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Messages - petebog
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« on: July 01, 2020, 09:20:51 PM »
Thanks Bryan, yeah there just seems to have been so much to do with the funeral and organising the affairs, and so many people around, but things have quietened down now and I’ve a bit more time to think about it, so I probably need to get stuck in to working on the bike as a bit of good therapy..
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« on: June 30, 2020, 09:13:51 AM »
Thanks Oddjob, appreciate it  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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« on: June 29, 2020, 10:57:02 AM »
Hi Sean, sorry for delayed response, we buried my Mum last week so been otherwise preoccupied and head's been all over the place, so looking forward to getting stuck into the bike again as soon as I can. Do give me a shout some time, would be good to meet up. Think I recall seeing 1 or 2 old Hondas advertised for sale in Millisle - probably your mate there.
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« on: June 21, 2020, 10:57:35 PM »
Hi Sean, I’m not too far away from you then, I’m in Dundonald. Have you much more work to do to get the 400 going? I got the 550 hoping it was going to be a quick fix, could still turn out that way.
And looks like RS paints could be the least hassle source for getting the right colour then, cheers.
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« on: June 19, 2020, 10:32:53 PM »
Thanks Oddjob, sorry for the late reply, my Mum's been taken into hospital and is very ill so the bike's been put on the back burner for a while.
It's a right hand side panel I need anyhow, so I'll probably just get a new one from LPM and spray the whole lot to match. Paint on the tank is pretty good but does have a few chips around the edges and is starting to bubble a bit, although mostly just on the bit that's hidden by the front of the seat.
That link to all the colour options that were available is interesting, especially the 500s. I'd always thought that all the 500s were the same brown and black, in fact I'm pretty sure someone once told me that way back in the mists of time, and as already discussed, colours aren't my strong point!
Haven't decided yet what colour I'm going to do this one but as I don't register anything subtle I'll probably either keep it the same Shiny Orange or change it to the even less subtle Flake Sunrise Orange. Are there paint codes available for those colours or anywhere that would specialise in mixing old Honda colours?
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« on: June 14, 2020, 12:25:11 PM »
Quick update on this one, so yesterday I cleaned up the earth connections beside the coil and from the battery to the engine hanger plate. It occurred to me that with all the new paint all over everything the engine hanger plate itself might not have been that well earthed to the frame so removed some paint under bolt heads there too. Put in recharged battery and fresh fuel and still nothing. Spark isn’t really looking very healthy so decided to wait until new battery arrives which should make a difference and in the meantime I’ve started to disconnect wires and get them identified and labeled with masking tape and try and reconnect things how they’re supposed to be - hours of colourblind fun to be had 
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« on: June 10, 2020, 04:59:42 PM »
Yeah I’ve reconnected the earth to that bolt and put duct tape over the ends of the wires that aren’t needed just to make it obvious that they aren’t. I had been starting to think myself it might be a good idea to just disconnect everything and try and identify all the wires with my masking tape method and then put it back together again properly. Seems to me that might be the easiest way to figure it out. The other thing I’m starting to notice is that things seem to be done up just barely tight. The nut had fallen off the bolt at the front of the coil, but the one at the back was really only just finger tight, same with the screws holding in the headlamp shell. The master cylinder has been leaking just where the pipe is bolted on so that obviously wasn’t tight enough, and today I also noticed it looks as if the pipe has been leaking at the other end too where it bolts into the calliper. So really I just need to go over the whole bike and check everything before I’d be confident to ride it, but then I suppose that should go without saying for a bike that hasn’t had an mot since 1997! The thing is it all looks nice so you tend to assume things are ok.
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« on: June 10, 2020, 03:23:17 PM »
Ah, more good info! Cheers for the help with this So got another look at the bike at lunchtime. The black/white feed to the coils is connected ok but when I was checking it I noticed the front mounting bolt on the coils which also holds an earth connection was missing the nut. Managed to find a nut to put on it and put it back together with recharged battery. So now it's cranking over reasonably well (with the headlight switch on but not otherwise) and I've also got a spark from the old nail. Still no hint of it wanting to fire though. There is fuel getting through because it started coming out the overflows. Then the battery went flat again and it started to rain so I called it a day.  This is what the switchgear looks like. L/h looks original to me? R/h looks like pattern part?   I've ordered a new battery and I'll try some fresh fuel in it tomorrow just in case that makes any difference. The guy I got it off did say it had been running a few months ago but I'm not sure how many can still count as a few.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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« on: June 09, 2020, 07:30:39 PM »
This is great information! So 3 of the 4 loose wires in the headlight aren’t needed. And the 4th which you say is brown I’m pretty sure was just solid colour without a trace. I’ll have to double check that but it’s raining pretty heavily here now and the bike’s just out the back under a cover - don’t want to get it or myself soaked tonight! Under the tank, again 2 of the 4 loose wires aren’t needed, and the third is just an earth. I didn’t see any sign of another wire that could connect to the brown / white but I could have missed it. Don’t think the bike is American as the tax book gives date of first reg. as March ’76 and the reg. plate is a local Belfast number that would tie in with that date. I’ll have another look and take a few more pics tomorrow (or later this evening if it dries up a bit) of wires and switchgear. Feeling a step closer now to getting it running though, cheers
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« on: June 09, 2020, 04:43:31 PM »
Yeah it’s a bit of a nightmare alright, people have got used to me asking ‘what colour’s this?’ I’ll find a way. I do have a wiring diagram for a 500 from a Haynes manual, and also downloaded one for a 550 from the library section on this site, but haven’t got around yet to looking what the differences or similarities are to this bike - it is going to cause me brain confusion 
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« on: June 09, 2020, 04:28:39 PM »
Yeah I’d recommend the Antrim Coast road, although I can’t say it doesn’t rain a lot of the time here.. probably even more so if you continue on round to the Wild Atlantic Way, and I think people are normally very welcoming, contrary to what you might expect given the history here! There’s plenty of road racing still as well.
