Topic: Terry's "Old Blue, the Flipping F2" restification thread.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, I’m certainly biased towards the early K’s, but a good F2 is a nice ride, and feels completely different on the road. I’m taking the wheels over to get new tyres on Tuesday and hopefully the new front brake MC will arrive around the same time, so I might take it to Ace Motorcycles on Saturday for a Roadworthy Inspection and get a club plate for it before my birthday next month which will be the 45th anniversary of my CB750 ownership, when I picked up my shiny new CB750F1, in March 1978.

I would have much preferred the new F2 then, but I couldn’t afford one, and the F1 was heavily discounted to move them out of the dealership, so I had to settle for the more “beige” version of the “Super Sport”, as it was referred to at the time.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The F2 front brakes are also a nice evolution.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, the F1 brakes were awful with the rear disc wanting to lock up and the front almost useless by comparison, and because I’d spent most of my riding time up until then on dirt bikes I tended to use the rear’s more than the front’s, it lead to some exciting near misses.

The F2 was a better bike all round, with the only let down being the top end issues. Mine’s done 50,000 miles and appears sound, but I’ll wait until I’ve actually ridden it before I get too excited. By coincidence I have a reconditioned F2 head in my garage, and some better valve springs, an 836 kit and maybe even a cam from Cyclex that I bought a couple of years ago, and then forgot about, so if I do have to pull the engine and give it a birthday, everything I need is already here.

[PeWe]

F2 guide issues, was it bad guides or the angle in head only?
F2 inlet valves had very soft tips. Mushroomed within 10.000 km.
I used a few sets in my ported K6 head in the 80's and refurbished again 2013, still very soft.  (Race springs used but modest cam in the 80's)
Dynoman and CycleX have new valves, probably better.

[BenelliSEI]

The F2 was a better bike all round, with the only let down being the top end issues. Mine’s done 50,000 miles and appears sound, but I’ll wait until I’ve actually ridden it before I get too excited. By coincidence I have a reconditioned F2 head in my garage, and some better valve springs, an 836 kit and maybe even a cam from Cyclex that I bought a couple of years ago, and then forgot about, so if I do have to pull the engine and give it a birthday, everything I need is already here.


...... I thought this was a “flip”?

[PeWe]

Other bikes had hit the market, I guess.
Suzuki GS750 did not look bad and ran well. Light blue metallic or similar. GS1000...
Z1-900 an old bike but still looking good.....

[RAFster122s]

The F2 was a better bike all round, with the only let down being the top end issues. Mine’s done 50,000 miles and appears sound, but I’ll wait until I’ve actually ridden it before I get too excited. By coincidence I have a reconditioned F2 head in my garage, and some better valve springs, an 836 kit and maybe even a cam from Cyclex that I bought a couple of years ago, and then forgot about, so if I do have to pull the engine and give it a birthday, everything I need is already here.


...... I thought this was a “flip”?

He mentioned in another thread he was considering keeping it, making decisions after he gets it up and has taken a few rides...

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, I don’t know if I mentioned it before but I may have a Kawasaki Mach III 500 heading my way, as early as this month. It’ll cost me my K2, which I think is still a good deal. I’ve got a choice of two, a ‘69 or a ‘74, the ‘69 will probably cost some money as well so I’ll probably take the ‘74, we’ll see. If I do go through with it, I might decide to hang on to the F2 for longer, but won’t decide until after I’ve ridden the F2, which I can’t do until I spend $250 for new tyres, which isn’t a big expense, and will make it easier to sell here in Melbourne to someone with a Roadworthy Certificate.

The market here for classic bikes is dominated by old farts like us who would rather pay more for a clean roadworthy bike than an “unknown quantity”, so there’s method in my madness. On top of that, if the top end needs a refresh from parts that I already have sitting in my garage I’m better off putting the effort in now, than trying to sell a smoker, I’m reasonably well known in the CB750 community and don’t need the aggravation of being tried by Facebook for selling someone a dud. And once again, if I do need to install a perfect head with new valves etc, I’ll document it all with lots of pics so that a prospective buyer can see exactly what they’re buying. These old farts have plenty of money so a refreshed top end is a “value add”.

