Topic: 1975 Honda CB400 Four Supersport Cafe South Africa - #SuperTramp

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

You should post it here, so others can avoid his shoddy practices.  The fact that this guy owns a shop tells me he should know better.  What a prick.

[Leonardovans]

Some good news today.

The seller said he would refund half the price of the new frame, because he really did not know the frame was bent.

BUT, he will only pay the end of the month. Here's hoping.

I have paid Kevin and I will be sending my courier over to him soon. 

[straat-toe]

Hi Leonard.
Fellow Cape Town 400 owner. Bad luck with the frame man. Good luck with Kevin. I've purchased a few parts from him and he is a great guy.

Good luck with the build! 

[Leonardovans]

Hi Leonard.
Fellow Cape Town 400 owner. Bad luck with the frame man. Good luck with Kevin. I've purchased a few parts from him and he is a great guy.

Good luck with the build!

Thanks. It's all good now. Lucky to have found kevin, otherwise I would have been in trouble.

I still need to find a stock seat though if you have any connections.

We should get together, I am part of the Cape Town Cafe Racer social club. (on facebook)

I currently ride my CX500 Cafe till the CB is finished.

Also, send me a link to your build thread.

cheers
Leo

[straat-toe]

Hi. Yeah sure.

All my bikes are off the road at the moment. Hopefully my 550 will be on the road by the end of Sept.
 
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,140035.0.html

And my 400 was a basket case that will take another year at least ha.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,117861.msg1331169.html#msg1331169

Nice CX's

[01Thomas]

I don't know any shop in Durban that builds cafe racers. I suppose I operate on the fringes of the biker establishment.
The saying "Guzzi riders are the ragged fringe of motorcycling" really applies to me.    

Regarding you missing seat, why not try Ryans Bike Spares in Parow?

[straat-toe]

If you want to Re-Hard Chrome those forks Eagle industrial Grinding and chroming did a great job on my forks(they much worse than yours) for a decent price. There's just a bit of a wait involved.

[Leonardovans]

I have used them before for my CX500 forks, they do a really nice job.

They also re-chromed my brake caliper pistons.

I use resin coatings in Parow for my powder coating. I found the place in Paardeneiland to be a tad expensive.

Have you had any fuel tank repairs and re-lining done?

[01Thomas]

I have now relined two tanks. I use a white 2-part epoxy which is often used by shipbuilders in Durban. I managed to do it without stuffing up the paintjob. And of course the rust must be removed and neutralised before you even think about coating.
I'll see if I have any empty cans of the epoxy left and you can try and get in CT.

There is also a radiator shop (Rad-2-Go) in Pinetown which lines tanks. It leaves a more brownish colour and involves dipping the whole tank in a bath so if your paintjob is precious to you this is not the route to follow.

[straat-toe]

OK. Good to know.

I'm limited by where I can go in my Lunch hour usually. So I end up in Paarden Island and Maitland most of the time. All those parts to get coated only cost me R680. I thought that was a deal. If my plans work out I wont be tied down by Lunch hours any more so I might have more freedom to roam then.
 I will need to fix and reline my 400's tank. Havn't looked very hard for someone yet only seen the guys advertising on Gumtree. I also need to fix the pin holes in the tank seam.

I'm not to worried about the paint job (there's no paint job) So Thomas's suggestion might work for me.

[Leonardovans]

I only asked because i use a place in Montague gardens.

They cut open the bottom, remove dents, weld holes, bead blast inside and out, weld shut, epoxy coat inside and paint black underneath all for R1250. And the tanks come out very nice. i've had three CX tanks done there.

Renew tank relining. No.9, 3rd Street, Montague gardens. Opposite Silverton radiators. 0215521168.

 

OK. Good to know.

I'm limited by where I can go in my Lunch hour usually. So I end up in Paarden Island and Maitland most of the time. All those parts to get coated only cost me R680. I thought that was a deal. If my plans work out I wont be tied down by Lunch hours any more so I might have more freedom to roam then.
 I will need to fix and reline my 400's tank. Havn't looked very hard for someone yet only seen the guys advertising on Gumtree. I also need to fix the pin holes in the tank seam.

I'm not to worried about the paint job (there's no paint job) So Thomas's suggestion might work for me.

[straat-toe]

Awesome. That sounds about right for my tank fixing budget!  Thanks for the info. I'll have to focus on things I can get done locally while the Rand is in the #$%*ter. 

[Leonardovans]

LOLOL, yes me too.

Awesome. That sounds about right for my tank fixing budget!  Thanks for the info. I'll have to focus on things I can get done locally while the Rand is in the #$%*ter.

[straat-toe]

Hi Leo.

I actually found my 400 seat. I thought I tossed it because it was in such bad shape.I noticed it on top of some shelving at my in-laws garage. I will have a look at it over the weekend. I'm busy rebuilding my 550 seat with carbon-fiber after making a mold from the original rusted out pan.

If my 400's seat is in a similar condition I can always hand it over to you to make a mold and get a new/"stock" seat pan for your build.

let me know if that's something you might be interested in.

[Leonardovans]

Dude, for sure. That's awesome.

I will send you a pm with my email!

[Leonardovans]

So while I wait to get my current 400 frame repaired, I got this...

Another 1975 Cb400 Four Supersport

[01Thomas]

Looks good!

[Leonardovans]

So while still waiting for the Supertramp frame, I had to fiddle a little with Blue.

She was running a little rough and I could not understand why.

I balanced the carbs with my Morgan as good as I could, but still. It was almost as if she was running on 3 cylinders.

So I set the valves and did the timing, but still she was running rough. Coils were also good.

So I thought, it had to be carb related. removed the carbs and replaced with the other set from Supertramp. STILL running rough.

I started taking the plugs out again to make sure the valves and timing was correct. Then for some reason I decided to take my flashlight and look down the plug holes.

This is what I found.





The PO had been riding around like this for who knows how long!!

I didn't have time to get everything back together, so I will be tuning her again tonight.

Hold thumbs.

[calj737]

If I found something like that in my plug holes, I'd be removing the head before starting the bike again. Lord knows what damage has occurred (bent valve, cracked piston, damaged cylinder wall, cracked ring) that little thing caused. Gives a literal example of being "screwed" don't you think? 

[Leonardovans]

It actually wasn't inside the hole, it lay on top, but I do agree.

Thing is,  I need to get it running "OK" so I can get it through roadworthy.

Then the stripping begins. I need to replace the gaskets anyway as she has some oil leakage.

 

[calj737]

It was laying outside the motor, but at the mouth of the plug hole? If so, then why do you attribute that to rough running? I'm confused where/how it was involved.

[Leonardovans]

The plug did not screw in completely. The little screw was in the way.

[calj737]

Ah. Clear as day now, thanks. You might very carefully, re-tap that plug hole. And use some antisieze lubricant on your plugs when you do twist them in. If there was an obstruction, no telling about the manner or condition of the previous installation...

[Leonardovans]

Thanks for the headsup.

I am having trouble with the timing too. I still can't figure out how to set it with a test light and which marks to use etc.

[calj737]

most people recommend setting the Full Advance while the motor is running, then letting the idle be where it is as a result. F mark is full, T is idle. Static timing is a bit trickier and depends upon your method.