Operation: TRIPLE THREAT - 1985 NS400R Rothmans Project

[TwoStrokeNut]

You know Rossi use to put all his decals on his bikes. I think it was a mental relaxation for him. Go out at night when no one was around. Sure miss him.

I could see that being a great "release" for him to get a break from all the pressure racing life imposes on someone. Thanks for sharing that fact... I did not know.

[TwoStrokeNut]

Service C2.02 - Brakes - Replace front pads...

With the bodywork mostly behind me, it is time to focus on the small list of items I want to check off my list before my next test ride. One mandatory item is getting the front brakes operating properly. You may recall that my fork seals leaked so badly that I think they soaked my brake pads. With newly rebuilt forks, it is now time to put some fresh pads in to see if that gets the braking effort back to full power.

I bought some inexpensive pads because I’m not going to racing this thing, nor will it see many miles. Something close to factory specs will do. US$25 bought and delivered three sets to do the entire bike.

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When taken out, the right side was oil soaked. That means, the left caliper was all that was stopping the bike in front and I would say it felt like I had about half the braking effort it should have had. New pads are on top, oil soaked ones on bottom.

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So the new pads didn’t also get compromised with contaminates, I cleaned both brake disks really well, multiple times.

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New pads are now in and I’m hoping my problem is solved. The next ride will tell. Just because it doesn’t hurt, I also bled the lines a second time just to be sure no air bubbles were trapped in the system. I didn’t notice anything. I was also happy to not see any oil weeping from my piston seals upon a close look with the calipers removed.

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C2.02 Total Cost: US$25.00 [Brake pads - 3 sets]

[rz500guytexas]

I hope you replaced all the seals in the calipers.

[TwoStrokeNut]

I hope you replaced all the seals in the calipers.

Yeah, I bought and installed a rebuild kit for all three. I was glad to see no weeping because I did not replace the pistons. They seemed fine to reuse, and so I did.

[TwoStrokeNut]

When I purchased the OEM clip-on handlebars back in December, they came with most of the original bar end weight pieces. One of the actual weights was missing and the one in my possession had some nasty road rash. So I headed over to the lathe and made some new ones using the existing part as a template.

Here they are, painted.

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I also was missing the little spring clips that hold the weight assemblies in the handlebar tube, so those were purchased.

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This shows a better shot of the clip. The top assembly shows how the tabs of the clip engage the groove in the rubber bushing. On the un-installed clip, you can see the barbs on the left that engage two holes in the ID of the handlebar tube and also the 2 small flanges on the right that keep the whole assembly from inserting too far.

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The grips (and throttle tube) came from a different model Honda that apparently didn’t have bar end weights, so I needed to cut out holes for them.

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A sharp hobby knife and a little bit of lube made easy work of it.

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It was thicker than I thought.

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This view shows one of the holes the barbs engage in. If removing the weights, you will need to pry the barbs away to clear these holes before pulling out. Alternatively, it might be possible to simply rotate the whole weight assembly (with considerable force) inside the bar to slide the barbs up and out of the holes before pulling out, but I did not try this.

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I used some more of the petroleum jelly to lube up the rubber parts of the weights for easy insertion (and removal later if needed). The clip is in place and ready to snap into the tube holes.

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Installed fully.

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This shows the detail of the how Honda keeps the weight from rotating, and subsequently unscrewing itself and falling off.

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Weight installed (right side).

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Weight installed (left side).

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Overall shot.

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C4.07 Total Cost: US$15.66 [2X clips and shipping; Round stock from inventory]

[Straycat]

Very nice job on the bar weights !! very talented

[TwoStrokeNut]

Very nice job on the bar weights !! very talented

Thanks!

I wouldn't want to do it every day, but I get very much satisfaction from jumping on the lathe and knocking out some custom parts from time to time. Mainly, I think it's because the old lathe was passed down from my grandfather and it reminds me of him and I tinkering together in his workshop when I was a kid.