[Terry in Australia]

Anyhoo, the work continued tonight in earnest. I whipped off the front wheel first after employing the "length of pipe over the socket wrench handle" to unbolt the caliper brackets and front fork nuts. I bought the cheapest pair of "paddock stands" for working on the SP1 and Fireblade, and wondered tonight if I couldn't use the front one for holding up the front of the bike, and was happily surprised that it worked, which was much better than dragging out an old front wheel of some description to keep the front upright while I have the comstar off.

F2 Monday 6 Feb 2023 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Of course the chain was covered in a mixture of dirt, old grease and rust, so I used the "Face fcuker" AKA my pedestal grinder with it's wire wheel to clean off the crap (and spray it all over me.....) then I gave it a liberal coating of this pressure pack industrial grease, which quickly dries to leave a film of lube over it. I discovered that it's a DID O Ring chain (original? maybe....) which was still holding it's grease internally, with no side play, and the sprockets were "as new" also, so I cleaned the rear sprocket with my soft copper brush and wiped it down with degreaser, then a spray of WD40 to stop any flash rusting overnight. I also cleaned/wire wheeled all of the mounting hardware, and touched up the missing paint on the swingarm, which came up nice, considering.

F2 Monday 6 Feb 2023 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

F2 Monday 6 Feb 2023 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The wheels are off and ready for new Stinko's tomorrow.

F2 Monday 6 Feb 2023 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

By 6pm I'd been at it for 3 hours and was absolutely buggered, and covered in greasy rusty sh1t, so packed up and hit the ol' rain box. More tomorrow.

F2 Monday 6 Feb 2023 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[grcamna2]

The PO of that bike Peter seems to have taken very good care of his bike and then parked it;I enjoy hearing of caring PO's and them 'paying it forward' to the new owner with their proper and timely care. 

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, I wouldn't go as far as to say that Bill, it was a "daily rider" that was ridden in all weather and parked outside at his job, but the fact that he put it away in his garage when it was only 14 years old is probably what really saved it.

Today I sneaked off from "Working from home" and drove over to the tyre shop. I handed the tyres to Ari, the boss, who immediately took them into the workshop and gestured that I take a seat in the fancy lounge. Five minutes later he came out looking perplexed and said, "Those tyres have tubes in them, do you want tubes put back in?" I explained that the early Comstars weren't really suited to tubeless tyres (although I'm guessing he didn't put tubes in my last F2 wheels, because they were considerably cheaper) so he said he'd install new tubes. I wandered over to have a look at this display, which turns out to be a real race car, less engine and trans:

F2 Tyres Tuesday 7 February 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I spotted today's newspaper on a table, so sat down to read the paper to pass the time. This little "Letter to the editor" made me laugh, working with public servants. Trevor from Warragul might have a feud on his hands.

F2 Tyres Tuesday 7 February 2023 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I kept reading the newspaper until I ran out of things to read, what the fcuk was taking so long? Then I remembered the conversation about the tube, and I reckon Ari had sent the office boy around to a bike shop to pick up a new tube. Anyway, eventually he brought them out, and I took them home. I stopped on the way home to get a haircut at my local barber shop, run by young Middle Eastern chaps. They don't talk much, but they cut well. There was only one barber there, who had another young Arabic chap in the chair. I asked if I could get a haircut and the barber said, "Sure, I'll be about ten minutes". I sat and waited, and waited, and fcuking waited while they rattled on in Fasi while he cut his hair, trimmed his beard, his eyebrows, even his fcuking nose hairs, and then waxed his fcuking face! Fcuk my black dog! Finally he fcuked off (without paying, it appeared) and I got called up. To be fair the barber was quite apologetic and cut my hair in less time that it took to pluck the camel humper's eyebrows, and charged me 5 bucks less than the price on the price board, so I forgave him, and headed for home.

