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Topics - 400 Cafe Racer

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1
Hi Guys,

Hope you are all keeping well.

I am preparing a spare tank for respray, its clean inside and before stored it was washed around with diesel fuel to provide an oily coating inside to preserve it.

It looks clean and solid  inside and I was in two minds just to wash out and use as is. On the other hand with Ethanol now being added into fuels I was considering lining with the POR 15 treatment before any Paintwork is started to avoid damage to the final finish.

I'm interested on your input  :)

Thanks

Dennis

2
Hi Guys,
Hope you are all keeping well. I'm just sorting through a few little jobs to do on the 400 Four during the bad weather.

Having noticed the forks on full lock are getting close to the tank, it prompted me to check the the "lock stops" on the forks. The rubber pads are quite badly worn/deformed and would benefit from replacement and give better clearance from the tank.

They do not appear to be available on the DS parts list and wondered if anyone has a source of supply please.  ;)

Cheers

Dennis

3
Hi Guys,

Update. POST 1

After the engine rebuild I felt it was necessary to have some better feedback information to monitor the engine and decided on improved instrumentation.

The PO had fitted an Air/Fuel ratio meter. The new additions are, Oil Pressure Gauge, Oil Temperature Gauge and Voltmeter.

With careful planning while the unit was out, I managed to pick up the OP feed from the OP switch location, without any cutting of the casing.

Seating mods were to improve comfort from the 15mm plank foam.  Rear set mods to the toe pedal to widen them to give better "feel" to gearchanges and braking. Daylight running lamp beneath headlamp.

Dennis

4
Hi Guys,

You guessed it - my good lady said "what would you like for Christmas". ;D ;D ;D

Since I am only back into biking for the past 3 yrs, I haven't invested into any special kit for balancing/lifting the bike to do work.
I was trying to get the benefit of your experience on what works well for lifting/suspending the 400f to do:

1. Work with the bike suspended about 1 foot from the ground with both wheels free, using a central lift from the sump and tubular frame area. This would be my preferred option if there is a suitable piece of kit.

My experience while improvising with a trolley jack is that the centre of gravity is well forward, and jacking there results in lifting the rear wheel, rather than the front, with a tendency for the bike to tip forwards. Blocks are needed to clear the exhaust pipes near the frame.  Would  straps onto a lift platform achieve a satisfactory balance ?


2. And if using pit type stands, would the removal of the front wheel  present problems due to the fork cap and spindle design.?

What works well for you on your 400f. ;) :)

Appreciate your experience on this type of kit.

Thanks

Dennis

5
Hi Guys,

The hubs and spokes, paticularly the rear could do with a good clean in the centre. Not looking to polish things like the cooling fins on the hub but just to give everything a nice clean look around the centre of the wheel, like when you have just rebuilt one.

Having been out of motorcycling for many years I wondered if you have found any liquid spray non abrasive  methods or similar that will reach areas your fingers won't get to. ?

How do you do yours. ?

Thanks :)

Dennis

6
Hi Guys,

I need to adjust the Carb needles onto the next slot down, the PO has set them too high and now float levels are correct its far too rich. He has lifted the needle 1 extra notch to gain more power, but they are far too rich on steady cruising. The A/F ratio is about  9.5:1, so I think they need to go back to the standard position.


Having looked at the access within the slides there is little clearance to get a screwdriver blade of small diameter down to the JIS screws to be removed in order to change the needle height, it is also a bit difficult to judge the correct snug fit head size. The "T " bar JIS set I have is too wide to reach down, but the US Pro JIS screwdriver set looks a possibility.

The heads of the screws look good, but they seem very tight. I just want to ensure everything is a good fit, rather than risk chewing the screw heads badly.

Can you advise from your experience on  the cabs, which is a good fitting tool/screwdriver please. :)

Many thanks

Dennis


7
CB350/400 / 400 Four - PETROL GRADE CURIOSITY ?
« on: October 11, 2021, 07:25:36 PM »
Hi Guys,

I know there are many long time 400F members out there having run their bikes for yonks on various Petrols. I'm interested to see which type of unleaded (Regular) or (Super) you settled on and why. ?

Thanks ;)

Dennis

8
Hi Guys,

The idiot oil pressure light tells you very little. I wondered if anyone actually has an oil pressure gauge permanently fitted and what sort of readings are typical at different temperatures.

