twisted

tbh, for $1300 i'd look at the V6.

Or save a few more reddies and wait until the right car comes up. I scored an '02 Legacy RS30 with a ridiculously low 63kms a couple of years ago for 4k. I stepped out a BMW 528i that was breaking down every week (but admittedly had bucket loads more character) so would have been happy with even a month of no issues. 2 years and 40k later and iv'e had not one issue with it. (apart from it being a soul-less applicance)

Thanks Man. Just had a 20 minute lesson from Delboy on how to plastic weld at home. Definately a better option than gluing!

thanks man. I've been told lego is a viable filler too. might cut up the old nosecone and have a crack with some of the other broken bits i have.

No major progress on this yet. Frame is all primed and rubbed down ready for paint. I think I've decided on a colour scheme. Basically black and gunmetal. Black will be a BMW colour (cosmosschwarz), but I'm yet to find the right gunmetal.

Expoxied up a broken stud in the back of the cluster. The stuff I'm using sets solid as and seems to hold strong as. Yet to properly stress test it but I'm happy so far.

Also made up some discs out of broken fairing to fill in the very large holes for the indicators, as I'm going to be running modern units with a small form factor.

I will probably try reducing their size fractionally so they fit inside the holes, then i'll epoxy and glass them in.

Not sure wtf iforce is doing with my photos, but they seem to orientate correctly when clicked.

I use Permatex plastic Epoxy where i have two plastic parts that need bonding. Works really well on ABS bike fairings. If you need to fill holes, fab up new tabs etc, i have had some success with melting lego bricks.

how gutting. I had a 1200 Sud back in the day, and it was held together with bog and duct tape. But boy i loved that car.

On 6/1/2017 at 22:11, kws said:

Keen to know what you do RE painting the frame. My frame needs to be blasted, but still deciding what to do after that.

Very cool looking bike, shame about the off but im glad the gear did what it was meant to. Sucks it was something as stupid as some oil on the road that did it, i hate variables like that.

I've decided just to go with 1k for the frame. easy for me to touch up if and when required, plus i can do it all myself.

Rubbed the frame down over the weekend. Etch primed it, then hit it with some filler primer.

Going to order headstock bearings shortly.

Might start gluing the fairings back together tonight. I'm using 'Permatex Plastic Weld' Epoxy. seems to have a good strong bond. I'll reinforce all glued bits with fibreglass for peace of mind. I'm going to need to get creative with the Side fairing though... i'll explain later with a picture.

So these all arrived today:

Pretty happy with everything. Cluster has only 37km, and an unexpected bonus the frame has a current wof through to october.

Mulling over painting the frame 2k or not, doing so will mean paying someone to do it, or potentially making myself sick. Not that keen on powder coating, so still have to work through that.

Will be ordering headstock bearings and stripping the forks hopefully this weekend

5 hours ago, Bellicose said:

Gimme a couple of weeks and send up and I'll sort ya out.

Use os freight service for drop off and pick up.

Cheers man. I've seen your work, Will be in touch!

what paint do folk use on frames and tanks? was going to go 2k, but just saw the price of air fed respirators/fuck that.

2 hours ago, tortron said:

depends where and how big, and if you care about the paint

 

bend up some metal 'spoons' and push it out from the inside

 

use a little compressed air to pop it out, not too much or it will ruin the seams

 

weld on a stud and use a puller

 

heat it up and use a cold wet rag to shock it back out

Yeah DGAF about paint. Don't have a welder so thats out (would have been first choice) Thought about using air, but i'm too scared i'll use too much.

Might try wet rag trick. Heat gun should be enough eh

anyone got any good tips on pulling a dent on a gas tank?

Seller has just confirmed that the frame is stripped and should be shipped on weds morning.

Much excite.

2 minutes ago, flyingbrick said:

I have always thought these were a good looking bike!

Don't be too harsh on your riding gears damage! sounds like it did its job pretty well (eg you didnt mention losing skin )

glad ur ok

Likewise! some people hate them  (possibly because of their fat ass)  but I've always liked them. They're nice to ride as well, and are quite commuter friendly.