I'd promised the wife that I'd order in Chicken, Coleslaw and chips from a local shop, but first wanted to install the wheels, so I quickly put them back on, and was happy.

F2 Tyres Tuesday 7 February 2023 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I found this pic from the same angle when I brought it home a couple of weeks ago, and think it looks way better now.

F2 Tyres Tuesday 7 February 2023 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The front view looks much better now too.

F2 Tyres Tuesday 7 February 2023 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I finally dragged my sorry arse inside after fighting with the chain's joining link with it's "pressed on" sideplate behind the clip annoying me and not wanting to go on, and the sprocket cover not wanting to go back in, but eventually I was able to order the chicken, and wasn't disappointed.

F2 Tyres Tuesday 7 February 2023 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The wife liked it too, and as I still had a lot leftover from my pack (I bought two for us) she suggested that she buy some bread rolls tomorrow so I can make myself a cold chicken and coleslaw roll, which I thought was a fine idea. Apart from all the waiting and fuming, it wasn't a bad day.    

   

[PeWe]

The value of the bike has increased more than the cost of the tires, right?
It look good and safe with really black new tires.

I have used tubeless tires since the 80's.
I remember I thought about it when I bought a Continental with tubeless printed 1983.

Tubes fitted inside.

I had to check my tires.
All are tubeless.
Michelin Road Classic front, rear
Old style but recently purchaced:
Heidenau K36 rear, K44 front
Metzeler Perfect ME77

You need a dog, Terry. It can help you while doing the bikes, guard them.
It will have free food, your ride leftovers!
An Australian Bike dog that most likely will like some Ginger Joe's too!

Found some inspiration
https://www.boredpanda.com/my-german-shepherd-dog-is-my-motorcycle-copilot/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

[grcamna2]

Sounds good Terry;I hope I can keep getting my hair cut by a caring individual.
The educators in Warragul seem to be well payed..
I'm glad you chose tubes 

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, I use tubeless tyres in my modern bike’s obviously, but I wouldn’t want to rely on the rim band on a spoked wheel to stop the air escaping? I remember riding over a nail on an Army Yamaha XT600 on the freeway back in the 90’s and the speed wobbles it produced while I was trying to slow down from 60 MPH. I pulled over to the side of the road and my riding buddy rode off to buy a can of Finelec, one of those tyre inflators in a can.

We pumped the stuff in only to see it bubbling out through the spokes and I ended up pushing it until a guy with a ute stopped and gave me and the bike a ride home. It had a tube in it which had exploded, so I shouldn’t have expected much.

[grcamna2]

Thanks guys, I use tubeless tyres in my modern bike’s obviously, but I wouldn’t want to rely on the rim band on a spoked wheel to stop the air escaping? I remember riding over a nail on an Army Yamaha XT600 on the freeway back in the 90’s and the speed wobbles it produced while I was trying to slow down from 60 MPH. I pulled over to the side of the road and my riding buddy rode off to buy a can of Finelec, one of those tyre inflators in a can.

We pumped the stuff in only to see it bubbling out through the spokes and I ended up pushing it until a guy with a ute stopped and gave me and the bike a ride home. It had a tube in it which had exploded, so I shouldn’t have expected much.

I can tell you first-hand,after changing a few tires on wheels that were brought to me with that 'Fix a Flat' stuff in them.. Changing out a tire/tube that had that stuff sprayed into it Completely Sucks !
I will let the customer know that it will require more labor/$ to do the job because of the extra clean-up. 

I had to use gasoline to clean-off my hands,the wheel,etc.    Never again;I'll take a spare tube & tools on my own bike

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, the Yamaha dealer wasn’t real happy when we took it in for a new tyre and tube Bill, but they were grafting so much money out of defence that I didn’t feel real sorry for them. I use a water based product called “Slime” in cars and bikes that have had nails through their tubeless tyres and it works brilliantly. It’s still messy when it’s time for a tyre change so I’ve learned to act surprised when the tyre fitter starts jumping up and down…..

