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Old dogs and new tricks
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This is a photo of my mate Graham and his recently purchased 400-4
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he rocks, I hope I'm still able to ride at that age.
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Nice.
Does he weant any bits?
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He's 75, and has only ever owned British bikes before - many dozens of
them (at one point he had 19, iirc). The other bike under the cover
is an Enfield (an Indian one, but I still count it as a brit bike).
Christ but I hope I still have his joie do vivre at his age. He
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Not long until you'll find out.
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climbed on the ZX10R, and looked thoughtful for a moment :-)
The 400-4 is lovely. He let me have a ride on it, and I took his
daughter (who I've carried a torch for for the last 25 years) out of a
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She looks VERY young in the picture.
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spin, and it's lots of fun. The astounding thing about riding old
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Does she have bad night-vision?
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bikes is how appalling the brakes were on them! TOG - are there any
tricks to get the best out of the 400/4 front brake?
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Pad technology is better now so I can recommend some EBC pads.
They won't add much but they will help.
Also some,"Power levers".I got some for one of my old Cxs and they are
great.They don't really improve the braking system directly as but
they make it very easy to apply more pressure,quickly and with less
hand movement so in effect they do improve overall braking e.g less
effort required for the same force applied.For weaker hands and those
that may suffer from,"Carpal tunnel syndrome" they are a boon but
unfortunately I got them off Ebay and cannot remember where I got them
from as a company and can't find a link as it was a couple of years
ago :(
I think they fit many of the hondas like the 400/Cx500/CB750 etc.
Also it's common that the front brake systems on Honda S.O.Bs has have
been incorrectly bled e.g that the up to 30% of the brake power has
been lost through not correctly bleeding the Master Cylinder and only
bleeding at the caliper nipples,incorrectly and the incorrect
alignment of the nipples into the calipers that may not show a fluid
leak but can let air in :/
See this thread,
Make absolutely certain that the braking system has new fluid in and
been fully and correctly bled and no leaks to allow air in.
HTH :)
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1. Clean caliper piston, obviously.
2. Goodridge hose.
3 Most important to make sure the pivot pin on the swing caliper arm
isn't seized - they do, regularly, and I've just had to strip down and
Copaslip mine.
4. Dogleg lever allows you to get more of a handful
5. Prayer.
I can lock the front wheel of mine, albeit with forearm muscles bulging.
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TOG
what's an runner Enfield GT continental worth please?
In round figgas of course
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I think A Lee is spot on with the prices quoted, judging from ebay and OBM.
Keep an eye one this one to see what it makes.
QitemZ4653575718
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No racing tank on that one ...
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From £300 to £2500.
Basket case £300, excellent cond. £2500+, I'd reckon an average would be
around £1500 for a running decent condition, but needed a bit of
cleaning/painting.
£750 would be a good buying price.
It was one of the more desirable Enfields, which would put the price up
for oily fans, though all 'classic' bikes seem to have a fan base now,
even Bantams regularly sell for £500+ in not too good condition.
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£500 ?
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Easily.Boxes of bits go for £500.
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Wow, time to get the C15 out too then
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Have you REALLY got a C-15 Geoff?
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Yes
I bought it 30 years ago from someone who was in the process of
rebuilding it - and it's still in that state, I never got around to
finishing it off
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30 quid in running order 30 years ago
~£1500 for a running Enfield then ?
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Maybe not 'just' running. If complete,running well, and needing little
to make it roadworthy then it'll be £1000. T+T and a bit of polish will
take it to £1500.
Alan.
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time to dig it out of the shed then
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Alan.
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Braided hoses, as you probably well know, help a bit. Also, ensure the pivot
is kept nice and free.
Apart from that, just like the 550/Four it shares it brakes with, the only
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It doesn't. 550 has a bigger caliper and disc.
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other thing that helps is ESP...
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