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NC35 (re)build thread - tis the season for 400cc greybikes

I have a couple (5 I think) sets of plugs for the bike that I dont need. want to buy a set let me know. no shipping from far off places!!!!
 
Hah! Damn, I should have posted this earlier, then. I ended up ordering a set from sparkplugs.com. Come to think of it, I should check the mail today. They're expensive little bastards!
 
yes they are! I ended up with spare sets that came with all three bikes I have bought over the years. and my race motor cant use them. need a lower heat range.
 
Have you thought of plastic-welding the tail plastics back together? It won't be as strong as stock but the bits that snapped off my bike are holding well and it'll keep that pillion seat together.
 
Submitted without comment:

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fuck yeah.
 
http://mngforce.typepad.com/nc450vdev/2012/10/dave-moss-wins-the-2012-afm-450cc-superbike-championship.html

Dave is of course riding an RVF. He's on track (pun intended) to three-peat in 2013. Fingers crossed.

I had the great good fortune to be involved with the team prior to the start of last season. Those power plants have a sound like no other when they're going at redline on the dyno, and I've owned every 1980's era US V4 model Honda ever made.

If you need any sublime-guru-level expertise, contact Mike Norman. He's done a tremendous amount of development on Dave's engines, and others', and he can point you wherever you need to go.

(I've got the special sized fuel joint orings you may eventually desire to replace and a way to bring the diaphragms back to life if they're stiffened.)

Jack
 
Oh, I'm very, very familiar with what Dave and Mike do and have done. My goals are pretty different, as I'm aiming at building something utterly sublime for the street, but I hope they won't mind when I inevitably hit them up for a ketchup-packet sized serving of their wisdom. :)
 
I didn't say much in the last post, but I'm not sure I needed to. It lives! It's obviously running lean (the revs "hang" really badly when I let out the choke), but it could be an intake leak from the carbs not being seated correctly, or the carbs could still be dirty, or the floats could be set wrong, etc, etc. Before I really start trying to diagnose what's wrong, I need to order some new carb boots from overseas - the stock ones are really brittle, and probably cracked to shit. In order to get the carbs seated, I had to apply about 400 lbs of force. I was determined to get it running yesterday.

Anyway, now that I've proven the bike runs, it's time to shift focus slightly to getting it roadworthy. That's a much bigger problem than just getting it running, as it needs quite a bit from sitting for so long.

First priority was getting baby some new shoes. The tires that came on the bike had a date code indicating they were manufactured in 2000. They still held air, but, well, let's just say they didn't really want to flex on the tire machine...

old_tire.jpg


No pics, but they were replaced with some delicious Bridgestone S20s. Well, I assume they're delicious. If they're half as good as the BT-023s I run on my VFR, I'll be thrilled. Hell, I like the BT-023 so much I almost went with it on the RVF, but I don't think a sport-touring tire is the right choice. Let's just say that if I start caring about tire life on the NC, I'm doing it wrong.

Working on this bike has been one long string of "well, while I'm in there...". Once I had the front wheel off to change the tire, I noticed just how dirty the calipers were.

caliper_back_side.jpg


There's enough black shit caked on the back of the caliper that the (phone) camera wouldn't even expose correctly. Well, let's pull those bad bitches off and make 'em shine, shall we? I'd always known the calipers would take some attention anyway - the brakes clearly worked when pushing the bike around the shop. So while I'm in there...

first_drippings.jpg


Psychedelic brake fluid is never good. Looks like these things are going to need some actual attention. I went ahead and drained every part of the brake system for future cleanup, and after dumping out the master cylinder, the drain pan didn't make me happy. Brake fluid is supposed to look like salsa, right?

like_salsa.jpg


Even better, this is what greeted me when I started looking over the caliper.

grungy_inside.jpg


Oh dear.

One of the calipers is marked 20.5133.00, but that's all I know. Clearly I'm going to need to split these things open and rebuild them, but I have no idea even where to begin. Does anyone have a contact, or know someone who knows Brembos and who might be able to give me some help? Googling isn't turning up very much except a cached page where someone claims that the seals and pistons for this caliper are NLA, and the whole caliper has to be replaced with an updated part.
 
Badass. Thank you so much, MikeGyver - you were right on. Steve at Bevel Heaven ID'd the calipers as standard gold line 40mm 30/34 calipers. Apparently the bolts, internal o-rings, and outer dust seals can't be bought, so my options are buying rebuild parts for $200 or buying new calipers for $400.

