Guess who has a 36 spoke rear rim and hub laced together?
It's me.
I bought a truing stand but they didn't have the dial indicator in stock at HF. There's one possibly in stock at another location so maybe I can get over there today and pick it up to get these ready for rubber. I wanna see this thing on it's wheels again so it will motivate me to get a fully ridable bike.
In reply to captainawesome :
i've scrolled past this thread so many times and today my brain said "super minibike" instead of "mini superbike" and i thought "man, i gotta read about this!"
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
If you squint it could look like a super minibike.
I've been tinkering off and on with this and finally gaining momentum. A month or so back I managed to clean up the triple trees and fork legs enough for some paint action. New fork seals and fluid were done while it was all apart. Also cracked open the front caliper to clean it out well. The seal looks great as well as the piston so it just needs a fresh coat of paint.
In this pic you will see the newer tank I got off ebay quite a while back. It was shipped over from Canada and looks NOS minus a dent near the edge of the seat on the left hand side. Unfortunately it's not the same shade of red of the other parts but better than the ugly junk the bike came with.
Over last weekend I got some motivation to put the bike back on wheels. My garage needs a good clean/organization right now and being able to roll it around will help a ton. So I finally got back to truing up those wheels I laced. I've had them in spec a couple times but then tried to get perfect only to mess things up. After getting started my main goal was to get it within spec and STOP messing with it. It took a couple hours but both were finished. I quickly pulled together my tire irons, windex, small trash can to hold the wheel, and some rim protectors. The front tire was more of a pain than the rear but it wasn't too much fuss. The rear I screwed up and put on backwards then had to remove and reinstall. What a dunce.
Anyway, this is where I left off. I still need to paint the risers, headlight brackets, rotor center, and caliper. Hoping to find time this week to get it mostly resembling a bike again.
Sorry for the crappy pics. Also ignore the fender brace with the invisible fender. I have something in the works that I'll post up soon.
I enjoy updates on this !
Here's an old pic of the Honda 400 I rode across country when I was 18.
In reply to TurboFource :
Nice! I have yet to ride that version of the Hawk. For whatever reason I've only been on the 250 and 750 Nighthawks. As for cross country I'd like to do a little more long distance road tripping at some point. Maybe next year will be a good goal.
Still chipping away. I'm in the final stages of tinkering before it's ready for the maiden voyage.
Front fender is off of a Royal Enfield Continental GT brand new from India for $28.03 shipped. Can't beat that. Silly light weight and looks good. Still tinkering with the mounting bracket so it's just sitting there in the pics.
Brake rotor, stock handlebar risers, and caliper painted. Went back to stock risers because the rd350 ones were pretty heavy and just didn't quite look right.
Found a really nice condition stock plastic headlight bucket to replace the metal one that came with the bike. I like the look and weight of the stock one more but the light output is atrocious. Gonna sort that out soon I think by modding the shell. Not a fan of the headlight brackets still but will work for now. I will probably fab something simpler after it's roadworthy.
Clutch lever doesn't match the brake shape and it's driving me insane. I'll address this as well after it's on the road.
Wiring harness is mostly routed but waiting on some bits to finish it up. Running all new wire and terminals. I'll probably spring for the Trail Tech Vapor digital speedo and tach soon. While running wires I found that the coil had some hacked up wiring so I'll probably order a new one.
Looks great! Got a link for the front fender supplier?
In reply to Racingsnake :
Price jumped up on the one I bought but here's a link to one around a whopping dollar more than what I paid. It was actually for a GT Continental, gonna edit that in my post. EBAY LINK
Nice!
lookin' way good .......turn signals?
In reply to 759NRNG :
I've always used hand signals. I may look into some at a later date but doubtful.
captainawesome said:In reply to 759NRNG :
I've always used hand signals. I may look into some at a later date but doubtful.r
You might want to reconsider this response ......peeps aren't always aware of scoots and maybe some 'lighting' might increase your chances of survival....just sayin' bro ...have a great ride!!!
captainawesome said:In reply to Racingsnake :
Price jumped up on the one I bought but here's a link to one around a whopping dollar more than what I paid. It was actually for a GT Continental, gonna edit that in my post. EBAY LINK
Cool, thanks!
759NRNG said:captainawesome said:In reply to 759NRNG :
I've always used hand signals. I may look into some at a later date but doubtful.r
You might want to reconsider this response ......peeps aren't always aware of scoots and maybe some 'lighting' might increase your chances of survival....just sayin' bro ...have a great ride!!!
Don't know that turn signals make much difference - better off just assuming people can't see you and riding accordingly
In my experience the signals are less obvious than me positioning my arm to signal but agree it's best to assume NO ONE knows or sees what you are doing.
It's been way too long on this project. The front fender is mounted, electronic ignition has been fitted, and most of the wiring has been completed. I need one more mini relay for the headlight circuit for it to be complete as well as mounting the new coil. I've mounted some Kawasaki tank badges that really help the looks but no pics snapped. Now that I'm mostly caught up with other projects I need to just get this one on the road. It's officially titled, tagged, and insured so there's no reason not to. Tonight I'll get the coil mounted, valve lash set, maybe brakes adjusted and bleed this evening?
Looks great! Always thought the tail section on KZs looked good!
In reply to TurboFource :
In my opinion some of the best of the era.
Last night I managed to tick a few things off the list.
Anti-seized and tightened up the stainless carb holder allen heads.
Valve lash adjustment.
New spark plugs.
Started bleeding front brake. It's getting there but clearly still some air in the system. I'll fiddle with it more this week as time allows. This is where all the time went. ALL OF IT.
I did notice that the new coil was already installed, so yay me for doing something before I planned to do it?
New list:
adjust rear brake
clutch cable adjustment
double check timing and spark from electronic ignition
quick bolt check
fill with fuel
start bike?
Ugh. Found out why my front brakes won't bleed. We got ourselves a leaky seal.
UNFORTUNATELY THIS ITEM IS NLA...
There is one person on ebay selling one seal for $50!!!!
Originally I wasn't going to pay it and just find another caliper to adapt, but that ends up being a rabbit hole. Costs will certainly spike above the $50 and I'd rather hit the easy button. I also considered trying to find a seal from other applications but by the time I find the right one I'd be out more time and either at or above the $50.
So here's some pics of super rare rubber bands and some measurements. Just in case anyone out there happens to know of a 41mm seal that would do the trick?
The smaller seal is just a dust seal and it actually looks to fit tighter to the piston, so mainly just need the bigger of the two.
Crisis averted! I think.
A kz400/440 group on Facebook confirmed an RD125 seal kit from 78-81 should fit. The ad I bought some off of on ebay show the casting body to be what I think is the exact same as the Kawasaki so fingers crossed this will work....
Nice find!
In reply to TurboFource :
Agreed! Although I won't find out quickly, it's shipping from the UK....
That gives me time to wrap everything else up and start potentially messing with jetting. Out of the box the Sudco setup matches what SpeedMotoCo and Dime City offerings. They aren't well known for doing great out of the box. Probably will have to drop the main size, up the pilot, change the needle jet and the needle. It's probably another $75 in brass I could have just had installed when I ordered but oh well.
Late to the party, but when I saw the 400...
Those mufflers bear a resemblance to the "Peashooter" mufflers on my long dead departed but still loved Norton Commando. Any idea of manufacturer? Interested in maybe using them on a Cagiva Alazzura... if they are loud enough
I'm a fat old man, but still young enough to want to piss off the neighbors
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