Author Topic: cb400f "Project Resurrection" (Read 41473 times)

Joel · « **Reply #50 on:** January 11, 2011, 08:43:49 PM »

Quote from: -CB-Jamie- on January 11, 2011, 02:43:27 PM

Thanks Scott and Joel,
Ya they're 18'' rims front and back, thats the original size rims on the 400f.
16'' must look pretty small on the back, is it a wider rim than normal too?

Yea, wider. It's also a 130 section tire, if I remember correctly. I've gotten used to the look so it isn't terrible but it still looks awkward.

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #51 on:** January 12, 2011, 01:09:55 AM »

Judging by your pic Scott it actually doesn't look too bad, does it make any difference (good or worse) to the handling.
I always thought the tyres on the rear of these old bikes looked a bit narrow but I'm just probably used to the modern bikes and their big wide tyres as thats what I grew up with.

I'm thinking of doing a cafe style bike out of the second frame and engine I got with this bike (eventually anyway) and I might consider this setup for the rear of it.

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #52 on:** January 12, 2011, 12:58:55 PM »

Well I got another little bit done today. I fixed up my fuse box by soldering all the wires on from the back so its much tidier now. I also had a BBQ in the rain

, used the gas ring on the side of the BBQ to soften up my carb boots and airbox boots using wintergreen oil and water. better than stinking out the house with wintergreen anyway.

fasturd · « **Reply #53 on:** January 12, 2011, 06:59:36 PM »

I love that wider tire on Zaipai's bike. The tires on my 400 are slightly larger as the EPM wheels are wider than stock. But its hard to improve upon the original size speced by Honda 400s work great with stock tire sizes even if they look a bit skinny.

Zaipai · « **Reply #54 on:** January 15, 2011, 08:42:54 PM »

Quote from: -CB-Jamie- on January 12, 2011, 01:09:55 AM

Judging by your pic Scott it actually doesn't look too bad, does it make any difference (good or worse) to the handling.
I always thought the tyres on the rear of these old bikes looked a bit narrow but I'm just probably used to the modern bikes and their big wide tyres as thats what I grew up with.

I'm thinking of doing a cafe style bike out of the second frame and engine I got with this bike (eventually anyway) and I might consider this setup for the rear of it.

From what I have been able to tell its about the same, I can't lean as low as I used to and the clearance is less about about 1" or 2" however its not some thing that matters to me so far. I like the wider rear tire, however some don't. If you are looking for race track handling a wider rear wheel on this bike is probably not the way to go. However for every day normal street riding its pretty nice and makes the bike look better (to me anyway).

.: Scott :.

Zaipai · « **Reply #55 on:** January 15, 2011, 08:50:57 PM »

Quote from: fasturd on January 12, 2011, 06:59:36 PM

I love that wider tire on Zaipai's bike. The tires on my 400 are slightly larger as the EPM wheels are wider than stock. But its hard to improve upon the original size speced by Honda 400s work great with stock tire sizes even if they look a bit skinny.

I agree, its probably hard to improve on Honda spec's for tires no matter the size of the bike. However keep in mind that wide rear wheels on bikes were not normal back then. Still if your using it as an every day rider, its really all about what you like. Mostly I average 45mph and at that speed just about any tire will work fine.

.: Scott :.

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #56 on:** January 22, 2011, 12:42:08 PM »

hey all,
So nothing major to show on the build. Just got a new complete honda points plate and a headlight bucket from DSS. Also picked up some new rear shocks off ebay, I just went with the cheapest ones could find for now and I'll try improve on them at some stage when I have more money to spend on them.

My order form DSS coming from England to Ireland normally takes about 3 working days and when it hadn't arrived after 12 days i was getting a bit worried, When it finally arrived I found out what took so long. Turns out it went half way around the world to Bermuda by mistake first

. It had ''missent to Bermuda'' stamped on it. Well at least it showed up anyway.

