The first major job to get out of the way at the start of the year was an MoT during the middle of January, which was passed with only an advisory for the front wheel bearings; something I was planning to sort anyway. I picked up a set of fresh bearings for the front and rear from Wemoto but didn’t fit them right away because after I’d paid some closer attention to the wheels, I noticed that the paint was properly worn in some places and there were a few small areas of bare metal exposed. It was obviously time I got them sorted; fresh looking wheels to match the white bodywork and stop corrosion is definitely a winner and what better way to give a rim some loving than with powder coating. Exactly.

I set an evening aside to take my wheels off, get the discs off and have the tyres removed (cheers James and Al) before taking them to a powder coaters local to me. They were red before, but I picked up my fresh satin black wheels a few days later and admired them for an evening before putting the tyres and discs back on, getting them balanced, putting new bearings in and sticking them back on the bike. The difference they’ve made to the overall look of the NC30 is amazing; they really smarten the bike up and it’s good to know the paint isn’t hanging on for all its worth.

I haven’t got any pictures of the wheels yet because in between my excitement and running around to drop them off, pick them from the powder coaters and sort the tyres out during every free moment after work with the girlfriend’s car, I forgot my camera. I will get some photos soon because I’ve still got a few more things to do, like fitting the new Renthal chain and sprocket set that arrived a few days ago and sorting out a few cosmetic issues in the form of the dodgy red bar ends and other little areas. Expect another update soon.

Simon ‘Pip’ Greenacre

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There are loads of aftermarket fairing options available for NC30s and after looking around I contacted MotoCC, who supplied me with the kit pictured. It’s a replica of a special livery Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden had on their bikes at Valencia in 2008 and it looks pretty damn sweet! The kit is made from good quality plastic and the finish of the paint is excellent. Fitting took me the best part of a day to get right; I had to drill all the holes for the screws and build the seat unit up from three separate parts. Marking the holes, drilling them and, where needed, filing the holes for a better fit took a while but I think the result is worth it.

To replace the rusty screws I bought a quick release aluminium fairing kit from ProBolt, which looks much smarter than the rusty originals. The only downside was that once the fairings were sorted I was left with a red and black tank and red wheels. Repainting the tank seemed a bit extreme, and then I found out about CreativeFX in Bromley, who specialise in vinyl wrapping and graphics. After talking to them about getting it finished in plain white, I sent them my tank and had it back double quick. The tank now matches the rest of the bike and looks like it’s been painted, plus I’ve also got the option to peel the vinyl off and voila, the original paint is still there. Mange tout.

Pip

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I borrowed a front wheel chock from Moby and secured the front wheel before lifting the pegs onto some axle stands and removing the rear wheel. Taking the bolt out at the top of the shock was obviously the easy bit, but it got a little more difficult when it came to the bottom bolt clearing the linkage arms.  I was sorted after several minutes of messing around moving the swingarm up and down, trying to work out the best way to access the bottom bolt to free the shock. I soon realised the rear linkage can be moved out of the way and the bolt at the bottom of the shock can be removed once the ‘dog bone’ link has been unbolted from the swingarm because it allows you to move the shock around freely. With the shock unbolted, I allowed myself five minutes to feel smug that things were going fairly smoothly, but that disappeared as soon as I realised getting it clear of the bike wasn’t going be as simple as dropping it out of the bottom like a hefty post-roast dinner dump.

I consulted the Haynes manual and found that the exhaust needs to be removed and if I’m honest, I didn’t really fancy that, so I decided to remove the subframe.  Four bolts later and I was able to move the subframe out of the way enough to pull the shock out of the top; a bit unconventional, but I thought it had to be simpler than the potential hassle of sheared exhaust bolts.

I sent the shock away to manufacturers Hagon and for £99.50 they rebuilt it and I got it back four days later, which is a quick turnaround, plus it’s guaranteed for two years. Fitting was easier than removal, although it did require some more pissing around adjusting the height of the swingarm while supporting the shock and trying to put bolts back in. I haven’t tested it yet because I’m going to be fitting some new fairings from MotoCC, and my tank is also away at Creative FX getting a vinyl wrap to match but I’ll be setting it up after.

Pip

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I sorted a new front brake light switch from what is fast becoming my favourite website, Wemoto. The rear brake was a bit of a strange one because when I got it back home and got the back wheel off the ground to test the brake, it was working. The only reason I can think of is that because the bike had been sat for a while it just needed some use.

It passed another MoT a week later, but it was bittersweet because it refused to start when I collected it.  No amount of trying to bump it or get it going with Start Ya Bastard (at the time it was more like ‘Start you useless piece of shit’) would work so I admitted defeat and came back the next day to see what the problem was. It spluttered for 10 mins and sounded like a Vanessa Feltz on the bog after too much cake.  When it eventually started it ran like the aforementioned fatty boom boom too, but I managed to get it home.

It felt like it wasn’t getting enough fuel so I checked that side of things first.  Putting fuel directly into the carbs saw it run properly so I checked the breather hose that goes into the top of the tank and that was ok, but routed incorrectly, so I changed that.  Next thing was the vacuum hose that attaches to the fuel tap. When cranking the engine I could feel a good vacuum, which then led to me taking the fuel tap apart and discovering it had been messed about with to bypass the vacuum operation. It was bodged, the spring was missing and the rubber diaphragms were perished.

