Well as my Honda Britain project got closer and closer to actually being finished, it started to dawn on me that apart from some tinkering on the old AJS this winter…. I was potentially heading towards the situation of not having a project on the go.

After several sleepless nights and nightmares about empty garages and clean hands I started trawling the forum, Facebook groups and even the classified out here in Germany for a potential project. I briefly thought about getting something different but the truth is, I like the NC30, I know how to spanner on it and most of all I have a shit load of spare bits in the garage for another one. I also fancy building something that (whilst probably road legal) is not too fancy so I can enjoy the next track day(s) to the full and not be holding back like I do when riding a 'shiny' bike.

I spotted an add on the forum for an NC30 whose last MOT had run out in Sep 2015 and she hadn’t been used since. The owner had moved on to a VFR750 and the NC had languished outside albeit under a cover.

Well a bit of e-mail ping pong later and a deal was struck. And as such last weekend involved an approximate round trip of 1200Km (to Oxford and back from Cologne) including two overnight ferry crossings. Initial diagnosis - Non runner but the engine cranks over without any nasty noises and all the lights etc seem to work ok. Going to need a lot of cleaning, checking and tidying up….but all the important stuff seems to be there.

First worries were a nasty noise from the trailer as we were heading back to the ferry. After a few stops to check everything I discovered the bolt holding the tank on was only finger tight and was working its way out. As there were no side rubbers on the tank it was making a right old noise rattling on the frame every time we hit a bump. Out with the socket set and suddenly no more nasty noises – phew. A long couple of days but it all worked out and,.. well here is the latest acquisition and the next project, as it arrived.



I am calling this one "Project Budget Build" as I am aiming to use as much stuff out of my stash of old or spare bits as oppose to buying new stuff.... and to be fair I do have quite a stash, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Lets see how we get on

On the Friday before heading over to collect the latest project, the last of the stickers had turned up for the Honda Britain bike and I had got those fitted before we left. Returning home on the Sunday I then stripped all the fairings of and loaded them in the car to take to work where the painter is going to do the honours with the clear coat.

That done I shuffled the other two bikes out of the way and slid the new arrival into prime spannering spot in the workshop. Unable to resist, I stuck the key in and tried it once again…..nothing. A quick look around and I discovered the vacuume pipe was not connected to the fuel tap. Quickly reconnected, fule tap to reserve and try again…….still nothing but now fuel is pi**ing all over the floor – bugger. I know the previous owner had some issues with carb floats and fuel running into the engine, so figured this was probably a stuck float or such like. I never really expected it to fire up – but you have to try don’t you.

Started by whipping the tank off and got the Mrs to help me drain out the remaining fuel as I have no idea how old it is.



Last thing for the day was to drain the oil and pull the filter off. I must say I was very pleasantly surprised as what looked almost like new oil flowed out of the engine with no signs of anything nasty in there .



Plugged into the Optimate and put to bed for the night

Monday and after a crappy day at work I need some relief so headed straight into the garage (aka my “happy place”) when I got home.

I started by pulling of the carbs as I was lucky enough to have a full spare set sat on the shelf which I know are good.



The carb mounting rubbers and clamps were a bit tired but again I have a few spare ones lying around.



I selected the best of the rubbers and gave them all a good clean up and also picked out the best of the clamps. I also pulled the plugs and found some very dirty looking plugs. Again I have “a few” spares, which were all taken from running bikes when fitting new ones, and I am just crap at throwing things away.



Anyway I sorted out the best looking set and gave them a good clean up and checked the were all sparking ok before fitting them.

What I had noticed was that the bike was missing the “rubber flappy thing” from under the carbs.



For anyone new to these bikes (or possibly having running issues) the “rubber flappy thing” is very important and you do need one. It actually provides a calm airflow into the air filter / carbs and without it you get turbulent airflow and your bike will run like crap!

Well again sticking to the principles of “Project Budget Bike” I luckily had one of these amongst a box of bits in the back of the shed, so that was fitted as was a fuse box cover as that was also missing.





Well even though they were the best ones I had, the carb rubbers were still a bit old and stiff and as such, even with a good smear of grease, the carbs were the usual pig to fit. After much swearing, sweating and scuffed knuckles the larger of the plastic hammers came out and the carbs finally gave in and sat down properly on the rubbers.

A new filter (from the shelf) was fitted and the last of my 10-40 oil went into the engine, which was just enough to start it showing on the dipstick. Still lots to do and check, but you have to give it another go don’t you. So some fresh petrol went into my remote fuel tank and the carbs were given a few moments to fill up before trying the button once more

https://youtu.be/EIVo3EtjrXI

Mwahahahaha! – Its alive and more than that, (particularly for a bike that has been stored outside and hasn’t run in more than three years) she sounds very sweet indeed.

That was all for tonight and as we are heading away for a few days on Wed morning probably all for a week or so. Hopefully when I get back all the Honda Britain stuff will be done and I can finish that one off before digging into this one properly.

Love it mate. you're a proper NC junkie.

My name is Ian and I have a problem





....... Not enough garage space and free time

Following this with great interest


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now that's commitment to the NC!
I know you want to keep it low budget, but how about getting it on a slight diet?
Sell some bits and buy some lighter ones; subframe, handle bars, footpegs and maybe even another exhaust; that can looks big & heavy!

Speedy wrote: Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:24 am Sell some bits and buy some lighter ones; subframe, handle bars, footpegs and maybe even another exhaust; that can looks big & heavy!

Speedy, I must confess to already having a couple of exhaust systems to choose from, when I get that far.....and other bits

Another interesting thread Ian.

I too started a budget bike a while back... didnt finish as one

Nice to see another '30 getting a bit of TLC :)

If you get the chance, could you take some more shots of how the rubber flappy thing sits at the front of the bike? (i.e., how close it is to the frame spars, how it sits under the headstock.)

My bike's got an aftermarket top rad, and I'm pretty sure I've never been able to position it properly :/