Honda-SOHC

I have cleaned the tank on my RD350 with amazing results.

Wash the tank out with water then get a small tub of Bicarbonate of soda from the supermarket. Mix it with water then fill the tank to the brim, I use half the tub with full tank of water.

Connect a DC power supply, battery charger or whatever. Negative to the tank, and the Positive to a steel bar (I used an old Allen key) and put it in the filler neck but don't let it touch the tank.

Turn power on and watch it fizz, keep topping the water up and every now and then clean the steel bar. It will take a good few hours. Also swirl the tank around to removed any trapped pockets of air.

Best to do it outside as the bubbles produced are Hydrogen 

I don't have a before pic but it was so bad I was on the lookout for a new tank.

This is a fairly slow process, it probably took 12 hours or so.

That sounds interesting I have seen stuff on the internet suggesting the use of  Sodium Carbonate instead of Sodium Bicarbonate. Not sure if my C-Tek would work as the charger though I think I still have my original charger in my loft unless I chucked it. I have nothing to loose I guess so might give it a try.

I had a second hand Suzuki 750 GS in 1980/81 ish only owned it for a few months.  Two things scared me it's willingness to lift the front wheel off the ground if you dared to use first gear.  Plus all the chrome work was pimpled or rusty when it was only 2 years or so old.

Replaced the chain within weeks as it was so out of shape with a Reynolds one but left the sprockets as they were due to cost.  The chain was too wide for the sprockets but I was assured by the place that sold it me that that did not matter a jot! Had shaft drive after that my Honda CB400 is the first chain driven bike I have owned since I sold the Suzuki.

Yes my stainless spokes and polished alloy rims were supplied by central wheel


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TBH i'm torn between Stainless & Alloy rims - chrome is fantastic but don't want the maintenance involved. As Central Wheels are only in Coleshill I think I will pop over nearer the time to get the visual input of seeing them in the flesh.

Will definitely need to do a good job on the hubs whichever I go for.

just found it here https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/twenty20-led-headlight-bulbs-H4-pair.html

they stay rated ~20W (what is good), colour temp ~6000K (not so good, this is reason to be stopped by police...).

Curious to know plans for approvals

Thanks Erny I have saved that site for future reference.

Not sure where to post this question so as I have a CB400F2 I thought here is a good start.

I've seen a few CB400 fours on e-bay with alloy wheels presumably from a later model - I don't think they suit but can understand why someone might fit them.

Personally I like the period spoked wheels but was curious if fitting alloy wheels is a cheaper option than having existing spoked wheels refurbished.

If I had to choose between retaining original but imperfect spoked wheels and fitting alloys I would be faced with a conundrum. As yet I have no idea how much a pair of decent reproduction spoked wheels with SS spokes would cost.

Thanks both of you - I'm probably just thinking too automotive - there isn't much pressure as its just gravity !
It doesn't help that I didn't have the old ones to go by - that said all four of the fuel overflow pipes have small clips on them - not sure if that's original though.
Cheers
Ted

Wow that's one nice looking restoration - well done!

Quote from: Erny on August 31, 2020, 09:30:45 PM

At least here, in Slovakia and Czech republic LED bulbs are illegal as retrofit of H4 bulb. And I think that also as bulb retrofit into tail/stop light (21W/5W bulb) or flasher (21W) are illegal too.

There is no LED replacement H4 bulb that is certified for road use to my knowledge (and will highly likely never be) due to its "beam" geometry, when in case of standard bulb source of light is very small piece of wire filament (kind of point source that is placed into specific place into headlight parabola to ensure defined beam geometry), while LED bulb uses multiple LEDs that emits light from other places compare to standard bulb and H4 parabolas are not designed for...
Only legal solution is to replace whole headlight that is "E" certified for motorbike.

Spot on, Erny! So far what buyers have 'seen'*, has not been confirmed by independent tests. What has been found however by the British AA, the German ADAC, the Dutch ANWB and the Austrian ÖAMTC, is that blinding headlights are the number one annoyance in todays traffic...
* What others, including me, see, is mostly: choice-supportive bias or post-purchase rationalization.

Most of the blinding headlamps I have experienced have been from manufacturers Bi Xenons not folk with old vehicles wanting something brighter than a candle as the reflectors go dull with age & the Polycarbonate goes milky. lol