Honda-SOHC

Seems to be missing a chain for the front (or could be the rear) cams.

Noticed that Bryan, I'm going to buy a genuine and see if that seals up the brass tube. I seem to recall that when the tap is shut it's supposed to blow anything coming down that tube as otherwise the tap is in effect constantly open. We'll see when the new seal arrives. I repaired the bowl as well BTW, it was totally rounded off by some ham-fisted amateur so I filed flat spots on it until it looked like a nut again, you can see the corners aren't as crisp as they should be. I'll buy a new bowl as well and keep that for a reserve.

I'll also measure the new doughnut seal and see how thick it is and have a look at making some replicas in Viton rubber. The back of the lever is smooth so a little silicon oil or grease on there to help it slide should stop it wearing as fast as well. If it seals as well as the original one I'll make a few and sell them on. £7 for a little rubber that TBH is no longer suitable for modern fuels is a little expensive.

Yes, Ian I did mean the long one, as above, pretty sure it should seal when the taps closed but it could be leaking past the doughnut seal, saying that, I've just remembered I have a new tap somewhere so I'll test that and see. Got the money Ian, lever in post later today hopefully or definitely by tomorrow at the latest.

King of bling, I like that. I've been called much worse over the years. Must admit to liking stuff to be shiny rather than dull. Nothing against Matt paint for instance, it can be very effective for contrast in places.

Not wishing to take any of Bryans sales away but as these will eventually no longer be available I thought I'd mention it's possible to repair the thing. So long as you can make out where the lug used to be you can file the back of it and just leave that section alone. Eventually you'll have another lug where the old one used to be, it's only a type of Bakolite and is easy to file, thickness doesn't seem to matter as it's the brass/copper contact that does all the work and so long as you leave that alone it's all good. I've repaired a few doing just that.

Been doing a little work on the petrol tap from the second hand tank. Just mucking about really, tidying the tap up, what started as just a little tidy up ended up being a bit OTT to be honest, let me be clear this is NOT polished, I don't intend to polish it, I may polish the lever if I feel like it. This has just been dismantled and sanded using the little abrasive discs from Amazon, anyone can do this. What started as a pretty rough casting has slowly been sanded, started with 80 grade disc, just to get rid of most of the casting marks, then progressively down the grades, 120, 240, 400, 800 and finally finished with 1000 grit disc, light green to be exact. At each stage it got shinier and shinier, however the last 2 grade discs were contaminated with buffing soap and this transferred itself onto the tap and in the end I needed to clean the surface with some Brasso felt wool, which to be honest dulled the surface down a little.

Anyone can do the same, all they'll need is a set of discs and a Dremel. I have replaced the 2 small screws holding the lever plate in place with some stainless ones, you could of course replate the originals instead or even just use the existing ones but they will rust.





It's not really that visible but I feel it looks better than that dirty grey look is normally has.

The only worrying thing is that I reinstalled the doughnut washer behind the lever, mine for some reason seems to be made of cork not rubber, it doesn't seem to be sealing as I can still blow down the brass tube with the lever in all positions, saying that the cork doughnut isn't in the best of conditions so that may be the reason.

When I get round to assembling it back together I intend to replate the plate with the markings on so it doesn't rust.

Seems you do measure the ID of then ring, then add the cross section of the rubber. So 26mm + 2mm + 2mm is the 30mm I measured.

Found some viton 3mm sheet on ebay so I'll give that a go as well.

Cheap enough to buy 10 of each rings but appreciate the offer.

First bike I ever rode was a C50, never got on with the front brake raising the suspension rather than the other way round. However, loved mine, my Dad gave me his old one KDB 51F, which I called Roy as my younger brother was called Roy and the reg plate spelled Kens Daft Brother so I thought it appropriate, no 1st gear, no kickstart, but I still lived on it until I spotted another in Battleship Grey and bought that, another F reg, JNA 39F, couldn't make anything out of the reg number so after that they were all called Herbie after the Love Bug film going around at the time. Rode the C70 and the C90, both 6v and 12v and thought they were great as well, especially with the extra power. Fond memories.

Many years later I bought my younger brother a brand new CB250N when I was at Queenies, I picked the reg and it was KDB 415V, so full circle. Weird how we remember all the old reg numbers. I still have the spare keys for the 250N, found them the other year in a box. Anyone need key number 208 or steering lock number Nieman 141130 let me know.

Tank and panels arrived today. Starlight Gold as I expected. Bad news, one side panel badge has a lug snapped off, it's also got a copy side panel badge as the gold F in the middle isn't the right colour. As it happens I have quite a few of those lying about, simple fix. The panels themselves were perfect, ones a genuine panel and the other is a replica, replica is a lot heavier. Paint is fine, no scratches at all, tank is also scratch free, no dents, not the most perfect spray job I've even seen, you can see small areas where the flake is heavier, it may just need a good polish. Inside of the tank isn't fantastic TBH, not bad but small rust patches, rubber on tank cap is perished but I have a few of those spare and I'll swap the cap for a new one anyway, as I will the catch. Badges seem ok, petrol tap needs a good clean.

Fairly sure I'll use it unless I get one of the other tanks done beforehand.

Got to agree, it looks very nice work. I don't spray myself but I have heard a lot from people who say that doing the Honda Candy colours is more of an art form than spraying. Hence why I thought it was advisable to comment.