Topic: Would I be wrong...? First response arrived, favorably!

[HondaMan]

It seems that towards the end of the time that you could still actually get 750 pipes from Honda there seemed to be a little problem with some dodgy chrome. I remember member Johnie in WI having to get 2 or 3 of a certain # pipe from his dealer till he found one that he thought was acceptable. Some with some not so good chrome mayhave been making it ti E-bay as well.

Certainly the chrome on my repop pipes is not as even and thick as the OEM pipes were. The bike-side of these pipes have much thinner and less-smooth chrome than do the outside faces, that's for sure. I've tought about sending them to Advanced Custom Chrome in PA to get them "finished", although my sudden lack-of-job might hinder that operation? We'll see how this winter goes.

[AshimotoK0]

 I bought a high voltage  insulation tester to 'weed' out condensers , before I build a pukka JIS spec.  tester. (see JIS spec as detailed in 1966 CB450K0 Black Bomber Shop manual)

Interestingly, I took a dual capacitor from a Honda twin and a NOS similar one.
Testing the capacitor at elevated temperature, akin to what you get in service (i.e 80 °C in the JIS test, soaking at that temp for 30 minutes), the capacitance was bang on the correct value given by Honda on both the old and the NOS parts.

Also testing the the insulation firstly at 250v, then 500v  on a single 'static'  test, the insulation was fine on both the used one (Genuine part .. taken from a 1973 bike) and on the NOS one. I also tested a NOS electronic component 'wire ended' one of similar capacitance and voltage spec. The 1960's JIS test was 700 volts AC @50 /60 cycles/second)

However, there is a 'continuous' test mode on the new tester I bought and when tested on this function (it repeatedly applies the voltage albeit at a low frequency rate), the used one started displaying a value of a couple of megOhms leakage, whereas the NOS part and the 'reference' capacitor didn't.

So I guess the used condenser is leaky, dynamically and explains why the owner of the bike was reporting excessive arcing at the points, even though on a static test the capacitor tested out fine.

My next 'experiment' is to dig out a brand new Daiichi pattern one and put it through it's paces. This brand has a very bad press but is the pattern part sold by lot's of reputable parts suppliers including David Silvers.

UPDATE : I found a newish looking points/condenser assembly in my stash of parts and it looks like the points and condensers are all  Daiichi. Stamped 'Made in Japan'

I tested the condensers both statically and continuously and perfect results. All of the NOS Denso condensers I have tested so far are OK too. The only used one I have tested so far turned out to be leaky but it's 48 years old, so understandable I suppose.

I will go through my entire stock of used and NOS condensers and see how they all  fare.

[MauiK3]

As for chrome, I just paid for getting a few parts chromed for my 73 Z1 project. I won’t say what it cost but it hurt a lot. It looks great but I can’t imagine what good chrome on repop exhaust would cost.

[Kevnz]

I paid $2,200 for chrome on my 500 and that didn't include mufflers or rims, just fenders and the little bits. Not even headlight ears.

[Stev-o]

It looks great but I can’t imagine what good chrome on repop exhaust would cost.

Hey Steve...I had the OEM exhaust for my Kaw H1 500 rechromed last year, it was $425 [three pipes]
I thought that was reasonable, all things considered.  There is only 1 chrome shop left in Austin, old school, family run.
Good thing about two stroke bikes, the exhaust never rusts out!

[Maltboy]

Hey Steve...I had the OEM exhaust for my Kaw H1 500 rechromed last year, it was $425 [three pipes]
I thought that was reasonable, all things considered.  There is only 1 chrome shop left in Austin, old school, family run.
Good thing about two stroke bikes, the exhaust never rusts out!

What's the name of the outfit?  I'm in Austin all the time and this would be a good service to have available.

[HondaMan]

I bought a high voltage  insulation tester to 'weed' out condensers , before I build a pukka JIS spec.  tester. (see JIS spec as detailed in 1966 CB450K0 Black Bomber Shop manual)

Interestingly, I took a dual capacitor from a Honda twin and a NOS similar one.
Testing the capacitor at elevated temperature, akin to what you get in service (i.e 80 °C in the JIS test, soaking at that temp for 30 minutes), the capacitance was bang on the correct value given by Honda on both the old and the NOS parts.

