Saul

That's all Honda water cooled 4's from that period I believe. Most are hidden behind fairings Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Coolant hose

Much happier CBF New Fork Seals, forks repainted, new front brake pads (thank you Fred) all brake callipers stripped and cleaned, replaced brake fluid front and back. New oil & filter, air filter and plugs. Replaced front marker lights with LED’s to match headlights plus pretty deep clean. Oh and fresh coolant. Should be good until next year now just need to get my head around a valve check and adjustment.

I could go one better, her Grandfather was a boat builder, there are all sorts of boat fenders and stuff up the In-laws place. Her uncle would play along. We could trig her bike up nicely . Or her boss, she works as crew on a fast rib that does Seafari trips to see dolphins and the like out in St Austell bay. All very temping to do but 17 year old females are renowned for their lack of humour or any form of self deprivation and Shadow is a typical example of the breed. I could get her uncle involved then throw him under the bus under the bus when she kicked off. Very temping indeed

The SW Motech Crash bars have earned their keep that's for sure.

Had some good news for Shadow today, her insurance is not cancelled despite her being at fault for the RTA. Yes she knows the renewal will be painful in October. The parts to fix her bike were £80 so not all the world. She is paying me back next payday. Most will be here for Thursday so she could possibly be back on the road for Friday. Only fly in the ointment is the rear indicator that is coming from a breaker in London, has quoted up to the 19th for delivery but it could come sooner. At least she has some idea when she will be back on the road.

Article on checking valve clearances on a CBF 1000, same process for the 600 https://www.fireblader.dk/i_files/mc011.htm

Nah this was before Shadow had her off, hanging fire until her bike is sorted.

Nah she was fine, that’s just her resting bitch face.

3 of us old codgers went out today plus Shadow. Run up to North Cornwall, Otterham Station, Slaughter Bridge, Tintagel, Boscastle and Camaford. I managed to save Shadow from being dragged into the Witches Museum, oh and apparently: “I’m not fucking funny at all” according to her.

Took out Shadow to get her chin up. Missing her freedom on her CB125F.

I'm not to worried about that really, car wheel paint has always lasted well for me on several projects over the years. Also I keyed the surface well and made sure it was spotless so I have given it every chance to have a lasting finish. But you never know. Like I said you can always do a better job. Best IMHO would be media blasted lowers sprayed with top quality two pack paint from the gun, done in a booth. Probably overkill for an 18 year old CBF600 and I wince at the thought of the cost. . Horses for courses.

Just painted my fork lowers ready to reassemble the bike. After rebuilding the forks I washed them in soapy water. Then sanded them all over with 240 grit sandpaper, would have gone finer but I used what I had. Then degreased them with brake cleaner on a rag. Panel wipe or thinners would have been better but again used what I had. Masked the Showa label, fork seals and stantions. I gave them 2 coats of high build primer leaving the paint 15 mins to flash off between coats. They came up quite well at this stage with no faults to my eyes so I didn’t bother giving them another light sand. I went for lunch then came back and gave the lowers two coats of car wheel silver. Giving 30 mins between coats. I am quite pleased with how well they came up considering how rough they were. I am going to give them 24hrs to cure before attempting to refit them to the bike. I chose the wheel steel paint as I have used it loads in the past and is pretty tough once cured perfect for fork sliders. Of course you can always do better but for my 18 year old CBF they are plenty good enough. The important thing is to clean and prepare the surface you are going to paint well as that will ultimately determine the finish you get. Also lighter coats are better to prevent runs in the paint. Good clean prep and care will give tidy results. Now you do what you want but I was asked to show what I did.

The new dust covers want to ride up the stanchions rather than clip into the fork legs. Any tips.

All done, first time I have ever done fork seals. Fiddly mucky job but straightforward enough. Had to go and get my mate to undo the dampener bolts on the bottom of the forks. I will buy the long Allen sockets I need for the next time.

Yeah I do know that and it's why I am fretting, but a valve check in a garage is nearly as expensive as a second hand motor, not moaning I understand why. Although that would be a shame to wreak the motor given the one in the bike seems pretty healthy. I think what I will have to do is learn how to do it myself, at least it would put my mind at rest. I have watched a few videos of how to's and it's pretty complicated, to me, but I'm sure I could learn if I have to. I have done loads of valve clearances with tappets over the years. Just have take it slow and methodically doing it one step at a time. Stills fills me with apprehension but needs must I suppose.

Just got the renewal notice from Bennetts for my CBF600, fecking £198 TPFT with a £500 compulsory excess for a bike worth about £1000. Shopped around and got the same cover and excess from One Click, Allianz Underwritten, for £97.17. Bit more palatable. No add ons as I have got cover for that elsewhere.

Not so tired this morning and a bit more confident to have a crack of stripping the forks down and doing the seals myself after a couple of helpful videos on Youtube. Still know a man that can if things go tits up.

The plugs that came out did not show any sign of wear. I will clean them up set the gaps and keep them.

I like the sound of that. I was thinking about doing them every other year but I did 5k last year so that would make it roughly every three years for plugs. I'm gonna change all the fluids this year so as to set a datem as a starting point. When I bought the bike the previous owner said he had a full service done the year before for the MoT and that would match with what I found today after 5000 miles in my ownership and him only doing 100 miles between MoT's. The only thing that troubles me a little is that I have no record of valve clearances being done and the bike is at 36000 miles. Doesn't necessarily mean they haven't been done just I have no record of it. They are supposed to be done every 16000 I believe. I chatted to the mechanic I use about it and he said not to sweat it. As long as the bike starts fine you shouldn't worry. It starts perfectly and the motor is pretty quiet compared to other Honda 600's I have heard this year. But I do worry as that is my way

Sad CBF600

Just finished stripping the forks out of the bike. Total pain in the arse and filthy, seals been misting for some time I would say judging by the gunk. I don't have an impact and looking at the dampener bolts in the bottom of the fork legs I will just mangle them with allen keys. Be cheaper in the long run to pay the local bike shop to do it with the right tools. After all I have done all the donkey work. Also I am pretty sure it will be cheaper to pay them than buy an impact.

Just been out and serviced the CBF. Oil and filter, air filter and plugs. What was in there wasn’t too bad so it has been serviced in the last couple of years. I did an oil and filter change last year. Twas nice to be able the get the filter off with resorting to brutality Plugs were a fiddly pain the arse to do, can’t ever remember doing them on an inline 4. I had a blade years ago but I paid to have that serviced. Just the brakes to strip, clean and change fluid now. Gonna do that after the fork seals. I may do that later or in the morning. Just out of interest how many miles between plug changes do people do, don’t want to do it again in a hurry if I don’t have to

All my kids are. But Shadow had the worst background by a country mile. Very few adopted kids come without issues sadly.