Another UK Newbie, Bros Owner!

[gernster]

Greetings all, just found the site by doing a  bit of random google surfing as you do and hope to spend a bit of time here!


I have just finished putting my dads old 1200 bandit back together (its mine now!) after he came off it last year and totalled the front end ( he was a bit bruised by ok) He has owned since new (2004 1200s) but had hardly ever used it and as a result it only has 3,000 miles on the clock. Its a lovely thing but as I don't have a garage at my house (the bandit lives in my girlfriends garage) I decided I wanted something rough and ready to commute to work on and be able to leave outside without too much fear of it getting stolen (of course I have a shackle bolted to the floor and 3 different security devices) and wouldn't mind it getting wet & dirty!







So, I remembered that years ago I had seen a cool looking bike in my local town and remembered it had said Bros on the tank, after a bit of research and evil bay lurking I picked this up with a winning bid of £400







I knew it looked a bit unloved, but you always secretly hope its going to be a little diamond in the rough, this was his add:



For sale/ is my honda bros 400, is currently sorn but doesn't need any work to get back on the road, got part service history, has 36152km on the clock which isn't a lot for this kind of bike, has a v-twin 400cc engine, iv lost the log book but it's 25£ for a new one I have the forms for the buyer to send off for it, happy bidding, any questions don't hesitate to message me,would need a deposit at end of auction, no timewasters pls,thanks for looking,



However, when I arrived the fork seals were leaking, the rear end felt loose as a bag of spanners, the sprocket cover was missing, the gear change was really loose and vague and compared to the Bandit it felt like a kids toy bike, but I kinda still fell for it.



So, after I had bartered him down to £300 as it was not as described - no way it would pass an MOT as is - we stuck it in the back of my brothers van and brought it home (about a 100 mile round trip)



photos when I got it home:
























So as with any great project I delved right in the space of a week and have pulled in down to basically a frame and engine!

[gernster]

Notice old printer used as ballast to keep it on the crate!






Then it was the great online shop. By this point Id decided it wanted a light resto, so the wheels, rear subframe, bar clamps (its got a conversion kit on it) and fuel pump mount have been powdercoated (not picked up the wheels yet):








Ive got a set of CBR600F3 forks to swap the stanchions in, a specially modified CBR900 rear shock, shimmed and with the hawk spring, being shipped from California as we speak and whole host of replacement new and second hand parts:

New ABN bars
New levers
s/h seat catch
s/h lockset
new footpegs
s/h left side rearset with new gear linkage
s/h lower yoke (triple tree, one of the clamp bolts has been threaded!)
forks seals & new oil
Braided Brake lines
Chain (old one has stiff links, its been stood outside for a while has this bike!)
stainless bolts to replace as much as I can
and of course a full service kit

Im sure I'm forgetting some other parts!


Anyway, the current hassles are getting the lower shock bolt out of the swingarm, so far I've snapped 2x 8mm hex sockets and the air impact gun wont touch it so have ordered a heavy duty impact bit and will just sit there til it moves!

and also tonight I tried to strip the forks down and one of the fork seals is siezed in solid, so need another caliper side leg (slider)

The budget for this bike was £700, but the suspension and now these problems are going to put me over a grand, so much for a cheap rat bike !!

[gernster]

Now got another set of Bros shocks, US shock should be getting delivered this morning and the swing arm is at a Landrover main dealer with a mate of mine to get the bolt out!

Also got the wheels back!

[dublinntv]

Welcome should be a nice bike when finished.