Also testing the the insulation firstly at 250v, then 500v  on a single 'static'  test, the insulation was fine on both the used one (Genuine part .. taken from a 1973 bike) and on the NOS one. I also tested a NOS electronic component 'wire ended' one of similar capacitance and voltage spec. The 1960's JIS test was 700 volts AC @50 /60 cycles/second)

However, there is a 'continuous' test mode on the new tester I bought and when tested on this function (it repeatedly applies the voltage albeit at a low frequency rate), the used one started displaying a value of a couple of megOhms leakage, whereas the NOS part and the 'reference' capacitor didn't.

So I guess the used condenser is leaky, dynamically and explains why the owner of the bike was reporting excessive arcing at the points, even though on a static test the capacitor tested out fine.

My next 'experiment' is to dig out a brand new Daiichi pattern one and put it through it's paces. This brand has a very bad press but is the pattern part sold by lot's of reputable parts suppliers including David Silvers.

UPDATE : I found a newish looking points/condenser assembly in my stash of parts and it looks like the points and condensers are all  Daiichi. Stamped 'Made in Japan'

I tested the condensers both statically and continuously and perfect results. All of the NOS Denso condensers I have tested so far are OK too. The only used one I have tested so far turned out to be leaky but it's 48 years old, so understandable I suppose.

I will go through my entire stock of used and NOS condensers and see how they all  fare.

Good work, Ashimoto!
I remember those Honda testers. Mine burned out the vibrator tube that ran the high-voltage test circuit, and I could never get a new tube after that.

The Daiichi condensors have undergone some transformations: they were first made in Japan and those are usually stamped with the 3-leaf symbol and "JAPAN" on their bottom ends. Those worked OK (I still have some of those). The ones that do NOT work OK are the ones from Daiichi (not Japan), which are knockoffs from China. For a while Daiichi Japan had Taiwan make some of the condensors, and those are stamped "Tai" or "Taiwan". Those work, too, but this only happened for a short while. It's the modern ones (since 2016) from mainland China that do not work, usually within 100 miles or less.

[MauiK3]

The chrome shop I used is in SoCal. Those guys are into chrome in a big way. Expensive though.
Great work.

[Stev-o]

Hey Steve...I had the OEM exhaust for my Kaw H1 500 rechromed last year, it was $425 [three pipes]
I thought that was reasonable, all things considered.  There is only 1 chrome shop left in Austin, old school, family run.
Good thing about two stroke bikes, the exhaust never rusts out!

What's the name of the outfit?  I'm in Austin all the time and this would be a good service to have available.

CenTex Plating.  David is the owner, his father-in-law started the business over 60 yrs ago...

https://centexplating.com/

[HondaMan]

These guys get my chrome work. I've NEVER seen the likes of their quality from anyone else. Their shop moto once was, "It has to LOOK like chrome before it can BE chrome." Not cheap, not fast, but amazing quality.

[AshimotoK0]

I bought a high voltage  insulation tester to 'weed' out condensers , before I build a pukka JIS spec.  tester. (see JIS spec as detailed in 1966 CB450K0 Black Bomber Shop manual)

Interestingly, I took a dual capacitor from a Honda twin and a NOS similar one.
Testing the capacitor at elevated temperature, akin to what you get in service (i.e 80 °C in the JIS test, soaking at that temp for 30 minutes), the capacitance was bang on the correct value given by Honda on both the old and the NOS parts.

Also testing the the insulation firstly at 250v, then 500v  on a single 'static'  test, the insulation was fine on both the used one (Genuine part .. taken from a 1973 bike) and on the NOS one. I also tested a NOS electronic component 'wire ended' one of similar capacitance and voltage spec. The 1960's JIS test was 700 volts AC @50 /60 cycles/second)

However, there is a 'continuous' test mode on the new tester I bought and when tested on this function (it repeatedly applies the voltage albeit at a low frequency rate), the used one started displaying a value of a couple of megOhms leakage, whereas the NOS part and the 'reference' capacitor didn't.

So I guess the used condenser is leaky, dynamically and explains why the owner of the bike was reporting excessive arcing at the points, even though on a static test the capacitor tested out fine.

My next 'experiment' is to dig out a brand new Daiichi pattern one and put it through it's paces. This brand has a very bad press but is the pattern part sold by lot's of reputable parts suppliers including David Silvers.

UPDATE : I found a newish looking points/condenser assembly in my stash of parts and it looks like the points and condensers are all  Daiichi. Stamped 'Made in Japan'

I tested the condensers both statically and continuously and perfect results. All of the NOS Denso condensers I have tested so far are OK too. The only used one I have tested so far turned out to be leaky but it's 48 years old, so understandable I suppose.

