Roadworthy, Take One

I took it to a testing center for a first attempt on Saturday. Didn't expect it to pass, but thought I'd get a To-Do list out of it anyway. Shocker is, they only give you 14 days to correct it... I thought it was 6 weeks!

Here's the list:

• Leaking forks
• No chain guard (I removed it for cleaning)
• Hand grips loose 
• Accelerator not returning
• Hand grips too low
• Chain needs adjustment

The tester also told me I had to "put all the fairings back on, a child might come and burn their hands on these exhaust pipes" (sic). He obviously had it confused with a Gold Wing or something, but relented when I told him he's looking at the original configuration, and I'm sure the missing side panel (battery cover) won't provide much protection. I could tell he was one of those guys that really enjoyed having some authority bestowed on him... probably gets beaten up by the wife at home.

I should've waited before turning the Clubmans back around... have just created unnecessary work with the grips. They're apparently "lower than the seat" (bullshit), and my quick glue-job the night before didn't hold up. Accelerator tube is also sticking. Got some new el-cheapo grips from Wicked Cycles (along with EMGO fork boots which may be too small). Might just swap the bars back around just to get it sorted quickly while I focus on the real issue: fork rebuild. 

But that's another post... in the mean time, some riveting pictures of the battery box: 

After some sanding

CoastCote etch primer

Horn

Short-term goal: roadworthy. That meant putting everything together and making sure the basics are all in order so that I can take it for a roadworthy assessment. Don't expect it to pass first time, but at least then I'd have a list of issues to prioritise for sorting out.

Got started straight after breakfast on Saturday morning, and things were going swimmingly until I pressed the horn button and nothing happened. I thought I'd sorted it out since it worked while off the bike connected to an external battery. Some percussive maintenance and lots of swearing followed, until I traced the fault to the switch. 

Opened up the LHS controls to find it caked with a thick greasy paste. The only option was to strip it down completely and clean it out, then figure out if the switch was salvageable. This took a good 3 hours, and putting it back together was no mean feat either. Lots of little fiddly bits that like flying off into inaccessible crevices. 

No pics as I was rushing to get to the testing centre before they closed. Didn't make it. 

In any event, the switch is now clean, lubed up, the horn button has a new spring to facilitate the "flash to pass" function (flashes your headlight, I assume to let the guy in front know that you intend to pass...) and the indicator and dip switches are all a little less "crunchy" in their operation.

Oh, and I received some eBay parts: 4 Emgo el-cheapo pod filters, some fork seals, and the replacement oil filter bolt. Emgo claims to be endorsed "by the winningest team in US Endurance race history". Winningest?! That really shouldn't be a word.

Let's hope those filters aren't the 'failingest'!

  

Clubmans and Rocker Boxes

After I refitted the exhaust, there was a rather loud tick coming from the top front of the engine. I was hoping it was just the exhaust headers that weren't snug, but only got around to checking it yesterday. In the meantime, my paranoia got me to research "ticks" on the SOHC-4 forums. Got myself rather worried.

Luckily, it turns out header 3 wasn't snug enough, so no more ticking! Or rather, no more loud ticking... there are still a bit of clicking going on, but these engines aren't super quiet, so probably nothing serious. There aren't any loud knocking sounds or rumblings like I've heard in some YouTube clips.

Still, I pulled the side valve cover off to check that the rocker shafts were centered in the valve cover. The intake rocker shaft on the RHS was not. This is bad news, as it means that the rocker shaft has been rotating (instead of the lifters rotating around the stationary shaft) and it has worn away a bit of the aluminium housing. In turn, this could lead to some nasty wear on the cams, so it goes on the to-do list. Only problem is, it's not easily fixed. In fact, the only fix is to replace it with a later model year (from about '77 onward, I think) - Honda acknowledged and fixed the problem by changing the fastening mechanism on the rocker shafts.

Haven't got great pics, but you get the idea. That's the end of the shaft peeking out from the valve cover. It's noticeably higher and to the left of center.

Bit depressing, that. But, being a public holiday, I was determined not to get glum, so I tackled something cosmetic and rewarding and finally got the clubman bars fitted the right way round. Makes a huge difference to the stance and overall feel of the bike.

I'm going to order some Halcyon bar-end mirrors from the UK, since the best mother-in-law in the world is visiting family there in September, and they happen to be on sale. Hopefully I can convince her to leave a bit of space in her luggage!

I'm leaning towards round ones, but the angular ones also have a nice seventies feel:

OK, so short-term goal is to get it all road-worthy so I can transfer ownership to my name. Once that's done I will pull the valve cover and have a proper look. Gives me time to order the seal... will have to be super-nice to MiL since I see the list might just keep growing until the end of September!

Sump's full of beans

This story deserves a longer post, but for the sake of a quick update:

I pulled the sump and found a nice fine sediment at the bottom, with the only large particles being o couple of threads from the stripped drain plug hole.

Once I cleaned it, however, I noticed something more worrying:

Yup, that's a crack. Not all the way through, but a good millimeter thick, and it wasn't the only one. Enough to get me hunting for a replacement. Found one for R200 from the nice guys at Two Wheel Mecca. Managed to find a standard o-ring that fitted as a seal. Honda would've made we wait 3-4 weeks and R107, as opposed to R12 for 2 at All Seal in Maitland. Specs: 3.53mm thickness, about 220mm diameter (code 2-266/R4800).

 However, no-one seems to carry aluminium washers. I must have asked at least 5 places!

Anyways, I got a bit carried away with the polishing...

This from a part that was so dirty, I initially thought it was spray-painted black! Got it fitted, went for a nice 15min ride (hit 8000rpm a couple of times), got back and no oil leaks. Well, not from the sump, anyway :P