Topic: IDK Numero Dos - 1975 Honda CB400F

[RAFster122s]

The Tarozzi fork brace can be had cheaper cannot it?
David

[minimo]

The Tarozzi fork brace can be had cheaper cannot it?
David

Yep, via www.fastfromthepast.com


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[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The Tarozzi fork brace can be had cheaper cannot it?
David

Yep about $20 plus less shipping

[minimo]

Mitsuo Ishibashi is my hero.



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[minimo]

Trying to go slow and meticulous with the engine rebuild but I managed to get the tappet rocker arms all in disarray and the parts fiche nor manual mentions the proper orientation of the rocker arms and springs associated with them. Via YouTube I watched how an old English bloke was able to remove and keep his rocker arm assemblies all in order thusly:


Notice how on the exhaust side that the springs face each on the inside between rocker arms. On the intake side, springs are on the outside of the rockers.

And when I did this the tappets looked a bit offset like this (except on exhaust side 1 and 4 tappets looked aligned at centered in the tappet hole):

Intake 1-2


Intake 3-4


Exhaust 1-2


Exhaust 3-4


But no matter how many times I tried swapping these rocker arms around to see how they align in reference to the tappet hole, they all appeared offset and not quite centered with the hole. I noticed that 2 of the 8 rocker arms had a “30” stamped on them while the rest had “29”. I put these two “30” stamped rocker arms on the intakes of 1 and 4. According to the parts list, all 8 of these rocker arms are the same part number so I’m hoping that the placement of them will not matter in whatever case. With the cover parts all assembled, I fit it onto the header and so far it looks like the tappets line up spot on with the valve tips.


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[strynboen]

you cant move the valve steams...so if it lines up ..its perfekt..
i did not remove the parts in the top cover..just thanget the thredet adjusters/push"ers..as some vas a bit cracked..in the hard crome ends...

crack puschers...good vords to heat up FBI...

[minimo]

Thanks for that confirmation, strynboen.


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[minimo]

The Drumstick prevails...

A tool made from scrap aluminum 1/4” to remove the front and rear wheel hub bearing retainers. Watch out now



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[MoMo]

  tool you made

[Don R]

 That center stand is sweet. I have one cut and welded the tube too offset it to one side to miss a hooker 4/2 header on a K1 750. 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

the offset center stand is a trick mod.

[minimo]

Somehow this will all come back together again



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[strynboen]

please take some photoes of the horseshue..and if there is chain vear on it..think i had to split mine..and thek/ mod. the tensioner system.and have a new thain in at the same time

[minimo]

Very light chain wear here...

Otherwise, fairly good in other areas. The pivoting part moves freely also (does not bind at the wear marks)

From David Silver Spares, I received replacement parts for the cam chain, tensioner, push rod, and dampener. The stock chain guide was still in good shape so reusing that.


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[minimo]

So, this is one of those ‘while you’re in there’ situations but I suppose it’d be an opportune time to “balance” (weigh and compare and even out all of the he constituent engine parts like the the cranking rods and pistons and rings etc.
I’m feeling super lazy and I think the most that I’ll get around to doing is maybe checking on the wear tolerance with Plastigauge. Will someone please talk me out of weighing/comparing my crank rods? I


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[strynboen]

take a mikrometer..and take a messsuring of the cranks movent in ther mains....that vaight #$%*..is vaste of time..only used oin a 1 milion kroner .$..engine

[minimo]

I hope I didn’t forget anything


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[strynboen]

you forgot to put the teeth in ....

[minimo]

you forgot to put the teeth in ....

LOL! I knew I was forgetting something


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[minimo]

Fresh laces (zinc plated) and paint.
Still need to true these suckers. My first attempt at lacing too. A bit of a challenge at the start but I think I’m getting the hang of the pattern.
And yes, the wheels are painted with VHT Wheel Paint and a matte clear. Thinking I should have gone powdercoat after all. Oh well, I’ll be chasing scrapes and chips for now with this paint.
Been busy and lazy lately. Still need to clean up the engine for paint before I mount it. I’m looking to make some good headway in the coming week.


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[RAFster122s]

Mounting tires on painted wheels can be a big challenge too. Good luck! Looking good.

[spuds]

I like the blacked out hubs.....

When you go to true them, make sure you start snubbing up the spokes when the wheel is in a vertical position....not laying on it's side.    Don't ask me how I know....   

 

[minimo]

Thanks, fellas.
Spuds, I see what you mean. For now, before truing, I’ve got the nipples on finger tight so I’m hoping there might be enough wiggle room to get that vertical alignment alright. It’ll be a kind of balancing act for sure. I’m actually quite looking forward to getting into this. It’ll be nice to come home to an activity that I can zone out to and forget about my day job for a bit.

RAF, getting the tires on is what I fear for next after all this truing bizness. I’m expecting loads of masking and touch-up

Thanks for the black rim color approval. Next up on painting is the engine. Thinking I’ve got too much black going on as it is so I may change it up a bit. Been bookmarking some color schemes online and came across some I like and may borrow from, like this one from Flakes Motorcycle (Japan). I like the spark plug wire contrast...

Since I have a black exhaust, black front fork lowers, and pretty much black rear suspension and coils it would be nice to hit this bike with splashes of some other contrasting colors.


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[RAFster122s]

Decide what you want to draw attention to. A colored aluminum anodized nut or bolt package onlow torque fasteners could add some interesting contrast or detail if you do not have polished stainless.  Too many colors gets disjoint or just distracting. Tappet covers anodized the same color as your wires can look good.
My 0.02¢


Too late on this suggestion..black centers with polished rim lips looks killer.

[minimo]

I hope this paint holds up for a little while.
Whoever said that putting on the tires would mar the paint job, you were absolutely right!
Definitely going powder coat on the next one (I thought that’s what I thought the last time...)


I used VHT Wheel Paint, matte black. I’m not impressed. I think that the Home Depot Rustoleum High Heat (the one with the bbq image on the can) holds a lot stronger.

Oh, and this was actually my very first spoke and wheel truing experience. I got the front and rear to spin as straight as I could get them. It helped to spend that fortune on a spoke torque wrench for without it would have been insanely time-consuming and challenging to keep track of nipple turns. Fingers are doubley-crossed these spokes don’t snap off.


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