SOHC.co.uk Forums > CB350/400

Patience needed!

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rbt1548:

--- Quote from: XS850 on January 09, 2023, 02:23:05 PM ---Something I still do now (as well as rebuild older bikes) - mainly RC boats, recent ones completed - Titanic & Bismark & currently Hood under construction - struggling with hands & eyes though for the finer “bits”, age is a wonderful thing but with it comes problems - main reason I’ve given up on “larger” bikes!
Bruce

--- End quote ---

Now, they are superb, the work that must have gone into them is something else.

Laverda Dave:
I actually thought the Ducati was the real thing! Great detail in those, well done.

MCTID:
Mmmm that struck a nerve.......many years ago I owned a Triumph Stag. At the time it was the most beautiful vehicle in the world in my eyes. Pimento red and an exhaust note to die for....my eldest Daughter never said no to a drive out on a summers evening (sadly, her Mum and Daughter Number Two could never be that arsed) and the smile on her face was always worth all the aggro that bloody car caused me. 30+ years on and we still have that connection and that bond that anybody who doesn't understand it - will never understand it. Later today, she's being sworn in as a Magistrate and she can invite one Guest....that Guest is me. Not her Husband or one of her 3 Kids or any of her lifelong pals....me ! I'd like to think that bloody temperamental, awkward, cantankerous Stag is a big reason why she has asked me to accompany her. That bond we forged back then is unbreakable and it's held fast over some difficult dilemmas since. She's the most sensible person I know and her abundance of common sense and decency makes me firmly believe that in the Family Division, she's going to make the right decisions - every time- when it comes to deciding whether the Kids from a broken marriage will live with their Mum or Dad - or whatever.

I digress......back then, I joined the Stag Owners Club and went to a couple of their meetings and one memorable one was a Sunday at Tatton Park.....it was a splendid summers Sunday afternoon and some of the Stags being judged were simply breathtaking.......the cost to make them awesome and the efforts their Owners had put into them was incredible, and as an Engineer, I was mightily impressed, although I could never hope to match their skills, dedication or budget. One fabulous car had been subject to a painstaking body off restoration and when It came to the judging, it came nowhere.....not even in the top 5. I couldn't believe it and I asked the Owner why it had failed to impress the Judges. It was because during the renovation, he'd wanted to protect his investment, so he'd had a professional apply an underbody Undercoat and injected all the rust traps with a suitable preservative. The Judges marked the car down because those 'safeguards' would never have been applied by the Factory !

Well, that was it for me...I never attended any more Stag Owners Club meetings and never bothered with anything they had to say or do again.   

Johnny4428:
Quite a story Alan! Pity the judges didn’t look beyond investment protection on their quest for originality.

XS850:
MCTID - yours has definitely struck a nerve here! How many of us rebuild our bikes (yes including our subject headers 400 & 350’s) to an exact original spec! If you do, does it mean it’s worth more, is it more reliable & long lasting? I suspect a “true” original rebuild doesn’t exist - there will always be an “improvement” somewhere - and before anyone starts getting uptight at that statement just think about the painting & re-chroming to modern standards & materials, these areas will almost definitely be better than original factory build!
I recently completed re building a 65 Norton Jubilee, from the outside it looks as if original - but - the paintwork is better finished, some parts have been powder coated, cadmium plated bolts changed to stainless (in non structural points) or zinc plated, 12v instead of 6v, electronic ignition etc. It runs and ticks over smoothly (unlike the original) - I set out to be as original as possible with the rebuild but if I had, then I would have an “old dog” that wasn’t reliable, wouldn’t last and deteriorate quickly - just like it was “originally”!
So, just what is actually original in any rebuild nowadays - the “rivet” counters can have a field day when I finish my CB400F, but I know it’s as original as I can get it BUT not at the expense of reliability, long lasting & deterioration!
Aghhhhh - rant over- sorry, it’s a pet subject with me 😁😳
Bruce

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