Thanks :)

Dennis

 

9
CB350/400 / CB400f - carb Air Screw query. Two screws different appearance ?
« on: September 27, 2021, 09:37:07 PM »
Hi Guys,

Just getting down to adjusting the carbs after the engine, strip, inspection, rebuild.  I have noticed that 3 carbs, 1,3 and 4 have a black largish air screw that will only rotate 270 degrees before it meets a "stop" on the carb casting. (Picture 1)

Carb 2 has a smaller diameter screw with a spring which looks like a conventional type that will screw all the way in or out over several turns.
(Picture 2)

Have you come across this ?

10
CB350/400 / CB400f with K&N Pods Filters - what carb jetting are you using ?
« on: September 27, 2021, 07:18:29 PM »
I think there are a number of members who are running with K&N pod air filters on the 400f and I wondered what options users have found on Idle and Main jet sizes. :)

Dennis

11
Hi Guys,

While doing work on the bike I have noticed fork oil continually leaking from the front fork spindle area on the O/S. If you look at the attached diagram there is a bolt and copper washer that screws up inside the damper to hold one of the internal components (267).

My question is I remove the wheel spindle clamp to access this (bolt 349) and (washer 390), can it be removed and replaced without stripping the whole fork system down. My concern is that if I unscrew it, something might move inside and then I won't be able to refit the bolt with a new washer to seal it. :-\

It may be that there is sufficient spring pressure (260 versus 262) internally to prevent any movement. Has anyone experienced this. ?

Thanks  :)

Dennis

12
Hi, NOW SOLD

If you are doing an Engine rebuild these may save you some serious  cash. Purchased new from DS this week, only 2 removed from packets to test crank mains gap using Plastiguage. This was to give me a datum for measurement as my original shells were without any colours.

Members can have at half price + postage, before I offer on ebay.

See full deails on Member 4 Sales.

Hope this helps one of you Guys.

13
Hi Guys,

Just in the process of engine rebuild and checking other items before the refit.

The PO has DS Electronic Ignition and the Dynatec Coils fitted with carbon trace HT leads, not copper wire leads (see photo) these are then connected to 5Kohm plug caps. I was interested to check the HT cable resistance seperately.
All plug caps come in at 5Kohms, but the Ht leads measured along the disconnected cables vary, No1 = 12.4Kohm intermittent reading, No2 = 18Kohm solid reading, No3 = 12Kohm solid reading, No4 = 17Kohm solid reading.

I have my misgivings about carbon impregnated cotton plug leads, which can break the carbon chain if the lead is stretched, I'm thinking this could be the reason for the intermittent reading on No1.

Spark Plugs are NGK D8EA

I am interested to hear your views and experiences. ;)

Thanks

Dennis


14
Can anyone establish where the RED main bearing shells fit into Hondas Main Bearing grid chart please. ?

RED is not listed on the main bearing chart, but is on the BIG end bearing chart.

Was it introduced because some tight fitting could still be experienced using Yellow, so a further undersize was introduced ? Just my speculation.

What is the difference between the Yellow (not sold) and the Red stocked by D Silver and why did Honda not chart the Red ??

Has anybody seen a Yellow. ?

Measuring the shell thickness: - Brown is 1.490mm, Green is 1.485 and Red is 1.475mm.  There seems to be a gap at 1.480 Is this the Yellow size. ? (These are removed shells passed to me by PO and some from my present inspection)

Appreciate your thoughts and points of view. ;)

Regards

Dennis

15
Just in the process of inspection prior to rebuilding the engine.

The gears were a little baulky finding neutral on a couple of occasions, all gears and selectors are good, so I have had a close look at the shift mechanism. I have managed to replicate this while the casing is open and found that there was a slight "twist" misalignment of the left leg on the positive stopper, causing it to foul (evidence of rubbing) before engaging with the roller.

I think this showed up more  because of the  extra load of lifting the neutral roller on its cam as well as the drum roller on its cam.

After realigning the left leg it operates smoothly.

However - it seems a little odd that the ends of the rollers have a gap of 0.8mm before the dished end plate - ( see photo )

It would surely be better for the rollers to almost touch the end plate - this would allow more secure area for the Rositive stopper (item 8 on diagram) legs to push against - which at the moment could be partly where the gap is.

There does not appear to be any bending of the dished washer causing the gap. Maybe this is just normal tollerances as the positve stopper legs are only steel pressings. We can get paranoid about things that will operate normally, but  are not to Rolls Royce standards.

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Is this gap normal. ?

Thanks

Dennis

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