I found a company called NRP Carbs in Manchester that sell replacement fuel tap and carb parts and got a new set of diaphragms and a spring for the fuel tap. With the fuel side of things sorted the bike was still not happy so I checked the electrics and found that the regulator was knackered (a common problem on NC30s) and charging the battery at 19v at 4000 rpm which was totally cooking it, not good. I bought a new regulator from LM Spares and it arrived the next day. Since fitting it the NC30 has been on top form and has been behaving properly, which has only highlighted how shocking the rear shock is…

Pip

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I rode over to maison de Fagan and enlisted Alastair’s help. Removing the carbs was a bit of a pain since they are such a tight fit (and the screws for the air box were completely chewed up) but once removed and taken apart, they revealed themselves to be in good condition and free of gunk. We cleaned them using carb cleaner and an air line and replaced one knackered float spring. Having a look at the main jet sizes immediately revealed why it was fuelling badly – they were much too big.

My bike’s got a Beowulf can on it and I can only assume that whoever fitted it decided to put in larger jets to accommodate for the extra bazillion horsepower it would probably unlock… It was running 122s in the front two cylinders and 124s in the rear; much larger than it needs. I got some new, smaller Dynojet jets from JHS and now the front two run 118s, while the rears are on slightly larger 120s.

Paying some attention to the carbs has drastically improved the bike. When it was running rich it was never happy starting from cold and had to be run on full choke for it to stay running and it was always threatening to cut out when sat just idling, which was very annoying on the road. With the new jets it fuels cleanly, doesn’t bog down and happily runs from cold without full choke for an eternity. Lovely.

Based upon what a difference servicing the carbs has made, I’d recommend paying them some attention because even though it’s a pain removing / fitting them, the potential difference it could make might sort out any irritating fuelling anomalies, especially if they’ve never been cleaned before or have been messed around with. Also just getting to grips with the carbs and how they go together and fit in the bike was useful, not as daunting as I first thought and means that I’d be happy to take them off and work on them again if I needed to.

Pip

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Because the rear pads were worn so badly, the pistons were jammed out of the caliper; no wonder the rear brake felt a bit on the non-existent side. Moby thought there was a chance that because the metal of the pads had been wearing against the disc, the brake fluid could have boiled in the line and the whole lot would need replacing, but fortunately it wasn’t as bad as that.

He took the pistons out of the rear caliper and cleaned the whole lot up for me in our parts washer before fitting new seals and at the same time rebuilding the rear master cylinder – massive thanks for that. As the rear brake pads had worn down to the metal, the rear disc had more grooves in it than a James Brown record and Moby also replaced this, along with both front discs, meaning the brakes were once again trustworthy and working, which is reassuring.

Next time: The carbs come off for an inspection and clean…

Pip

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I have always loved motorcycles and after a stint working for Fast Bikes decided to stop just talking about it and do it. Just under a year ago I started looking for my first bike. Originally I was searching for something sensible, mainly SV650s and Honda Hornets. After looking at a few of them I decided that I actually wanted something a little more inspiring – a sportsbike it was then. I thought a 600 was my best option but after speaking to some insurance companies eager to pull my trousers down for a year’s cover, I decided a 400 was the way to go if I wanted a proper sportsbike without massive insurance costs. For me there were only two choices; a ZXR400 or an NC30.

Most of the Kawasakis I could find for the money I had were pretty bad and there seemed to be more NC30s about so it was an easy choice, plus you can’t deny that a 400 with single-sided swingarm and V4 is cool. I reckon the Honda easily beats the ZXR on looks too. After deciding on an NC30, I went scouring high and low for something around the grand mark. Unsurprisingly fleabay came up with the goods for my limited budget and a couple of days later I was looking at the bike on my driveway – what had I let myself in for?

Spending under a thousand pounds on an NC30 got me a bike that is essentially decent, but it needs some work. Things that were immediately obvious were the missing left side middle panel and the fact that the original fairing had taken a battering over the years – they were properly bodged together where they meet under the bike. The rear brake was awesomely badgered with the rear pads worn down to the metal, shot seals and a master cylinder in need of a rebuild. A closer look at one of the front brake discs also revealed that it had a hairline crack – glad I didn’t notice that before riding it 60 miles back to my house.

After having the bike for a couple of days one thing became immediately obvious – I had a bit of a project on my hands. The previous owner’s obvious lack of mechanical sympathy and general neglect meant it was a bit of a dog - nothing that couldn’t be sorted. I thought a good place to start work would be with the basics – an oil change, new oil filter, new spark plugs and because they were looking a bit worn, some new front brake pads. I bought all the bits I needed from Wemoto and proceeded to get the work done.

Draining the oil and replacing the filter was relatively simple – I managed to avoid spilling oil all over my garage floor and although it was fiddly, changing the filter was not a problem. The front brake pads came out easily and before fitting the new EBC items I had to gently work the pistons back into the caliper, which was no fuss. Changing the spark plugs was probably the most annoying thing, simply because access to the front two cylinders is so limited. I unscrewed the crusty bolts on the seat unit, removed it and then lifted the tank up and supported it with a piece of wood to get to the back two cylinders and remove the plugs with a 13 mm long reach socket.

Getting to the front two plugs means taking off the smaller middle fairing panels on each side and then slackening off the screws that hold the top radiator in place. Lots of people recommend removing the top rad but I found that loosening the bolts enough so that I could pivot it out of the way was enough to get my hand behind it and only skin my knuckles a little bit.

Next time: FB’s resident mechanic Moby sorts my brakes…

Pip

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