My CB400SF Version S

[ZMC888]

Maybe up in Swanky Wanky Shanghai or other similar cities, but big bikes are like hen's teeth down in the fertile south

Exactly, and they only cost about 120% more than they do in a western country! So unless you are very wealthy they are not an option. Also provinces differ, trying to register a big bike in some provinces is impossible or difficult, cities even differ too.

In my province the big bikes I believe that are available are HD, 883 and 1500 models, some BMWs and maybe R1. Probably only registrable in Qingdao. I personally have no interest in any of the bikes available, as I like machines in the 250-600cc 2-4 cylinder range.

[Serpentza]

Put on a whole whack of new parts today... but perhaps we should backtrack a little... On Sunday I went to Guangzhou to pick up my "new front wheel"... firstly there was some sort of nonsense going on with the roads right near the bike market.. They'd closed off the offramps from the highway, closed off everything, there was traffic backed up on every bridge and overpass anywhere near the bike market, so I parked my car under a bridge about 3kms away from the bike market, hopped out and jogged through traffic to get to the shop.... on arriving there I found that they were trying to sell me my old wheel back... The busted up one I'd traded in for a discount.. slightly fixed and re-sprayed, what wankers.



Anyway, lots of arguing and getting most of my money back later I was jogging through the traffic once more, this time with a wheel on my shoulder... then there was the BBQ incident and well let's just move on.

[Serpentza]

First I had to get the discs back on the wheel.. easy enough



Then I greased up the bearings (those idiots had spraypainted onto my bearings... oh well...)



P.S, ChinaV had helped me balance the wheel with his cool little pocket wheel balancer.. at least it's a well balanced piece of shyte wheel :P

... now I had a problem.. that bike is seriously heavy and I was struggling to lift it up to put things underneath. 45mins later and after losing a lot of sweat in the bloody summer heat, a stroke of luck.. Rich turned up to work on his bike.. with a second set of hands we got the wheel on in no time (Thanks Rich, that bike is seriously heavy).



Next up I had to get all the blingy stuff on..



Posh nut caps (yeah they're blingy little caps that fit over your rusty nuts..) Not sure if I like the blue yet... but I can always go back to Silver later.



Cool levers.. here I have it fully lengthened, but ended up adjusting them much shorter.



Slick Koso mirrors (don't worry grips were to be changed shortly)



Time to head up to the local bike shop to use his impact wrench (to change the shocks).. the new shocks are nice looking, but not as good as the ones that were on there.. but those ones were knackered so had to be replaced anyway.



The friendly laoban helped me put on the shocks while I put on the new grips and bar weights (although I did a shyte job and one fell out on my ride back.. went to find it though).



Ran out of time (had to go work), so I didn't get round to replacing the Chain, Radiator etc.. that will come soon... but in anycase, here's the end result... isn't she pretty? :)

[Nuhaus]

Looks awesome. How's the ride with the new wheel? I've tried a set of those mirrors on my Honda Rebel, was not impressed. I really noticed a difference with how small they were compared to the stock ones.

[ZMC888]

First I had to get the discs back on the wheel.. easy enough

Using Loctite 243 I hope!

[felix]

Jealous! Love those bikes, they'll never go out of fashion

[euphonius]

Serpent, so you're saying you bought back your original wheel? What's the quality of the repair? You trust them? Is this just a stopgap before you source a new one? (Hope so.)

How and where are you planning to ride this beauty?

Yeah, and, no, you're not getting off the hook with that teaser about the barbeque. Pictures please!

cheers!

[Serpentza]

Looks awesome. How's the ride with the new wheel? I've tried a set of those mirrors on my Honda Rebel, was not impressed. I really noticed a difference with how small they were compared to the stock ones.

Much better (but still not 100%) I agree with the mirrors, but they just look so much better :)

[Serpentza]

Serpent, so you're saying you bought back your original wheel? What's the quality of the repair? You trust them? Is this just a stopgap before you source a new one? (Hope so.)

How and where are you planning to ride this beauty?

Yeah, and, no, you're not getting off the hook with that teaser about the barbeque. Pictures please!

cheers!

Well, the wheel was in seriously bad condition and it came back in bad condition, at least it's round now and not egg-shaped.. but it's still iffy and feels like it's got bondo all over it... still it's just a stop gap as you say, I've asked them to find me a real one and then I'll trade in this one.

We're planning a small trip into Hunan in October during the holiday, that should be a blast :) what BBQ? hehe

[MotoKai]

Love the bike, and great posts!
Just wish we can all HEAR it as well!

Possible to post a video somewhere and give us a link of the bike in action?