[grcamna2]

Yep, the Yamaha dealer wasn’t real happy when we took it in for a new tyre and tube Bill, but they were grafting so much money out of defence that I didn’t feel real sorry for them. I use a water based product called “Slime” in cars and bikes that have had nails through their tubeless tyres and it works brilliantly. It’s still messy when it’s time for a tyre change so I’ve learned to act surprised when the tyre fitter starts jumping up and down…..

Lol 

[BenelliSEI]

Yep, the Yamaha dealer wasn’t real happy when we took it in for a new tyre and tube Bill, but they were grafting so much money out of defence that I didn’t feel real sorry for them. I use a water based product called “Slime” in cars and bikes that have had nails through their tubeless tyres and it works brilliantly. It’s still messy when it’s time for a tyre change so I’ve learned to act surprised when the tyre fitter starts jumping up and down…..

We have “Slime” here too.i use it shamelessly in the golf cart, trailers, farm and grass cutting equipment. Good stuff.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, if it wasn’t for Slime my old ride on mower would have needed new tyres years ago.

[RAFster122s]

That salary may see high to many in. America but considering the Australian dollar vs US dollar you will understand given the higher costs there and relatively lower buying power of the Au $.
Delevic system cost like $850 AU vs $700 US

[grcamna2]

Yep, the Yamaha dealer wasn’t real happy when we took it in for a new tyre and tube Bill, but they were grafting so much money out of defence that I didn’t feel real sorry for them. I use a water based product called “Slime” in cars and bikes that have had nails through their tubeless tyres and it works brilliantly. It’s still messy when it’s time for a tyre change so I’ve learned to act surprised when the tyre fitter starts jumping up and down…..

We have “Slime” here too.i use it shamelessly in the golf cart, trailers, farm and grass cutting equipment. Good stuff.

John,do you change/repair/replace your own tires/tubes ?

[Terry in Australia]

That salary may see high to many in. America but considering the Australian dollar vs US dollar you will understand given the higher costs there and relatively lower buying power of the Au $.
Delevic system cost like $850 AU vs $700 US

Yep, the Aussie dollar is only trading at around 70 cents USD at the moment, so someone on $100K AUD is getting around $1345 dollars USD per week. What’s the average salary in the US? A lot of the additional costs for imported items is the cost of shipping, so better to compare apples with apples.

[BenelliSEI]

Yep, the Yamaha dealer wasn’t real happy when we took it in for a new tyre and tube Bill, but they were grafting so much money out of defence that I didn’t feel real sorry for them. I use a water based product called “Slime” in cars and bikes that have had nails through their tubeless tyres and it works brilliantly. It’s still messy when it’s time for a tyre change so I’ve learned to act surprised when the tyre fitter starts jumping up and down…..

We have “Slime” here too.i use it shamelessly in the golf cart, trailers, farm and grass cutting equipment. Good stuff.

John,do you change/repair/replace your own tires/tubes ?

Yes..... But NOT the ones with slime in them!

[grcamna2]

Yep, the Yamaha dealer wasn’t real happy when we took it in for a new tyre and tube Bill, but they were grafting so much money out of defence that I didn’t feel real sorry for them. I use a water based product called “Slime” in cars and bikes that have had nails through their tubeless tyres and it works brilliantly. It’s still messy when it’s time for a tyre change so I’ve learned to act surprised when the tyre fitter starts jumping up and down…..

We have “Slime” here too.i use it shamelessly in the golf cart, trailers, farm and grass cutting equipment. Good stuff.

John,do you change/repair/replace your own tires/tubes ?

Yes..... But NOT the ones with slime in them!

Lol 

[Kelly E]

That salary may see high to many in. America but considering the Australian dollar vs US dollar you will understand given the higher costs there and relatively lower buying power of the Au $.
Delevic system cost like $850 AU vs $700 US

We've bought two systems directly from Delkevik. One for the 80' Suzuki GS 1100E and one a few months ago for the 77' Kawasaki KZ 1000LTD. They were both $380 plus shipping. We will likely buy another one for the 83' CB 1100F in a few months.