I did it again... Bought a baby blade to rebuild...

Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
Things have stalled a little bit for a while. I am building a concrete pad/shed in the garden on my tod, which is soaking up any free time I have right now. However, this top yoke arrived to replace my screwed up one:

CBR400rr179.jpg


CBR400rr178.jpg



Looking pretty mucky, but its all there, and looks in good shape.

Dunked it into some citric acid for a few hours, attacked with a toothbrush:

CBR400rr180.jpg


Came out looking like this:

CBR400rr181.jpg


CBR400rr182.jpg


Looking a little bit cleaner, now for some sanding/polishing:

CBR400rr183.jpg


Not perfect yet, but should look a little nicer on the bike now!
 
Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
The bike shed is almost done, and i had a few minutes to spare, so decided to work on a couple of small things that were bothering me..

Swapping this over:

CBR400rr184.jpg


This was also bugging me:

CBR400rr185.jpg


Stuck the cap into some faithful Citric Acid, being careful not to get too much on any rubber parts:

CBR400rr187.jpg


Couple of minutes:

CBR400rr186.jpg


Gave it a quick rub down, and put it back in for another few mins:

CBR400rr189.jpg


Not perfect, but MUCH better :D

Threw it all together again:

CBR400rr188.jpg


Looking forward to getting it into the shed this weekend, and might be able to get the old engine out, and perhaps the new one in :D

Also, I need to work out the cable arrangements, as I can't quite make it look OEM.
 
Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
Shed was delayed as I am waiting for lino.. Should be here in early Jan..
However, I did decide to remove the old engine this evening in the garage and it is now OUT.
Yes!! Was a bit of a faff, but not too horrible.
Ran out of time to go any further tonight, but I might have the new engine in some time over the next two days before I go away to visit relatives.
Otherwise, it will be in early Jan.
Pics to follow
 
Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
enjoying this build, had both a NC24(in Rothman's) and 23(in grey&gold) back in the day, great fun bikes

Great to hear, lets hope this turns out to be as fun!

So, my late night engine replacement antics kicked off as I stated above.

So, this was the old block in place:
CBR400rr190.jpg


Lets see if we can whip it out:
CBR400rr191.jpg

Long story short, yes, I can. Took about 2 hours, mainly because I was faffing a bit, and working in limited space!

Big empty gaps!!

CBR400rr193.jpg


CBR400rr194.jpg


New tested block ready to go in:
CBR400rr195.jpg


I then also decided to start swapping over the drive gubbins to the newer wheels. I think I want to go white on these original wheels, but I can do this at leisure whist the new wheels let me ride!

CBR400rr196.jpg


Cleaning up the disc whilst I have it in bits. Will likely need replacing soon anyway, but I want to have a go painting the inner tab parts to see how it holds up in use :)

CBR400rr197.jpg


That's where I am up to, so hopefully may get the new engine back in tonight before I go away till the new year :)
 
Last edited:
Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
Disc cleaned up and masked:
CBR400rr198.jpg


With VHT silver:

CBR400rr199.jpg


CBR400rr200.jpg


Being baked:

CBR400rr201.jpg


Looking kinda sorry, with new engine ready to go in:

CBR400rr202.jpg


Disc back in place on the new wheel:

CBR400rr203.jpg


Ready to go on:

CBR400rr204.jpg


Moved over a couple of cables, and bits from old to new:

CBR400rr205.jpg


Annnnd its in!

CBR400rr206.jpg


CBR400rr207.jpg

Went in much easier than I thought, as I figured out a better way to jack it up on my own to keep it level.

Got to replace the oil filter, do a quick oil change, refit some coolant hoses/etc. There is also the carb rubbers/and a few odd bits.

