Oil Leak From Exhaust

TommoT · Post by **TommoT** » Fri May 02, 2008 4:13 pm

quote:
but I did put 220,000mi on it.

quote:
How do you manage to do such a large milage on one motorcycle ?

...he only got off it for a leak! Edited by - TommoT on 02 May 2008 3:14:38 PM

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Fri May 02, 2008 4:17 pm

Ho Ho

Don Madden · Post by **Don Madden** » Fri May 02, 2008 5:26 pm

Ahhh, Tom. You are wise to me.

I bought a new 1972 CB350F & at around 25,000 the primary chain parted due to manufacuring fault. It was Hyvo, "Made in USA".

As the performance was sluggish, I bored it to the max, yielding 425cc. Increase in torque was impressive but the bike wasn't any faster.

These early 4 cyl Hondas suffered from persistant leaks from the oil passage at the head joint, so pulled & modified the head. At the same time I did a lot of port work, requiring changes to air filter & exhaust to take advantage.

The result was an engine that pulled from 2,000 to 12,000rpm happily & was unburstable. The bike was my commuter & daily transport for 33 years.

I then retired, rebuilt the bike & sold it to a friend who is adding more miles. Then I bought a Hinkley T100 to see how many I can put on. I average 10,000mi. a year on the various bikes, & ride road, off-road, no-road. My 2 1/2 yr. old New Bonnie now has 21,000mi. & counting. (I have 74yrs & counting).

I sold my CSR's but kept the "Proper British Bikes", single cyle, kick start, shift on-the-right
AMC & BitSA.

Cheers, Don.

itma · Post by **itma** » Fri May 02, 2008 6:03 pm

well, I think thats bloody good going for an OAP bike rider, mind you I reckon you should lose points for living in a place where the sun shines all year,it gives you a head start

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Fri May 02, 2008 6:43 pm

Well done Don.
What did the wise man say growing old is obligatory growing up is optional.

crawsue · Post by **crawsue** » Fri May 02, 2008 7:38 pm

To right,Ken,1st weekend in May...forecast 5h1t ......so far this year we have had one half decent run...in 4 months.How brilliant would it be to have guaranteed weather...if only for 4/5 months of the year.Just finished a recent book called "McQueen's Machines"(Steve McQueen) wow was that guy a "petrol-head" or what? At one stage he competed for the USA in an ISDT in East Germany (on a Trumpet)he seems to have owned more than 400 motorcycles including....a Matchless,but no word of an AJ...so obviously a man of discerning tasteIt's a fascinating read...thouroughly recommended.

TommoT · Post by **TommoT** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:18 pm

quote:
.....
I bought a new 1972 CB350F & at around 25,000 the primary chain parted due to manufacuring fault. It was Hyvo, "Made in USA".
.......
These early 4 cyl Hondas suffered from persistant leaks from the oil passage at the head joint, so pulled & modified the head. At the same time I did a lot of port work, requiring changes to air filter & exhaust to take advantage.
......
Cheers, Don.

Hi Don, you're the definitely the man, when it comes to clocking up some serious mileage! My deepest respect. I only cover around 5-6000km per year, and in my circles that is quite a lot. But I do use the G80 as my "2nd car" to and from work, so that accounts for some of it. The bulk of my riding is to various rallies around Europe, accounting for about 2/3 of my yearly mileage. I've had some fun from small Honda's as well, more specifically the 400F, which is a fine piece of engineering. Biggest problem was the camchain, which was a bitch to change. Apart from that, cycle parts were the most fragile. Before that we ran a mate's father's AJS 16 in to the ground! Those were the days! Well, we better stop reminiscing in this thread, over to serious matters.Edited by - TommoT on 02 May 2008 8:20:06 PM

Don Madden · Post by **Don Madden** » Sat May 03, 2008 3:09 am

I found the 350F, (same engine as 400F except the bore & head fixing), cam chain easy to change if you don't do it by the book.

Remove the bits in the way. Stuff rags around the chain to prevent it falling & cut it. Cut new chain & use cut link to attach new to old. Carefully turn engine to feed new chain under crank & over sprocket. Attach ends with CB450 rivit on link. CB72/77 clip type connecting link would also probably be good.

Don't believe the experts, they don't know everything.

Steve McQueen had at least two Matchless Golden Hawks, one complete, but his favorite street ride was an old Indian Chief. He kept his bikes in Santa Paula, a few miles from here & occasionaly rode through here to visit family or bikes & cars.

Cheers, Don.

crawsue · Post by **crawsue** » Sun May 04, 2008 1:29 pm

Don,it seems that McQueen got into flying towards the end of his life and bought a property adjacent to Santa Paula and an airstrip.He had a vast hanger full of stuff including his 200 odd 'bikes,cars and bi-planes.There are some great pictures of him "hanging out with the boys"...including the late Bud Eckins who as well as being the local Triumph dealer was his stunt double for the stuff the studios wouldn't let him do himself!

Rick.Edwards · Post by **Rick.Edwards** » Sun May 04, 2008 2:40 pm

Steve Mcqueen is on the pictures page on a Matchless that isnt for sale.