Japan Meets Britain...

Think that's why I've decided not to enter shows any more -- on the very rare occasion that I do get some kind of trophy, it mostly ends up in a cupboard somewhere, or just one more thing gathering dust on a shelf. Plus, I've come to the realization that standing in a field on a Sunday for hours on end waiting for the award winners to be announced is nowhere near as fun as being on the bike riding it.

Well I've finally decided on two winter projects -- one out of necessity, and one out of choice. The one that needs to be done is to replace a roller bearing in the transmission, and perhaps the kicker shaft. What's happening is that the kickstart lever moves on its own from time to time in second gear, which is not a good thing (and when I say 'moves', I mean that it goes all the way down, and all the way back up). I had this situation arise a few years ago, and we replaced the roller bearing and shaft then, but it seems that the bearing has worn again. Hopefully I won't have to be doing this every few years, as it requires splitting the cases to get at the root of the problem.

The second project is to put a 350 kit in the engine -- Bore-Tech makes a really great kit, so I'll probably have them do the bore and sleeve installation work. Stay tuned for all the excitement!
 
Went for a short (130 miles) ride today - man the weather is perfect here in Maryland.....mid-70's, low humidity, no wind. If only all that traffic would go away!

The odometer is currently at 23,388 miles -- I bought the bike 6 1/2 years ago, and it read 4,000 miles at the time. I'm determined to hit 24,000 miles by the end of the year!
 
Hey Vince go ride your bike. the weather should be clear for a while. I can't ride for a while. I just had ACL reconstruction surgery so i will be layed out for about a month at least.

You're right on the whole waiting for the judges at a show if you entered your bike. I like going to shows, but only for a few hours tops maybe 3 and then just ride.What I do is ask around or let people know where I'm going after the show and ask them to tag along. People like when I take them thru the country roads into small towns etc.. hope you get 25,000 miles by the end of the year. i put 7000 on my seca last year. But only 1500 this year. but I was spending more time working on my 1973 TX 650 so I did not ride as much. i have put 2000 mls on the TX though.

You can do it. :)
 
Went for the last (very chilly!) ride last week. It was 31 degrees, and took the bike to John for the latest round of winter projects, and they are biggies!
The cylinders were sent to Bore-Tech yesterday to have their 350 kit installed. Today the head is going to a local firm to have mild porting and polishing done. And the next big thing is....drum roll.....a 5 speed transmission! Now that one's going to take some saving of the pennies, but this will hopefully be the final word on projects for this bike....of course, I said that last winter too. Only thing about the 5 speed (besides the cost) is that you lose the kickstart mechanism, but this bike's so light that you could bump start it in about 5 strides, so not a big deal.

Final mileage on the odometer for the year was 23,588. Not quite the 24,000 I was hoping for, but we'll hit it next year, then it will be 20,000 miles on the bike in 6 years!

Probably the coldest weather in which I've ridden! Hmm...but there was that snowstorm in Toronto back in '86.....
Brrr.jpg
 
Glad to see even your beautiful project is never done! ;D Keep us informed of the progress--with pics!
 
Thanks for the note -- the latest now is that Bore-Tech should have the cylinders either today or tomorrow, and yesterday I went to Ladd's Porting to drop the head off. Mr. Ladd definitely knows his stuff (after being in the business for 50 years, you'd hope so!), and is the right man for the job. I got a bunch of advice on porting and polishing the SuperHawk head, and passed it on to Mr. Ladd. It's going to be a mild port and polish, with reliability as the top priority. The only other thing I need to save my pennies for is the 5 speed kit! As well, most of this will be coming together at the end of January, so there's going to be some waiting around time.

It was also suggested to me that the vibrations might increase with the jump to the 350 kit, so after I get the cylinders back and the new pistons, the crank, conrods and pistons are going to House of Balance in nearby Elkridge, MD. These guys are also tops in their field, and once this bike is all buttoned back up, I think it's going to be one heck of a ride! Of course, it's going to look exactly the same, but hopefully I'll be able to keep up with my buddies on their CB750's.

I'll try to take progress shots as things come back from their various sources, so stay tuned!
 
when reading my first thought was reliability, hate to see you spend so much cash and have a machine that lets you down miles from home.....doing so many mods can sometimes reduce reliability and actually cause more headaches than it is worth, so make sure no details are missed. another concern is ridability,the stock/docile nature may disappear but again this may be something you are looking for...
fyi, top of the class balance company in the usa is falicon in fla.
good luck,joe@vcycle
 
Thanks for the reply Joe -- yes, I've definitely been down this road before, and as you say reliability is key (particularly due to the mileage I generally put on this bike). Fortunately I have the best (IMO) people doing their respective work, so everything should be fine. This will probably all start to come together towards the end of January, so I just have to deal with not having my bike for a couple of months! Ah well, it's just started snowing outside, so this is probably the best time to have the work done.

I think I'm going to look at House of Balance here in Elkridge (about 10 minutes away from me). They've come highly recommended to me by several people, and the fact that they're local to me is a big help. Do appreciate the recommendation, and if for some reason the House of Balance folks don't work out, I'll certainly contact the guys down in Florida.

Right now the only thing I haven't arranged is the 5 speed transmission, but I've been in contact with the manufacturers and have discussed it with them. Just need to finish saving the money for it!
 
Engine work is coming along -- the 5 speed transmission's been ordered, the 350 bore/kit should be done by the end of next week, the head should be ready in two weeks, and my new 'competition' valve springs just arrived!


With Yummy Titanium Keepers!
valves.jpg
 
Just heard from Bore-Tech this morning, and the 350 kit/barrels are on the way! And I think that the 5 speed transmission is shipping this week too, so things are starting to come together.
 
Nice Vince, The best part about your bike is the fact you ride it! It is show quality for sure but it doesn't just sit the the garage and get wiped with a towel. I couldn't own a bike I didn't ride.
 
Thanks for the encouragement! Admittedly (and I've stated this many times before), I don't do my own major mechanical work - I save that for the people who really know what they're doing. I know my abilities, and mechanics isn't one of them. But, I think I'm good at researching, figuring out how I want it to look/perform, finding the right parts and the best people (or the ones I like, anyways!), bringing all the elements together, and keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out. Don't know if that puts me in the 'built' or 'bought' category, but I do know that I'm in the 'riding' and not 'trailering' camp!
 
One more piece is back!

head.jpg



Intake and exhaust ports were opened up, valve job and vacuum test, clean and assembled with the new springs and retainers.
 
Getting there, looks like you will have it all back fro the riding season. Well if your season starts around April :)
 
The only thing I can point my finger at here is the chrome headlight. I think it would be better in gloss black as the front end seems a bit like "chrome in chrome" if you get my drift? Sort of like evening out the chrome and not have it all in one place.
 
I think the whole idea with the 'chrome on chrome' was to mimic the chrome headlights of the British bikes (particularly BSA's). Probably the only that might change at that end would be to get rid of the headlight visor....we'll see.


Here is how the bike is looking right now -- a familiar sight!


Honda2011-1.jpg
 
Hmm, I remember most brits as having black headlights.

I run a chrome headlight too and think it's a tad too much, mine will look better black I think. :)
 
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