Starting Honda cafe bike build today

Flippin gorgeous....

As far as the battery, how about a lithium iron? 1/6 the weight and size.

 

Today I finished the seat mounts and oil tank mounts and cleaned and painted the oil tank. I am getting ready to take the frame to the powder coaters.

 

These are the seat mid point supports.
Also a tab on the rear hoop for a thumb knob.

 

Besides working on the frame and seat I have also been cleaning ,sanding,rebuilding, and painting other parts.


Front caliper,rear brake drum and steering head ready for new bearings.
Oil lines cleaned. Engine mount bolts cleaned and painted with special paint.
New rear wheel bearing. Front steering head changed to tapered rollers instead of bicycle type bearings.

The engine had a complete cleaning with stainless brushes different kinds cleaners sticks,rags, and many hours getting every little crack. Then it was painted with special paint.
Valve cover got removed for inspection, painting and new screws and gasket.
New clutch plates and new Barnnet clutch springs.
Oil pan removed for inspection and when the oil pan was off you can inspect the cam chain tensioners.
Brand new alternator cover ,gasket and screws.
Polished left side case.
Polished cam chain tensioner.
Valve adjustment.
Electronic Dyna ignition.
Next is a new wiring harness (Japan) for the alternator (blue arrow).

Remember this is where I started from.

 

The attention to detail is fantastic, I'm taking notes.

 

I stripped the paint off of the corroded battery box with spray on paint stripper.
IT was Jasco brand and worked very well. Had to hand scrape and use a small 1.5 inch wire wheel on a drill motor.
After it was scraped and rinsed with water.
Still had to wear my face shield with the cheap Harbor freight wire brush.

Now when I take it to the powder coaters they may not charge me as much sine a lot of the work is already done. I will let you know how much it costs.

 

Next go around try the brush on Jasco gel for epoxy. Lay it on thick and walk off. Most of the old paint will come off by just hosing it.

You may want to ask your powdercoaters if they use one of the rust converters on the market as a pretreament. This is just one:



Corroseal Rust Converter | Distributors | U.S.A.

"Regular" primers will not stop oxidation.

 

Looking at the photo of the engine I spied the start cover and remembered back to my CB750. Seeing that motor has a kick start you can loose some weight by taking the starter out. Just make a plug w/o-ring and insert it in to the starter hole.

Real cafe bikes are kick start only!! My bike always started on the first or second kick. Looks cool kick starting a bike. "We don't need no stinken starters"!

That'll make it a manly man bike for sure!!!!:rambo:

 

I grew up when ALL motorcycles were kick start UNTIL the Honda CB750 came into production.

It was one of the main reasons people bought them.

It seems odd to me that NOW young men think about being manly by having to kick start a motorcycle. LOL LOL...

 

Gas tank stripped and ready for powder coating.
Still saving money.

 

Wow! That tank looks awesome! Score to no find lots of rust under the paint!

 

Yes you are right VT Viffer. That tank had no dents and almost no rust inside.
I will still clean and treat the inside of the tank.
I bought it from a motorcycle salvage.
That tank made it 30 years without being dinged. Unbelievable. Good people took care of that tank.

 

I'm still a month or 2 off from hittimg my CB re-build hard. It's a blessing to watch this one as it comes together.

 

Frame and swing arm stripping and once they are painted I could start putting this mess back together.

 

I just wanted to mention that the paint stripper which worked very well was Jasco and it said on the can,"Paint and Epoxy remover".

The brush on cans said "Paint and Varnish remover".

I think the epoxy remover is stronger because it is like the stuff I grew up with. If you get a little spot on your skin it starts to burn right away. Make sure you wear your safety glasses!!! Also rinse the part with a lot of water and let it dry well before any wire brushing. And once again wear the safety glasses.

If you got that paint stripper in your eye, It would be awful and probably permanent damage.

 

You know I have been rebuilding parts of this CB750 and I got to the front forks.
I was unable to get a new retainer ring from HONDA that goes in the top of the fork slider. Also none were available after market.

So I went to the bearing supply house to get one. I need a 48mm internal snap ring.
The sales guy said that he had a 47.6mm and I could have it to try. Guess what? it fits perfectly. It is part #HO187 and they call it a Rotor Clip.
Many bearing supply houses now use the same numbers.
If you are in Santa Rosa California go to Empire Bearing supply/

 

The "strength" of the solvent type is mostly from the greater or lesser fraction of the solvent methylene chloride. The brushable version is available in pints and up to five gallons. It's a gel. It contains wax which rises to the top of a thickly applied coat. This retards evaporation of all the hot solvents which can include acetone and alcohol as well as the methylene chloride.

Nasty stuff and it will pass through the cell walls of the skin if allowed.

IMO the non gel versions are not effective. They evaporate quickly. It may be that the rattlecan version is potentially more harmful unless proper protection is utilized than the brushable solution. More vapors and chance of bounce back. Let's hope that one of the Rattlecan Rangers doesn't learn this the hard way.

 

Ahhhhh, the cb360t....6 speed. Don't wanna fuck up big D's thread, but I have a little bit of experience with said machines. Alot wrapped up in that little thing....





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This really is a marvelous project Don, brings back a lot of memories of those days in the late 60's when machines were things you could work on without a 300 page shop manual, a crib full of special tools, and a computer. Can't wait to see the resulting bike, and I'm betting it'll be a real beauty.