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®	Mark Paris book errors Book edition December 2010 This document December 2020

As books go, this is pretty nice. Large format, professionally printed and set up (despite the odd page numbering), color photos (though most of them poorly framed and shot), good production value, nicely illustrated. Also, historical notes, information on parts changes, and the like. But despite a number of "insider" techniques that potentially benefit the do-it-yourselfer, there are also numerous bad practices endorsed in this book, from honing in-service cylinders to using a feeler gauge when measuring piston clearance. And a lot of very wrong perspectives about vintage Hondas. Mark is one of the "experts" on sohc4.net.

pg II-4	No recommendation for removing stuck oil jets.	It is critical to get those jets out while working on the cylinder head, even in the case of the early pressed-in ones.
pg II-15	Use of calipers to measure a piston.	Nope. Absolutely not. Astonishing.
pg II-17	Use of brake cylinder hone in a cylinder.	A brake cylinder hone is never used in an engine cylinder. Nor is it ever used on a Honda brake cylinder,
pg II-17	Honing an in-service cylinder.	Never. Knowing the clearances these engines are assembled to, you would not want to do this.
pg II-17	Use of a feeler gauge to measure piston-to-cylinder clearance.	This is so bad I don't even know what to say. To begin with, have you ever seen a 0.0007" feeler gauge?
pg II-25	Testing stator with an Ohmmeter.	Controversial, I'll admit. But not among pros. I stand by best practice, and this isn't best practice.
pg II-31	Barnett spoken of in neutral terms.	Wow. Incomprehensible.
pg II-50	Vesrah spoken of positively.	No. Uh uh. There is nothing good about Vesrah gaskets.
pg IIIb-11	Honing a brake master cylinder.	This is not something you ever want to do to an aluminum master cylinder.
pg IIIc-6, Appendix b-3	Drive chains last only 2,000 miles; no instruction on lubing.	Incredibly wrong. A properly maintained non-o-ring chain can go at least three to four times that long. and o-ring types potentially longer.
pg IV-9	Detonation and preignition confused.	They are very different things.
pg IV-9	"Don't use gas preserver...it will cause all sorts of problems."	Really? This is completely out of touch with reality. Using Sta-Bil is the single most advantageous thing you can do to maintain your bike.
pg IV-12	Using drill bit to clean jets.	Not at all good practice. There is even a Honda bulletin against this.
pg IV-12	Spraying around manifolds method of vacuum leak detection.	No professional finds vacuum leaks this way.
pg V-2	"Honda does not sell bullet connectors."	Wrong. Honda has sold the male and female bullet connectors from the very beginning and still does.
pg V-26	Handlebar switch overly stressed by H4 headlight.	No. The only way this could be even close to being true is with Chinese switch assemblies. It certainly isn't with OEM parts.
pg V-27	Endorses crimp connectors.	Crimping without soldering is never a good thing.
pg V-28	Endorses Chinese keyswitches.	No way.
Appendix d-2	Promotes interference valve angle.	Never a good practice, this has been invalidated since the 1960s.
Appendix d-3	Promotes lapping valves.	Just as with interference valve angles, there is no good reason to do this and plenty of reasons not to.
Appendix d-3	Checking valve seal the liquid method.	Professional mechanics know this has little value.
Appendix d-5	Using the Sioux valve seat tool.	This is almost the worst possible choice. See my article on valve seat tools.
Appendix e-4	"Honda points are not durable."	This is simply not true, not in the slightest. Factory Honda SOHC four points last up to 20,000 miles when properly maintained.

For more powersports maintenace fallacies, see this article.

More book critiques: Julian Ryder, Sean MacGregor, Randakk