New Web Address

This site has now moved to http://www.garagenoises.com

See you there,

Andrew

Restore or Modify

www.bikeexif.com featured a bike today which started its life as a WWII Canadian military bike - James Roper-Caldbeck's beautiful XXX750-WLC.

This bike has come a long way from its original drab green.

This past week I spotted a Indian 741 in the local classifieds.

Should a bike like this be left in restored condition or modified as a piece of art? This is a touchy subject for vintage motorcycle enthusiasts.
- Andrew

Honda SOHC

There is a wealth of information on the Internets to help us with our motorcycle projects, but these is more misinformation than good information out there. Owners of SOHC Hondas are in luck. 

Honda made many single overhead cam 4 cylinder bikes. Many of these engines were rock-solid and excellent performers. For these and other reasons, many of these bikes are still being ridden today. A few years ago I did a moderate restoration of a 1975 single overhead cam CB750F and relied heavily on the owners' group www.SOHC4.net. This discussion website is absolutely excellent. There are numerous knowledgeable bike mechanics constantly trolling the discussions to assist owners with the simplest of questions. Whether you own a sohc bike or not it is worth your while to visit and bookmark this site.

http://www.sohc4.net

- Andrew

Fall Ride on the RD400

The weather was beautiful here today - sunny and 4C. I decided to take out the RD400 for, what could probably be, the last ride of the season. I decided to take along a video camera to get some footage of our excellent Newfoundland coastal roads.

I had seen directions online on how to set up a mounting bracket to hold a camera on a bike. I decided to ignore this good advice and do it my own way. My low-tech solution was to sit on the folded tripod with the camera in front of my chest. Needless to say, it was not a comfortable ride. I took an older, cheap camera in case I was to drop it, but dropping it was not the problem. Like many cameras, the 'go' button is on the rear of the camera. Unknown to me, each time I accelerated the camera would bump my chest and switch off... sigh.

Tomorrow I will have a look at those mounting brackets that seem to work so well for other people :P It was a nice ride though. Sorry I have nothing to share with you.

- Andrew

Choose A Design

Before you begin taking apart your bike it is a good idea to know where you are headed. Try to get a pretty good idea of how you want your bike to look once you are finished. Rushing into the process too quickly will result in a Frankenstein bike :)

Look through some websites and magazines to get some ideas. Here are some links to start those creative juices flowing.

http://www.bikeexif.com/
http://www.wrenchmonkees.com/
http://www.bratstyle.com/
http://www.jockeyjournal.com/
http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/
http://rd350.motormuizen.nl/
http://www.aircooled-rd.com/



Andrew

CB750F

The 1975 was first year of the CB750F Supersport. This bike was based on the CB750K with some small technical alterations and quite a different look.

- Andrew

Tightening Your Chain

An argument has existed for decades as to which type of final drive is best. Shaft drives are quiet, but when they break down they do it in epic fashion and epic costs. Belts are quiet, cheap to replace, but are questionable offroad and in performance application. Chains are very reliable, low tech, and offer good performance, but they are noisy and require regular lubrication, tightening and replacement. You gotta love them all.

Considering there are more chain drive bikes out there than anything else, I figured I would do a chain maintenance video. I will be doing shaft and belt drive maintenance videos very soon. This video shows how to measure and adjust your motorcycle's chain. The bike I am working on is a beautiful 1975 Honda CB750F - SOHC, 4-1 exhaust, front and rear disk brakes, a Ferrari exhaust note when ridden in anger...I could go on all day :)
- Andrew






This is the sound of the CB750F I am working on. It was a fairly calm ride, but there are times when you can hear that 4-1 pipe sing ;)

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