Honda-SOHC

Wecome to the forum Derek.
Did you lift that engine out on your own, you are not even sweating

Hello all,

The multiple boxes of bits bought as a 'project' 400/4 are slowly coming together to form a motorcycle  .

Whilst every box is giving up its treasures I am finding the 10% missing items are really hard to obtain!

I am looking for the following items and hope someone here may have them for sale......

3 black plastic carb idle screws covers.  These are the small plastic 'covers' that fit over the brass idle screws on the side of each carb. I have one, I need another three. I thought these come as part of the carb rebuild kit, they don't, ho hum

The black plastic 'bung' that fits in the knuckle of the kickstart. It covers the open end of the knuckle where it fits over the kickstart shaft, part number is 28305-333-010, it is now unobtainable and they don't even turn up on the Antiques Roadshow anymore .

If you have any of the above for sale please let me know.

Dave

Welcome Mike.
I joined the forum a couple of months ago and the members here are a great bunch with endless knowledge.
Good luck with the project,  personally I would go for a new loom, expensive maybe in the short term but much cheaper in the long term. The last thing you need is a breakdown due to a wiring fault especially in the headstock area where all the wires meet up!
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

Thank you all for the info. PM sent to Piki for a full set of decals and seat template.
The painter to his credit showed me so many swatches of the blue colour it became bewildering! I think we have found a colour that is marked as 'Honda' that is 99% matched to the patch we found on my old dented tank that came in primer with the project kit of parts  .
Great forum full of great and wise people, thank you all for your time and patience  .
Dave

They have done a lovely job. That was a company I called a few years ago and they didn't want to do it, you are lucky they did yours! I have a local guy very near to me but he mainly specializes in zinc but he loves bikes and does my stuff for me. Bad news though he doesn't know how much longer he can keep going due to the environmental issues and he doesn't have a tank big enough otherwise he would plate my frame. There was a place I came across at the last Stafford show and they quoted £750ish but they need to see the frame first. I'm not in a hurry as the 400/4 is currently undergoing it's restoration but the Ricky will be next!
The engine rebuild looks amazing, progress is good, ready for summer maybe?
Keep the photos coming, great to see it all coming together.

Due to my existing cylinder bores being oversize and also being unable to obtain any 0.75 or 1.0mm oversize pistons to suit I'm on the lookout for a set of used barrels.  I really don't want to go down the expensive re-lining or big bore route, I'd like to keep the bike as standard as I can if possible.

Finish is unimportant but if possible I would like all the fins to be intact and the bores to be either worn standard or 0.25 to enable me to get a .05 re-bore if I have to. I've have tried e-bay and all the usual breakers but there's nothing available.
If anyone has a set let me know and we can negotiate a price.

Hope someone out there has something suitable to get one of these bikes back on the road 

Dave

Keith, I have a Honda Rickman CR750 I bought about 20 years ago. 
When I bought it I was told by the seller it was an original S&S tuned bike.  It certainly had the S&S exhaust that was very, very, very loud! Reading the MCN road test of the S&S Rickman from the 70's the registration of my bike is the one directly following the S&S test bike, so maybe it did have all the goodies fitted?  I couldn't check the rest of the engine for any other signs of tuning apart from having a finned alternator cover and the exhaust but as it cost less than 1.5k I wasn't too bothered, it was a genuine CR Rickman
Sadly it has been in bits for at least 10 years following the engine throwing oil from the breather over the rear tyre and bringing a new term to the meaning of 'riding on slicks'.  Its going to be my next restoration after the 400/4 is completed.
I do know from stripping the engine though there are no S&S bits in there, certainly not a big bore kit and wild cams so I guess at some point the original engine went bang and was replaced with another standard engine with the original S&S exhaust fitted.

Where did you get your frame re-nickled and can you divulge how much it cost as this is going to be a major expense in the restoration of mine.  I have been quoted upwards of 500 pounds for a strip, polish and re-nickel.  Most platers I have asked wont even touch it saying either their tank is too small or giving me horror stories of the nickel salts becoming trapped in the frame tubes and rotting the metal from inside out.  The other excuse is the bronze brazing of the frame becomes damaged during the stripping process with the brazing going soft and the frame deforms!  Now you have your frame back have you noticed anything untoward? My own view is if Rickman nickle plated the frames at least 40 years ago and they haven't fallen apart and massive holes haven't appeared in the frame tubes due to nickle salt corrosion they must be ok to strip and re-nickle?
Lovely bike by the way and I look forward to seeing the finished product 
Dave