Work in Progress
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Please can you post items for sale or wanted in the correct For Sale section. Items / bikes for sale here will be removed without warning. Reasons for this are in the FAQ. Thanks
Please can you post items for sale or wanted in the correct For Sale section. Items / bikes for sale here will be removed without warning. Reasons for this are in the FAQ. Thanks
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- Settled in member
- Posts: 142
- Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 5:53 pm
- Bike owned: VFR 400 NC30
- Location: Middlesex, UK
Re: Work in Progress
ok so since rear brake calipers are as hard to come by as a UK NC30 I decided to try and tackle the caliper. As Viper suggested I used some brake fluid to try and loosen the pistons up but they remained jammed tight in the caliper but after looking at the haynes carefully I realised I could just pull the the caliper body apart and get at the pistons that way. Once I got that far I managed to pull out the pistons (which are in a bad way). So how much does it cost to replace these and the seals?
No replies on the hose front, tried looking up the dimensions of the silicon option but nothing stated, not sure how to go about measuring 'em?
Delays at the powder coaters but should have a fair few pic's up next week.
No replies on the hose front, tried looking up the dimensions of the silicon option but nothing stated, not sure how to go about measuring 'em?
Delays at the powder coaters but should have a fair few pic's up next week.
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- Settled in member
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- Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 5:53 pm
- Bike owned: VFR 400 NC30
- Location: Middlesex, UK
Re: Work in - Carbs
So I decided to get around to the carbs today as they are filthy and need a good clean.
OK, first dumb questions but which way is front?
I've checked the float heights and they are all spot on @ 6.8mm. However the bike is running with 118/112 main jets having done a search and read through some of the topics this seems to be a very odd combination so the question is should I change it to the prefered 118f/120r setup? (even the standard for an import is 115f/118r)
The bike is running with the following (which is how it was when I bought it)
Standard slides - 0.5 mm washers
Full Blue flame exhaust system - headers/pipe to end can
Air box with no foam
K&N Filter
The bike was running fine when I bought it and as Stickshift said to Spike http://www.400greybike.info/newforum/vi ... =24&t=7763 "you should only change things if you need to" so what is the consensus peeps ?
OK, first dumb questions but which way is front?
I've checked the float heights and they are all spot on @ 6.8mm. However the bike is running with 118/112 main jets having done a search and read through some of the topics this seems to be a very odd combination so the question is should I change it to the prefered 118f/120r setup? (even the standard for an import is 115f/118r)
The bike is running with the following (which is how it was when I bought it)
Standard slides - 0.5 mm washers
Full Blue flame exhaust system - headers/pipe to end can
Air box with no foam
K&N Filter
The bike was running fine when I bought it and as Stickshift said to Spike http://www.400greybike.info/newforum/vi ... =24&t=7763 "you should only change things if you need to" so what is the consensus peeps ?
Last edited by padawan on Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- simmo
- Familiar Member
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 8:58 pm
- Bike owned: nc30 road & zxr400 race
- Location: Leicester
- Contact:
Re: Work in Progress
not too sure about the jetting, but are you sure its a full blue flame exhaust system, cos i didnt think blue flame did a system for a nc30?

simmo #98 - JSRacing
http://www.js-racing.blogspot.com
Road ~ NC30
Race ~ ZXR400
http://www.rjssuperbike.co.ukhttp://www.bmcracing.co.ukhttp://www.ams-motorsport.co.ukhttp://www.vinylmarksigns.co.uk
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- Settled in member
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- Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 5:53 pm
- Bike owned: VFR 400 NC30
- Location: Middlesex, UK
Re: Work in Progress
Hey Simmo,
The end can is definitely blue flame as for the rest of the system it's not standard as it doesn't have the normal headers and the pipes are in linked sections so assume that it's been made for the bike (but poss not blue flame as you say).
The end can is definitely blue flame as for the rest of the system it's not standard as it doesn't have the normal headers and the pipes are in linked sections so assume that it's been made for the bike (but poss not blue flame as you say).
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- Settled in member
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- Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 5:53 pm
- Bike owned: VFR 400 NC30
- Location: Middlesex, UK
Re: Work in Progress
Hey all loads of hits but no comments?
Anyway, can anyone tell me what size bleed nipples I need for the front and rear brake calippers? 7mm or 8mm cheers.

Anyway, can anyone tell me what size bleed nipples I need for the front and rear brake calippers? 7mm or 8mm cheers.
- CMSMJ1
- Moderators
- Posts: 7161
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 9:42 am
- Bike owned: NC30-No9
- Location: Chesterfield, United Kingdom
Re: Work in Progress
Looking good man.. no idea on the bleed nipples
Also no idea why nobody seems to bug you on this build...it is pukka..
Also no idea why nobody seems to bug you on this build...it is pukka..
IMPERATOR REX ANGLORUM
The V4 is the law..
NC30 - No9 - my old mate
The V4 is the law..
NC30 - No9 - my old mate
- Jon
- Site Supporter
- Posts: 165
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 2:00 am
- Location: Brisbane
Re: Work in - Carbs
Throttle cables run on the left side when sitting on the bike.padawan wrote:OK, first dumb questions but which way is front?
Agree with Stickshift, don't change things for the sake of change, if it is running fine then its all good.
If you want to fine tune the fueling a run on a dyno with a good operator will steer you in the right direction.
regards
jon
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- Settled in member
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- Bike owned: VFR 400 NC30
- Location: Middlesex, UK
Re: Work in Progress - Cleaning Update
OK so been a while since the last post in that time I've become the proud father of another little boy so we've been getting used to the sleepless nights but that said the little chap is a good sleeper in the day and so whilst the family is asleep I've been working on the bike.
So here goes the cleaning update:

