Tango

Couple of hundred bikes at Brampton I think. Some went up the A1M to Peterborough services and the rest went along the A14. Nothing silly on our one either......everyone well behaved. Waving to people on the bridges....and cars taking photo's as they went past. Had a film crew there.....so we'll see if it makes it onto the news..... Had a good run after too.....so a jolly good day out all-in-all.....

Good to have you back Neil.......hope you enjoyed your holiday. I'll see you at the MAG run.....and if you fancy the run after I'll be glad of some company..... Bob

Planning on heading back from Peterborough services along old A1 and going through Glatton on B660....thru Catworth....Kimbolton....Higham Ferrers....A6 to Sharnbrooke roundabout...then Thurleigh.....back end of St Neots.....and ending at Mum's tea van in St Neots market square for a cuppa......if anyone is interested? Short notice I know.....but if ya gonna be at the MAG demo from Brampton Hut maybe ya fancy a run after to blow the cobwebs...... Bob

Do your best Dave......every bike on the road will reinforce the point....

A couple of us going to the Brampton Hut ride......hoping that a few more from the area will also make the effort. BonnieBird can't make it as she is working...... Come on guys and gals....we need to show that we will not take this sort of interference by Governments or EU laying down. The aim is not to disrupt or cause a nuisance to other road users....just to show some solidarity within the biking community....and to demonstrate how many voters (coz bikers are voters too) they could be p*ssing off..... Bob

Yeah, I'm gonna go along.....then maybe have a little run around the lanes after depending on what time it disperses.

Sorry mate....got squash booked tonight...... Bob

I think you should be ok there.......so long as there are no loose wires that could touch the frame.

I have seriously considered this over the years....but never went ahead..... Maybe next year as it's nearing the end of my motorcycling season (fair weather biker)..... I've done a lot of defensive driving courses in the car....and it's amazing how much information you can pick up from the instructors. Driving or riding is like detective work.....you spot various clues that give you an indication on road conditions and what other road users are likely to do....and these courses teach you about many of these clues and how to spot them.....

You could possibly get the tyre back onto the rim with a bit of pursuation.....bit you'd need a high pressure air line to get it to seal back onto the rim.....probably best to take it to a tyre place and see if they'll do it for a coupla quid for you...

Cheap ABS...what more could you want....

Just as a bit of guidance......moving the clip up the needle (towards the flat end) will weaken the mixture and moving it down (towards the pointy end) will richen the mixture. Take your plug out and have a look at what colour it is....then move the clip appropriately as above. Hope this helps mate..... Bob

Interesting you bring this up as it was something i was quite unsure about so i put it back on a 'middle' setting, and have been thinking it might be the reason it's been juddering etc. Didn't know this setting would be in the manual, thanks! I think in the Haynes manual they would say which groove it should go on.....otherwise it may be a case of trial and error......or ask on a Honda forum.. But if it's not in the correct groove it'll mess up your fuelling at anything over tickover. As a matter of interest can you remember how many grooves are on it....from the dark recesses of what's left of my brain I seem to remember it having 4 or 5 grooves.....

Yeah....normally you put a smear of it on the metal plate at the back of the pad. It can help reduce squeal...but also stops the pad backing corroding and seizing or sticking to the pistons when it comes time to replace them again. I also put a thin smear on the guide pins to stop them corroding and allow the pads to move smoothly through them.

Is the main needle on the correct groove? I'm assuming that there are a series of grooves on the needle and you can set the height of it by putting the circlip securing it to the slider into different grooves.... Sorry I'm not very clear on this.....but check in the manual which groove it should be on. I think on the diagram it's assy 9 on the left side of the diagram and item 2 is the needle.

The material on the pads can "glaze" ie they develop a hard shiny surface....which although the brake levers feel right they are not as efficient in stopping you. Just like tyres, pads can deteriorate with age. I'd be inclined to replace them if you have any doubts about them.......brakes are pretty important on a bike as I'm sure you know. If you go down the route of replacing the pads it may be a good opportunity to replace the brake fluid too and also do some maintenance on the calipers as well. None of these jobs are difficult....but will make a big difference to your brake performance... Bob

I had a Honda CD175 in 1975 which ran on unleaded no problems....so I think you are OK. Normally lead was only added to fuel for high compression engines to stop pre-ignition (pinking). As above, the Jap bikes from the early 70's were tuned to run on unleaded.

I thought that the only bikes that had fuel pumps were Fuel Injected ones as the injection system needs fuel to be pressurized to spray through the injector ports. My last bike Trophy900 and Bonniebirds Bonneville certainly haven't got fuel pumps. But don't quote me on this...... Bob

I'm not 100% sure but I'd be suprised if your bike has a fuel pump.....but I could be wrong. So I'm really not sure which pipe it is that you are squeezing. If it goes to the inlet manifolds then it is probably some kind of emission thing or maybe even vacuum to the fuel tap. Anyway, if you pinch this tube and the bike runs OK it sounds like it is drawing air in where it shouldn't. Overfuelling would flood the carb....which would not necessarily result in running rich as the mixture is governed by the jets in the carb. Sorry chap...but I am really not familiar with this bike.

I'd give the bike a good service if it's not been done recently. Replace the plugs and also check if there is an inline fuel filter from the tank to the carbs (or possibly on the tap ) in case this is partially blocked.

The only adjustment I've come across for head bearings before is 2 large nuts on the top of the stem. The method was to tighten the lower nut so that any free play as checked by Stu's method is removed (you don't feel a slight knocking when you move the bottom of the fork legs back and forwards). Then the top nut is locked to the lower one to stop it coming undone. If you overtighten the lower nut you will feel the steering will be notchy as you move it (with the front wheel off the ground). Did it have taper bearings or plain ball bearings in it?

Yeah...the problem now could be that the battery is not holding its charge. Just make sure that there is nothing in the circuit that could be draining it overnight (alarm, etc)....otherwise the battery could have been fried by the alternator.

A lot of honda's suffer from the Regulator/Rectifier problem. If there's a problem with the charging circuit would the bike run at all, even if it's bumped? Guess that may depend on how much juice is left in the battery.....not enough to spin the starter, but enough to run the fuel pump and injectors.....sorry guys, just thinking out loud.... Bob

Is this bike twin carb? If one plug is brown (OK) and the other black (running rich) it could be that the choke mechanism to one carb is sticking. The bogging down while running could be fuel starvation....but this don't tie up with your increased consumption. Is the air filter OK....ie has it been replaced recently?

Sounds like you got a bit of a bargain there....decent bike boots do make a difference for sure.... I got a pair of Sidi Black Rain Evo's off eBay earlier in the year....really nice boots, but not completely waterproof as I found out on the way to the TMBF rally!!