New member from Copthorne in Sussex

[Ken4004]

Hi everyone thank you for allowing me to join your group.
I am a semi retired commissioning engineer and my current ride is a Triumph 1050 sport, my other bike is in the shed at the moment I am currently restoring a 1977 Honda 400 4 which has been great fun but slot of work.
Because of previous work commitments this has been slow progress but now I have more time on my hands I am really getting along with it now.
This has been a complete strip down so everything removed and the frame power coated , I have stripped down the engine and had everything vapour blasted and rebuilt the engine with al new seals piston rings etc.
I have had both wheels rebuilt and I have stripped down the carbs put them through an ultrasonic cleaner and rebuilt them .
So a lot of the big jobs done I am in the process of rebuilding the loom which was pretty disgusting with as you can imagine 40 year old insulating tape and a few dodgy wiring mods carried out over the year so in the process of changing all the bullet crimps and connectors and putting the loom back on the bike.
I spent a hour or so yesterday trying to figure out the horn wiring and wiring up the new front indicators ( run in new earth cables through the indicator stalks to the headlight wiring loom ground sorry  I am waffling.

Anyway I look forward to meeting and discussing issues with people with similar interests , going back to the shed now regards Ken

[K2-K6]

Welcome to the forum Ken.

And another 400 four too, plenty of them on here and experience in all aspect of them. A real little gem of engineering they are too.

[Johnny4428]

Hi Ken and welcome to the best forum for these classic fours. Great bunch on here, most helpful and honest. If something is not right some eagle eyed person will point it out. Look forward to seeing some pics of your hard work.

[Orcade-Ian]

Hi Ken and welcome to this great forum from another 400/4 owner (and other bikes of course).
Sounds like you are well on the way with the bike and we look forward to following its progress. 

Ian

[Nurse Julie]

Welcome to the forum Ken.

[Ken4004]

Thanks for the welcome guys I will post some pics next week

I have had a 400 4 before which was immaculate but sold it and bought a 19777 Z1000 also in really mint condition , I loved the look of the Z1000 but the handling around corners was interesting to say the least so sold that and bought the Triumph 1050 sport which I have had since 2015.
A year later was looking on eBay and found a very rough looking 400 4 in Barnstable got the train down there and then road it home quite an adventure on an unknown bike but it made it home and ran very well so this is the bike I an restoring , my first restoration so a lot to learn.
I find it really interesting learning how things work and as you all know if you strip a bike down and rebuild it you gain a valuable amount of experience which stands you in good stead when it comes to working on the more modern bikes.

My list of bikes I have had in order are as follows :-

Honda C90
Honda Cb 125
Kawasaki GPZ 550
Kawasaki KLM 250
Yamamha RD 350 YVPS ( this bike was stolen out of my garage and was the last bike I had for 15 years because I was so pissed off )
Kawasaki Z1000 ( bought due to mid lift crisis , great bike 4 into 1 Harris exhaust )
Honda Cb400 4
Triumph 1050 Sport present ride.

So a fair few different bikes would probably still have the YVPS now if it hadn’t been stolen and wreaked by some toe rag.

For my bike photos is it best to put them on the general heading ?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Welcome here Ken, my first rebuild during covid was a 400/4, I used Nurse Julies rebuild thread as a guide as I logged my own rebuild progress.

Depending on your actual model and switch gear, some horn units are earthed directly to the frame so the earth button switches the live feed. On others the horn button acts as an earth with an ignition powered feed so the horn is live.

P.S. There are a few wafflers here, including myself so you will soon feel at home.

[Ken4004]

The Haynes manual showed the horn return was connected straight to the frame but by looking into this further I realised that the 12 v is permanently on the horn and so when you push the horn button it grounds the return for the horn so more like the US model , just shows that the Haynes manual is not full proof but I got there in the end.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I agree the Haynes Manual is not always right, there is a downloadable Honda Manual on this site, my 400 was registered in the UK from new - it has no pass switch on the left bar,  the bar switchger looked original. Not sure but I think the UK imorted the general export models as well as UK models - NJ will know.

[Jan B]

Welcome Ken,

Looking forward to the pictures.

[Athame57]

Welcome here Ken, I look forwards to seeing the end result of your restoration, you don't seem to be leaving much out! 

[Ken4004]

I just remembered this video I put on utube when I sold my Z1000

Not a SOHC but a really nice bike, I am still in contact with the guy I sold it to and have considered buying it back off him.
The Harris exhaust sounded amazing and being very juvenile I used to go over to the Lewis tunnel is Sussex just to ride through it and here the noise echoing through, also sounded good in the multi story carpark at work.

https://youtu.be/JYC-xFpoFAg?si=MSJtVMgHTvWj4cUU

[Murf]

Hi
Welcome to the forum, great site very friendly and lots of knowledgeable people always ready to help.  I am restoring a 1975 550 K1, it turned out to need a bit more work than I had hoped and my plan for a rolling restoration has turned into a far bigger project.  It will be all the better for it and hopefully a good reliable bike for next year.  I have had a lot great information and help from the forum.