Thanks for the words of wisdom guys.
@ Godffery, your carb advice sounds solid. Thanks.
@ Hush, I hear what you're saying about the tinkering. Don't worry, I've been riding it like a bat out of hell (photos below!).
@ Photolar, you are correct, that HP rating I got from the spec sheet here on SOHC4.net. That is probably at the crank so 31HP isn't all that bad I'm told.
Ok so some updates...
Firstly, the riding. Me and my two mates went on a great trip up to Marysville, around Lake Mountain way to Warburton. It is really an incredible part of Victoria that I'd never been too before. And the roads... Wow. It's like a video game in parts; ferns and tall gums over-hanging tight corners and flawless roads. It was incredible.
Without having anything to compare to, I feel the bike handles great. Brakes, acceleration, cornering, suspension were all performing well I thought. No surprises (except for some badly timing down shifting on my part that was a little scary coming into a corner).
I tried really hard to let the bike run at higher RPM's (6k-7k RPM) and not be afraid of the 6 speed gear box.
Smiles all 'round. We'd just pulled over to talk over a particularly fun part of the trip. A very fast looking Lamborghini had just sped past us.
So I finally sorted out my tail light situation. I bought a NOS Lucas L488 over eBay. The rubber was a bit split in places and the globe mount borderline antique but it all works (eventually I'll have to buy the new version they make and replace it). I think it looks perfect and really ties the back end together nicely.
As you can see, I still haven't had a chance to have the seat upholstered. I just really can't stand to be off the bike for the time it will take to have done!
For the license plate holder I just cut off the front plate from the Lucas type mount I had bought years ago and bent up some aluminum to hold it off the rear frame hump. It's not graceful by any means, but I really couldn't think of a better way to mount it. Fixing it to the seat with resin perhaps? I really should have made that seat out of alloy!
Speaking of things that should be alloy, a mate cracked my side cover when we were off loading the bike from his ute. Bummer but the plastic is quite brittle with age so it was bound to happen. For now, I'll just deal with it but a respray and color match will have to happen.
You may recall me saying a while back that the chrome on my muffler had been ruined from an overflowing/overcharging battery on my first ride. Here's some close ups of the damage to both the muffler and the center stand spring that was in the path of the overflow tube. Some acid ended up on the rear hum but it didn't do much damage, just some light pitting in places. The above damage does not wash/polish/buff out. It's permanent.
I know it's months overdue but one of you blokes asked for some close ups of the muffler as it is a cheapo Norton Commando replica from eBay fitted to the stock CB400F headers. Here's the old ruined join.
And the new replacement one. Same thing really. Basically Matt The Mechanic cut off the existing smaller mounting pipe from the muffler and welded a bit of stainless tube on at a slight upwards angle. Then on the stock header collector box he had to weld on a larger pipe mount so the pipe would slip on the right way for flow. So it does alter the stock collector but I love the result. Obviously I have to clean up the welds and apply a little touch up rust proofing where the chrome burned off.
Had to get a mirror for the safety inspection. I went with the rectangle style and I think it works. Not subtle, but I really don't like the droopy bar end look for some reason. Posh make a non-adjustable version that would clean it up further, but it was twice the price and the shop didn't have it in stock at the time. This will do for now.
Finally found some 5mm adapters for a borrowed carb sync tool. Looking forward to getting this done.
You were all right. Clubmans are the poor mans clipons. So I bought clipons. Timbo highly recommended the Woodcraft ones but nothing else on this bike is billeted and I wanted to keep it that way. So good ole' steel it is.
I also got a spare top triple tree from 400FourBits.co.uk for ten pound. I had it filled with weld at the local body shop (which took almost three weeks...) and now I'm trying to cut it down. The cutting discs/grinder I had wasn't up to the task, so I'll have to try again tomorrow with the right tools. Then it's off to the powder coaters along with some other bits and pieces (finally going to cut off the rear passenger foot peg mounts I think).
That's it for now.
Rick.
