Honda-SOHC

I'll be there with a Honda riding friend (I'll be on the Trident). We also have a 400/4 coming with us.

I had something similar on my CB750 K6 a few years ago.

It turned out to be the final drive chain, where the original had been replaced with an "O" ring type and, being wider it was touching the engine case at times, presumably depending upon its exact position on the front sprocket as it rotated.

A replacement standard chain sorted things out.

My brother owned a CB250 G5 many years ago and, following some top - end work I remember the mechanic slackening one of the nuts above the cam box that, I think had a copper washer fitted under it. As I worked in a car workshop at the time I asked the purpose of this and he said that it was to confirm that oil was reaching the camshaft.

I thought that I would offer a short update on life with the Trident as I've now ridden almost 2,000 miles on it, mostly during the better weather days through winter.

So far, no real problems to report, I'm pleased to say. Since I last did a write - up, I've experienced two minor issues, the first being following a brisk run of around 30 miles, I suddenly found that there was no real power on twisting the throttle. A hurried glance at the oil pressure gauge showed over 75 p.s.i. so not a mechanical problem I thought, and pulled into a garage forecourt that I was anyway intending to visit for fuel. Looking down, I found that the twist - grip was simply sliding around on the throttle tube. A few sharp prods on its end tightened things sufficiently to ride the two miles home. The throttle tube is metal rather than plastic and, after removing the grip was found to be quite smooth, so emery cloth and glue sorted things out!

The second issue again involved a reduction in performance, although slight this time. The points controlling the left cylinder closed up due to sudden wear of the heel that operates them, retarding the timing on that cylinder. This prompted me to fit "Tri Spark" electronic ignition, not least because a feature in the owner's club magazine that happened to drop through the door the same day featured a bike exactly the same as mine, including its colour, that the owner had named "The Purple Piston Eater" following similar experiences!

Otherwise nothing to report out of the ordinary.

I have just changed the engine oil, primary drive oil and gearbox oil, once again cleaning or replacing all filters(3) as appropriate. There was no sign of debris anywhere and the oils were clean. Final drive chain adjustment has only been needed once in 2,000 miles, and the primary chain has not been adjusted at all as yet.

This is the first classic bike that I have not need to protect with ACF50 or similar as the finish is completely untarnished from winter, although I do pick my riding days carefully.

Overall I'm very satisfied with this, my first British classic!

I fitted the David Silver combined regulator/rectifier to my CB750 K2 around four years ago. Although I don't have the bike any longer it behaved perfectly in the three years that I ran with it.

Even for someone like me, who finds it hard to change a light bulb without causing another problem, it was simplicity itself to fit.

My friend used his 1970 CB750 for many trips to France and Belgium until it was sold in around 2016. He was riding with myself, my daughter and my brother, all of whom were using modern bikes (me Kawasaki 1400 GTR, my daughter Honda NC700X and my brother a new Honda CB1100).

Each year we would head off to Dijon for the Coupe de Moto Legende and then Spa for the Biker Classic. To reach Dijon we always route via the A26 to Reims and then on to Dijon, on the return we would ride the backroads as time was unimportant.

During these trips, the CB750 never failed (neither did the other bikes, although perhaps failure on something relatively new would not really be expected.

Over some ten years of use, the CB750 covered around 30,000 miles in this manner. We modern bike riders did, however help with the luggage, as we all had top boxes and panniers!

David, I do now use a piece of decking board to help me to put the bike on the stand in the garage. When I'm out, the side - stand (which is a long, solid lump of iron) is used. Many thanks for the reminder though!

Bryan, mine is the T150V which has the five - speed gearbox (albeit with the gearchange lever on the right!). My limited understanding of these things is that the specs were very mixed at that time, I assume because the co-operative were were building the bikes, however the U.S market was given the five - speed version to promote more relaxed high speed cruising. Likewise some bikes had disc front brakes, whilst others (mine included) kept the conical hub drum brake, which does actually work very well.

I have also learnt that not all bikes had the crank shaft balanced in production, some were, but the balance factor applied seems to vary almost bike to bike.

In terms of fuel taps, I understand that the left - side tap has a shorter protrusion into the tank to provide a reserve of sorts, however both taps should be on for sustained high speed running.

The sun showed its face in Norfolk around an hour ago, and I've just returned from a run on it, which makes it all worthwhile.

Thanks everyone for your interest.

I don't mind spending for my pleasure, most of my other classics have consumed far more money to put them in the condition that I want them to be in. In any case, the odd bike that I've sold has always returned at least its original investment to me.

Mindful of the fact that 30 years of owning aircraft has consumed far more money than all of the motorcycles that I've owned over a lifetime, I see motorcycling as quite a bargain these days.