Blackbird Project Incoming

[ChocolateFrog]

A lot of love for this project.

Was so close to buying an X-11 as my first big bike.

One of these would make a great all weather commuter.

[AceOfHearts]

Not much of an update but got 15 minutes on the bike this evening. Removed the tank and airbox cover. The old fuel is really disgusting but thankfully apart from a lot of dirt and cobwebs under the tank there are no other horrors that I can see yet. The old air filter is like new so the bike seems to have been cared for in its past.

Airbox out next for spark plug change and a good cleanup under there, then the pump will be swapped out into the new tank

[Clinton Baptiste]

Where did you get the fuel tank from? Nice work by the way. Got a Blackbird myself, lovely bikes.

[Hungrymc]

black-k1 said:

Fundoreen said:

This was the bike with the best name. Super Blackbird XX.
Typical honda. Suzuki and Kawasaki quickly made faster bikes but Honda kept their heads and continued to make a bike you would enjoy riding
and owning rather than blathering about and clocking half the mileage.

... until Honda dropped it and replaced it with .... nothing!!!

They are still great bikes that can be used every day and for every (on road) purpose. On the road they will still be quicker than most other bikes while still being comfortable and fun.

I wonder if the VFR1200 will be looked at the same ... Didn’t chase the ultimate performance but is actually a brilliant and very fast road bike ?

Is a cracking bike OP. Think you’ll have terrific fun with it.

[black-k1]

Hungrymc said:

I wonder if the VFR1200 will be looked at the same ... Didn’t chase the ultimate performance but is actually a brilliant and very fast road bike ?

Is a cracking bike OP. Think you’ll have terrific fun with it.

Sadly, I don't think so. The VFR1200 never did what the Blackbird managed. While the Suzuki and the Kawasaki had better headline figures, if there was any form of "top 3" comparison then the Blackird was there and made up for it's lack of top speed/BHP by being more usable/refined in the real world.

The VFR1200 never made a "top 3" list (unless it's for bikes with touring pretensions but pathetic tank range!). While it was a good bike, at no point was it ever "something special".

[AceOfHearts]

Clinton Baptiste said:

Where did you get the fuel tank from? Nice work by the way. Got a Blackbird myself, lovely bikes.

Just from a breakers on eBay, I should get the bulk of the work done this weekend ready for a fire up hopefully

[AceOfHearts]

Got a lot done today. Spark plugs replaced, oil and coolant replaced, air filter replaced. Everything that came out was remarkably good so I guess it was serviced shortly before its lay up.

Fuel tank stripped down, although after cleaning up the pump assembly it was totally seized, so that will have to wait until I get a replacement. The brown stuff in the pictures is more fuel varnish than actual rust, hopefully the injectors have faired better. Once that is done it will be ready for a test fire. I also did a lot of cleaning!

Tomorrow I will be replacing the brake and clutch fluid and probably just more cleaning.



Old tank



New tank







Old plugs not bad at all


Undertank area cleaning up pretty well



One final thing was that I connected the battery (to test the fuel pump) and went through all the switchgear and electrics. Everything still works perfectly

[AceOfHearts]

New fuel pump arrived and fitted



Plumbed everything back up and filled the new tank with fresh fuel and a load of redex. Cranked it over in bursts and could hear each cylinder slowly coming back to life until it would finally idle on its own. Revs nicely although idle is still a bit lumpy. I'm sure it will need a couple of tanks of fresh fuel and injector cleaner before it cleans up fully.

With the bike running I checked a few other systems. The battery isn't charging and the tacho also doesn't work. Stator seems OK so will get a new reg/rec on order.

Going in the right direction though

[Jules Sunley]

Loving this thread, but it's got me looking at Blackbirds for sale a couple of times now. I blame you OP if I end up finally scratching that itch. I've already got 2 bikes, a KTM990SMT and an old ZX6R, not sure I can justify a third to myself (or the Mrs) but working on the 'man maths'....

I'm not as mechanically minded as you so mine would end up costing me a lot more as I would need it pre-sorted!

Please keep the posts coming, really interesting to hear your progress.

[zeb]

That looks a cracking buy for 1k!....every credit

[AceOfHearts]

Jules Sunley said:

Loving this thread, but it's got me looking at Blackbirds for sale a couple of times now. I blame you OP if I end up finally scratching that itch. I've already got 2 bikes, a KTM990SMT and an old ZX6R, not sure I can justify a third to myself (or the Mrs) but working on the 'man maths'....

I'm not as mechanically minded as you so mine would end up costing me a lot more as I would need it pre-sorted!

