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Kiwi Biker forums - Blogs - Jonno. https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blog.php/21049-Jonno Kiwi Biker - New Zealand motorcycle community en Sat, 02 May 2026 22:39:29 GMT vBulletin 20 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/images/BP-Brown/misc/rss.jpg Kiwi Biker forums - Blogs - Jonno. https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blog.php/21049-Jonno Some more stuff (Part 3) https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1501-Some-more-stuff-(Part-3) Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:55:35 GMT Well I finally got off my ass and did some more. I took the forks apart and changed the fluid because the front felt a bit so so. What a difference. Previously it felt like the bike wanted a fight when going around every corner. Now it goes where I tell it. I took the flaking paint off and... Well I finally got off my ass and did some more.
I took the forks apart and changed the fluid because the front felt a bit so so. What a difference. Previously it felt like the bike wanted a fight when going around every corner. Now it goes where I tell it.

I took the flaking paint off and gave a good shine with a scotch pad left to right until I got the finish I wanted (not mirror) and then clear coated (can't be bothered painting).

So now it's all good, I get my brake lever and I take it for a spin. Only to look in the gas tank and find rust (which was hiding because I looked :angry:) so anyway after a few days of electrolysis I got fed up and got some rust remover from mitre 10 mega for 15$ which worked. I snapped the fairing brace by walking into a mirror also :innocent:.
I removed the hanger from the exhaust because it was all scratched, bent and I didn't have a mount for it (also held on by pillion foot peg so no biggie); you can still see a little bit of the welds but it looks a lot better.

Still debating whether to paint the fairings but I managed to get drunk and attempt plastic welding with a soldering iron, and I can say it was a huge sucess. Previously broken parts close to breaking in half were quite strong (here's a particularly bad one after)

(click for bigger)

So now I'm going to spend all night taking the calipers apart because they don't want to release the disc :angry:

As soon as that's done and I glue the rad guard back onto the fairings I'll have a half decent looking bike. All that's left to do is get a new chain and sprocket, fairing brace, bar ends (fuck they are expensive), and get fairings painted and rims powdercoated (when I can finally decide on a scheme). ]]> Jonno. https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1501-Some-more-stuff-(Part-3) My NC 30 so far: getting her home https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1479-My-NC-30-so-far-getting-her-home Sun, 04 Apr 2010 13:20:13 GMT So I get her home in the van; what a mission almost dropped it off the plank getting it into the van and getting it out. What can I say, it looked so bad but I knew it could be so good. I had been spending literally every minute I should have been studying working out how much it would cost to... So I get her home in the van; what a mission almost dropped it off the plank getting it into the van and getting it out.

What can I say, it looked so bad but I knew it could be so good. I had been spending literally every minute I should have been studying working out how much it would cost to bring it to perfect condition. $2000 max I reconed.

After posting on KB I knew the Rectifier was fucked, so I couldn't really ride it without fucking up the battery. Someone suggested disconnecting the RR and I did and it was an awesome five minutes. I decided not to take it too far as I lived down a 500m hill at a good 30-40 degrees at the steepest part; a mission to push even the FXR up and I can barely get the NC30 up my driveway :bleh:.

I decided to take the plunge and take off the fairings, knowing they wouldn't go back on for a month or two, if at all (new ones maybe). So I re arranged my garage and figured out how I could fit in my two bikes and a pit bike. The garage would never be the same (see pic :shifty:).

After buying a new windscreen (brand new OEM) off trademe for $40 and new mirriors (aftermarket) $50, I was feeling good. Until I took off the fairings to find no radiator "reserve". Fortunately I had checked the radiator which had fluid in it so all that entailed was trying to find one and fitting it. I finally found a new mastercylinder for $70. A lot cheaper then the 150 the wrecker quoted me, especally when it wouldn't have even fitted :angry:.

Cycle treads had a sale and I brought some Oxford hot grips for very very cheap (due to a printing error). Also some indicators which although smaller still had the original square look so I was happy.

So now my bike is lying in pieces; sub frame in one corner, fairings in another and airbox and carb in another. After going to Spectrum motorcycles and showing them the receipt he told me the previous owner had taken the cheap route and gotten a second hand RR instead of a new aftermarket one (another hundred dollars). They offered to exchange it for an aftermarket if I paid the difference. I agreed (even if it was a bit expensive I had 150 dollar credit).

After loosing the receipt (the joys of having a toddler :yes:) I went in and he remembered me and exchanged it with a new one. To date I had spent $300 and a bit of time.

So I strip the subframe down as it's got a little surface rust and where the RR mounts a lot of rust. Paint it up and put it on. It started to look like a bike again :yes:.

