Deep Service and first ride

And so, once the bling had been sorted, it was time to make sure that she was actually rideable!

This is how she was running when I first got her - not exactly the smoothest, most refined engine I've ever heard! I started worrying that maybe I had  suffered a severe dose of "looking through rose tinted glasses", remembering how my previous bike had been 40+ years ago.

Stripping down for some access, I found that the plugs indicated some pretty rich running. 

The throttle return cable is quite difficult to fit on these and so a previous owner had just zip-tied it out of the way!

The carburettors were just about clinging on to the manifold by their fingertips!

The air filters look like they haven't been changed this century - hmm not encouraging.

So, plenty of scope for improvement there then.

I adjusted the cam chain tensioner. There was no massive take up of slack, which was quite encouraging. 

Then I set the tappet clearances. One of the adjusters was broken and I had to order a new one - lots of spares are still available for these bikes from David Silver Spares and Wemoto. Many of the cycle parts are common to the iconic Honda 400 Four, which helps a bit. I learnt a useful tip doing this, that using an offset 10mm spammer helps to reach down to the locknut in a quite tight space.

The next job was to set the points gaps and the static timing. This is relatively complex on these bikes and needs to be spot on for them to run properly. I noticed that the condition of the wiring loom to the points was pretty iffy; too short so the connections are stressed and with what looks like some old petrol pipe instead of the proper heat shielding. I added a job to the list, to make a new loom.

I also took off the backplate and checked / lubricated the auto-advance mechanism. 

While the points backplate was removed, I took off the two sets of points to clean up the faces etc. The faces were quite pitted and ancient and I also noticed that one of the insulating washers was missing, which was probably not ideal!  

After a pretty unsuccessful attempt to get things running decently, I decided to replace all of the ignition "consumables", so ordered a new condensor and points, and made the new loom as well.

A tip I have found when setting the points is that there is a mark on the end of the camshaft that, when aligned with the "heel" on the respective set of points, will be at the point of maximum points gap. You have to remove the bolt and washer holding the auto-advance unit in place to see it.

At some point in all of this, I tried running her again. There was a petrol leak, only running on one cylinder and generally she was not happy with the world!

So I thought it would be a good idea to strip the carbs down. The previous owner told me there had been some work done on the carbs, including replacing the diaphragms, so I was hopeful that they would be pretty clean but this was not the case! Everything came apart nicely and at least one of the diaphragms looks new - I'm not convinced they both are, but neither appear to have a hole in it, which is the important thing.

When I was taking one of the fuel pipes off, I found this split in the pipe, which is probably what caused the leak! But I was glad to have been pushed into checking the carbs over really. I fitted new fuel pipes, which had been on the to-do list anyway, to make sure they could deal with the ethanol in modern fuel. 

Removing the carbs is a difficult job on this bike (on most bikes actually!) and that was why the paint on the frame rails was so scratched. The key for me is to remove the inlet stubs first, which is a bit fiddly but gives a lot more room to play with.

At this stage, the carbs had been cleaned and reinstalled; new fuel lines fitted; throttle return cable connected and next was to replace the air filters - these are getting quite rare now and not cheap, but definitely needed doing - look at the old and new filters below!

One feature of lots of older Hondas is that the oil filtration is all done within the engine - there is no external spin-on oil filter cartridge like you might have on a more modern vehicle. To clean the filter, you have to remove the right hand exhaust, kickstart and then the clutch/side engine cover. The camshaft runs in plain bearings in the cylinder head and is really susceptible to damage, if regular oil changes and filter cleaning aren't kept up. If the bearing face is damaged, then the whole head is scrap - not ideal. And because it's not simple to clean the oil filter, a lot of owners neglected this in the past, particularly when these bikes were used for day to day travel rather than as cherished classics.

I haven't opened up the head on Gloria yet, so fingers are still crossed that all is good there. But it was definitely sensible to do an oil change and clean out the filter etc before going any further.

With the oil drained and the engine cover off, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the engine cases were very clean. In the picture below, the round chamber with the circlip on is the centrifugal filter, which needs cleaning out.