Please keep the posts coming, really interesting to hear your progress.

This is my 5th bike at the moment

[Jules Sunley]

AceOfHearts said:

Jules Sunley said:

Loving this thread, but it's got me looking at Blackbirds for sale a couple of times now. I blame you OP if I end up finally scratching that itch. I've already got 2 bikes, a KTM990SMT and an old ZX6R, not sure I can justify a third to myself (or the Mrs) but working on the 'man maths'....

I'm not as mechanically minded as you so mine would end up costing me a lot more as I would need it pre-sorted!

Please keep the posts coming, really interesting to hear your progress.

This is my 5th bike at the moment

Stop it - this makes me think 'yes dear but with 3 I'd still have 2 less than the guy on Pistonheads' would be a valid excuse......

Also got me wondering how the Blackbird compares with a Hayabusa as that's another itch I'd like to scratch. I've read a few comparisons online but they seem to come down to 'try both and see which you prefer' as both get praise (other than maybe the looks of the 'Busa). There's a trader near me I've seen with both in stock currently......

[AceOfHearts]

I decided to be a bit more proactive this evening with the injectors, rather than just waiting for the redex to start working.

So I pulled them out and rigged up a homebrew injector cleaner system

This consisted of a piece of fuel pipe, carb cleaner and a 12v battery

The pipe fitted over the ends of 2 injectors snuggly, and then in the centre of the pipe I drilled a small hole to fit the nozzle of the carb cleaner. I then jetted the carb cleaner whilst activating each injector in turn with the spare battery.

Is it sketchy? - Yes

Did I get carb cleaner in my eye trying to get a picture? - Yes

Did it work? - Yes

All back together and running lovely and smooth on all 4 cylinders again. Next up will be checking over and sorting out the brakes / chain

[zeb]

Tune in next week for Ace's 'how to make your own flamethrower'

[PurpleTurtle]

Great thread OP, you're going to have a lot of bike there for 1500 quid outlay.

Only ballache is bleeding the Honda combined brakes. I've got the same on my VFR800, one of those solutions to a problem that never existed in my view, but hey ho.

I'm considering a similar age 'Bird as my next bike, once I start having to commute regularly again. The are a comfy old bus but can throw you towards the horizon at a very impressive rate of knots. I feel that the years have been very kind to the looks, it will grow old gracefully.

[AceOfHearts]

Apologies for the lack of updates, I have been pretty bad at taking pictures and keeping tabs of my progress.

I fitted a new stator which resolved the charging issue, along with a new regulator for good measure (good used one kept as a spare)

The tacho issue turned out to be a corroded ground on the circuit board on the back of the clocks. A new ground lead sorted that issue.

Brakes and clutch have been bled through with fresh fluid and are working well. Chain I have cleaned up and re-lubed as it was pretty crusty but not actually worn at all. I'm sure it must have been replaced shortly before being laid up. Hopefully it should do for the MOT which is booked for Tuesday

Only other issue I have found is the speedo not working. The clocks will have to come out again but I guess it will just be another bad connection somewhere. I should get a chance to look at this on Monday

Quick picture from last night when I gave it a quick run up the (private) road to check the brakes / no leaks etc. Lucky I did as thats how I spotted the speedo issue.




Insurance is all sorted on a new multibike policy which was surprisingly cheap. Nobody would even quote me on it with my no claims being tied up on the Royal Enfield!

[Jules Sunley]

Good luck with sorting the speedo and the MOT Tuesday. This should be a great toy for the summer.

[AceOfHearts]

Passed with no advisories

Sorting the tax now and then I'm taking the other half out for a spin.

Really impressed with how it rode today over the 60 mile round trip to work. Super stable and great wind protection. Hides its speed a bit too well though and very easy (and quick) to get into license losing territory! Will definitely have to keep my sensible cap on.

I'm looking forward to enjoying it over the summer and carrying on tidying it up. Next on the list is replating a load of the nuts and bolts

[AceOfHearts]

A quick update that the bike is still running well. One fork seal let go so I replaced the pair with new bushes and fresh 10w oil. Tidied up the front end and polished the fork bottoms lightly whilst they were off. I also added a 4mm spacer to the rear shock to quicken the steering a touch. Bike is now handling better than ever and is ready to take to Silverstone for the MotoGP in a couple of weeks.

Coming up to 1000 miles covered now and it is a very capable bike. Only real niggle is I wish it would do a bit more than 40mpg but that is probably due to my right hand as well

Edited by AceOfHearts on Tuesday 17th August 14:03

[SteelerSE]

Great update - glad you're enjoying the bike.