Indy’s alive! CM400A first outing

Windmill John

Windmill John

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2022
Total Posts
875
Total likes
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Location
East Sussex, England
Boom! Got Indy out of the shed this morning. Bought him two months ago needing the usual stuff and bits; tyres, silencers, head bearings, fork seals, head bearings, brake disc, brake pads, seized rear brake pivot, carb clean plus seals, rust removal, voltage drop stuff, lots of elbow grease ZZrrrrrrrrrrrrr 😊
Anyway, got him out, fueled him up and he started readily. Sounds good. I’d planned to sync the carbs, but I’ll wait as he sounds pretty there.
Got on the phone, insurance done, taxed, helmet on.
First ride on a Hondamatic, very impressed. I’d read many articles and seen many videos. People saying they’re slow! Well, I have gone down to a 350 Royal Enfield, but have had powerful bikes. Indy… he pulls very very well.
All the videos say to change to 2nd at 20 to 30mph and some say higher speeds. The owner’s manual says 12 mph. I was happy changing between 10 and 20 and will stick with that.
Anyway, a little oil underneath….. I’ll look at that separately. The ride was great. Yes, the front suspension is dated, but hey… 😊

Thanks to all for help with some of the questions I asked.
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Thanks. It came with some bits for me to fit. Brake pads, fork seals and sprockets, I had to get a chain; forgot to mention chain and sprockets above.
I still had to spend, excluding insurance, £900; $1192 on bits.
The right side of the engine was pretty furry. But judicious rubbing plus Rub n Buff, very pleased. Picture below, very low res, was how it was.
You can see also the suspension. Trying to keep costs down initially, I wire wheeled them. I think one has lost damping fluid, so shocks might be on the cards down the line.

The silencers were held to the collector box by tape… nothing else 🙄
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Well, never thought I’d show at a meet! Here’s Indy at today’s Ashburnham classic bike show. I think they used to be pre 1980 only, but are now bikes older than 25 years; worth showing as you get free entry to the show 😊 Still gave a donation to a local hospital.
There was a CB250K4, but stepping away from twins, there was a Goldwing with sidecar and a CB550 four for sale at £2950, which is good over here. Sorry I took no more pictures, you can just see the 550 tank.
Indy got overlooked by some of old British only brigade. But as I was leaving, a group of four people suddenly had lots of questions about the gearing.
Great chat about Soichi’s foibles and many great things, I think, like the torsion bar valve adjustments on things such as the Black Bomber and 500T. Also covered gear driven cams etc. so many people had never seen a Hondamatic. Actually, even though I’ve known about them for years. I don’t think I’d seen one.
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