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Messages - K2-K6
1
« on: March 12, 2026, 04:10:36 PM »
Our family experience recently, kids getting cars etc over last three years, has been without complaint or error.
Most recently, my CBX 750 declared Historic last week has completed without problem.
Other stories of licence and vehicle floating around in forum generally, makes me take contingency measures.
2
« on: March 12, 2026, 12:01:34 PM »
Thanks for the advice everyone !
Woven glassfibre matting and epoxy resin it is then.
I'm only doing it to preserve the original paint on the panels, they'll last as long as they last, and when they finally fall apart, they'll be binned.
I've already got a set of the LPM panels, and very well made they are, although polypropylene is supposed to be a pig to get paint to stick to.
They still sell on ebay
Its this type of GF im referring too for clarification https://www.fslplymouth.co.uk/glass-fibre-fabrics/200g-twill-weave-fibreglass-cloth/#price+per+square+metre:5+Square+Metres it "drapes" really well without much effort, adds very high strength when cured, but easy to work with. It makes for pretty light structure, especially when single layer. Not too much resin but well rolled out through structure to prevent voids, makes quite a neat job of it.
3
« on: March 12, 2026, 09:35:52 AM »
I photograph things sent to dvla as record, at least you've got evidence if it's disputed. Image of each page, all four and if really concerned about detail, place the front on that days newspaper with title and date clearly visible and legible to confirm the image is current and tallys with the date and time on digital camera .... assuming you've got that set correctly 
4
« on: March 11, 2026, 09:08:43 AM »
Very thin woven cloth (glass fibre weave) are available for this repair type application. Unsure what the original plastic is though. You can carefully test a tiny patch on rear with different solvent to see what makes it sticky to help research. I've repaired some things like this with cotton scrim (well wash T-shirt) and epoxy resin to adhere it. Dont get caught by the owner of T-shirt though! Cut a patch only out of the back so they don't notice when wearing  Repaired a car front valance recently with proprietary resin and their supplied patch. Surprisingly secure and workable (the black apron down underneath the bumper) against my initially cautious expectation.
5
« on: February 26, 2026, 03:11:21 PM »
Engine oil in gearboxes is not the ideal solution, they perform much better on EP gear oils, that's why the older British bikes with seperate boxes had a superior gearchange, and it's not just us either, my mates in the 70's ran original type BMC Mini's and suffered from the same effects, cold engine:- nice smooth gearchange, but crap when hot.
Regarding the clutch, 1st place to look is the cable, they are normally routed very close to the hot engine and suffer, I normally replace the cable about every 18 months/2 years, plus check if the handlebar lever is free in its mounting.
I question this view though, as it often comes up on here and out on the great interweb of facts. These gearbox are nothing like a mini transmission and don't in any way follow any "transposed" logic of operational competence that could help. The mini is helical cut and uses synchromesh plus bulk rings which rely on friction to facilitate gear changing, that doesn't exit in straight cut dog gearboxes used in virtually all motorcycle. There's very different causes of bulking change characteristics in car gearbox design that have no bearing in these Honda transmission. I can give more detail if needed, that from speaking extensively to a Leyland transmission development engineer that worked on them. In short, there's no relevance here.
6
« on: February 26, 2026, 03:01:27 PM »
I have no technical qualifications on this subject, only my memories. When I ran a 750 K2 in the 70's I used 20/50 oil. All the comics were singing the praises of the wonderful Duckhams "Q" multigrade, so, in it went. My personal experience was "What a load of crap". unless the bike was used on extremely long journeys, every time I took the dipstick out of the tank, the top of it was covered in white frothy sludge. I finished up using Shell Super Multigrade 20/50, and never had any problems at all regardless of type of usage. It also helped that my father worked in a Shell garage, say no more!!! I carried on using this oil even when I got the 400, but then it changed to becoming Super Helix, also suitable for diesels. I then started using Motul 10/40 mineral oil, and have done ever since. It's interesting to try to remember that there was life before the multigrade revolution, just over a year ago I did a cosmetic restoration on a 1966 CL160, and cast into the upper crankcase were the oil specifications, winter - straight 30, and summer - straight 40, and still they lasted!!
That's interesting, as I had exactly the same experience years ago. My dad loved that oil (BMC A&B series motors mostly) and suggested I tried it in my 750 K2, which produced the same result ! Like soap suds in a diswashing session and always wondered if it was something peculiar, or that I had done. Second point, I was "reading" crankcases over at DS open day, with some of the little twins stating "20 viscosity winter and 30 for summer use" clearly in the same vane. Honda do publish data/information panels showing how different viscosity interact with ambient temperature for their engines. Broadly speaking, these air-cooled engine from that era are true 30 viscosity hot/summer weather (typical UK) the 40 viscosity figure will allow for fuel contamination in service life, along with the oil shearing down below that 40 rating during its use, but still maintain the, hopefully, minimum requirement of target 30 viscosity.
7
« on: February 23, 2026, 09:47:33 PM »
That paint colour really comes alive in the sunshine, doesn't it.
Even now they don't really look dated. Amazing design and quality from that era, very significant achievement from Honda.
8
« on: February 23, 2026, 11:13:12 AM »
My view is that of not to focus on the pad material as a utopian answer, but in making the brake work correctly you'll have more choice of pad that may be more suitable for the intended use.
They, all these era fours, have reasonably decent performance ..... if they are working correctly. Think they were all less than 30ft from 30mph when tested in contemporary road test etc.
Virtually all disc system accumulate the same fault, that with how the seals at both ends are maintained and assembled. The earlier posts in this thread give good overview of what to clean etc.
