AKA my wee baby. From back in the days where the pirate model (an extra arrrr!) meant something. High lift cams, working slipper clutch(the standard model's springs were too strong), FCR carbs, close ratio gearbox, better shock..... This pic is something like 25 years old - not long after I picked it up. It's got greener since then(fairing was damaged by vandals and the tank was rotting inside due to a leaky cap seal that it took me ages to notice) Scored a tank and plastics off a low milage later model for a decent price on ebay. Last rebuild cost me a small fortune in rubber bits. O-rings all round, grommets and allsorts. Just hit a certain age and all the rubber perished at once. Keihin alone hit me for a kidney and my first-born son for an envelope of o-rings that must have weighed about five grams. How cute are they? Spring-loaded rocker arms that slide aside to let you in to the shims. If only all top ends were as easy to service.... No idea what milage it's done, it eats speedo cables and sometimes it'd be months before I'd fit a new one. Says 39k (km) on the clock but that's fantasy. Probably about twice that - when I bought it the cable was broken and the speedo had been prised open already. Not that I was caring - was a good price even though it'd been clocked(and wheelied mercilessly. Fork seals, headrace and front wheel bearings, cush drive - all shot to hell and the clocks said 5½k at the time - yeah, right!) Other(other) bikes have come and gone but this one's a keeper.
Awesome bike mate, used to have one too. (Can't find any pictures with the removed monster stickers sadly)
Very nice. That's had some serious time and affection put into it. Mine could do with getting it's engine painted too. Looks fine with it's clothes on but take them off and the lump is turning into a furry mess. Spending the last year buried behind the other bikes in a corner of the garden won't have helped any either. Really must dig it out and tidy it up. A couple of pals are talking track day when Knockhill opens up again. That should provide a little incentive.
Love 400s had a cbr 400 rr that was lovely to ride and had had 3 bandit 400s one was vv Great bikes cause you could rag the arse off them and still feel in control. None as nice as that though
Lovely bike @Grooveski Always loved a Kwack and the that was always the hooligan of the 400 bunch, right little screamer. Also spent a small fortune on all those perishable rubber bits on my NC30 about 6 years ago, amazing how’s tens of £s suddenly turns into 100s Lot easier access to those shims than the front pots on a V4
Hooligan's the word alright. At first I thought that anything so revvy would burn itself out but the engine's not showing the wear that I expected at all. Have only had to keep it serviced, feed it new plugs every now and then and a fresh camchain & tensioner a few years ago. Had an endoscope down the bores not long ago and everything looks fine. Surely must be due a fresh set of rings soon though. Doesn't smoke and compression's good - I just get the feeling that all those years of 12k upshifts must be taking their toll. The ease of setting the clearances is more than balanced by the difficulty of balancing the carbs. Over the years I've kinda got the hang of it but even on a good day it still takes me hours to get them spot on. The first time I done them I gave up and came back for more the next day. Have had FCRs on dirt bikes before but of course there was only one so no need for balancing. Overall the carbs have been the source of the most grief. The diaphram went in the accelerator pump once. Was an easy fix... ...when I eventually discovered that that was the problem, after I'd torn the whole bank to bits and checked every nook and cranny of them. ...and another time one of the needles chewed it's groove right up to the next one and was flopping around. Had eaten in the way as well so couldn't even botch it with a stack of circlips. Got onto Kawasaki - none in stock in Japan. Got onto Keihin - non-standard stamp number that no-one seemed to know anything about. Measured it up - didn't match anything on the Keihin charts. Was right on the verge of ordering a whole set of the closest they had when a dude from Kawasaki UK got back to me. He'd found one in Germany and did I wan't it? My hero! Oh, and the FCRs also jam open when riding through freezing fog. Happened three times before I got the message. Every winter since I've plugged the hoover tube inlets with the bottom inch or so of those little plastic cups you get at water coolers. Then the carbs are sucking in air that's been through the radiator. I miss the performance hike from the cold air - but sure as hell don't miss the occasional brown-trouser moment when you try to roll off for a corner and nothing happens.