I will go through my entire stock of used and NOS condensers and see how they all  fare.

Good work, Ashimoto!
I remeber those Honda testers. Mine burned out the vibrator tube that ran the high-voltage test circuit, and I could never get a new tube after that.

The Daiichi condensors have undergone some transformations: they were first made in Japan and those are usually stamped with the 3-leaf symbol and "JAPAN" on their bottom ends. Those worked OK (I still have some of those). The ones that do NOT work OK are the ones from Daiichi (not Japan), which are knockoffs from China. For a while Daiichi Japan had Taiwan make some of the condensors, and those are stamped "Tai" or "Taiwan". Those work, too, but this only happened for a short while. It's the modern ones (since 2016) from mainland China that do not work, usually within 100 miles or less.

Just found that on the 'TEC' CB250K4 type ignition coil the original HT lead was made by Daiichi.

Modern Daiichi electrical parts get a bad press due to Chinese rip-offs but this proves that the companies products were used in Honda OEM electrical parts in the 1970's

[Kevin D]

In another thread here, I have seen that 750 4-4 exhaust sets are available at David Silver. About $2000. 10+ sets available.
Somebody might be listening. 👍

[MauiK3]

I’m sure glad I have mine, they sure have gone up in price.

[Don R]

 There is high demand due to them not being available for a while. I think the price will come down. Some.

[HondaMan]

I bought a high voltage  insulation tester to 'weed' out condensers , before I build a pukka JIS spec.  tester. (see JIS spec as detailed in 1966 CB450K0 Black Bomber Shop manual)

Interestingly, I took a dual capacitor from a Honda twin and a NOS similar one.
Testing the capacitor at elevated temperature, akin to what you get in service (i.e 80 °C in the JIS test, soaking at that temp for 30 minutes), the capacitance was bang on the correct value given by Honda on both the old and the NOS parts.

Also testing the the insulation firstly at 250v, then 500v  on a single 'static'  test, the insulation was fine on both the used one (Genuine part .. taken from a 1973 bike) and on the NOS one. I also tested a NOS electronic component 'wire ended' one of similar capacitance and voltage spec. The 1960's JIS test was 700 volts AC @50 /60 cycles/second)

However, there is a 'continuous' test mode on the new tester I bought and when tested on this function (it repeatedly applies the voltage albeit at a low frequency rate), the used one started displaying a value of a couple of megOhms leakage, whereas the NOS part and the 'reference' capacitor didn't.

So I guess the used condenser is leaky, dynamically and explains why the owner of the bike was reporting excessive arcing at the points, even though on a static test the capacitor tested out fine.

My next 'experiment' is to dig out a brand new Daiichi pattern one and put it through it's paces. This brand has a very bad press but is the pattern part sold by lot's of reputable parts suppliers including David Silvers.

UPDATE : I found a newish looking points/condenser assembly in my stash of parts and it looks like the points and condensers are all  Daiichi. Stamped 'Made in Japan'

I tested the condensers both statically and continuously and perfect results. All of the NOS Denso condensers I have tested so far are OK too. The only used one I have tested so far turned out to be leaky but it's 48 years old, so understandable I suppose.

I will go through my entire stock of used and NOS condensers and see how they all  fare.

Good work, Ashimoto!
I remeber those Honda testers. Mine burned out the vibrator tube that ran the high-voltage test circuit, and I could never get a new tube after that.

The Daiichi condensors have undergone some transformations: they were first made in Japan and those are usually stamped with the 3-leaf symbol and "JAPAN" on their bottom ends. Those worked OK (I still have some of those). The ones that do NOT work OK are the ones from Daiichi (not Japan), which are knockoffs from China. For a while Daiichi Japan had Taiwan make some of the condensors, and those are stamped "Tai" or "Taiwan". Those work, too, but this only happened for a short while. It's the modern ones (since 2016) from mainland China that do not work, usually within 100 miles or less.

Just found that on the 'TEC' CB250K4 type ignition coil the original HT lead was made by Daiichi.

Modern Daiichi electrical parts get a bad press due to Chinese rip-offs but this proves that the companies products were used in Honda OEM electrical parts in the 1970's

There was, for a long time, a Daiichi Japan company. I have many points and condensors from them, and they are good parts. When the "Made in Japan" disappeared on the Daiichi parts, that is when the troubles started. This happened about 7-8 years ago.