The conversation with my wife went as such:
me: $200 for partial rebuild kit, or $400 for totally new, shiny calipers
her: New. They are guaranteed to work. You might rebuild and still have problems. Sell the old ones for $50. Then it's only $150 difference and one less evening you have to spend away from your wife!
me: or $1300 for really shiny new calipers? :D
her: No.
her: That was easy. :)

She's great.

Of course... while I'm in there... I might as well upgrade to a CBR1000RR radial master, and matching clutch lever, which of course needs a matching perch. Hello, CRG? Here's a credit card number...
 
I realize it's very American of me to feel this way, but why in the hell does it always take Europeans so friggin' long to respond to a business inquiry? Do they not want my damned money? Steve at Bevel Heaven responded to me in about 15 minutes after I placed an order, and let me know that the calipers won't ship until early next week. No worries, now I don't have to wonder!

Now if Rick Oliver would just get back to me about those HRC carb springs...

Waiting for parts to arrive in the mail is boring. :(
 
It sometimes takes Rick up to a week to get back to me and sometimes I have to shoot him another email. He's a busy guy with a family, a regular job at Honda, and then you throw in his gig sending NC parts all over the world.
 
Crom said:
It sometimes takes Rick up to a week to get back to me and sometimes I have to shoot him another email. He's a busy guy with a family, a regular job at Honda, and then you throw in his gig sending NC parts all over the world.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I didn't mean to single him out specifically - I'm having to deal with vendors all over the UK and Europe in trying to hunt down parts, and it just seems like vendors in Asia and America respond immediately.

Having never actually ridden a 400cc bike, I'm ready to ride this damned thing! :)
 
thenewwazoo said:
Yeah, I didn't mean to single him out specifically - I'm having to deal with vendors all over the UK and Europe in trying to hunt down parts, and it just seems like vendors in Asia and America respond immediately.

Having never actually ridden a 400cc bike, I'm ready to ride this damned thing! :)
Click to expand...

Oh man, I know exactly what you mean. I bought my RSV4 Factory heavily discounted. The previous owner grabbed too much front break and went over the bars. I had to wait almost two months to get some back ordered parts from Italy because they completely shut down during the month of December (and August too). It was a long wait but after that first ride my girlfriend said I looked like the guy from the enzyte commercial.:teeth Same thing happened after my first ride on my NC30. I've ridden FZR400's and had a CBR400RR but that V4 400cc engine with its gear driven cams is like nothing else. They are bundles of joy. Jay Leno has say many times "it's alway more fun to have an engine that you can use all the horsepower most of the time"


Gas milage isn't too bad either if you try. I was able to get around 60mpg on the freeway when I took it for a good long ride up the coast yesterday. Mines got a few things like Dymag wheels and a 2008 GSXR1000 flywheel that are lighter and probably help but the NC35 has more aerodynamic body work and lighter cams. Jeeze, I better watch it could talk about these bikes for days.
 
Delicious.

My dream 400 is the FZR400RR SP. :drool What I would do to get my hands on a roller...

fzr400rr-sp-exup.jpg
 
thenewwazoo said:
Badass. Thank you so much, MikeGyver - you were right on. Steve at Bevel Heaven ID'd the calipers as standard gold line 40mm 30/34 calipers. Apparently the bolts, internal o-rings, and outer dust seals can't be bought, so my options are buying rebuild parts for $200 or buying new calipers for $400.

The conversation with my wife went as such:
me: $200 for partial rebuild kit, or $400 for totally new, shiny calipers
..
Click to expand...

How about going back to a stock setup and bolting on some RC51 calipers you can get for next to nothing and work great?

And if anyone is interested I may want to sell my titled NC30 here soon.

EDIT: I would also look for a set of the SunStar Rotors that fir the NC35 and a bunch of other Hondas, they look awesome and work well.
 
Last edited:
rothmans said:
How about going back to a stock setup and bolting on some RC51 calipers you can get for next to nothing and work great?

And if anyone is interested I may want to sell my titled NC30 here soon.

EDIT: I would also look for a set of the SunStar Rotors that fir the NC35 and a bunch of other Hondas, they look awesome and work well.
Click to expand...

Interested for a family member who wants a 400
 
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