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #57 on:** January 22, 2011, 12:56:20 PM »

Well I also had a bit of free time during the week and I decided to strip the second engine I have completely. I had stripped the top end previously about 6 months ago so it was just the bottem end. This engine had been sitting for at least a few years with no spark plugs in it so this was why I decided to strip it. I haven't had a chance to inspect anything yet really but it looks fairly ok. I plan to rebuild this engine as well eventually and use it for a cafe racer I plan to make with the second frame and this engine. I'll have a lot of parts to buy for this project as well though fortunately. I just bagged everything up and I'll be storing it now for a while/

Anyway heres a few pics of the engine being stripped:

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #58 on:** February 02, 2011, 11:41:29 AM »

Hey,
Put my exhaust on properly toady, was just waiting for new exhaust gaskets. Anyway I seem to have a bit of a clearence issue with the exhaust at least I think anyway. The muffler seems to be really close to the swingarm(they,re actually almost touching) and I don't think I could get the axle out without taking the muffler off, is this normal with these can anyone tell me?

gsnorcal · « **Reply #59 on:** February 02, 2011, 11:46:51 AM »

Quote from: -CB-Jamie- on February 02, 2011, 11:41:29 AM

Hey,
Put my exhaust on properly toady, was just waiting for new exhaust gaskets. Anyway I seem to have a bit of a clearence issue with the exhaust at least I think anyway. The muffler seems to be really close to the swingarm(they,re actually almost touching) and I don't think I could get the axle out without taking the muffler off, is this normal with these can anyone tell me?

My 400's stock exhaust was like that too. When on the centerstand, the axle nut was buried in the silencer. I figured it had to be dropped and bent.

Dave

strynboen · « **Reply #60 on:** February 03, 2011, 11:05:20 AM »

here is my exh..before i rebuild it..its lower så the bolt do not toutch

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #61 on:** February 06, 2011, 02:48:34 PM »

So I finally have the bike running again, I'll try put up a video soon enough.

So I was changing the rear shock bushings today and had a bit of a job witht them. I ended up drilling out the centre of the rubber and then cutting the outer ring of the bushing with a hacksaw blade and got it out easy enough. Then I tried to use a cramp the get the new bushing back in and ended up breaking the cramp. These bushings are obviously really tight to break this cramp and the bushing isn't even fully in yet.

I'm also in the middle of trying to clean up the airbox and have a small problem with it. Looks like somebody had trouble trying to get the boots back onto the carbs cause they were after hardening up and just cut them to try make them go on easier. Just wondering if these cuts would make any difference to the running of the bike. They are pretty small and when its on and clamped there wouldn't be much of a gap there. Heres a pic to show you what I'm talking about. Could I just wrap some insulating/electrical tape around the boot first or something maybe?

RickB · « **Reply #62 on:** February 06, 2011, 05:08:40 PM »

Jamie,

I gave up trying to remove my rear shock bushings. The hacksaw blade trick is a great idea, I didn't think of that at the time.

As for getting them in. I've had good results with using a car jack (just the small hand operated one from the trunk of my car) and pushing up against a fixed object (in my case, a steel support girder from the shed). I pushed in my copper swingarm bushings like this. It's a nice, slow, even pressure.

Rick.

RickB · « **Reply #63 on:** February 06, 2011, 05:10:41 PM »

Jamie,

I found my photos of what I'm talking about:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=51957.msg834381#msg834381

Rick.

DarcyCB400F · « **Reply #64 on:** February 06, 2011, 05:33:58 PM »

ebay has an airbox for you that has the rubbers you need... search item number 160505552784

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #65 on:** February 07, 2011, 01:22:08 AM »

Hey Rick,
Ya the hacksaw blade worked out really well you just have to go really slow at the end to make sure you don't cut into the swingarm. I was able to do it without even putting a mark on the swingarm just by being careful. I really thought that the cramp would be enough for the new on especially with a bit of grease on it but looks like I'll have to go with something heavier to finish the job, I'll probably try your car jack trick.