Yep gear saved my skin (mostly) though it melted through on the upper forearm, leaving a small burn about the size of a 50c piece. Next set i get will have a full zip at the wast too, as this one only had a half zip - net result was the jacket rode up where it wasn't zipped, and left me with a single spot of gravel rash, about the diameter of a coffee cup. All in all it did OK. BUT it wasn't exactly a high speed slide.

Hi All, So early last year i decided id by another bike and get my license this time round.

after much searching and research i found this RF400RVV just one street over. It was pretty tidy, and rode well. With 53Hp and 195kg dry, it sits at the upper echelon of the LAMS Power to weight formula.

Rode it day in, day out all through winter and did the following work:

• Front wheel bearing
• New pads all round
• New air filter (wasnt running one when i bought it)
• Brake fluid flush
• Bridgestone T30 tyres
• Valve Clearances checked and adjusted (Being a 'VC' engined model, this was a massive learning curve even for the mechanic, and was well beyond my skills and limited toolset)

After all this work, the bike was running really well, and i was thoroughly enjoying it heading into summer.

And then this happened:

Hit a patch of oil on Paekakariki Hill road, and Lowsided at 70km/h. Would have been fine, except shortly after I hit the bank, the Bike did as well. Having over 200kg (wet) behind it, it had considerably more momentum than my 80kg frame, and as it hit the bank rear end first, it pirouetted and came down on my leg, and then carried on further down the road.

A Local Good bastard was following, and he called an ambo and moved my bike to the side of the road, because at that point my legs were not working. The cops turned up, took one look at the oil covered road and declared that it wasnt my fault, and "we're really friggen happy you're alive".

Good Bastard shot home, grabbed a trailer and took my bike back to his and stored it for me.

After Most of the Day in A+E, it was declared that I had sprained the PCL Ligament in my left knee, and had nerve damage in my right Leg. I was OK and could go home. After about a month of physio i was walking normally again, with the ligament about 85% healed and the nerve damage 100% healed.

So anyway, I got my bike back and stripped all the plastics off it to assess. At first i though it was OK, however closer inspection revealed that the frame took a couple of good hits, with a good crease up front, and the rear subframe well and truly fubared.

Its sat like that for 4 months. I had a half assed attempt at straightening the rear subframe, but gave up when i realised it was too far gone, and even if i could straighten it it would have lost much of its structural integrity. As the rear subframe is welded to the main frame, I couldnt just find another and bolt it on like some bikes, also with the crease up front i decided that the frame was toast.

Then as if by magic,  a frame popped up on Trademe that had everything i needed:

• Main Frame
• L/H Rearset and Gear Lever
• Front Fairing Support
• Front Fairing and Screen
• Dash Cluster (Rare as rocking horse shit - the last two years of production used s different cluster, and only on the 400s)

Came to a deal with the seller, and i'm getting the lot incl freight from Hamilton to Kapiti for $500. So i'm well stoked. Should arrive later in the week or early next week.

So the plan?

• Paint frame 2k satin black
• Strip existing bike, inspect everything and replace rubbers/bearings and seals where necessary
• Strip forks, paint fork tubes, refresh fork oil
• Repair plastics - a lot of work is needed here and i have a fair few tricks up my sleeve. I don't think i need to replace anything other than the front fairing. time will tell though
• Fix Dents in Gas tank
• Paint
• Buy some Leathers (My textile gear melted during the slide. would not trade again)

Pics:

Fire Engine and Hilux

HR? Wagon

Sky Blue '78 Datsun 120y SSS Sedan. It was the old mans hack while he was between self employment and employment. Wrote it off a couple of months later while i was wagging school. Ran a give way and got T-Boned good and proper. I was lucky the old man was away for 3 months in SE Asia with the Navy Reserve.

hit some oil on paekak hill on monday and went for a skate. 

the mighty RF managed to sustain front, back and LHS damage.

The question is, when my knee is bending again, do i turn it in to some kind of naked fighter or restore it back to its 'suzuki testarossa' glory? First impulse was for the former, but i've become accustomed to this bikes fat ugly ass and ferrari like sides.

Whats the rules with bikes? the frame is straight except for where the rear seat slips on to the rear subframe (frame/rear subframe is one piece on these bikes) So in order to return it to stock it will either need straightening or a new seat mount fabbed up.If i elected to fighter it, i'd be cutting the subframe off and welding on a GSXR one to fit a GSXR tail. Would it need certing if i did this? 

chuck a 302w in it. 

