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Messages - kettle738
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61
« on: December 08, 2016, 09:12:21 PM »
I've often wondered why some items are priced at £99,999 etc etc......there's quite a few like it.. presumably there is a reason? 
62
« on: December 05, 2016, 08:30:06 PM »
Managed it!........the photo flatters the 400f quite a bit, there is plenty of surface rust......but it came with a NOS seat and what I thought for a while was a spare new engine....it turns out the engine has been in storage indoors since 1978 and it's marked to show it has covered 604 miles from new.....under the grime it does look it too.
I also brought this one home, a Bomber......I knew the owner many years ago.......when I last saw this bike it was probably 30 years back and it lived in his living room, it was near mint...but a few years in a damp garage have changed all that; it has just 2,700m from new (virtually nil 30 years ago) and is original right down to the tyres.
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63
« on: December 05, 2016, 08:23:43 PM »
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64
« on: December 05, 2016, 06:29:04 PM »
Hi, many thanks for all the replies.......I still have the XS1100......
now joined by a 4,100m from new CB400f which came from the same source as Ashimoto's haul;
I didn't realise until I was there buying the bike but I knew the old chap who'd died, his son was selling his bikes on and I had the good fortune to be first in the queue......the son was just like his dad, a top bloke.
I would post a photo of it......but the image attachment system is just incomprehensible
Mick.
65
« on: December 05, 2016, 02:23:48 PM »
Hi all....I bought a pattern rear mudguard for mt 400f via ebay....in brief, the mounting holes for the rear light bracket are some way off centre...far enough to be obvious.
I can return it, that's not the problem, what I need to know is, are they all the same no matter what the source?
I'll happily try one from DSS but not if it's going to have the same fault.
I'm amazed that anyone would go to the not inconsiderable trouble of manufacturing this part only to get such a fundamental part of the process so wrong!
Mick.........kettle738
66
« on: November 24, 2016, 05:19:26 PM »
I had one of these back in the late seventies (when they were actually rare in the UK)....it was an Australian bike that the owner had ridden overland to the UK!
Despite that it was in lovely order and it flew, way faster than the four speed bombers....(even though I've always had a bit of a thing for them)...the five speeders were a vastly better bike and a bit of a bargain nowadays as so many US bikes have been imported.
Good luck with your sale...they're a really enjoyable and good looking engine to work on.
Mick.
67
« on: November 17, 2016, 06:21:03 PM »
Going back to the original subject - re rusting reflector - what about re-silvering, my chromer gave me a contact to get it done, I got it parted from the glass ok but haven't had it done yet.
Anyone tried it ? I had a 1970s Ducati headlamp bowl re silvered recently....it was an unobtainable item and I had no real choice; it came it at about £120 by the time it was back on the bike...far from cheap but it did the job. Mick.
68
« on: June 07, 2016, 07:24:32 PM »
Hi all, I want to get a motorcycle dealer decal copied.....shouldn't be too hard....so I went to a web site that specialises in them and the lady who runs it told me that up until last week she could easily have done it, but the chap who made them for her has just given it up.  She came back to me later and asked if I do find anyone to make it could I pass her the details. I think waterslide transfers are used by modellers etc and the manufacturer decals are mostly well covered......but if you want a rare one or a one off.......where do you go? Does anyone know of a supplier who might be able to create copies from a photograph and measurements? Mick..........kettle738 Mick
69
« on: March 21, 2016, 12:32:34 PM »
I will admit to fear and loathing of the whole process of chrome plating because it's such a lottery. It seems the risk of having your priceless unobtanium mudguard turned into a wafer thin ruin is unacceptably high.....but you have to do it......that and the places that the chrome can't quite reach which rapidly turn to rust as they have just been through a highly corrosive process. If you have found a plater who actually does what you ask him to as opposed to what he thinks you should have asked him to do then it's a real find and worth going back time after time. I did have an excellent local chromer who fully understood Jap finish....I started by taking in some Kawasaki rims, but I also took in a spare nice condition original rim and asked him to copy the finish....not removing any stamped in numbers etc, he achieved it by polishing the rims as normal then very lightly running a linisher over them and in doing so got them just right....I took everything to him and provided I explained fully what I wanted he was always excellent...until he went out of business.  Every other plater I've used has always wanted to achieve the full on 'bathroom taps' finish and seem to find it almost insulting that anyone would ask for an almost basic 'bright chrome' (unpolished) finish. Since I lost my local bloke I try not to chrome anything and simply hunt for better original parts.....but you are right to persevere if you have found a good plater that you get on well with. Attention to detail is what makes you look at one bike among hundreds and wonder if it's actually been restored or not...there aren't too many like that....my suggestion would be to always take in a reasonably decent original if you have one to show the plater what you want to achieve. Mick........kettle738
70
« on: March 17, 2016, 01:57:43 PM »
I had some issues with a dreadful twin leading shoe drum front brake on a Yamaha XS1.....I was convinced I had set up the shoes correctly but it was still quite spongy and performed so badly it was a worry.
