Time to blow the cobwebs off the winter hibernation. Nice 50 mile blat, after a winter of lazy Blade power commuting, I had to recalibrate my brain for 400 riding, must keep those revs up, and how these puppies drop into a corner faster than a whore drops her draws. Now a complete strip down and refurb before the summer season. Not sure whats up with the light metering on my IPhone, these pics are well over exposed. One of the last NC30s made, crated from new, never used in Japan, first fired up in the UK in Sep 99, so on a V plate. Near full history including original docs and bill of sale and the feeble 35W headlamp bulbs, and all original except race can and screen. MPH clocks from new and covered 11k miles so far.
That looks well, almost too good to risk / use on the road but if you dont use them they become an ornament. Would you be able to get replica fairings from China and store the originals? There is not really any modern equivalent that I know of, maybe KTM 390 Duke but know a different approach etc.
Getting closer to completion, spent all weekend in the garage. Rebuilt all the calipers with new OEM seals, upgraded the forks with heavier springs, spacers and new seals/dust covers and replaced all the hoses with a Samco kit. New filters, plugs, oils and coolant. Fired it up for the first time since rejetting and modding the carb sliders and shims. New gasket kits and 4 new inlet rubbers and vacuum hose. I ultrasonically cleaned the float bowls and emulsions and pilots, but in truth the carbs were very clean when I opened them up, I think someone had beaten me to it. Never started so easy, happy days. Hypocritical I know, but I could not stop myself stripping down and checking the valve shims....I take my flaming with grace - Proof below So, just new Hel lines and SBS pads to fit and a new Mike Capon custom built shock that will work with either a 17 or 18" rear wheel to fit and new BT090 Pros to be mounted and its off for a MOT
Cheers, she's had a fair amount of work done over the past 2-3 years. Carbs stripped, ultrasonic clean and new intake rubbers. Exhaust welded on one of the joins and polished, new gaskets. Calipers stripped, new pistons, seals and fluid, new bolts. Forks serviced, new seals. New screen, mirrors, fairing bolts and fixings. Indicators replaced. New grips, levers. Left and right hand switch gear. Dash bulbs. Air filter. Plugs. Oil an Filter, coolant. Tyres. Chain and Sprockets Hub stripped and cleaned. Probably some other bits I've forgotten, not that it needed everything but I like to keep her as tip top as I can and make the most of what parts are still available. Still need to get the wheels painted but going to MOT soon and get some miles done. Really enjoy it, great fun to ride and such a pretty thing to look at. I've been having a blast on the misses 125 lately so looking forward to getting the 400 on the road. Untitled by (MrB), on Flickr
Nice list of replacements there, and I know what you mean about chasing diminishing parts. My wheels have been powder coated and look a lot better for it. Fitted the rear brake line tonight and then realised I had been sent the wrong pad set for the rear Was going to drop the rear linkage to replace the shock, but have run out of time tonight, will have to find some time tomorrow night hopefully.
I've got a rear shock to do at some point as well. I often find I start something that leads onto something else 'whilst I'm here I might as well do that' syndrome. Could do with greasing the shock linkages as well, looked at renewing but can't get all the parts now. Trying to keep it as genuine as possible, have a new undertray in the loft to replace the cut off one but need to spend time using it now. This place is handy for parts http://www.cmsnl.com/ as well as David Silver as you probably know. Good luck with the build, need any genuine bits let me know see what I can do.
Thanks for the offer. Much the same mindset, trying to keep as original as possible, but with 24 year old hoses the only option is to go for braided, so it's a mix of original and modern I guess, much the same with the coolant hoses. The only sensible option was Samcos. I could have had the rear shock rebuilt, but at the end of the day, it's about riding pleasure and there are better aftermarket options available, so all the OEM bits are in a box, not sure why I am keeping them, must be a man thing! As for the rear shock, I can recommend looking up Mike Capon, it's a quality bit of kit and the guy has an awful lot of knowledge and experience,
My NC30 is still for sale. May give it a shakedown run at May 18th trackday at Brands.Not been ridden for 7 years.
Replaced rear shock this afternoon. What a PITA with the exhaust system headers still connected, finding a way to get the remote canister out was challenging, but not as much as trying to get the top shock mounting bolt in as the last operation, finding the right amount of lift on the rear linkage was impossible with just one pair of hands.....curse city time
My wife had two RVF's in her late teens. A fantasic bike to ride. Used to love pinching it every now and then.
Agonisingly close to finishing, just ran out of time yesterday, spent quite a while bleeding the brakes from empty, which meant I spent quite a time looking at the chain and sprockets which in turn meant I dumped a chunk of cash this morning with Andy ordering a set of Renthal sprockets and a gold DID chain. Keep telling myself no more spending
Finally finished last night, spent 30 mins trying to fit a fairing spacer, only to realise I had it back to front. MOT today, quite happy there were no issues. So after 2 months, and around 40 hours work, the NC is restored to the road ready for just minor servicing for the next few years hopefully. Tallied up at: Upgraded Reg/Rec and a wiring loom mod to prevent future issues. Higher capacity battery Cleaned rads and a full set of Samcos Radiator cap Stripped carbs and rejetted, bigger needle shims and modified slider, ultrasonic cleaning of certain parts, full gasket set. New carb inlet rubbers Checked valve shims Plugs OEM air filter and sub air filter Replace all fuel hoses and vacuum hose Oil and filter Clutch cable Set of Hel hoses Strip and clean and replace with OEM caliper fluid and dust seals, all calipers SBS sintered pads Renthal sprockets and DID X ring chain (still to fit) Upgraded front forks with heavier springs and new fluid and dust seals Mike Capon custom built rear shock Various consumables, ie clips/washers/screws etc BT090 Pro tyres And the best bit apart from the bike now feeling like its on rails compared with 23 year old suspension, and the massively improved throttle response and 5 to 6k flat spot eliminated, is that the total bill was just 200 quid more than a slip on Akropovic can I was going to buy for my Blade when I decided to rebuild this bike instead.