Swinger with hub out, not looking great which is pretty normal for NC's

All cleaned up now :)

Parts ready for the powder coaters - the work was delayed by three weeks and I finally picked up the items on Saturday:

Just a sample of what I had powder coated - The forks are going to be treated with RickO's front fork kit
So do you like my wheels? I know they'll be a pain to keep clean but sure will look good on the NC :D
So here goes the cleaning update:


Swinger with hub out, not looking great which is pretty normal for NC's


All cleaned up now :)


Parts ready for the powder coaters - the work was delayed by three weeks and I finally picked up the items on Saturday:



Just a sample of what I had powder coated - The forks are going to be treated with RickO's front fork kit

So do you like my wheels? I know they'll be a pain to keep clean but sure will look good on the NC :D
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- Settled in member
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- Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 5:53 pm
- Bike owned: VFR 400 NC30
- Location: Middlesex, UK
Re: Work in Progress - Wheel Bearings
So the wheel bearings were knackered and the local tyre store quoted me £45 an hour and £8 for each bearing. My thoughts .... sod that! I thumbed the Haynes and looked at the diagram and gave it a go but initally had no joy so turned to google and found some useful info i.e. whack the spacer and it will shift to the side giving enough clearance to whack out the bearing. I used a extension bar and a socket which was as big as the inner part of the bearing by using this method I whacked out the bearing really easily

Pics of: Tools used, the knackered bearing and untidy spacer, the wheel with the bearings and spacer out
I picked up new bearings from a chap off ebay £5 a pair stuck them in the freezer over night ready to put in. Armed myself with a 32mm socket (better fit than 30mm) and hammered them home easy peezy!

Pics of: New bearings 6004RS (for reference) and cleaned up spacer, tools used and wheel with new bearing in place.




Pics of: Tools used, the knackered bearing and untidy spacer, the wheel with the bearings and spacer out
I picked up new bearings from a chap off ebay £5 a pair stuck them in the freezer over night ready to put in. Armed myself with a 32mm socket (better fit than 30mm) and hammered them home easy peezy!



Pics of: New bearings 6004RS (for reference) and cleaned up spacer, tools used and wheel with new bearing in place.
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- Settled in member
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- Bike owned: VFR 400 NC30
- Location: Middlesex, UK
Re: Work in Progress - Valve Clearances
And finally .. I got on to doing the valve clearances. I measured up all the clearances and then started on checking the shims - thanks Declan for sending through the the guide on how to do this!

Whilst following the guide I noticed a couple of things I would add to it:
1 - when doing the front cam's you have to turn the engine over to the T2 mark for TDC (I didn't see this in the notes)
2 - when trying to shift over the arm (to access the shim) turn the engine over slowley away from TDC you will notice that it becomes easier to move the arm across (you need to catch it at the point of least resistance) this way you avoid the shim popping up and falling into the engine. When putting the shim back do the opposite moving towards TDC you will feel the shim pop in and the arm move itself over pushing the shim in automatically. By using this method I was able to cover them all in a 2hrs and I didn't drop any
So here are the figures: NB (A) = (B-C)+D (as per Haynes)

Now, I need some help on the math as you can see from the figures I pretty much don't have any shims that I can swap around. I then calculated the difference between what I need and what I have i.e. (A-D) as you can see the difference is pretty uniform for the majority of the valves so my questions are:
a) should I change anything? if so,
b) should I be aiming for a 0 difference across all valves (as in valve P) or,
c) should I change the shims in valves K,M,N,0 and P so that the difference is -0.03 making them all equal?
d) also off subject but can anyone tell me what banjo bolt size's I need for the front caliper and master cylinder

Whilst following the guide I noticed a couple of things I would add to it:
1 - when doing the front cam's you have to turn the engine over to the T2 mark for TDC (I didn't see this in the notes)
2 - when trying to shift over the arm (to access the shim) turn the engine over slowley away from TDC you will notice that it becomes easier to move the arm across (you need to catch it at the point of least resistance) this way you avoid the shim popping up and falling into the engine. When putting the shim back do the opposite moving towards TDC you will feel the shim pop in and the arm move itself over pushing the shim in automatically. By using this method I was able to cover them all in a 2hrs and I didn't drop any

So here are the figures: NB (A) = (B-C)+D (as per Haynes)

Now, I need some help on the math as you can see from the figures I pretty much don't have any shims that I can swap around. I then calculated the difference between what I need and what I have i.e. (A-D) as you can see the difference is pretty uniform for the majority of the valves so my questions are:
a) should I change anything? if so,
b) should I be aiming for a 0 difference across all valves (as in valve P) or,
c) should I change the shims in valves K,M,N,0 and P so that the difference is -0.03 making them all equal?
d) also off subject but can anyone tell me what banjo bolt size's I need for the front caliper and master cylinder