https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blog.php/33332-pixelplay Kiwi Biker - New Zealand motorcycle community en Sat, 16 May 2026 05:25:18 GMT vBulletin 20 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/images/BP-Brown/misc/rss.jpg https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blog.php/33332-pixelplay https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/7025-The-CBR400RR-project-update Fri, 09 Feb 2018 11:01:38 GMT I have been pretty busy over the last few months and didn't have time to do much posting but the CBR400RR is well underway now. I have had the wheels powdercoated, rebuilt the calipers and master cylinder, changed the setup to braided lines with sintered pads, new pots for the calipers the old ones were rusted badly, new throttles cables and choke cable, New grips, new levers, new clipons, rebuild the dash, painted and cleaned up all the front stays, cleaned up the rear subframe and repainted it, bought new fairings, bought new brearing for pretty much every pivot point on the bike chassis, new bolts all around, I will post pics real soon as then it will be much more impressive than just all this talk about it. ]]> pixelplay https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/7025-The-CBR400RR-project-update https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6968-My-Honda-CBR400RRn-NC29-Project-Bike-Clock-and-Fairing-Stay-Restore Thu, 24 Aug 2017 12:31:37 GMT While I was busy working on stripping my fork down for the project CBR400RR NC29 I of course need to order parts and so during that downtime I was busy working on the clocks, lights and front fairing stay mounts and brackets for the bike. The brackets were in an abysmal state as you can see here: ... While I was busy working on stripping my fork down for the project CBR400RR NC29 I of course need to order parts and so during that downtime I was busy working on the clocks, lights and front fairing stay mounts and brackets for the bike. The brackets were in an abysmal state as you can see here:




The front of the clocks look bad enough but the backs a total mess.



And here is another picture as I am beginning to dismantle them.



Even the light mounts and stays are totally rusted and corroded badly.



i am not overly happy with the light chrome surrounds and will look at what can be done there. It might be that I replace the headlights with more modern led versions of the same size. Ideally it would be good to have more light anyway but I will see what I think as I get the front reassembled.



with the mounting brackets and stay I decided to see if i could find a new one but the only place I could find one was in China. I have imported stays before for more modern project bikes with a lot of success so i thought I would give one a go for the old girl. I wanted for the part and it arrived with my new fairing kit along with some other goodies that i will show you all a little later as we get to them.

Here are the stays and bracket side by side for comparison.







There are a few differences as can be seen such as the aftermarket light mounting bracket being very simple and lacking folded edges, but the main issue was not that at all, but instead it was the fact that it was missing the ball ends for the headlights so headlight adjustment would have been missing from the action.

There are holes drilled for the ball joints where they should be but they are not an easy item to find or replace. I did find come online but could not be totally sure of the fit to the lights.

The number one issue for me though was not the ball joints it was that when i did a test fit of everything the clock mounts wielded on slightly crooked as it the bloke welding it had been on the bottle over lunch before wielding it onto the mounting bracket. It just bugged me so much and was driving me mad. I added spacers and got it closer to being straight but in the end I just decided it would be simpler and faster to restore the old bracket and so that's what I did.

This is my first test assembly.



and again from the front



I didn't take pics of the work involved to clean the parts but it was considerable and consumed lots of hours. I also didn't have a decent undercoat just a rest stopper and since doing this job I have acquired some decent zinc based primer that I am now using that is way better for painting over. I am going to strip the mounts back once more and do a better job of the finishing and also will be replacing all the rusted springs and bolts and screws. ]]> pixelplay https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6968-My-Honda-CBR400RRn-NC29-Project-Bike-Clock-and-Fairing-Stay-Restore https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6966-My-Honda-CBR400RRn-NC29-Project-Bike-Part1-Fork-Rebuild Wed, 23 Aug 2017 14:22:26 GMT When I got my CBR400RR NC29 I knew I had a lot of work to do to make it presentable again in polite circles so i decided to get stuck right in and began stripping the old girls clothes off ready for a bit of much needed beauty therapy. I decided to start with her pins as its always good to see a... When I got my CBR400RR NC29 I knew I had a lot of work to do to make it presentable again in polite circles so i decided to get stuck right in and began stripping the old girls clothes off ready for a bit of much needed beauty therapy. I decided to start with her pins as its always good to see a pair of slim legs working well kitted up nicely and I had to do something. The no1 issue I had was that the garage I had my old girl stored in was more like damp leaky dungeon than a real workshop but its what I had while i hunted for something better.

The forks as you can see here were full of rust and so was everything else under the front cowling as you can see here.



The base of the legs was not in so bad a shape just a bit dirty and with the normal 20+ year marks and corrosion.



I spent a good few days searching around for a reasonably priced set of forks but there was a not a lot on offer and the ones I was able to find were also often in need of rebuilding anyway so I decided to buy a new set of fork legs. I also looked a little into the cost of replating the old legs with chrome but decided against it due to cost and the fact that I was dubious about where to get it done accurately more so after reading about chrome being put on in the wrong thickness and also getting on places it should not be.



New OEM forks were out of the question as they are over the top in pricing so I read lots about Chinese fork legs and decided to have a go with a set of those. (high risk I know) I read a few blogs from other guys who had used them on various bikes and had no issues except for small things like missing groves for snap rings. Since as i sell Chinese parts anyway I thought this would be a good opportunity to try a new product and see if they are good enough to list on my own sites.

I had to measure everything up to make sure that i was ordering the correct thing as there is more than one set of tubes fitted to these bikes but as far as i can tell only the later model bikes had the different forks with some rebound adjustment and mine being a 1992 N model does not have that.



