Topic: IDK Numero Dos - 1975 Honda CB400F

[minimo]

I want to point out that Honda makes the best rubber parts (move over Trojan, Sagami, and Okamoto). The Main Jet O-ring pictured above and two others like it came out sheared or peeled while investigating a rich fuel condition following a recent carb clean/rebuild. I replaced the O-rings with some fresh McMaster-Carr ordered Buna-N O-rings. These Main Jets, btw are not Keihin as I'm running airpods and have to upsize my mains. I have another set of aftermarket mains with Honda O-rings on them, and I'm going to see if these will do the trick.


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[grcamna2]

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[minimo]

Long story short, I ended up fitting my carbs with FKM (Viton) O-rings purchased from www.oringsandmore.com (fast shipping, btw). So far, so good.

The long story… I thought I’d try Velocity Stacks to replace the cheapo pods I had installed for a long time. I think the velocity stacks look nice but not practical for riding, and I would later find a challenge to tune. So this resulted in me cleaning my carbs, giving all parts an ultrasonic wash, poking around with musical wire, and the whole bit. I spent a good chunk of time cleaning and replaced the old O-rings with Buna-N O-rings that turned out to be crap and peeled after one install attempt. The bad O-rings sent me down a rabbit hole trying to find out what was giving me rich/sputtering issues - learning later that the sheared Buna-N O-rings created an opening for fuel to wick past the float valve seats and the mains. Since replacing these Buna-N O-rings with FKM (Viton) o-rings with the exact dimensions and replacing the v stacks with cleaned-up airpods, the combo seemed to fix all of the issues.

Current set up with airpods:

FLOAT LEVEL: 21.0mm
SLOW JET: 40 aftermarket (stock: 40)
MAIN JET: 90 aftermarket (stock: 75)
NEEDLE & CLIP: 4th (stock: 3rd from top)
IDLE MIX SCREW: 1.5 (2 turns from closed, stock). 2 pops on decel

Still kinda fiddling - might move up to 98 mains and back up to 3rd from top needle position - but current setup is pretty darn responsive from idle up to mid-throttle. Never fast enough at WOT, but maybe this is good enough for now. See y’all down the road.



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[minimo]

Sharing a recent part/assembly upgrade - front brake.

This is a Brembo front brake kit supplied by Again (Osaka, Japan). It came with the Brembo brake, perforated disc, a custom CNC mounting arm/bracket and a brake line and banjo bolts (10mm x 1.0), bolts, nuts, offset plates, etc. Easy install. So far, on the road, I think I get at least double the braking power compared to the stock setup I had on previously.

I’ve got a separate Goodridge kit coming soon to swap out the current lines and banjos.

https://mc-again.com/cgi/parts.cgi

$670USD was a bit of a stretch, but hey, I work hard to keep my motorcycle happy.

Meanwhile, my fuel tank remains primer’d and unfinished.



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[MauiK3]

Cool brake setup.

[Kevin]

That is a cool brake set up.
I went full on crazy and installed the double disc conversion from AGAIN, it's a bit overkill, but I'm not complaining!

[grcamna2]

I like your AGAIN Brembo front brake kit  Does the rotor have a name-brand stamp on it ?

[minimo]

That is a cool brake set up.
I went full on crazy and installed the double disc conversion from AGAIN, it's a bit overkill, but I'm not complaining!

Cool! Was it this kit?


It looks like they also sell the right-side caliper mounting bracket and the offset spacer as separate items (if you already have a front brake disc/caliper set). Coolness.


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[Kevin]

No,  I bought the new lowers from a company called BRC, and then the L/R side Brembo conversions from AGAIN. Shiohouse installed it for me as a favor.


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[Kevin]

Here's the set up

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[minimo]

Here's the set up

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Hot damn! Great upgrade. Nice bike.

日本に住んでいるのですか？

Have you upgraded your rear brake?
Here’s a bike that Again had completed for a client:






They said that “Frando” is a Taiwanese brand and is supposed to be pretty good.


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[Kevin]

I have not.
I'd like to though.
TTR400 makes a billet rear hub for the 400F that'd work perfectly.

FRANDO does make some really nice stuff. They have a hydraulic clutch kit that I'm jonesing to buy.

I have seen the bike in the picture you attached. It is pretty trick. The guy who owns it is very nice.


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[Kevin]

日本に住んでいるのですか？

No, but I did for 3 years.
My Nihongo is not so good.
How's yours?

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[minimo]

日本に住んでいるのですか？

No, but I did for 3 years.
My Nihongo is not so good.
How's yours?

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私の日本語はまあまあです。
イナカ弁と英語のミックスです


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[Kevin]

日本に住んでいるのですか？

No, but I did for 3 years.
My Nihongo is not so good.
How's yours?

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私の日本語はまあまあです。
イナカ弁と英語のミックスです


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Cool, much better than mine.
I was learning while I lived there but stopped practicing when I left.


