Honda-SOHC

Just come across this on eBay. Nice project for the money and it has the original silencer complete with heat shield.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145468392304?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=iDdapBYhQd2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5XpGce3OSuS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=MORE

Hi All.
I spotted this CD175 Sloper for sale today at the Kempton Park Classic Bike Show and Auto Jumble. Apparently the bike is a genuine one owner example (a Concorde pilot no less) and was in daily use until Covid. It has 22,000 miles on the clock. It looks pretty solid from what I could see. Nice period patchwork on the seat. Not a bad price considering the condition and history assuming it is a genuine one owner example @£1,799 although a haggle would no doubt be called for and expected. This could be the perfect Christmas Gift for those who enjoy enduring frost bite whilst tinkering in the shed

Henry Cole, Alan Millyard and Skid were also there filming so best buy the Sloper before Henry does and sells it for a SPQR 

Back in the very distant past, the very late 70's to be exact, I remember seeing a couple new old stock 400/4's in the Speedway of Acton showroom. This must have been 1978 or 79 as I had just started work at Acton Train Overhaul Works and I would wander up to the showroom at lunchtimes.
What made these two bikes different were the speedo's, as well the normal white numbers on a very dark green background they also had a lighter green band indicating KPH. I remember asking how much the bikes were as I knew they had been out of production for a couple of years by then. I knew I couldn't afford one as I was only on £48/week and I had just bought a Bell Moto 111 helmet from the shop for my speedway racing but I asked anyway. They were £900 each and I was told they were unsold stock brought back from Italy (Speedway of Acton was about 1 mile from Honda UK in Power Road, Chiswick so the story could be feasible I guess).
My question is, Were these dual reading speedo's ever fitted to UK 400/4's because I have never seen one in the wild? If they were does anyone know from what frame number they were fitted? My rat bike is August 1977 so is late in the production run although that is the date of registration and not the actual build date of the bike itself (are records kept of actual build dates as they are for old Brit bikes?). The speedo fitted on my resto bike is the 'normal' UK type however I learnt a couple of weeks ago from the PO that he had an off on it and it had a new front mudguard and tacho fitted (and I suspect new forks as well as the lowers do not match the rest of the bike in terms of wear and tear). The replacement tacho appears to be from a G5 or similar as two of the idiot lights are in the tacho face. I'd be interested to know if the speedo has been replaced as well as the PO cannot remember and if the correct one should in fact be a dual reading type?

The 'Rat Bike' project is moving along nicely and the engine cases are now empty and have had their first wash ready for a proper inspection.  The parts list is now at two pages though and is growing daily!

Various engine mounting bolts are missing (two front lowers and two at the top) and in one case a length of studding has been used as the upper rear engine mount, I do not know how the PO rode the bike with the engine moving around in the frame!

Does anyone have any of the following for sale (parts book listing used to describe the items):
92000-08080-0A - Bolt, Hex, 8x80 Upper front engine mounting bolts x 2
92000-10080-0A - Bolt, Hex, 10x80 Upper front engine mounting bolt x1
90106-333-000 - Bolt, FR, Engine Lower Hanger x 2 (These are the special bolts that pass through the lower frame rails at the front and bolt through to the lower crankcase of the engine and are frequently replaced by longer bolts that then cause the oil gallery to crack as they are too long! DSS or CMSNL don't have any).
90108-333-000 - Bolt, RR. Engine Upper Hanger x 1 (this is the long bolt used as the upper rear engine mounting, is passes through both sides of the frame and through the lug on the rear upper crankcase. On the R/H side it passes through the upper engine mounting plate that holds the main earth cable).

Thought I'd ask here first, condition is unimportant as I will be getting all the bolts etc replated.

Thanks
Dave

Just seen this K2 on eBay. Appears to have had some work carried out in the past.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266356560715?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=PlQ6xxnYQMC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5XpGce3OSuS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

He's also selling a genuine exhaust system and it's boxed but for serious money
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266356574869?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=PlQ6xxnYQMC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5XpGce3OSuS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Only just over one hour left on the listing

I picked up a new project last Thursday although it isn’t a project I was actually looking for but came my way really unexpectedly so I had to accept it!

May I introduce you all to Project CB400/4! Yes, another one . As you can see from the photos it’s in a bit of a sorry state, some would say ‘cosmetically challenged’ and I would 100% agree, it looks terrible with all that black paint, ape hangers, chrome shopping rack on the front mudguard, the peaked front spot lights, the tombstone rear light and the seat. The seat, it’s terrible, what was I thinking of when I made the seat 43 years ago, yes that’s my handiwork from my days as a coach trimmer!

Why I have I chosen this particular project? The story goes back 44 years and my Brother was going out with a girl and she had a really cool brother called Hank. He had a yellow CB400/4 that was immaculate and had a Marshall end pipe that sounded great. I loved that bike; he called it the flying banana. I had a CB200 but eventually bought a red 400/4 from Speedway Motorcycles in Acton, West London, now sadly gone.  Hank and I would hang out on our bikes with another couple of guys on CB400/4’s. Hank decided to customise his 400/4 by painting the engine black (and eventually the lovely yellow tank) and fitting the high bars. He asked me to make a stepped seat for it so his girlfriend perched on the back could see where she was going. I added foam to the original seat foam to give him what he wanted.

To cut a long story short my brother split up with Hank's sister after about 5 years and I got married, moved away and lost touch with Hank until a few months ago when I gave him a call after about 20 years . We met up for a beer and talked about the old times. I asked him if he still had the 400/4, he did but it hadn’t been used for 22 years and was sitting in the garden shed. He asked me to go and have a look at it. When I got there it took 45 minutes to get the bike out of the shed and it stank! There were rats in the shed and the bike is covered in rats crap and urine. Hank has no interest in the bike and asked me if I wanted to buy it, we agreed a price of £500, how could I refuse to buy the actual bike that inspired me to build my own CB400/4 Flying Banana in 1990 as a homage to Hank's original . I brought it home a couple of days ago in a van.

First job is to fumigate it, the smell of the rats is unbelievable! Does anyone have any ideas how to get rid of the smell? From the photos you can see it is missing a few bits, I have the tank but the speedo and rev counter have gone AWOL along with the ignition/seat lock key (and I can’t lift the seat up as its locked down) and the V5, the air filter plenum chamber is also missing. It does have a Cibie headlight though, a real bonus

I’ll add to this post as the project moves forward but this bike is not going to be touched until I have the Triton running properly and it is off the bike lift.

Ohh, A 400/4 in the fastest colour