Old Hondas and the rain

I'd forgotten what the old 750 Four was like in the wet.

Ker-chunka-chunka-chunk and it's a 562cc triple. Above five grand
suddenly the fourth pot chimes in and the back end twitches.

Get it wetter and it's a 187cc twin. Then a triple. And suddenly a four
again.

Park it for half an hour, get back on it, and it's perfect because all
the moisture has evaporated from under the tank. But hang about, here
comes the next downpour....

I remember now that I used to carry a small can of WD40 under the seat
of my old F1.

<Makes note to buy WD40>

 

My first VFR used to do that occasionally, if it was overdue for new plugs
(a job often overlooked as they are not easy to fit, especially the front
ones; Fortunately it was usually one of the back ones which can be
accessed by "simply" moving the tank by a couple of inches. To get to the
front ones you have to move the radiator). So it's not just SO Hondas,
although perhaps a 1986 VFR is a SO Honda by now. My current 1990 vintage
VFR has never done this so they must have improved it.

What school of maths are you using? Since when has 187 been half of 750?
And you're not suggesting it'll run on one are you? It'd barely be able to
turn itself over I'd think.

What about the brakes? Doesn't it have the kind that need 100 yards to dry
off after application?

Which isn't over good for brakes.

Regards, Ian

 

How come someone with your penchant for SOBs hasn't got several cans in
the garage in varying states of emptiness? I can't turn around without
tripping over a can of the bloody stuff, & I've only got one bike over
ten years old!

 

I'm with TOG on this one. Don't believe in aerosols, see. Work of
the devil, they are. Mistake a can of WD40 for your Silvikrin and
your swingback will never be the same again.

I buy the stuff a gallon at a time and pour it into a trigger spray(1)
(and across half the patio, but that's really by-the-by). However,
when this gallon is gone (one fill left in it over two years use) it
will be replaced with a gallon of Duck Oil, which smells much nicer.


1. Trigger spray has adjustable spray pattern, from solid jet to fine
mist. Also spray pressure depends on how hard one works the trigger -
far superior to the aerosol, much less wasteful and kinder to the
ozone layer to boot.

 

Heh. All part of the fun. At the Rawtenstall show a couple of years ago, I
bought an industrial quantity of Holts Wet Start water dispersant (16 cans
at 50p a can) for this very same reason. As you very well know, 550/Fours
suffer from the same malaise.

If I`m out on my travels, and there is the slightest chance of a good
downpour, a can gets stuffed in with my tool roll.

Saying this, it`s been fine since I waterproofed the coils. First, I cleaned
them with some degreaser, and then left them on the radiator overnight to
dry them out. Then I painted the coils themselves with a rubberized paint,
siliconed around where the leads go into the coils, and fitted new plug
caps.

Jobs a goodun, the rain has not affected it since.

 

Oops. Yes.

Not quite as bad as that, but yes.

 

That sounds like a plan, if I were keeping the bike, but I'm only
running it for the summer.

 

You also appear to have forgotten the cure pre electronic ignition.
Back in the days when these machines were in use everyday there was a a
standard procedure.
Take the coil(s) off and leave overnight in a low oven to ensure perfect
dryness and then encapsulate in waterproof plastic spray. Left the
machine with weatherproof daily running for at least a couple of years.
Sorry but I cannot remember what the spray was, it was on every
dealer's shelf.

Your plaint awoke my memory, perhaps this will remind somebody else.

HTH John.

 

yebbut, that qualifies as "keeping" for you...

 

<fx: runs fingers over bald patch where hair used to live>

Hmmmm...

That sounds *far* too sensible to me. Besides, shaking all the
near-empty cans to find one with enough left for the task at hand is
all part of the fun. I think I need to get out more.

 

On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 21:10:59 +0100 If I have seen farther it is
because I have stood on the shoulder of giants

My old Cx500 suffered a bit of this with the pots being outside the
tank but ACF50 cured it,
http://www.corrosion-control.com/acf50.html
http://www.f2motorcycles.ltd.uk/service.html
Among loads of other things.Way better than Wd40 and,"NO" I don't work
for them but having been in the Aircraft Industry for over 25 years I
can tell you the spec of this stuff is way higher than normal
commercial products.

HTH



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It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Preston Kemp"

Pah! I speet on your Yankee pentrating oil. A 50/50 mix of biodiesel and
dino diesel does it for me and costs next to buggrall.

I'm with Pip on the trigger spray, though.

 

This is what I use and, IMO, it's better than WD40; certainly for water
dispersal.