I also had considered putting later model upside down forks on the bike, but It would have meant new triple clamps and some machine work to make a nice job of it. I also like the idea of for once in my life keeping a bike close to original as I think these bikes go good enough and look fantastic when restored back to the original 90 era of road race bikes.

The new forks arrived quite fast about a week after I confirmed the sizing with the factory and they looked pretty good. My first impression of the new legs is that they seem to have less chrome than the OEM legs as I expect that that's a side effect of cost as they are not overly expensive (cheaper than second hand forks).

I was unable to fit the forks right away as I had to move the bike from the old dungeon to a new workshop.



And off they came once again, ready to be rebuilt. I also ordered a complete set of seals and slides for the rebuild as they were totally stuffed and as budget as i can I could not bring myself to reuse them. :violin:

So here they are side by side with the rusty OEM forks.







Overall finishing on the OEM factory tubes is better, and the chromes better also and I plan to get my old ones stripped and re-coated at some point if I feel rich enough to have a go. But to be fair the new tubes are not bad and the price was good. And the hundred million dollar question; would I buy Chinese tubes again or buy a good set of second hand OEM forks?

I would buy them again, but only if the OEM stuff was overpriced or unavailable or if second hand forks were not in great nick and overpriced. In my head I was willing to pay up to $300nzd for a set of decent second hand forks but the ones i could see while I was looking were all more than that. So anyway here are the legs once i got them apart.



As you can see everything was bad, the oil was dark and 100years old, both legs have rust and pitting, seals looked 20 years old and leaked, slides were all worn out, and every c-clip was rusted badly.









Part two of this write up is located here: https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/e...2-Fork-Rebuild ]]> pixelplay https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6966-My-Honda-CBR400RRn-NC29-Project-Bike-Part1-Fork-Rebuild https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6967-My-Honda-CBR400RRn-NC29-Project-Bike-Part2-Fork-Rebuild Wed, 23 Aug 2017 14:18:49 GMT And here they are with the new tubes and seals fitted, ready for fast and furious action, almost... Image: http://fairingsolutions.co.nz/images/Projects/NC29/forks/newLegs.jpg I also managed to find and ordered a set of collars as the ones on the legs were in bad shape. Image:... And here they are with the new tubes and seals fitted, ready for fast and furious action, almost...



I also managed to find and ordered a set of collars as the ones on the legs were in bad shape.



I found that the old collars had been glued with some sort of epoxy onto the legs, I am not sure if that was done in the factory but its didn't look very professional so I am assuming somebody who really clumsy and hates bikes did it. Needless to say removing them was not easy and required a fair bit of brute force.



I wont go into all the nitty gritty of how to install seals as its easy enough to find the info online. The hardest part for me was seating the seals as I didn't have a tool for that job. I did the old trick of using the old seals to help seat the new ones but I think if I did this again i would make a tool from a piece of pipe to make the job simpler.

Fitting the new collars also was a right pain in the ass as they are a very tight fit, I ended up having to file a chamfer on the edges and lightly sand the inside of them and only then I was finally able to get them onto the tubes. I used the old collars to help seat the new ones.



Filling them was simple enough once I knew how much oil to add and how to add it.

Millions of videos just here on how its done:

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...forks+with+oil



My next issue was the base of the legs as they were in unhappy shape and in need of some attention.



It turns out that scotchbrite pads are awesome for this job so I used those along with some drill attachments for removing surface rust and that worked pretty good.



and some more buffing later ...



and then finally a few hours later ...



and old vrs cleaned.....



I have a new buff that I am going to use to polish them a bit more, but I am dealing with the dash and front fairing stay at the moment. After that's done I will revisit this job and finish it.

Go here to see the dash and fairing stay blog https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/e...g-Stay-Restore ]]> pixelplay https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6967-My-Honda-CBR400RRn-NC29-Project-Bike-Part2-Fork-Rebuild https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6965-My-Honda-CBR400RRn-NC29-Project-Bike-Introduction Wed, 23 Aug 2017 08:55:06 GMT I went crazy in the head a few months back as its been so long since I had a ride that I simply had to buy a bike. I am a bit of a fan of old school 400s and 250cc two strokes and often troll trademe and other online spots to see whats for sale out of curiosity (I am one of those people that watch... I went crazy in the head a few months back as its been so long since I had a ride that I simply had to buy a bike. I am a bit of a fan of old school 400s and 250cc two strokes and often troll trademe and other online spots to see whats for sale out of curiosity (I am one of those people that watch auctions and don't bid often haha). While I was hunting a month of so back I came across a Honda CBR400RRN NC29 and the first thing that entered my head was the fun I had riding one at the dealership years back when I had no money to buy one and what a blast it was. So I went and had a look as the price seemed ok and ended up buying this awesome old bike that had not seen any love for many years.



So there she is, loaded in my people mover van ready to head to a new home. Did i forget to mention i had no decent place to work on this bike in? Well I didn't so it went into my ladies shed with all her stuff (Junk) that she stores. And my new task was finding a half decent garage to rent so i could work on me bikes.

So here she is in all her glory on the day I got her:



Yes shes as bad as she looks and worse. She runs ok but will need a decent overhaul.



Old school clock layout with proper analogue dials. even came pre-rusted for me.





yes that's corrosion on just about every casing, I am assuming a surfer dude owned this bike and parked it beside the sea for year after year.



yep the oil filter, forks and rear shock didn't escape the seaside atmosphere either.



Well used could be one way to put it.





The tank was one of the most sad parts on the bike and the rust was so bad it was holed. Normally on older bikes I find rust in the tank not more on the outside of it.



Anyway let the adventure begin, rego is on hold and the clock is now ticking. The fork rebuild begins here: https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/e...1-Fork-Rebuild ]]> pixelplay https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6965-My-Honda-CBR400RRn-NC29-Project-Bike-Introduction