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Today I went in and ordered new tyres and chain and sprockets for my CB400. All are dangerously worn, but have been beneath other things on the list because they actually worked, albeit not entirely safely. Maybe the MOT needing to be renewed changed things a little, I also booked that. Seems the bloke suggested replacing my tyres with new ones of what I've already got, which are Battleax BT45s (I think). Now to clean the bike thoroughly and fix the sticky rear brake lever, or that will fail the MOT for me. At least I've got all the bulbs working.
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Apr 17, 2009 16:38
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:11 |
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Got new bars. Very surprised that they arrived less than a day after I ordered them. Not quite the same as my old ones, but here's hoping that the brake lines are long enough. Seems the previous owner installed braided brake lines, but cut the lines rather short. They're at full stretch when the forks are uncompressed. No wheelies for me then.
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May 2, 2009 12:55
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Got it back from the garage. Finally passed the MOT, albeit needing some work done beforehand. New rear shocks and front seals, new bars and sorted indicators and rear brake pedal. £313 this time. The new shocks and tyres make the bike feel like a different animal. The new bars are also somewhat to blame. They're a lot wider and straighter than the old ones, which are almost impossible to find. Makes turning the bike easier, but it's still wierd. Wish I didn't have to replace them, but it turns out bent bars will fail you on the MOT. The front seals are really annoying, the PO said they'd put it into the garage for the seals to be done just before I bought it. PO is a friend, or at least I'm a friend of the PO's girlfriend, so I don't know how much they knew, or suspected, but ARGH! £670 leaves a nasty dent in the wallet, but I guess the tyres and sprocket and chain needed doing anyway.
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May 9, 2009 09:44
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I added another bike to my insurance. So now I own two 1993 CB400 Superfours. I feel somewhat Nero-like. 3 bikes in all. Actually, it's going to be my friend's bike, but it cost me 3 quid to insure it (plus the admin charge of 25 pounds), and he was looking at a few hundred, just to get it home. He's not passed his test yet, so it's tough to insure him on it, and there's very few places that would insure me on it without me owning it and him not being on the insurance. So it's cheaper and easier for me to 'buy' it, register it and insure it for the next few months, and then transfer it to him once he's passed.
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May 15, 2009 14:05
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I gave it a puncture!!! Yay Seriously, I put about 1000km on the bike this weekend, visiting friends and getting to my graduation. Then, dropping off the motorway, something at the rear end felt odd, but I was looking all over whilst in motion and couldnae see anything wrong. Really didn't want to stop, just wanted to get home and get some food, so I trekked home at about 20mph.
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Jun 30, 2009 22:38
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I removed an axle for the first time. Had to take the wheel into the shop for them to patch it. Wasn't as bad as I thought, though my brake calipers are a lil' rusted and were somewhat of a pain to get back on. Required judicious use of a rubber mallet. At least my bike is fixed. I've realised I'm really not a nice person to be around when there's a problem with my bikes. Far far too grumpy.
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Jul 3, 2009 08:29
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Phy posted:"Washed" it. Hey, I washed mine as well. I rode it from the Midlands to Cornwall, via Wiltshire and then ignored it for a week (I am a passionate biker to the extreme, but dammit, it's just easier to go to the beach in a car). She seriously got loads of washing with the rain we had this past week. Then I rode her the 500km back again, in the process buying a tank of petrol at 122.9p a litre. For those of yous unused to our funny prices, it's normally somewhere between 97.9p and 105.9p (I've been on busy A-roads lately, so the price is somewhat steeper). Two things I've learnt, a 400cc engine will sip fuel, as long as I'm not blasting motorway miles at 80mph, and Texaco low-sulphur unleaded makes the bike run like a dream. It may just be something else, but, my god, she was flying back.
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Jul 13, 2009 20:42
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I reconnected the sodding vacuum tube that runs from the petcock to the engine case. Never before have I been so drat proud of our troubleshooting. I think it was because there was no drama, nothing broke, the bike was in a better situation at the end of the day than it was at the beginning and I actually knew what I was doing. Turns out the crankcase end had vulcanised and cracked, it felt exactly like a coke bottle lid. So we trimmed a quarter inch off the end, and jammed the now rubbery tube onto it's mounting. Viola, bike runs again. Now to fix that drat charging system.