Then its just plugging it all back in and seeing if it will start :D

However, I am not around for a week, so it will have to wait till the new year :(
 
Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
Carb rubbers were tough to remove on the old engine (new ones ordered), and the clamps were looking very sorry for themselves:
CBR400rr208.jpg


Take to bits, and dunk in the usual:

CBR400rr209.jpg


Looking a bit better now:
CBR400rr210.jpg


CBR400rr211.jpg


CBR400rr212.jpg


Coolant pipes also looking funky:
CBR400rr213.jpg


CBR400rr214.jpg


Dunked:
CBR400rr215.jpg


Out:
CBR400rr216.jpg


CBR400rr217.jpg



New rear wheel on:
CBR400rr218.jpg


New coolant pipe o-rings vs the old:

CBR400rr221.jpg


Tried my luck on some random fuel filler bolts:

CBR400rr222.jpg


Not all of them fit, but some do, and fills the gaps in the ones I did not have :D
 
Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
I threw the old girl together today, and took her for an MOT... I was not really expecting her to pass, but I booked her in, at the local garage is a racing bike prep place. They actually have said before, if you are not sure, bring it down for an MOT as its much cheaper than paying us by the hour to look it over!

The ride down to the garage...Firstly, it's a very sprightly little bike, even in its freshly put back together form. I only had about 2 miles to ride her there but I really enjoyed it. However, IT WAS VERY LOUD!! (More to come on this later!) Brakes need a bit of tweaking (more to come on this too) but over all, it held up, and i went through all the gears, the lever needs to be adjusted, its way too high at the moment which makes up-changes difficult.

When i got there, i told the guy it was basically very loud, and apologised, and he found a little (actually MASSIVE) hidden between the collectors in the exhaust. He said it would be an immediate fail, but I asked him to go through it anyway so I can get it checked out.

About an hour later, the fail sheet arrived, and it was nasty

Date Result Details
25/01/2020 13:48 Fail
Mileage:
10,211 kilometres
Refusal Notices
  • Nearside front brake disc fractured (1.1.14 (a) (ii)) - Dangerous
  • Rear brake pad(s) less than 1.0 mm thick (1.1.13 (a)) - Dangerous
  • Rear wheel spindle or securing nut(s) so insecure that wheel security or steering control is adversely affected (5.2.1 (c) (ii)) - Dangerous
  • Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases (6.1.2 (a)) - Major
  • Exhaust noise is clearly in excess of that emitted by a similar motorcycle fitted with a standard silencer in average condition (8.1.1 (a)) - Major
  • Handlebar grip missing (2.2.1 (d) (i)) - Major
  • Front brake master cylinder insecure (1.1.10 (c)) - Major
  • Front wheel bearing has excessive play (5.1.3 (a) (i)) - Major
  • Rear brake caliper insecure (1.1.16 (c) (i)) - Major
Advisory Notices
  • Front wheel has a slightly distorted bead rim (5.2.2 (c) (i))
So, lets knock these all down:
Nearside front brake disc fractured (1.1.14 (a) (ii)) - Dangerous
New discs have been ordered, along with the rear, seeing as they came as a set, and will match designs, which is nice :D

Rear brake pad(s) less than 1.0 mm thick (1.1.13 (a)) - Dangerous
Again, ordered a set if rears to turn up sharpish, and then got the fronts with a spare set of rears (they were a nice price, and a bundle with slower postage) for later in Feb.

Rear wheel spindle or securing nut(s) so insecure that wheel security or steering control is adversely affected (5.2.1 (c) (ii)) - Dangerous
Errrm, little oopsie from me here, I missed a spacer on the rear axle, and this meant the rear wheel could not be tightened fully!
So, checked the old wheel, located the missing bit, removed the wheel on the bike, and swapped it over.. Job done :D

This negated the following point too:
Rear brake caliper insecure (1.1.16 (c) (i)) - Major
Nice and secure now the spacer is in place!

Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases (6.1.2 (a)) - Major
Exhaust noise is clearly in excess of that emitted by a similar motorcycle fitted with a standard silencer in average condition (8.1.1 (a)) - Major

Ordered myself a shiney "Delkevic" downpipes in stainless steel - should be here in a few days

Handlebar grip missing (2.2.1 (d) (i)) - Major
I had no idea this was a major, will get them fitted before the retest!

Front brake master cylinder insecure (1.1.10 (c)) - Major
Looks like I had not quite torqued this up fully, we actually nipped it up there and then, should not be on the sheet!

Front wheel bearing has excessive play (5.1.3 (a) (i)) - Major
Ordered a replacement set for a very reasonable price!