[TwoStrokeNut]

Service C1.10i - Bodywork - Install OEM Mirrors...

I showed you the painting process of the OEM mirrors a while back, but I never showed you the final installation. I was missing 2 of the flanged acorn nuts so I needed to buy some extras (smallest pack was 10). Another thing missing was gaskets to protect the paint (assuming something was included originally) so I used the mirror base as a template and cut 2 foam rubber versions.

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They look pretty good on there… I shouldn’t have waited so long to install them!

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C1.10l Total Cost: US$11.00 [Flanged acorn nuts]

[TwoStrokeNut]

Test Ride #3 and some Glamour Shots (Part 1 of 2)...

With the bike finally back together after the paint job, it was time for another test ride. Because it had been sitting since the paint job started, I decided to pull out the vacuum pump to open the fuel valve so I could watch the fuel run down to flood the carbs with fresh fuel. As before, the bike fired up easily… very happy about that! And it idled nicely too. The only thing wrong that I noticed was that pesky neutral light not illuminating again. I seem to recall it mysteriously starting to work right before I parked it months ago.

A non-functioning neutral light was of course not going to keep me from riding, so down into 1st it went and I was off. Clutch still felt good and the transmission in general was shifting flawlessly. The engine still seems pretty weak in the low to midrange, so a good carb ultrasonic bath is still on the list. High range acted the same as before too… the ATAC seemed a bit lagging once over 8,000 rpm, but you can definitely tell when it “kicks in”. A good cleaning of the ATAC is on the list too. So no noticeable change in engine functioning and I suppose that is good since it did sit pretty long.

The bright spot of the test ride was that I had full front brakes finally! They are not 2022 good, but for 1985 standards, probably respectable. So that one can get check off the list. I limited the ride to about 10 miles when I headed back to the shop to check everything out. There is freshly painted bodywork in close proximity to the exhaust and I wanted the double check that the plastics where staying cool everywhere (seems okay).

After a successful test ride seemed like a perfect time to get some glamour shots with the fresh bodywork outside. I was getting into it and took probably 100 pictures (luckily “film” is free these days!) and I’ll share some of the best here. I must say, this scheme really “pops” nicely in the sunlight with the metallic blue pearl. Unfortunately, all my sunlight pictures just seem a bit overexposed to me and thus the pictures below where in the shade.

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[TwoStrokeNut]

Test Ride #3 and some Glamour Shots (Part 2 of 2)...

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I will include one overall shot with the bike in the sun. I don’t like how the ATAC and TRAC decals wash out, but the rest of the colors look pretty good.

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[kpke]

The bike looks fantastic. Nice job. I'm glad to hear your test ride was good.

[rz500guytexas]

Awsome job. You really can keep a guy motivated. A few friends have had their bike photographed by professionals and my goodness what a difference. Most are night shots with lighting and man they sure look good. I run hot and cold on these bikes since retiring. Most likely the limited income. But you and all of us know that we will get what we have invested out of the bikes at a minimum. Depends if you calculate your time. Seems you started with a good bike and parts where somewhat findable. My little TZR has been a bugger but some bodywork today. Again great build. I believe once my health diagnose settles I would like to do a GT 550. Seems parts are around but that could be another post.

[Straycat]

Well done !! Nice to see another old 2 stroke saved.

[TwoStrokeNut]

The bike looks fantastic. Nice job. I'm glad to hear your test ride was good.

Thanks!! I had a few tools with me, but didn't need to use them... that's always good!

I was searching Youtube yesterday and ran across this video with your bike in it. I stopped for a second and said "Hey! I know that bike!" It was just one of those random, out-of-the-blue instances that lets you know this is a small world after all.

At the Quail... go to time 2:32.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DszqWImhabo&t=7s

If the link doesn't work, try searching on "Motorcycle Touring Tiger"

[tacky1]

Now that looks absolutely class, Really come together nicely,