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Messages - McCabe-Thiele (Ted)
1
« on: Today at 10:19:56 AM »
Nice 500 NJ.
2
« on: October 08, 2026, 05:51:37 PM »
My first restoration project was triggered by my final full retirement at the age of 69 yrs, exacerbated bt the Covid outbreak. My wife was part time in the NHS as a receptionist, this soon became 6 days a week during Covid. I was going stir crazy at home with nowhere to go, until I found a local 400/4 on ebay in need of help. I knew the 400/4 would be uncomfortable due to my height. Hence the 500 K1 as my next project, my 400 Superdream is my last project, primarily due to my home circumstances. When the SD is finished I will tinker with 400/4 to improve the cosmetics amongst other things. I thought I might have a return of 50% loss on my projects if I wanted to sell, in the present economic climate I might be luck to get 30% back. Its always been about the enjoyment of returning a bike to its former self, the network that is woven into the sohc UK Forum of like minded folk facing similar challenges in dismantling & assembly. I hope to ride the SD around May next year, I have no plans to ever sell as parting would be like having a pet dog put down when its still healthy. 
3
« on: October 06, 2026, 05:48:16 PM »
I've sent you a PM.
4
« on: October 04, 2026, 04:38:24 PM »
I have found the Hendler products good quality for the price, including the gasket set for my CB400NA Superdream.
I've never used Vesrah, quite a few members here recommend them so they must be good quality.
5
« on: October 04, 2026, 01:56:18 PM »
Some major developments regarding Yamaha Tracer locked in at the Superbike Premises in Castle Donington.
The auditors/insolvency firm have picked up some suspicious activity by one of the major shareholders.
It involves another firm that is alleged to be BigMoto, with a common director.
The Police are now allegedly involved, they are believed to have visited the Castle Donington premises. All the bikes, stock and equipment are unchanged, as they were before they ceased trading.
It now looks as if there is a new approach due to suspected criminal activity, now it looks as if he will get his bike returned at a future date unknown.
6
« on: October 03, 2026, 10:11:05 PM »
As a general rule it's moving parts such as solenoids, ignition switches, indicator relays that are common failures.
If the original coills fail it's usually just the HT leads themselves that cause problems.
7
« on: October 03, 2026, 08:10:58 PM »
I don't know how long you have left the ignition on for, I'm not 100% certain but it's very unlikely that both coils would be cooked, only the one where the points were closed possibly.
In the past I've left the ignition on overnight (on a car), the battery was flat, the coil body was hot, when it all cooled down it was OK again.
8
« on: October 03, 2026, 04:05:42 PM »
You should find these helpful, one was composed by a member here, the second I found on the www.
9
« on: October 03, 2026, 03:54:32 PM »
A few weeks ago I disassembled the front end on my K5 for a clean and refurb. As wiring is my achilies heel I took a lot of photographs of the birds nest in the headlight bucket as I knew I'd come unstuck once the time came to plug in the wires I had no reference points , since my phone decided to not automatically back up my photos I'm now in a pickle as I have no reference for the wiring.
Some wires are colour coded and easy to work out but there are others that I'm having problems with
You are never too old to learn how to sort out the wiring in a motor Cycle headlamp. How hard can it be? I was in your situation back in 2020 when I did my first project at the age of 72. If you can wire a three pin plug you can certainly sort out the Birds nest. I found that if you take your time, be methodical it's not as difficult as it looks. One problem can be identifying the colour of a wire that has faded with age. Worth cleaning the ends with solvent like Meths, pair back the insulating tape on the loom so you can identify the original colours. When you connect the obvious wires where the colours match and the connectors are male to female you will quickly reduce the unknown wires to a manageable few. Often there are the odd wires from a loom that are 'spare' as they use the same basic loom for different markets. Also there is a general chart of Honda wiring colours and what they are used for. Unfortunately my Laptop suffered a major failure last week and I ended up with being unable to access my files due to not knowing the Bitlocker code. I've lost about 3 months of files as I had been lax with backing up on a regular basis. I will hunt down the list I have of Honda wiring colours and post it as soon as I can.
10
« on: October 03, 2026, 12:37:16 PM »
Front brakes now fitted together with newly painted front fender, brakes bled with decent lever.
All electrics connected, everything works, light switches etc.
Can't check charging as no carbs or silencer fitted as yet.
Currently polishing the left side engine cover, I thought it was ready for buffing, a couple of minutes using coarse soap says otherwise. Just spent 40 minutes using green (80 grit) plastic wheels on the poor areas. Quite pitted on the front facing edges and sides I'd forgotten how much work is needed on polishing.
11
« on: October 02, 2026, 05:59:53 PM »
Presumably the Ladybird has started to go into it's winter dormant stage.
When it wakes it will either find it's way out or perish. The remains will fall to bits, unlikely to damage anything.
12
« on: October 02, 2026, 08:40:18 AM »
I suspect the bulb holder is the easy way in, especially if the boot has deteriorated.
13
« on: October 01, 2026, 05:08:51 PM »
i've seen some on the www, interesting to read your first hand experience.
Looks good value for money, i'd be tempted to buy one for my 400/4 as its cheaper than having my existing tank painted, not listed on the ebay shop.
14
« on: October 01, 2026, 09:22:04 AM »
Have you trapped the wire when fitting the engine side casing, easily done.
I had a similar issue, the wire was squashed and put the light on when the engine warmed up.
15
« on: September 30, 2026, 06:02:49 PM »
Ensuring the needle is in the correct position is pretty much a basic essential as is checking you have the correct needles, with the circlips all in the same position.
Assuming you are using the right size JIS screwdriver those screws should come out, as long as you have the strength to push into the screw head it should turn after soaking them in releasing/penetrating oil.
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