head tube

hi Dave, ive done it, not toooo bad a job, i realize now why its so big, its to keep the screws covered on the lock, so no would be thief can unscrew it, so the lock as to be fitted to the forks before they are fitted, very clever, thanks again
wayne

Glad to help mate,post a picture of the job when finished maybe ?
Cheers,
Dave

hi, yes i will, got the exhaust out of the engine today, ive been trying to free it for about a month or so, used a method that i havn't used in a while,i beat the living daylights out of it

Sounds like same problem i had,put a lot of heat into it and eventually persuaded it to come out of the exhaust port!

ha ha, great picture, mine was just like that, allthough i hacksawed the exhaust off and left about 6 inches sticking out

hi, what stage are you at with the bike, i'm dreading putting the decals on, and the electrics, ive googled putting the decals on, and they have to go on the base coat within about 30 minutes , the ones on the cross bar are going to be tricky, curved and slight taper,

Hi-ya,
Decals, well I wouldn't recommend trying to put them on between the base coat and clearcoat,it would be very risky and difficult to do successfully. laquer as normal and when fully cured rub down with p-800/1000 and add your decals and then clearcoat over 'em. This would give the best result.If you wanted you could even just apply locally over the decals followed by p-1500/2000 and compound polish,but a full recoat after flatting would give you that really deep gloss all over.
I took several photos with detailed measurements prior to removing the old decals which made it quite straightforward to fit the replacements.
As to wiring its not complicated,everythings colour coded with matching male/female connectors,so with reference to the wiring schematic it should all connect up again easily.
Cheers,Dave

hi, i'll have to give that some thought,don't like the thought of leaving a laquer coat to dry then going over it, praps start to flake in time, though to match the original honda finnish, well not even a coat of prima, thinnest cheapest paint job i have ever seen, so praps we are doing too good a job on the paint, my decals have long gone, so don't know if they were laquered over or not , i suspect not, as i say not even a coat of prima on my bike, the 30 minute window on the base coat should leave it all but dry to the touch, i don't know, i wonder how they do the modern petrol tanks with the decals, they are defo under laquer,

They are not clearcoated over as Std.Yes the original paint is pretty basic so yes again re-finishing today is done to a much higher standard than when they were new,by most anyway! (they are now of coarse 'Classic bikes' and having survived this long stand a good chance of relative 'immortality' if restored well.
You've recognized the difficulty of fitting the main decals correctly I guess,if you try and do it within 30 mins of basecoat application,although perhaps 'touch dry'you risk bruising it if not very gentle and you only get one chance to get them on right- try and pull off even only slightly and your basecoat comes off too ! START JOB AGAIN! and new decals!
On a simple decal I would fit between base and clear so I guess its up to you what you decide but I've done several between clearcoats and never had a problem with adhesion.
Just make sure gloss is abraded for a good 'key' and its clean and free from any contaminants etc(use fine scotchbrite for difficult areas)Flaking ussually occurs due to lazy preparation.Cheers
Dave