Honda-SOHC

I’ve decided to put the nearly completed project 400 into hibernation for the next couple of months before balancing the carbs and taking it to its MOT, it’s not the weather to ride it at the moment and I have the Blackbird as my daily bike. I’ll post some completed photos of the 400 on the site when it’s all completely finished.
In the meantime……….I’ve started tearing down the CB250RSA to give it a cosmetic rebuild. I have no intention to strip the engine as it only has 14k on the clock and I changed the oil every 1000 miles although being the 5th owner I am tempted to at least take a look at the cam whilst the engine is out.
One problem I do have is obtaining a parts book similar to the one Honda produced for the 400, does anyone know if these are available anywhere? The only parts lists available appear to be on microfiche and I don’t have a microfiche reader!  I’m making lots of notes during the strip down and taking plenty of photos but nothing compares to a parts book to detail where everything should go and bolt lengths, oil seals etc.

Does anyone have any experience of repainting these engines and what paint to use, the existing black semi-gloss finish has peeled in a few places and I don’t really want to strip the motor to repaint everything individually, it will lead to an expensive engine re-build! I will be replacing/replating all the engine bolts etc as part of the restoration.

Dave

DS has the front disc brake cover in stock. Genuine part, he only has 2 left, £78 each, a bit step but S/H ones are normally chipped or the metal parts are covered in rust due to the part location. I took mine apart for replating and riveted it back together after making a jig to hold it.

Does anyone know where the 'Showa' shock absorber sticker should go on the rear shocks?  I have seen two photos, one showing them facing the rear of the bike and one showing them on the inside facing the rear wheel?
I'm also at a loss where to put the black and silver 'Honda Motor Co, Tokyo sticker and exactly where the Honda exhaust system sticker should go, is it located somewhere on the silencer?
Also, should there be a silver and black 'E' sticker somewhere on the head stock?

Hi All.

I have fully rebuilt the carbs with an ultrasonic clean and vapour blasting. I have installed new jets an re-platted and polished the parts that needed it.

Having re-assembled everything does anyone know of the base settings I should be using in order to start the bike?  The manual gives the range of the idle screw settings but is there also a setting for the balance adjusters to start from? I have presently screwed all mine right down. I have checked the on-line shop set up manual for clues with no joy.

Does anyone know where the 'special' tool can be bought from that allows the balance nut to be undone and the centre screw to be turned at the same time? I remember this was a Honda special tool years ago.

Any help would be appreciated.
Dave

Hi all,

I think I might have a problem with the front wheel spindle of the 400 project bike and I'm looking for some guidance.

I have installed new wheel bearings supplied by DS into both sides of the wheel.  The spacer has been been refitted as per instructions however...... when I install the wheel spindle and torque it up to the setting as described within the Haynes manual of between 36-39lbs the  spindle goes solid, i.e the wheel will not turn on the spindle. Finger tight all is fine but anything more and it gets harder and harder to spin the wheel.
All the correct spacers have been installed, the new bearings are 'home' and the wheel spindle is greased and everything moves freely. I did notice the bearings supplied from DS are sealed on both sides of the actual bearing where as the ones that came out have the balls exposed on one side although I do not know if these were genuine (and they were worn anyway).  I also noticed the spacer between the bearings have three 'tangs' on each end of the spacer, are these supposed to locate inside the exposed side of the wheel bearings, although obviously they wont locate in the DS supplied bearing as they are sealed!
It appears as though the wheel spindle nut is pushing hard on the adjacent spacer that goes through the dust seal and this is pushing onto the inner bearing race and compressing everything solid?
Am I doing something wrong, is the spindle nut supposed to be torqued as per the Haynes manual or is this one of the Haynes errors?
Dave

Hi there all,
Does anyone here have any experience of buying and using an endoscope on their bikes?  I'm looking to buy one with the Amazon vouchers I got for Crimbo. There appears to be an amazing array of these for sale with very few having reviews!
I need to get one with a small enough camera to go down a spark plug hole to look into the combustion chamber etc so the led lamps would need to be good. Picture and video recording would be ideal. If anyone has used one and can recommend a model this would be good.
Dave

Good morning all.
Following a pleasant evening in the garage flitting my pistons (is there a special 'knack' or tool to refit the piston circlips, long nose pliers and swearing don't appear to work.....) I have a camshaft question that more knowledgeable folk than I could answer...... 
When I bought the 'project' in its various boxes the camshaft had a large washer attached to it. The camshaft lobes resembled a threepenny bit and I bought a good s/h from the US of A. Question.......should I refit the large washer, my old 400/4 didn't have this fitted, was it for an early camshaft? If I do have to refit it where should it go, camshaft flange side or the other side of the sprocket? How do I tell an 'early' camshaft that may need the large washer from a 'late' camshaft that doesn't need it? I cannot find any reference to the large washer in the Honda parts book or the Haynes manual.  I have checked on the forum as well. Maybe the 'large washer' was lying around on the guy's floor and he thought it was a bit of the 400/4 jigsaw?
Hope one of the forum guru's can help  .
One last thing, I ordered a couple of new 'knock' bolts as they are referred to in the Honda parts book to fix the cam sprocket onto the cam, the part number has been superseded and the bolts I was supplied with by my Honda dealer are flange type, is this correct?
Dave