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[grcamna2]

日本に住んでいるのですか？

No, but I did for 3 years.
My Nihongo is not so good.
How's yours?

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私の日本語はまあまあです。
イナカ弁と英語のミックスです


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Cool, much better than mine.
I was learning while I lived there but stopped practicing when I left.


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Which language/country is that from ? 

[Kevin]

日本に住んでいるのですか？

No, but I did for 3 years.
My Nihongo is not so good.
How's yours?

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私の日本語はまあまあです。
イナカ弁と英語のミックスです


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Cool, much better than mine.
I was learning while I lived there but stopped practicing when I left.


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Which language/country is that from ? 

Nihongo is Japanese 

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[grcamna2]

日本に住んでいるのですか？

No, but I did for 3 years.
My Nihongo is not so good.
How's yours?

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私の日本語はまあまあです。
イナカ弁と英語のミックスです


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Cool, much better than mine.
I was learning while I lived there but stopped practicing when I left.


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Which language/country is that from ? 

Nihongo is Japanese 

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Was wondering if Nihongo is synonymous with Japanese,or another dialect of the Japanese language ?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

No,  I bought the new lowers from a company called BRC, and then the L/R side Brembo conversions from AGAIN. Shiohouse installed it for me as a favor.


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Nice looking kit. Floating rotors and modern Brembo 2 piston (rear) rear calipers.  I bet that is a drastic improvement.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

No,  I bought the new lowers from a company called BRC, and then the L/R side Brembo conversions from AGAIN. Shiohouse installed it for me as a favor.


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Can you post a link to their site or business contact info?

[wolf550]

yep I would like to see both of those kits as well

[minimo]

I like your AGAIN Brembo front brake kit  Does the rotor have a name-brand stamp on it ?

I’m looking into this and will let you know.


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[Kevin]

For a long time it was very hard to find the right fork leg that you could mount the caliper bracket too.
There were only a few companies that were producing them and they had all ran out of stock.
I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time when BRC found one in their warehouse and listed it on Yahoo Japan auctions with a buy it now price.
My dual disc setup cost me in the neighborhood of $3K. Sometimes you have to indulge a little and treat yourself.

I already had a dual disc setup on my cafe' bike that I was told was original HRC product, but I have no way of knowing if that is true or not. There was also an Italian company that offered the Right leg, I think I have a scan of their flyer somewhere.

A company in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan (Omote) who has been instrumental in reproducing some pretty trick parts for the 400F (Hayashi cast aluminum wheels for example) has just produced 200 sets of lower fork legs for dual disc set up. They are not cheap and he usually sells out before they are offered on the market. He also contracted with the original manufacturer of the 400F 4into1 exhaust to have a limited number of original exhaust manufactured. They will be stamped with a serial number.
Omote partners with SHIO, SCAN, AGAIN, MISTY, CUSTOM PARANOIA (CP), and AGAIN to distribute these products. So, if you follow any of these guys you will see when they become available and they are taking deposits. Be prepared to shell out some $$$.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

For a long time it was very hard to find the right fork leg that you could mount the caliper bracket too.
There were only a few companies that were producing them and they had all ran out of stock.
I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time when BRC found one in their warehouse and listed it on Yahoo Japan auctions with a buy it now price.
My dual disc setup cost me in the neighborhood of $3K. Sometimes you have to indulge a little and treat yourself.

I already had a dual disc setup on my cafe' bike that I was told was original HRC product, but I have no way of knowing if that is true or not. There was also an Italian company that offered the Right leg, I think I have a scan of their flyer somewhere.

A company in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan (Omote) who has been instrumental in reproducing some pretty trick parts for the 400F (Hayashi cast aluminum wheels for example) has just produced 200 sets of lower fork legs for dual disc set up. They are not cheap and he usually sells out before they are offered on the market. He also contracted with the original manufacturer of the 400F 4into1 exhaust to have a limited number of original exhaust manufactured. They will be stamped with a serial number.
Omote partners with SHIO, SCAN, AGAIN, MISTY, CUSTOM PARANOIA (CP), and AGAIN to distribute these products. So, if you follow any of these guys you will see when they become available and they are taking deposits. Be prepared to shell out some $$$.

That's a really nice set up, but $3K is a lot of coin.  (Even my dual disc Beringer set up is significantly less.)  I hope you enjoy it, irrespective of cost.

[Kevin]

[/quote]
That's a really nice set up, but $3K is a lot of coin.  (Even my dual disc Beringer set up is significantly less.)  I hope you enjoy it, irrespective of cost.
[/quote]

Yes, I chalk it up to a momentary bout of insanity. Definitely not one of the most prudent financial decisions I've made.
I just checked my spreadsheet to see what the total cost was. $2850 which included new fork stanchions and a Brembo RSC 15 master cylinder.
Exchange rates are more favorable  now....so you could probably do it for 15 to 20% less than what I paid.