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Aug 27, 2009 20:54
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Replaced the front master brake cylinder on my friend's bike with one that has the mirror mounting. Thus we now have a mirror on the right hand side, which makes motorway driving a hell of a lot easier. Also done a hell of a lot of riding in the past week. My buddy only passed on friday, and already we've used 4 tanks of fuel. He's a little bit of a hooligan, particularly when it comes to overtaking. He loves the power and the nimbleness. Then we get to some corners and I lose him, particularly at night. My comfortable is way too fast for him. He doesn't mind, he just drops back quite a ways and uses full beam to see. I do tend to wait for him when it comes to turning off.
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Sep 27, 2009 12:53
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Slim Pickens posted:The foot clutch is part of it. It's hard to be as precise with your foot, so you hit a bump and you accidentally dump the clutch. It's all the way out at 5 mph, so it doesn't take too much slipping, but it's still pretty ridiculous compared to more powerful bikes, of course. Other than that, shifting a motorcycle with your hand is one of the coolest feelings in the world, as impractical as it may be. I went to a motorbike rememberence ride on saturday, and the guy who rode in behind me was on a 1941 Indian with hand operated tank shifter and suicide clutch. Definitely impressed with his skill at maneuvering the bike in the slow traffic as we exited the park. Did feel somewhat sorry for him when we hit the dual carrigeway and he was bombling along at 40mph. On the other hand, 6000 motorbike engines is a brilliant brilliant noise.
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Oct 11, 2009 19:27
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My friend took his bike into the garage to get new tyres put on. His old front one was some crappy chinese one with a really old tread pattern. Still had life in it, but it would never get warm, and after 'it slipped' on a roundabout, he's been really wary of it over the past week. I reckon it's all mental, but since 99% of bike riding is in your head, and the tyres need replacing anyway, I let him go ahead and get them done, hopefully he'll regain his confidence again. The rear was a 2 or 3 year old BT45 that actually shows signs of cracking, so both were done. I got a text at work saying that the garage had told him he needed new chain, sprocket and fork seals. That sounded familiar, seeing as my bike failed the MOT for those not 6 months ago. £300 for the garage to do it, but my friend says the internet says it can be done by us for under £200. I need to get him an account here. My bike's really not having enough drama.
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Oct 15, 2009 10:26
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Needed to redo the fork seals on my friend's bike. Entirely jury-rigged a setup to get the bike up off it's front wheel. Then removed the forks, and stripped them down completely. Cleaned everything off, added new seals, refilled with fresh oil and mounted back on the bike. First fork took a few hours to strip and rebuild, 2nd took about 20 mins. Tomorrow evening sees the turn of the chain and sprockets to be sorted. Now we'll just need to find out why the front brake pads are rubbing.
