Motorbikes

If you are wondering what this has to do with Yachting....well nothing really....except a yachtie has another interest.

I have found an interest in motorbikes, or at least, re-kindled the interest I had during my teens.

This is my 1974 Honda CB360 which I am "restoring". It was in pieces when I bought it and I put it together to find out whether it would go, and what needs fixing. I got it running on one cylinder and noted that the compressions were very low. However the gearbox and clutch worked fine. So I dismantled it completely, rebored the cylinders and fitted new pistons. I fitted a lot of new parts along the way, and it is now back together.

I had trouble with the clutch operating lever.
Download information with photos on my CB360's clutch problem (15MB zipped) and its solution.

I also had a lot of trouble getting it running on both cylinders, but I have now solved the problems - touch wood - and I have just finished a 90km ride. It goes well, and I noticed that the clutch and gearbox got easier as the oil got hot. They were okay when cold, but are really slick when warm. It is a pleasure to ride at 90kph. The wind buffeted a bit at 100kph for my liking, so I dropped back to 90.

I have just modified the seat from the original "no-shape" into a comfortable seat like you find on a Honda 650 Custom. I did the modification to the rubber myself, and then took it to a professional to get the cover made and fitted. This is my new comfortable seat.

I have re-chromed some parts, including Carb tops, rear fender, instruments, and header pipes, and they look great.

The mixture is a bit rich, and the plugs are sooting up quickly and then they start misfiring, or else the bike won't start until I clean them. As I can't alter the carburettor needle height, I am going to try lowering the float level to see if I can get the spark plugs brown, rather than sooty black. I have now done this and the plugs are now good. I have also changed to a plug which has a slightly higher central electrode and this has also helped. They are NGK BP5ES.

I am currently reconditioning the instruments. I have used wet and dry sandpaper to remove deep scratches on the glasses, and have decide to get the top outsides chromed rather than repaint them. The bottoms are stainless steel and I have polished them. The orange on the faces has faded badly over the years so I have used CorelDraw to make new faces and taken the opportunity to customise them. This shows progress to date.

Some of the scratches	The fading was bad
I started with 800 Wet & dry paper, then progressed to 2000 w&d. Then I used jewellers rouge to get back to clear glass again. While it does not have the shine of the original, it is actually better because reflections are less, so the face is easier to read.

My new faces

I owned 1951 B33 (rigid rear end) from 1960 -65 and we did many miles together. It was a great bike, so I was extremely pleased to be able to buy this one when it was auctioned recently. It needs little doing to it as it has been very well restored. I am still surprised at how much punch it has when you open the throttle!

If you have either of these bikes, and want to contact me to discuss them, click here