And the small metal chamber with the pipe on the next photo is the oil pick up, which has a gauze mesh to filter out any particles etc - also needs a good clean.

With the circlip removed and the cover off, the centrifugal filter was completely clean - very pleased at that!

The pick up strainer had a few bits on it (possibly camchain guide rubber), but it's been doing it's job and I wasn't unduly worried. (My son's 3 year old Honda Grom looked not much better when that was done.)

Nice and clean ready to be reinstalled:

Overall, I was really very pleased (and relieved!) with the condition inside the engine.

While the engine cover was off, I took the chance to give it a quick rub down, prime and a coat of silver enamel - a huge improvement for an hour or so of work. Then the cover was refitted with a new gasket and stainless steel bolts and refilled with fresh oil.

Before I refitted the exhaust, I pulled the rear brake pedal mechanism apart and refurbished that. It looked like the bike had been gently dropped at some point and bent the pedal adjuster, so that the brake pedal sat about 2" above where it should be, which is not a very comfortable position at all! 

It was fairly simple to strip it and bend the adjuster back into place, then fit a new adjuster bolt and locknut. But it was very fiddly to reconnect the operating rod to the brake pedal. I'm sure there is a simple way, but I couldn't find it!

I've also done some other routine servicing stuff - stripped, cleaned and greased the front brake caliper holder, which has a habit of seizing up but was nice and free; replaced the brake fluid when I bled the brake after fitting the new master cylinder; adjusted the clutch; fitted a new horn and lubed/adjusted the rear chain. The general feel is that Gloria has been really nicely cared for over the years. I'm saying that with fingers crossed for when I ultimately remove the head and check the camshaft bearing!

A few electrical gremlins have come to light while I've been doing all this. The first one was the loom to the points that I've already shown above. That was causing one cylinder to cut out, as the connection between points and coils was so bad and also under tension with the result that it came apart slightly.

Then I lost all power when the ignition was switched on. That was traced to a poor repair to the main connector block serving the ignition switch. I ran a new power cable to give a little more length and then soldered in a new connector block.

The rear tail / brake light started playing up and that again was traced to a loose connection between the rear and main looms.

Finally, one of the rear indicators started playing up and I traced that back to a corroded joint on the earth cable inside the indicator. Five minutes with a soldering iron soon sorted that.

I've been all over the wiring trying to make sure all connections are tight, but I think it could really do with a thorough inspection and overhaul of the whole wiring system, probably when I take the engine out next winter. 

As a precaution, I also replaced the 3 fuses and cleaned up all of the fuse box connections to make sure they were secure. I had a thing on my original G5, where the main fuse would occasionally stop making contact in its holder and the bike would just die - it memorably happened twice in exactly the same spot in the Mersey Tunnel and once on a 400/4 that I later had (same fuse box arrangement) as I was riding through Handsworth in Birmingham about an hour before the "Handsworth Riots" broke out - lucky escapes all 3 of them!

I mention the electrics, as I have just finished installing the new points and retiming the ignition etc. I came to try and start the bike and it was completely devoid of any power! Following the principle of 2+2=5, I assumed that the aforementioned ignition switch connector block fix had failed, but all looked sound. I got the voltmeter out and found a completely dead battery 😧. It's an AGM battery and, when I did a bit of research, it seems they don't like irregular use / charging. I've ordered a new, traditional lead acid battery to replace it.

The new battery turned up and highlighted yet another electrical gremlin - a short circuit across the starter solenoid (which is probably what had drained the other battery!) I definitely need to have a deep dive on the electrics sooner rather than later. I sorted that out and also rerouted the electrics under the seat and around the battery box; I think probably to how they should be, as there is much less tension across connectors and no crossing wires to chafe against each other now. 

All sorted and - no spark on LH cylinder. This one was traced to a faulty spark plug. I had previously checked both for a spark but, hey, she's an old, temperamental lady! With  new spark plug fitted, she fired up lovely and I rebalanced the carbs. She is now running much sweeter and I managed to get 15 miles test riding in.

I'm not sure how well this video really shows the difference between when I first got her and now, but it seems immensely better to me! There is still some way to go on fine tuning the carburation I think, but we are definitely getting there 😁.