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Oct 18, 2009 23:28
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Removed the front wheel and forks on sunday, so we decided to attack the back on monday. Needed to replace the chain and sprockets. Broke the chain riveter removing the old chain, so attacked it with the trusty angle grinder and awesome metal cutting disc. Then had the moment of complete freakout when we weren't sure if we'd riveted the connecting link together properly. (We only broke the stick off the riveter, it still rivets the stuff together). Very glad I remembered to crack the front sprocket before jacking the bike up. No paddock stands, so we've had some really . . . interesting jack up methods, involving axle stands and floor jacks. We have given up trying to jack down properly. It's easier to lift the bike off with muscle power. Much easier than working on a car. *edit* bollocks, bollocks, bollocks. Bloody bike broke down. Zero power. Nada. Fortunately it's not my bike so I wasnae riding it, I just got the phone call to go help. So we pushed the bike a mile home in the drizzling rain. Got the bike back into the lit garage and checked the battery connections. Found that the battery had boiled. gently caress. We've replaced the battery once just after the bike was bought. Then bought another one when we replaced the rectifier. But that 2nd battery lasted a lot longer than the first, and it was stressed a lot more. So I reckon there was a problem with the rectifier, but there's another problem as well. Bloody Nora, just after we'd done all that work on the chain, sprockets, tyres, fork seals, brakes and handlebars. Now for more troubleshooting. Orange Someone fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Oct 20, 2009 |
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Oct 20, 2009 12:33
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I love my local garage shop. There's one guy that does all the front desk stuff, he's really switched on and knows almost everything about our bikes (1993 CB400 Superfours, not really common). And the guys in the back seem to know their stuff. But there's this other guy on the desk who seems completely useless. Main gripe is that they rarely pull their finger out, unless there's a really good reason (they got my XR125 up and running within the week when I explained I had to ride it to Nottingham on the weekend). Called them yesterday to see how my forks are coming; they're in for the seals to be replaced. I've already done it once, this will be the 3rd time in 18 months, so I got them to do it to make drat sure it's done properly. I'd bought the seals and oil before I couldnae get the old seals out. Anyway, the useless bloke on the desk said that they were waiting for a shipment for the seals. Cue puzzled sounds from yours truly. Gotta call them again, hope I get the proper bloke. I hope it'll be fixed soon. I was fine when I hadnae ridden for a while, but having my other bike fixed and rideable for 2 days before I passed it on to little sis has given me the itch again. Think I'm getting cabin fever, it's my only means of transport.
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Jun 3, 2010 11:39
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I reclaimed my front axle from the garage and tried to install it. Found my friend had borrowed the copper slip and from the way the back axle was seized on last time, there's no way I'm installing it without. Instead I filled her up with oil after giving up getting the filter off as a bad job and installed new indicators on the front. Then tried replacing the dodgy left indicator on the back with the old working one from the front. In the time between removing it from the front and and installing it on the back, it doesn't work. I know the relays and circuiting works because connecting up the rear right indicator to the left hand circuit works. Argh, new indicators all round before the MOT then. I hate not being able to do stuff, but somethings are easier to just get done by the friendly garage. List is up to oil filter replacement, shift linkage removal and sprocket cover installation. Then to see what it fails the MOT on.
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Jul 6, 2010 21:25
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Watched smoke pour off it. Seriously though, hoo fricking rah. Finally wiggled the indicator back into working, got the front wheel back on, got the brakes wiggled out and installed. Job's good so book the MOT. Roll it outside, turn it on, pish, oil everywhere. I'd tried removing the oil filter earlier in the build but the drat thing would not come off. Seems I'd punctured it with the chain oil filter tool, and it burst when the engine started. Very promptly turned the engine off, cleaned up the driveway, the bike, the car next to the bike, my friend's little brother, my friend's mum, next door's car and the wall beyond. Then the drat oil filter decides that it does want to come off, so it's back on with the new one, topped up with oil, job's a good'un. Now I've got to wash the oil off the header pipes, that was the aforementioned smoke.
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Jul 20, 2010 12:18
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AncientTV posted:Eh, just ride it til it burns off. You can pretend you're riding a two-stroke It did smell a bit, but it's all off now. Annoying thing is that it was brand new oil. Mainly I didn't want to turn up at the garge with it looking like that. Oh well. On the other hand, it failed the MOT. 3 minor problems (grip not secured properly, traveller for the rear brake is sticking and the headlight is aiming at the sky) but there's a bigger problem. Some sort of sticking/resonance problem with the front brakes.
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Jul 20, 2010 19:00
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Orange Someone posted:. . . . Turns out, I'm gonna need new calipers and pads on both sides of the front. They're not sure about the disk. Bollocks
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Jul 23, 2010 16:49
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Thurs: drove 300 miles back to the bikes Friday: dragged the bikes out of the shed/garage. Meant to take the 4 of us out, but the clutch cable on my CB400 snapped. Rang round everywhere, but it seems that the clutch cable for 20 year old grey imports are not common. So instead the other CB400, the DRZ and the ER-5 all went out together. My sister had to pillion  Saturday: Fixed my clutch cable with a universal cable kit. Went riding with my best friend. It's scary how much we've ridden together; I know what he's going to do before he does it. Sunday: I taught my brother-in-law that you can ride in the rain. Seriously, so much fun, 8am and nearly empty roads. Aimed for smooth and a nice line rather than just straight hooning the throttle.