I took the carb off and after having a fierce battle with all of the screws I inspected and found it was pretty good. I drilled the slides to 2.5 mm and one of the previous owners had already added another .5mm washer to the needle. The main jets were factory for 89' so I contemplated changing them to (118/112) instead of the 110 all round. But it seems to be running fine (off of the plugs) and has gone fine for 20 years. Probably change it at some stage.

After taking off the crank case I found out the joys of valve clearances. The virgin time had to be the hardest, but I think I made it even harder. Firstly I only had imperial feeler guages with metric conversions so I didn't have exacts and trying to find out if it was in spec was also "definitely", "could be" :mellow:. I finally got a set of metric guages which helped quite a lot. I finally figured it down to 1 shim that needed changing and after trying to get another to fit without ruining that one I ended up buying one. Only this one was a size too small and to get shim a to fit I had to change it with shim b and change shim b to the new one I brought. The only problem was finding shim b. So anyway I got this sussed and now I was on my way.

Please note this was a very shortened version as I lost 2 shims for what I can only describe as the worst time of my life. One shim I lost at night, after probing the whole area and cursing myself for not covering the engine, after draining the oil I took off the sump and clutch cover only to find it the next day a few cm away from where I dropped it next to the valve spring :yes:. The next one I covered the engine for but still managed to loose it. I looked for a few hours, convinced it wasn't in the engine. Alas after taking the sump off, again I found it sitting in a pool of oil :mad:

Lesson: cover everything, not just the gap!!!!!

I fit everything back. Buy a new oil filter, new oil, new rad fluid, new hose for rad overflow, breather tube. Not cheap! So to date I had spent close to $500 and a loooooot of time. I had taken the brakes off and cleaned and painted.

So I did an oil change, lubed the chain and flushed the radiator (ew), and was ready to take her for her maiden voyage (well second, without a rego and not quite complete, but such is love :love:.

Now I actually have a working bike in my garage with only a new brake lever and fairings away from my dream bike. ]]> Jonno. https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1479-My-NC-30-so-far-getting-her-home My NC 30 so far: buying. https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/1478-My-NC-30-so-far-buying Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:20:38 GMT Well I thought I'd write up a series on how I got my bike so I can have a look back and help someone with all of the mistakes I've made so far with this bike :laugh:

First of all I was having a look on trade me at NC 30s because I had read a lot about them. So far I had gathered they were relatively reliable and fast enough for me (not looking for 600 fast). A long with "awesome" handling these seemed the ticked and after test riding one for the curiosity I was hooked. What took my FXR 150 10 seconds this bike did in 4 (0-100). I loved the aggressive (compared to the FXR) position of being over the tank. The single sided swing arm and full fairings made my FXR look like a toy.

After seeing that they were pretty good prices (ie the same as a CBR 250) I went and visited a few which seemed average, and a few good ones but with a price tag of 5-6gs for a good one, I wanted a bargin and I wanted a pride and joy; not just a NC30 I wanted a bike people envied.

I had seen a rugged red white and blue NC30 on trade me for quite a while with a starting bid of 2500 no reserve. At first I had thought it would be a good idea, try to offer him 2 grand. Then I left it alone. It had been sitting for a long time (4 years).

I finally gave in and went to look at it. It had a bit of crash damage, but it still hard original fairings and even the original revited windscreen. It had been crashed but everything was in reasonable condition. At this stage I had about 1900 cash and not a penny more.

I took it for a test ride and it didn't even have a front brake lever (due to his last crash). Going down the gravel driveway was one of the scariest moments of my life, I was going faster but my rear brake wasn't stopping me. If I dropped it I was going to be in for paying his asking price. Fortunately I didn't and it went all right. Nothing flash but it was still an NC30.

So I went and visited it again the next day (day before auction closed) and asked how much he wanted, he told me 3000-4000. I made no comment though I knew I wouldn't pay more then 2000.
It seemed good condition for it's state (apart from fairings but they were reweldable). New front brake discs, seats were okay, home made gear selector, bend rear brake, needs a new master cylander.
He had had the Reg/Rec (and reciept to prove it) done but it was charging too high (18 volts).

The night of the auction comes and I decide I'll wait it out and bargain it down if no one bids. I didn't breath for the last half hour. Refreshing every 10 seconds. He seemed confident someone would bid in the last minutes. I was unsure, but I know I'd feel stink if I lost this bike. The auction finished with no bids. Then I waited.

After uni the next day I gave him a text and asked if I could come have a look. He agreed so I brought the carjam report. Long story short I bargained it down to 1800 and left with her in the back of my van.

These pictures were before his latest crash which left a large spot of road rash on the right fairing.

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