Honda-SOHC

My k3 was always ok in the time I ran it - at least carburettion wise, and the first 6 months of that it sat idle while I passed my test. I liked the extra mpg, not that big on shorter trips but stick the bike on a motorway and the economy was great. A roads it matched my mates superdream  to the penny on fuel stops, motorway work I could get away with 50% fewer fuel stops. I did find some of the springs on the central cable area and choke return broken when I wanted to put them on my sidecar bike. Not had to resort to redex in the  fuel on a k3 but on my wifes 250 nighthawk I saved myself hours of messing around by spraying carb cleaner on the air cleaner and running with redex in the fuel. Took a few weeks commuting before it ran right but I developed a hatred of removing carbs and airbox over the years. Same trick worked with the cb500 sidecar with overflowing carbs.

Every so often Lidl stock a 125mm 240v angle grinder which has speed controll as a standard feature along with Scotchbrite 'disks' and a velcro backing pad. , very good for polishing, though I have only used it on my wood turning projects -  I am afraid I don't do polish  on bikes so ain't tried it on that.

I bought a busmar astral sidecar to go on my BMW outfit in place of a watsonian Palma. The busmar asteral is a massive caravan style thing from the 1950's made with a floor that looked like a country cottage door and the internal ply was recycled tea chests and looked from the nail holes on the alloy skin etc like it was original woodwork. The ignition key for the BMW bike I was fitting it to fitted the sidecar door perfectly.  None of other 100 odd keys I have in my box of odd keys fitted so it wasnt a case of any old screwdriver- not like Lucas tractor keys... I geuss that bike was fated to carry that chair.

When I had a cb550k3 as a daily use bike it didn't mind being left standing the 6 months between me buying it and passing my test, or the odd layover once I got a cb500/4 sidecar. I did appreciate the better fuel economy and the only running issues I had with the bike were attributable to the absolutely appalling engine condition. I did try switching some k3 carbs and engine to my 500/4 many years later, with k&n cone style filters and later the stock filter setup but by then something wasn't playing ball. Not sure if it was the same bank of carbs as I have a few sets kicking around. Depends what you want from the bike, I liked the extra mpg and tank range. I think I was still running the k3 though into the era of modern fuel.

Improvised repairs, me and some mates decided to pushbike to Snowdon aged 14, one of my mates bikes had a bad inner tube, past patching, so to get us to the next town, we stuffed the tyres with grass. My cb550k3 dropped a valve, resultant carnage holed a piston and the valve head punched though the crankcase under the starter motor, I swapped the head for a slightly less battered example, replaced the barrels and pistons with some less disreputable used examples and used mastic to seal under the starter motor - as a temporary fix it was amazingly effective and the bike did many more years commuting - it was intended to last a week or 2 as a mate wanted to buy the bike and had a decent engine at his end. My wifes  Vauxhall cavalier ended its days rolling over 3 times in a corner -  gearbox selected 2 gears at the same time and locked  up mid corner. Current count of vehicles now driving around with bits of that car incorporated into repairs is now past 20, only 1  Vauxhall. I used the brake lines to repair petter engines oil lines on a dumper truck, the anti intrusion bars inside the doors were spot on right for frame repairs on one or 2 motorbikes, sleeping inside to  re enforce butt welded repairs. The mate who was going to buy  my ratty cb550/4,  had a cb550/4 chop that took pride in being improvised from scrap, those gray steel plug outlets seen in industrial setups as airbox, Massey furguson tractor exhaust and a gaffa taped sponge and scrap  steel sheet seat were a few examples. We had a manky collection of bikes but still had fun on them.

Looks like I can get firewood in for now til 2222. Glad its grown on a steep bank attached to my garden. Might get time to fix the cb500/4 sidecar too. Wont be able to ride it, further than about 300 yards on farm tracks but that would be further than it's gone in a few years. Wonder how I'll pay the bills  but be good to fix the bike. I have a few years worth of projects stacked up if theres enough parts not missing...

Regards de rusting, I brewed up some cider that wasn't that successful a few years back, it's been sat stewing for years and actually made a really good cider vinegar,  only I dont have a use for 60 gallons of cider! Then last month I was given a large box of rusty engineers drills, I found a 24 hour soak in the cider vinegar got the drills remarkably clean, you could even read the engraved or etched information that was previously lost to rust quite clearly, most came up like new though a few had pitting and theres no reversing that sadly I was amazed at how well that free cleaner worked, and the resulting waste is organic and fine to tip on the compost heap, no disposal issues. I prevented further rust by applying tapping fluid over the top layer of drills in the box, its spread over everything quite well just being left to spread by itself, and I know its effective long term as none of my own drillbits are rusty even after 15 years in a damp shed. In a petrol tankI'd use 2 stoke oil or diesel, if any is left behind when recommissioning I reacon a bit of extra lube for the top end would be no bad thing.

My neighbour has a yellow Ferrari tractor with 4x4, front end loader and back actor.  Lovely little thing.