Some

Unwashed

Boofhead

And

Resulting

Upchuck

I Dropped my bike this morning. I was walking it out of the garage and the stand caught a pile of Trampoline frame bits and folded up which i didn't realise. I then went to place the bike on its side stand to close the garage door and it kept going lol. Getting good at picking up 200kg of bike now.

Made up for it by getting my toe down on my morning commute over Paekakariki Hill  

I remember when they made shaker run. Remember seeing the Pink Transam in Moera. Loved the movie as a kid! Think that was Wayne Huxfords Capri?

I had some dickhead decide to change lanes in front of me yesterday. I was pulling 110 in the right hand lane. They were pulling 70 in the left. Flicked their indicator on and immediately dived to the right without speeding up. 

gave me the finger as i leant on my horn and beamed them while hard on the brakes inches off their back bumper. 

unfortunately because of the messages we're fed by the authorities, the assumption generic road users make here is that I'm in the wrong because i'm breaking some arbitrary limit that was introduced back when front disc brakes were for performance cars, and every second vehicle was wearing $20 retreads. They will never, ever see that in fact it is their driving which is substandard because they are spoonfed the message that as long as you are not speeding, drunk, or a tourist you are a safe driver (and while that is not the direct message, that is very much the subtext generic drivers in NZ hear)

NZTA and the police need to start focusing on common courtesy tbh. Campaigns the reinforce the importance of signalling, checking your surroundings, lane discipline, leaving large enough gaps so that other traffic can join and leave the queue without impeding flow.

Lastly, and i'm sure that most of us are guilty of this at some point, however the penalties for looking at the screen on a handheld device should be severe. Instant loss of license type severe. Short of retrofitting a faraday cage to all vehicles i see no other way to stop people using their phones while driving. And i see people on them all the time when i'm on the bike through traffic.

A Decent Lawyer is worth every cent in this regard. Was up on a dangerous driving charge a few years ago, and my lawyer was trying to get it dropped to careless. The cops weren't having a bar of it though (mostly due to my extensive list of related priors) So he kept bouncing the case every time it was due to come up in front of a judge, until  such time as it was scheduled to be presented to a judge that was known to be a little more sympathetic to the cause.

Pleaded NG to dangerous but Guilty to careless. Walked out with a 3 month loss of license and a $250 fine. Lawyers bill was 1k  but well worth it as at least one of the other judges  was as unsympathetic as you could get, and had been known to throw people in a similar situation (with a similar history) to mine in jail. Would have been looking at a 12 month suspension and PD at a minimum.

Learnt my lesson that day and have had a clean(ish) driving record since.

2002 Subaru Legacy B4 RS30

Ah yes. The 3.0L Flat six non turbo brother of the RSK. Basically a 4 door Porsche! Or maybe not.

The Good:

Sexy Interior with half leather seats and quality charcoal cloth inserts. These seats are well bolstered and comfortable! 

momo tiller

2 Front and 2 side airbags

Bilstein Shocks

Subaru's Second best wheel design ever.

3.0L Goes well above 4k

Best handling 4 door sedan not much money can buy

Reasonably cheap to run on the Open road

No Subaru Rattles

3L sounds tits with decent pipes and snorkelectomy.

The Bad:

Not manual, and no Manual option was made. ECU trickery is needed if converted to turn the CEL off if a conversion is performed

Subaru 4EAT transmission is SHIT beyond comprehesion.

3.0L has terrible single exhaust port head design

Drinks like a V8 if just used to run around town. I'm talking 350kms to 50L

Baby seat doesn't fit in the back on the drivers side of the car, due to clearance issues with the seat in front. This means you may be forced to drive a CVT Nissan Wingroad instead if you have a need to cart a baby and a preschooler around.

Overall a good car that manages to do most things well. However its just a bit... Mundane.

6/10 Stars. Would be well redeemed by a manual transmission 

EDIT: After a few years of ownership, the synopsis is much the same. It has isofix for child seats, and is boringly reliable. in 45k of ownership, i've replaced oil, front discs and pads and an 02 sensor.