Ya darcy thanks for that I'm actually after putting a bid on a different airbox from ebay uk since I posted which seems to be in better condition too, thanks anyway.

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #66 on:** February 10, 2011, 12:13:20 PM »

So I was like a kid at xmas when I came home to this package from DSS yesterday, all my money seems to be going to DSS lately.

Got them both mounted today and a chrome taillight bracket and american taillight that I picked up on ebay few weeks ago. The bracket and taillight are in mint condition and I picked them up cheap enough too.

Its great to get to this stage and every nice shiny bit you bolt on makes the bike look a whole lot better.

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #67 on:** February 12, 2011, 12:21:20 PM »

So on a spur of the moment thing I decided to go out and buy some rattle cans and paint my tank and side panels black as a temporary job until I have a bit of money to get them done properly, so I got it all done in one day and it turned out pretty good considering it only cost me €20. Acrylic paint is the only paint you can get here in Ireland now so unfortunately I'll have to be really careful with petrol but I'm happy enough for the time being. I just gave everything a rub of 220 grit sandpaper, then primed it and then gave it 3 coats of black and then a light sand down with 600 grit paper and then another coat of black, after this I then gave it 2 coats of lacquer. I wasn't really being too fussy with this as it's just a temp job and I'm not really the best at spraying but it still turned out pretty good for me.

So I bought 1 can primer, 2 gloss black and one lacquer. €5 per can.

I was kinda finding it a bit hard to get pics of it so I'll put up the lot, some have the flash on and some don't to try and show it clearly.

gerryw · « **Reply #68 on:** February 12, 2011, 12:35:45 PM »

Great job on the paint.
Is that the patern rear fender from DSS?
gerry

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #69 on:** February 12, 2011, 12:51:46 PM »

Hi Gerry,

yes thats the pattern one from david silvers

Really? · « **Reply #70 on:** February 12, 2011, 04:50:44 PM »

WOW, WHAT A TRANSFORMATION!

MoMo · « **Reply #71 on:** February 12, 2011, 07:23:41 PM »

Nice job on rattle can paint, black is a good color for the 400...Larry

-CB-Jamie- · « **Reply #72 on:** February 13, 2011, 02:25:35 PM »

Quote from: TipperT on February 12, 2011, 04:50:44 PM

WOW, WHAT A TRANSFORMATION!

Quote from: photolar on February 12, 2011, 07:23:41 PM

Nice job on rattle can paint, black is a good color for the 400...Larry

Thanks I'm pretty pleased with my first paint job.

So I've one or two things that somebody here might be able to help me with. As I said earlier I got new rear shocks, I also got the the dome nuts that hold the shocks onto the frame. These dome nuts were ordered from DSS and are definately the right ones. My problem is they are fully tightened up but they are not tight against the shocks so the shock are free to move about 1/4'' sideways, am I missing something here

Heres a pic to show what I mean. Oh and the shocks are the same width at this part so thats not the problem

Okay the second thing is when I rebuilt the front wheel I didn't have the bolts that go all the way through the hub and hold on the brake disk so I just went out and picked up some ordinary stainless steel bolts and lock nuts. But thinking about it afterwards should these bolts be higher grade/strength bolts for this application? I also had a look on cmsnl and these bolts are like €10.50 each so this reinforces these thoughts. Unnfortunately these bolts are no longer actually available from cmsnl or DSS

gerryw · « **Reply #73 on:** February 13, 2011, 03:12:24 PM »

Jamie, on most aftermarket shocks, they usually come with extra washers to solve this problem (as the shock could be for various models/makes), so would just shim them with common washers to take up the slack.

as for the bolts , if you want originals, check out this guy:

http://www.400fourbits.co.uk/

gerry

MoMo · « **Reply #74 on:** February 13, 2011, 04:57:32 PM »

Have you run a die over the shock mount threads? Hard to tell but it looks like there is crud behind the nut...Larry

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Author Topic: cb400f "Project Resurrection" (Read 41473 times)

gsnorcal