Long story short.....I was using a pattern front brake cable and it was compressing the outer slightly when the brake was applied, a NOS Yamaha item transformed it into a working brake.
Mick.............kettle738
71
« on: March 16, 2016, 09:43:32 PM »
That is very pretty and makes me feel quite envious.......my first proper bike was a blue T250J exactly like yours bar the high pipes.
Always fancied another, but never taken the plunge yet......cracking little engines if it's a good one. The only major annoyance was that left side kick start....who starts a bike with their left leg?
Looks like a lucky find though.......
Mick..........kettle738
72
« on: September 10, 2015, 09:45:44 AM »
My Black Bomber had just the top crankcase painted......ditto my GT750 Suzuki.
The CB750 is painted upper and lower cases........but the sump pan is plain un painted bright alloy.
Best thing would be to have a good trawl round James' un restored examples.
Mick............kettle738
73
« on: September 10, 2015, 09:11:43 AM »
Hi Ash, here's my opinion for what it's worth, everything on the engine as you suggest, but I think the smooth breather cover and cam chain tensioner housings had low gloss silver.....which I suspect will just be lacquer over the same paint applied to the rest of the engine.
Cycle parts, as you suggest, but I have never seen unmolested hubs with a true polished finish between the spoke webs....plain cast bright alloy on the rear hub with polishing limited to the outer surface of the spoke webs and the same on the front, no polishing of the centre part of the hub, just the outer webs.....the central portion, as far as I know is bright matt alloy with a thin layer of lacquer over the whole thing.
Wheels that have been 'restored' are usually blindingly obvious because the entire hub gets a mirror polish.
Fork sliders, polished and lacquered, but with that very fine brushed effect that is so hard to replicate.
Brake caliper....silver paint.....not sure about the arm, it looks like barely polished on the top surface and matt elsewhere, possibly just with a coat of thin lacquer, but I'm far from sure.....I doubt they would put any finish at all on the face where the caliper mounts.
It might be an idea to throw some part numbers into Google to see if there are any decent pics out there of NOS parts; failing that, take a look at the SOOC site, the high res pics of an unrestored bike, and the caliper in particular which is photo number 25... even then it's a bit of a guess. Further to that, photo #41 shows the rear hub finish very well
Can you get access to that 500 mile unrestored UK bike....or get someone to take some appropriate pics of it? Failing that, brochure pics or contemporary road test photos might give you a clue.
Just my opinion of course, but I do like anorak detail, so I'm happy to be proved wrong if there is something to learn.
Mick.........kettle738.
PS Are you going to get your switches and M/Cyl black anodised?
74
« on: August 16, 2015, 02:14:59 PM »
Here is a snap of my CB750K2 when I had it....the bike came to me totally original with just 1,200m from new but horribly corroded from poor storage. Certain parts were so hard to find I ended up using modern patterns...(DID 'scripted' rims even  )...but a better seat eluded me entirely. This one as per another posting shows square not oblong pattern to the seat printing....it's a huge shame DS didn't get that one right because the devil is always in the detail with restorations, and original K2 seats are pure unobtanium. That said, like most of us I've had plenty of cause to be hugely grateful to DS for doing what he does and long may he continue. Mick......kettle738 [ Guests cannot view attachments ]
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