The Beginning

Well! The red Jag has gone. It brought more than a little tear to my eye to see it go. Sniff!

And there she is. The Honda has not seen the light of day since 1994 when we moved house. It has been crammed into the garage behind the Jag since then and it looks the worst for wear for it. Actually the photo does not do the bike justice. OK, a little paint has flaked off and the thing is covered in years of dust dirt and a little spilled primer. But all is not bad... Well the tyres have still got air in them.

Anyway, the bike is all there. I have the original 67bhp motor and all the parts ready for rebuild, including the carbs and air box. Most of the chrome parts rubbers need replacing, all of the nuts and bolts are to be replaced with stainless steel, a coat of paint, an original seat and a 4 into 4 exhaust should see the bike back in pristine condition.

Well that's just about everything on the bike then, I may as well get a complete restored machine from eBay. But, that's not the point. All that hard work should give me hours and hours and hours of fun.

The Broken Top Yoke

For interest, here is the broken top yoke. This was the cause of the bike being taken off the road last time. The break happened when I was riding the bike. Luckily I was not going too fast but I had reason to brake hard. When I set off again the bike wobbled all over the place, Not surprising though. I would be interested to hear from anybody else that has had this problem in situ. I know it is a weakness and care has to be taken when removing and fitting the yoke. I have wasted a few bob on several top yokes, all with cracks under the paint. I am waiting for another example from the States. If this one is no good, I'll have a go at ally welding (a first for me). I've now have several scrap yokes to develop a technique.