Honda-SOHC

I'm still working my way through my junk box and picked up the frame that the 4 carbs attach to. I have everything else to build another set of carbs.  It's seized solid so kind of expecting to make up some new bronze or brass bushes anyway.

I parked this many years ago due to the metal rod that actuated the slides being quite sad scabby and because I didn't have the  machining capability machine the two keyways to produce a new one.

What do other people do, I can live with a few scabs where they are hidden under the tank but it's the two ends that have the inverted cone that is difficult to clean up not knowing what material it is. 
 

It's not zinc plate but could be nickel or chrome plated that has been ground to size.


Any ideas or suggestions.

Regards Dave

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 I have uncovered a NOS cylinder head that I had stowed in the loft 30 years ago.  Originally bought it  because mine had a few iffy threads for the rocker cover bolts.

What I'm not sure on is the valve seats. Valve guides are present.  Looking at the parts list it does show valve guides as being  included in the part number and available separately.  If it is a factory fresh head would the valve guides have been reamed to size an the seats ground concentric with the guide.

Taking a used ex valve it goes in quite easily, just the lightest of a push and gravity does the rest.

The reason for it being cheap at the time is the exhaust port stud holes are untapped.  M5 drill bit drops in M5.5 is a tight fit and only goes in a few mm.  So probably right for tapping.

Regards
Dave

What was the original finish on the 400F breather cover, painted same as rocket cover or bare metal like the sump.

Regards
Dave

Starting to work through a laundry list of minor maintenance tasks,one of them being oil weeping from one or more tappet covers. O rings are probably original as I have not changed them in the 45 odd years I've had the bike.

Does anyone know the correct size, parts book only mentions 30.8 .

Nearest I can find is 31 ID x 3 cross section.

Looking at some of the ridiculous prices some folk are charging for genuine ones, it might be cheaper all round to order new covers from China that come with o ring.


Regards
Dave

I was ordering a few bits from AliExpress last week and came across some pan head screws in stainless that are made to GB823 standard.  Not one that I am familiar with, so just to make the order big enough to avoid postage cost, I ordered a few in M5 and M4.

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They have a smaller head compared to the DIN standard screws but the head is slightly thinner.  Probably risky under high preload settings but perfectly adequate for holding carbs and other non stressed bits together.  Finish is reasonable too so not much buffing needed to shine them up a bit.  Head diameter is the same as jis in the M5 size.

Regards
Dave

I have been thinking about adding a volt meter for a while now and have sorted out the wiring and done a temporary lash up just to see how useful it will be.

There is lots of stuff out there, either too big or don't match the styling of the other instruments or just plain tacky. The off the shelf volt meter I tried had an orange display and is not easy to see in bright sunlight. Based on previous experience blue should be better.

Here was the temporary setup.
https://www.sohc.co.uk/index.php/topic,32075.msg311762.html#msg311762

I have had a play around with a 0.28 inch led volt meter which was the smallest I could find, and been trying out different contrast filters and housing.  Currently  prototyping with black plastic before moving on to aluminium. The objective here is to find the smallest aperture that doesn't obscure the display.  This one is 23mm.


Bare module
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Prototype housing
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The contrast filter is a disc cut from some 3mm grey tinted perspex. I do have some blue tint to try as well.

This will be a slow burning project as and when time permits.

Regards
Dave

It was 1999 and the event was held at the rugby club at Kettering. 

It was only about 40 minutes away so as a member, I decided to go along and see how these events unfolded and hopefully get to rummage through the autojumble and drool over some nice bikes.

After arriving I found the parking area and proceeded to fumble around getting a steel plate out of the tool tray and under the side stand and at the same time having a quick scan around to work out where my next fix of coffee was going to come from.  During this performance,  Mr. Clipboard came up to me and told me it's a nice bike and I should park it over there, in a slightly confused state I nervously pointed to the concours area and he nodded.  Having never been to one of these bunfights before and Mr. Clipboard looking official, I did as instructed.

After repositioning to said area and ended up next to a very shiny Honda twin from the  60s, I started to go through the soft ground parking procedure again and was chatting to a very elderly gent who has just ridden up from the other side of London.  In no time at all, Mr Clipboard came over and thrust a piece of paper in my hand and said fill this in and leave it on the bike.

No sooner had I filled in the form, Mr. Helpful came along and advised me to clean all of the squashed flies off the headlight and the backs of the mirrors and did I want to borrow a cloth and something to soften them up a bit. I had just had 40 minutes of fun on the back roads going from  Oundle-Corby-Kettering so there were a few. By this time I had another bike parked on my other side, we'll call this guy Mr. Rescue.  Having heard most of this while removing his riding gear, he swung around and said no mate you want to leave them leave them on, the judges like to see bikes that actually get ridden.  This stopped Mr. Helpful dead in his tracks and sensing an opportunity for a wind up Mr. Rescue gave me the wink and explained to Mr. Helpful that these probably aren't real flies and you could buy them as wet slide transfers, just soak them in water and flick a few here and there to make the bike look like it has been ridden here because that catches the judges attention. I still don't know to this day if Mr. Helpful managed to find some squashed fly transfers in his local model shop.

What have I stumbled into, coffee and personal time desperately needed!

By comparison I had a pleasant afternoon chatting with like minded people and a good rummage through the autojumble.  Thoughts turned to food and the boss had told me what time dinner would be on the table.  I had a 3 hour drive down to Eastbourne that evening for an 04:00 sailing the following day on the survey ship I was working on.  I need to be leaving soon, do I steel my bike back from the arena? 

Too late, it was time for the awards ceremony and most folk sat or sprawled out on the grass around the officials tent and things proceeded.  Then when it came to the award for the best 70's in show my name was called 3 or four times, I wasn't paying attention, thoughts were on tea, time for a nap and a long drive and how much fuel is in the rental car delivered previous day.

At the end of all of that people started to disperse and I tried.  This time I was collared by the guy that does articles and photography for Classic and Motorcycle Mechanics, this involved finding a space with an uncluttered background and he snapped away.  He said it was for their restorers reference page, and I have no idea if the pics ever got used or not.

I still have the sticker among my hoard of expired discs and the mini mag lite which was the prize.

Regards
Dave