No illusion that they match far more modern equipment, but saying they'll never perform well is wrong in my experience.
Often the first touch and how aggressive that is will be confused with brake power, which ultimately may not be the case.
A correctly maintained system should be able to use various pads with different focus, but not to correct a fundamental shortcoming, more as typical use scenario solution.
The more aggressive friction materials may take greater toll of the disc surface as replacement rotors in more current systems are normal. Less so with these original fit period disc rotors.
9
« on: February 22, 2026, 09:25:47 PM »
They have a interactive element on their site https://www.brembo.com/en/solutions/for-your-bike/sa-pads which if you scroll down, then you can select different material in comparison on a "distribution" graph to illustrate the properties within each pad.
10
« on: February 22, 2026, 09:20:45 PM »
They have a whole range to choose from, that's if you want to move into particular direction, some of which may cause increased disc/rotor wear. The CC offer reasonably rounded performance.
Brembo Motorcycle Pad Materials
Sintered (SA/LA/SP/SC/RC): The standard for modern bikes, these use metallic powders, lubricants, and abrasives fused under heat/pressure.
SA (Sintered Road): Ideal for front street application, providing good initial bite and stability.
LA (Sintered Road - Front): High friction, stable, and offers ~30% longer life than SA.
SP (Sintered Road - Rear): Excellent durability for rear applications.
SC (Sintered Compound): Track-focused, offering higher, more consistent friction for hot, aggressive riding.
RC (Racing): For high-temperature, track-only use, offering maximum friction.
Carbon Ceramic (CC): Designed for comfort and durability, featuring a blueish color, good for all-weather, everyday street riding. They produce less dust and are less abrasive than sintered pads.
Brembo have been quite active recently, also moving into cycle brakes MTB etc.
11
« on: February 22, 2026, 06:29:12 PM »
The ceramic pad type seems quite stable and works well on the applications I've tried. I've not used them on a 750 disc though, so general observations from me.
It appears there's some marketing "flexibility" in the naming though as "Carbon Ceramic" is very obviously already used for much more expensive disc materials and associated pads.
My experience is that they have a gentle initial bite, then more accumulated friction effect (their publicity of friction co-efficient seems to agree with this in the graph ) as they are both clamped and getting hotter. I like that linearity and consistency more than pads that give first touch superficial high bite feel.
They do give smooth surface and low wear characteristics to the pad that's very consistent over life.
12
« on: February 22, 2026, 05:06:01 PM »
Good that you've found the "missing " shim Dave, that would be quite a chunky piece to have floating around unconstrained. Those little camera / scope are great for inspection of bore etc, we used one on my son's car to very good effect. With very good view of cylinder walls etc from side facing lens, all ok and with aluminium bore at 140,000 mls too also its a 40 valve in total, although hydraulic tappets fortunately  that's in my role as Technical consultant and general grease monkey He used the camera too on his friends car with suspected head gasket failure ..... to find two cylinders leaking around the gasket. Saves so much time by being able to look inside an engine like this.
13
« on: February 22, 2026, 07:31:55 AM »
If you're going to do the repair yourself, consider a very thorough clean, upside down on wooden pallet or similar, degreasing with stiff brushes to get into all the details around the crankcase joints etc cleaned of residual dirt/grit that accumulate over time.
You don't want to drop anything into the inverted case when you remove the lower crankcase in getting access to the components.
They're, all these era four cylinder Honda engine, not difficult to carry out this type of repair, simply diligent dismantle and reassembly procedure in getting to the part you need to replace.
With any parts you need to hand plus joint sealant and any cover gaskets etc, probably within two hours is easily achieved for the repair after engine is out and ready to work on. Certainly less complicated than often imagined.
14
« on: February 19, 2026, 09:17:43 AM »
My son bought an older car but with a good sound kit as standard when it was new (would have been expensive new!) With quite some time given over in listening to "The Pink Floyd" as a new generation picks this up. Fitted with CD autochanger, quite a few family owned, many predating his birth to be found in his stack cassettes. His mates are mystified as to lack of connectivity, but it sounds fabulous in there though.
15
« on: February 19, 2026, 09:06:22 AM »
I'm unsure there's much benefit, or at least substantial difference in feel when considering such things. Thats especially with bikes that are quite heavy in reality. A straight linear spring takes, successively, more and more weight the further you get into compression anyway. Progressive springs, unless extremely well specified, may have trouble with initial weight of bike and rider in these bikes.
Certainly don't feel from experience that its transformative on a road bike like this.
First question would be, do the current springs measure to specification ? that as a start point of considering whether to change them.
One thing to consider, before you take them apart, is the oil level that's currently in them, and if its also at correct level as this will impact their current feel in operating. With it on centre stand, take caps off fork top and "dipstick" them to see what you've got. If low, top them up to correct. You could also consider over filling by 20ml to reduce the airspace above the oil, this to help with progression as it dips into its stroke.
To basics in establishing what its like currently:- measure sag at fork stanchion with you sitting on it statically, by putting a small zip tie around the stanchion next to the seal and measuring how much its gone down in static loading. It should be about 10/20 % of travel like that. If greater to much degree, that would push you to a stronger spring rate to support static loading.
At very simple strip and clean, I'd pull the legs off stanchion, wash them out with degreasing method, clean and dry them, let ALL oil drain from damper tube etc. Refill with known level (confirmed mls volume) of Motul 5 viscosity fork oil (dedicated fork oil has better lubrication spec than alternative products) then ride it to assess what they feel like. Good oil, in good condition and at correct level, will likely make a fork set feel much better in use if coming from an uncertain current setup.
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