Picked it up today and even managed to ride it back. Packing both the
RAC membership card *and* the CN breakdown hotline must've been giving
me good juju because it completed the journey under it's own power.
So, what did I get for the money then?
A bit less than expected but after talking to TOG it still seems like
decent value for money. The new chrome parts - well, they were
certainly new when the PO fitted them but that wasn't exactly last
night. They're showing a little corrosion again so it looks like
they'll have join the rear mudguard on its journey to the chromers. The
rear mudguard (which is still the original one) looks salvageable but
will need to get done this winter as I doubt it'll survive much longer
as it is. At least it doesn't look too frilly. The seat's dead and the
chrome on the wheels isn't too good either but the wheels will do for
the time being. The seat won't, though.
A couple of chrome parts have been painted black so I'll have to go
ogle TOG's, err, The Doctor's 400/4 to find out what should be what.
Great hardship, that. Frame paint looks OK, the tinware is painted in
the wrong shade of orangish pink so that'll need sorting out and the
paint on the engine has mostly evaporated so it's very matt silver at
the moment. I guess I'll try to clean it up a little to make it look
more presentable a polish a couple of parts as I doubt this can be
resprayed in any decent way.
Started on the button from cold, idled OK and no real noise from the
camchain (given that the SOHC Honda lumps are fairly noisy anyway). So
I rode off into the midday sun to discover that the front brake was
positively lethal, and that it wouldn't pull that well in the higher
gears. Determined to make it I pressed on; after about 40 miles the
tank had emptied sufficiently so I could top it up with fresh petrol.
That, plus the fact that I was gradually giving it more welly seemed to
do the trick even though it was idleing at around 2.5k at this point.
Another fifty miles later and I pull into Fleet Services. Suddenly the
engine dies while pottering to the petrol station and when I restart
it, the oil pressure light won't go out. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have
done 80 on the motorway. Indicated, that was...
Anyway, topped up the tank with V-Power, noticed that it'd done about
40mpg and also discovered that the oil was a tad low. So I also topped
up the oil, bike fired up instantly and the oil pressure light goes out
again. Phew.
Back onto the motorway and the bike was finally running a lot better.
So the M3 and the M25 are quickly demolished but instead of doing the
usual M26-M20 routine I turned off down the A21 to Lamberhurst, then
cross-country to Ashford. That's definitely a road that suits the 400/4
which was now happy to rev up to 8k (didn't dare to take it higher, I'd
want to change the oil first, do tappets and all that) and it's not
struggling uphill in top anymore. Guess that the 200 mile journey blew
out a few cobwebs. Oh, and the front brake has improved from
'positively lethal' to 'christ, that's bad' so it's almost working as
designed again.
The verdict so far - not a bargain but a fair price (I reckon, TOG will
probably point and laugh on the way back from the French Run). It's
missing one piece of unobtanium (the grab handle) but seems to be
mostly complete otherwise. The cosmetics aren't too great so if I
decide to keep it I'll have to improve them over time.
And I guess next weekend I have to work out how to fit it into the
garage. At the moment it's residing in the "overflow garage" that
normally houses the convertible, but fortunately that's away for a
respray at the moment.
--
Morini Corsaro 125 | CB450 K4 | XL250 Motosport x2 | 900SSD
Triump Thunderbird chop | VFR750 BOTAFOF #33
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