I’ve continued with another post on the electrical problem in a new thread in the 500 / 550 section, cheers.
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« on: June 09, 2020, 04:18:27 PM »
Continued from first posts in Hi from Northern Ireland. So I put the battery on charge just to have something to try until I get a new one delivered. Whole bike was still completely dead. No lights / indicators / horn, not even any idiot lights, and definitely not a peep out of the starter. I checked the main fuse which looked a bit blackened but not actually blown, but I replaced it anyhow. Still nothing. Then I noticed when I put the headlight on, the headlight itself didn’t come on but the oil pressure light did. Tried the starter with the headlight (not) on and it cranked over reasonably well for a while, but definitely not sounding like it had any intention of firing up. Didn’t have a plug spanner so tried to check for a spark with an old nail stuck in the plug lead and nothing at all. By this time the battery had pretty much expired again. So I took the headlight out to have a look and there’s 4 wires hanging out going nowhere. Then I took the tank off and there’s 4 more wires there going nowhere too. Part of the problem with this is I’m colourblind, so trying to identify wires just from the colour involves quite a lot of guess work! One of the tricks I’ve always used is to wrap a bit of masking tape round a wire and then just write on it what it is. I noticed that a few of the wires under the tank already had masking tape on them with the colour written on (but not what the wire actually is.) So looks like there’s already been another colourblind would be electrician working on the bike and who knows what wires are connected up right or wrong! Going to have to sit down with a wiring diagram and a test meter and a lot of patience to get my head around this! On the plus side, wiring doesn’t look like it’s been bodged around as such, maybe just wires connected up wrong, or not connected up at all, so hopefully once I can identify what wires go where that might solve the problem..   Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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« on: June 09, 2020, 10:43:38 AM »
Yeah I do think it’s going to turn out to be a good bike once it’s sorted. And the original pipe is nice, there’s one on eBay at the moment that DK Motorcycles want £600 for!
I don’t live on the north coast but the ride there from Belfast up round the Antrim coast road is a firm favourite with just about anyone over here on 2 wheels. (Also a firm favourite with the Sunday drivers unfortunately.. ) You’ll find it in those lists they make of best rides in the UK, and scenery is spectacular alright!
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« on: June 09, 2020, 01:08:20 AM »
Thanks again for the input, have been looking at batteries on ebay and Motobatt is around £60, Yuasa seems to be a bit more, but noticed you can get a lithium battery for just under £100, don’t know if there would be any point in spending the extra £40 though?
Bryanj, thanks for the offer of rear inner guard, I’m not certain if it’s same as 500 or not but from memory it looks pretty similar. I do have some bits in boxes that have been stored away for years and I think there might be one in there from a 500 I had that went completely stripped down cafe racer. I’ll have a look and if I don’t have one I’ll give you a shout. Hadn’t seen the LPM website before, looks the same as what you can get from David Silver but maybe a bit cheaper? And looked at stickers from Piki as well so will be getting some of those.
Oddjob, would probably be interested in that side panel if you can find it, I do actually quite like the glitteryness of the flake sunrise!
Rozabikes Tim, nice to see pic of bike from couple of years ago. I only just peeled those stickers off the headlamp yesterday! So it’s been for sale for a while then, and I’m the first one that’s been mug enough to take it on as a non runner! I do think it’s going to turn out well though…
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« on: June 08, 2020, 12:23:07 PM »
Thanks for the welcome! Yeah the plan is to get it running and on the road first and foremost, then just ride it over the summer and make small improvements as I go, assuming there aren’t any major problems when I do get it going… There are definitely a few jobs need doing. Yes new battery will be the first, and like Oddjob mentions, side panel decal is missing and other side panel is quite badly cracked and very badly repaired with some kind of black mastic / sealant effort. Rear inner guard is cracked too and plastered with the same stuff. Master cylinder leaks. Hand grips say SuperBike on them so I’ll be changing those. (Think the very first bike mag I ever bought way back when was SuperBike - mild customs and scantily clad ladies, both of which I was quite keen on at the time  ) I was a bit sceptical too about the alternator diagnosis, didn’t really think they gave much trouble, but I’m no expert.
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