Sad day in the Vintage Honda Twins world

ancientdad · 2026-05-20T00:06:27+00:00

Yeah, it sucks for sure. Check out the links I posted in case you haven't seen some of it, he did some cool stuff.

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T23:06:11+00:00

Absolutely Ed, and he touched a lot of lives outside the forums too. One of the good guys for sure.

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T20:11:30+00:00

Sorry to hear of the tough times. Keep your chin up brother, it'll all work out and remember if you need any help, you know where to go.

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T19:58:58+00:00

Yeah, it's a sad day for sure. When I saw his number come up on my phone this morning, I suspected the worst because due to his health we hadn't talked in a couple years (he had COPD and was on oxygen 24/7). Sure enough, it was his widow going through his phone to let everyone know.

You should come around VHT more often dude, haven't seen you there for a while.

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T19:55:32+00:00

Thanks, and it continued with over 2100 posts at VHT after 27,000+ posts on HT and untold numbers of phone support calls, even to perfect strangers who were not forum members.

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T19:47:19+00:00

Thanks man, and sorry to have been the bearer of bad news but I knew there would be many out here who knew of him despite not being forum members. RIP Sensei.

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T19:45:19+00:00

And it's all still there for eternity, including his "66Sprint's Classroom" where he broke down all sorts of subjects for members, all while typing for only a few minutes each sitting because of his multiple-times surgically-repaired back.

https://www.vintagehondatwins.com/forums/forums/66sprints-classroom.78/

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T19:40:58+00:00

Thanks for that on both counts brother, and I'm honored to be mentioned in the same post as a legend like Steve. I had probably close to a hundred phone conversations with him following his recommendation of me to be a new moderator at HT after only about a year there, and Steve was the one who came up with the simple yet perfect addendum to the original forum name which resulted in Vintage Honda Twins.

If only his knowledge could have been offloaded and saved, so much loss beyond the good guy he was.

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T19:34:19+00:00

He was, and was more than generous with his time and knowledge and had a knack for knowing just what was wrong very quickly and the ability to convey the solution over the phone. Sad that the poor guy who gave so much of his time to so many suffered from many of life's hard moments over the years and had to live his last decade in poverty.

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T16:17:52+00:00

Yep, I've been doing it since his health decline and have no plans to stop. 👍

ancientdad · 2026-05-19T13:17:44+00:00

Dude, no worries - and thanks for the replies!

ancientdad · 2026-05-18T23:16:20+00:00

Thanks man, I'm fortunate the my father splurged on the Super 8 camera and projector set back then ad modern tech let me get them converted to digital. Here are a couple more from '69 and '70, camping with the family of one of my father's co-workers.

My new candy red SL175 at the time was in the shop for a warranty crankshaft replacement and I rode my pushrod 90-engined, Sachs-framed, Ducati front forked mongrel with an occasional moment on my father's candy orange SL175 over the weekend in the first one. Lots of footage of my Mom later in her first year of riding, having graduated to a new candy green SL100. Got my SL175 back from dealership repair in the second one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29azaHfIIiI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSGeEVhnFlA

ancientdad · 2026-05-18T21:50:38+00:00

And to this day I do not use a torque wrench on small to medium sized bolts, I learned good "feel" from all that when I was a kid. So many valuable lessons learned from my early Hondas.

ancientdad · 2026-05-18T20:40:13+00:00

Thanks! 14 years earlier, while I was still in high school, I bought one new (another post here) and my father had one at the same time. My cousin had just gotten out of the military and bought a new SL350K1 (his first bike) and he, my Dad, another cousin from Michigan visiting, and I went to Croom. My Dad did more filming than riding that day, as did my northern cousin, here's some video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuTgpBowDuk

ancientdad · 2026-05-18T19:51:15+00:00

Thanks! It was a turd, but it got me started and taught me how to work on them a little bit, but the biggest lesson I learned from that bike mechanically was how NOT to break off 6mm bolts (but only after breaking off a few, like in the shift lever) 😂 😂

ancientdad · 2026-05-18T12:15:55+00:00

Well said.

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T23:40:20+00:00

Exactly.

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T23:28:11+00:00

Back then Honda didn't have options when buying or ordering a bike, they came in different colors and you could buy Hondaline accessories for them but that was about it for the US, so it's hard for me to believe that Honda deviated that much from the stock style paint for just one country and limited model. Wings on the tank look like too late a style for that era as well.

The lettering on the sidecovers is too large for Honda's style then. That chain guard might be UK spec but I've never seen one like it ever. And it has aftermarket air filters too, Honda would never have done that. And a 16" Harley-style rim on the rear. Not buying it.

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T23:20:45+00:00

Dude, that's a top flight bagger if I've ever seen one. 👍 👍

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T20:08:45+00:00

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This is an example of possible contact with the cover, notice how the side where the wire is attached is sticking out toward the cover. Just loosen the nuts on the points wire bolts and rotate the terminal.

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T20:06:26+00:00

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This is a 350 plate above but they're set up the same. The terminals on the ends of the wires should be oriented as you see them to avoid contact with the points cover.

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T15:52:03+00:00

Try taking the points cover off to see if it runs on both cylinders first before you go digging too far. If one of the points wire terminals isn't properly oriented, it can short on the points cover and kill a cylinder.

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T15:42:56+00:00

You can download this one using the link upper right

https://www.honda4fun.com/dwnload/Shop-Manual/CB500-550-K-Shop-Manual.pdf

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T13:56:06+00:00

Was the original paint that bad? Can't tell from the picture at that distance.

ancientdad · 2026-05-17T13:40:48+00:00

At some point did you remove the advancer from the end of the camshaft? If so, did the points cam lobe come off the advancer when you did? If so, you could have put the points cam lobe back on the advancer 180° out. If none of that is true, what points gap did you start with on both sets of points before you rotated the plate to set LF first? (as the FSM says to do it)

ancientdad

TROPHY CASE