’ll send the zinc and chrome parts off to Allen chrome in Hull as he seems to get some good reviews by forum members so worth a try.
My first impressions of the bike are it’s so heavy and over-engineered! The rear shock mounting bolts for example are 17mm, Honda 400/4’s are 14mm, the castings are also a lot thicker and heavier, the cams also have separate bearing caps and a cam cover! 

I know it’s a Kawasaki and not a Honda and it’s got two cams and not one but I guess it’s always good to read about a restoration in the winter to keep us all going. And remember, this is the bike Kawasaki thought would be a successor to the Honda 400/4.

I’ll post progress photos as I go along, here some for now.

Dave

I purchased a new replica seat for the 400/4 from DSS. It looks almost like the real thing especially with one of Piki's Honda decals added to the back.
I do have a problem with it though, it is very difficult to latch into the seat lock. It appears the thick rubber block attached to the rear of the seat pan is too thick by about 5mm. Has anyone else had this trouble with a pattern seat and what was the solution? I'm tempted to take a sharp knife to the rubber block and trim it but is there another cause I cannot see?

I've been following the H J Pugh auction today (looking for a Tiger Cub for the B.I.L).
This 1963 Honda CB72 just sold for £2,600. Did anyone on here buy it?
Some of the prices being obtained are pretty high, a rough 1977 Z200 Kawasaki needing a full recommision sold for £650 whilst a RD500 went for £15,000!

I used this company last week, not for SOHC work but for my Triton that I am in the process of recommissioning after a 15 year lay-up.
The drum front brake was always pretty poor so I took the complete wheel with the tyre still fitted to this company for the drum to be skimmed. Terry the owner is bike mad and he did a great job. He not only skimmed the hub but also skimmed the brake shoes to match the drum and also reset the operating mechanism. I dropped it off on Wednesday afternoon and it was ready on Thursday morning. £120 all in.
He is currently restoring a Ducati March 1,a Ducati 350 twin and an AJS. He was making a radiator surround for a 1927 blower Bentley whilst I was there yesterday.
He has some really good blogs of previous work including sohc's on his website, well worth a look.

For us old's who may remember this guy....

Just come across an old full page advert in my 400/4 rebuild file for DSS from January 23rd 1991. Look at the prices for 400/4 parts! £18 for a kick-start with knuckle, £65 for an exhaust!
Times (and prices) change!

Hi All,
The Kempton Park Autojumble is on today (Sat 14th Sep).
Its a lovely sunny day down south and a great opportunity to get your bike out and ride somewhere.