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Dec 11, 2012 19:40
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Yesterday: Took my sister's sidestand switch off, discovered it was jammed closed and even when pulled out with pliers, would no longer work so ordered a new one. Booked the DRZ-SM in for an MOT. Today: Checked the SM over before MOT. Found the horn wasnae working. Strip it down, wonder at the cat's nest of wires behind the headlight (-E converted to road legal -SM by PO). Seems I'd broken one of the tabs off the horn when crashing. Swore at bike and lack of any solder or (quick-drying glue) for 45 minutes. Tried gluing left grip back on, but neither hair spray nor quick-tack had any effect. Threw it all back together, rode to MOT and have hilarious amounts of fun being on a bike for the first time in 2 months. Horn decides to work when testing (dodgiest connection ever). So I've got an MOT, just need new back tyre and front brake pads soonish. Come home to the strains of Kenny Loggins and Top Gun (trying out new intercom bluetooth connection). Then, manage to revive the ER-5's sidestand switch with copious application of pliers and penetrating spray. So two bikes back on the road. Just need to fiddle with the universal clutch cable on the CB400 and the stable will be fully running again.
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Feb 27, 2013 20:55
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Argh. Procrastinating because I have to do some car shopping. Instead, I decide to sort my CB400's brakes. Quick bleed/replacement with fresh fluid (not sure when it was done last) and then clean the rotor buttons (never done it). Start removing the screws from the brake fluid reservoir. One screw comes out easier, the other starts to slip. Oops, let's attack that with some penetrant and I'll clean the rotors whilst it sorts itself out. Hmm, smallish bolt is all I can find. That'll do. They're only small buttons. 3rd button, something's wrong. Let's pull it out. Dammit, washer has forced itself into the button, the bolt end needsn a flathead screwdriver on it and the nut is rounding off. Large set of pliers and rachet later, at least the bolt is off. gently caress it, need some larger bolts, guess I'll have to go and get some. Let's at least do the fluid whilst I have the bike out. Cue the last reservoir screw completely burring out. Dammit. So, sum total of my afternoon. Brake reservoir now not coming open, fluid not sorted and 2x buttons half sorted. This isn't my day. And I was really hoping to have my brake shuddering fixed. Guess I need to drill out the screw in the reservoir, but I don't have a screw to replace it, and I'm not attacking it until I can have it secured afterwards.
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Aug 31, 2013 14:44
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echomadman posted:Any local bike mechanic should have plenty of old brake bits lying around to cannibalise for a screw, also have a look on your drz to see if they match. its not going anywhere for a while anyway. Thanks. Both good plans. Didn't get to my local mechanic as I got distracted test driving a brand new GTI. What I did do was swing by a Halfords and purchase myself an impact driver. Should have got one years ago. DRZ might match, but it's 60-odd miles away. Got it recovered to my best mate's house because he actually had someone there to recover it and he's got a proper garage we can do the work in. New engine on it's way, should be installed in a couple of weeks. I clicked that link thinking I was being told off. I type as if I'm speaking and I'd actually say whilst in person. Didn't realise it was as archaic as all that. *edit* BOOM! Impact Driver successful! After a bit of fiddling to find out how the drat thing worked, it cracked the seal. I'll have to leave it until next weekend now, off for a week of work then back for MOT saturday. Orange Someone fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Aug 31, 2013 |
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Aug 31, 2013 18:58
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:11 |
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Took one of them to the MOT (yearly inspection). For the first time ever on one of my bikes, she passed first time. Just need new brake pads, front tyre and a new chain at some point in the near future. I'll get that sorted while installing the DRZ's engine in 2 weeks. (Actually I lie. Last time I took the DRZ in, she passed first time, but the horn connector was barely touching even after wrapping 3 yards of duck tape around it.)
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Sep 8, 2013 12:51
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