The only advisory:
Front wheel has a slightly distorted bead rim (5.2.2 (c) (i))
I went down with the original front wheel on, so may be able to knock down the wheel bearing and bead issue just by swapping it over :)

A little pic of it whilst it was being looked over (did not put the full fairings on again yet)
CBR400rr223.jpg
 
Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
Few little bits done for the MOT re-test this AM :)

Found some CG125 fairing rubbers that seemed to fit my tank, which makes the fairings fit a little more nicely!

CBR400rr224.jpg


Wait, what's in this big box :D

CBR400rr225.jpg



Niiiiceeee, should work a little better, and be a little less holey than the original!

CBR400rr226.jpg


Lets throw it on! It went on with a little fiddling, some of the pipes did not quite line up, and needed a bit of persuasion to get into place, but I am told that's not uncommon with this sort of thing:

CBR400rr227.jpg


CBR400rr228.jpg


Only problem is....

CBR400rr229.jpg


CBR400rr230.jpg


It seems the end can on the original pipe will no longer fit. The original exhaust had had an extra flange welded onto it to take a non-standard pipe.

So, that will not do!!

But wait, this looks a little nicer!!

CBR400rr231.jpg


Got this bargain pipe for it, little longer than the old one, and looks a little more factory imo!


Brakes were up next!

CBR400rr232.jpg


You may notice the front pads are missing, just waiting on them to come in from China (they were not a problem on the MOT anyway). However, this little lot was not cheap, but should look a little nicer than the original, and hopefully give some decent performance.

CBR400rr233.jpg


CBR400rr234.jpg


Some of you may notice that the front wheel has changed, back to an original NC23 wheel, which should take care of the knackered front bearing issue.

I was not happy with the front brake lever/master cylinder. It seemed to have a pinhole leak somewhere which was annoying me. So, I moved to a new lever, and had to work out where to mount the fill pot. The standard bracket would not work, as it kept fouling the fairing.. So, i whipped up a small bracket from some scrap lying about:

CBR400rr235.jpg


CBR400rr236.jpg


Tucked away, and no longer fouling the frame/fairing anywhere :)

Rear pads/pin were up next:
CBR400rr237.jpg


I put new caliper pin dust covers on all round too:

CBR400rr238.jpg


Rear disc, as it came with the fronts in the kit!
CBR400rr239.jpg



Rear end back together:
CBR400rr240.jpg


I had bought a fuel tap lever from a later bike, as I could not find one for this type, but it was too long, and was sticking out where my knees would be, and would get knocked about. It sort of fitted, but the square indent on the end was way too big, so I used a bit of whitemorph in the end, to get the shape right, and tested it. Worked fine, but was still way too long. So I cut out the middle section, and re-glued it back together:

CBR400rr241.jpg


The whitemorph:
CBR400rr242.jpg


Re-melting the whitemorph for final fitment/moulding:

CBR400rr243.jpg


Ready to go:

CBR400rr244.jpg


Much neater!!

CBR400rr245.jpg


Not going to get poked here by accident anymore!

CBR400rr246.jpg


Hopefully back down for the MOT re-test today :D
 
Transmission breaker
Don
OP
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
16,793
Location
In a house
CBR400rr247.jpg


CBR400rr248-.jpg


It's fun! needs some work on the setup/carbs, but I might just pay the local dyno place to give it a once over. It revs so high, and sounds amazing. Not taken the bung out yet, but I will get around to it soon :D
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
11 May 2007
Posts
8,905
Location
Surrey
  • Nearside front brake disc fractured (1.1.14 (a) (ii)) - Dangerous
  • Rear brake pad(s) less than 1.0 mm thick (1.1.13 (a)) - Dangerous
  • Rear wheel spindle or securing nut(s) so insecure that wheel security or steering control is adversely affected (5.2.1 (c) (ii)) - Dangerous
  • Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases (6.1.2 (a)) - Major
  • Exhaust noise is clearly in excess of that emitted by a similar motorcycle fitted with a standard silencer in average condition (8.1.1 (a)) - Major
  • Handlebar grip missing (2.2.1 (d) (i)) - Major
  • Front brake master cylinder insecure (1.1.10 (c)) - Major
  • Front wheel bearing has excessive play (5.1.3 (a) (i)) - Major
  • Rear brake caliper insecure (1.1.16 (c) (i)) - Major

You're lucky you didn't die on the way to the test! :D
 
Back
Top Bottom