81 CM400 Resurection

Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

Sorry for the long hiatus guys. I've been busy with some other things including work. No pay - No play. Anyway, I started working on the seat again and I started by cutting out the rusted sides of the pan. I was planning on doing this anyway to narrow it so I killed two birds with one stone. Next I shaped some sheet metal and clamped it on to the pan. I tack welded it and it looks to be coming along nicely. Hopefully I'll be able to get moving steadily on this project again.

BTW, I picked up one of those Eastwood MIG135 welders. It's a pretty nice unit. I'll let you guys know if I have any issues with it.

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Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

Hey thanks Silvergrau. I hope you don't mind that I stole some of your ideas ;D . I like the way your seat came out and I'm hoping mine comes close to that. Your bike looks awesome. When you brought your seat to the upholstery shop did you have the foam shaped and laid on it already or did they do that for you?
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

I just gave him the metal base, the foam was made by the upholsterer from some photos that I provide.Best of all was the price only cost 50 euros.
If my project serves as an inspiration to someone is a reward for me.
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

Hey, bike looks like it is going somewhere!

I've been thinking about those Euro bars, have you mock mounted them yet? Just wondering what you think of them.
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

I did mount them and they feel really comfortable. They don't look as nostalgic or cool as a pair of clubmans, but since I don't have rearsets I thought they would be a better fit. I got chrome bars and with the polished top clamp they look really sweet. You can see them in one of the pictures on the first page of the post.
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

We'll I finished welding up the repairs on the seat pan and made some modifications to it. I still want to trim the sides up a bit. They hang down about an inch too far. Then I need to cover it. I'll post up more pics as I cover it. Anyone have any ideas on how to get the cover to attach to the metal base? Good glues, etc...


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Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

when i attached my seat cover, i used the "teeth" that stuck out of the my stock pan and pvc adhesive cuz i had it laying around. i've heard that 3m headliner adhesive gives a really strong bond. i also used a buttload of clothespins while i stretched it over and set the glue.
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

I lost a lot of those teeth when I cut out all the rusted metal. I guess you can say my seat had cavities ;D . I'll look into the glue. Thanks.

BTW. I posted a message on the seats and tanks forum about using ballistic nylon for the seat material. Has anyone used it? Just curious if it would work well.

Thanks.
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

Can you put up some pics of the bike in its current state, maybe with the seat pan on it?
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

Sounds like an idea. I guess that way I can take the cover off if I need to repair the foam or adjust it. How should I apply it, one side of the velcro glued to the metal pan and the other side glued to the vinyl?
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

That's seems about right. And that is exactly what I was thinking. At some point, you (or someone) is going to want to take that cover off. I like the rivet or snap look too, but Velcro seems practical (yuck, that's like a curse!).
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

First off, sorry about the delays for anyone that's following this thread. I'm trying to work on it whenever I get some time and my back isn't killing me. I started playing around with the seat again and went to Walmart as some other posters had suggested. I picked up a blue foam exercise mat for about 6 bucks. Now let's get one thing straight, this is not good foam. It's hard as hell, but if you layer it up it might do for someone on a real tight budget (I can't believe how expensive good foam is). I am only using it on the back to shape the bump stop so it doesn't matter to me. I used 3M spray adhesive to stick it all together. I'm going to order some good quality vinyl on Monday. All in all I think I like the way it's coming out.


So here's some pictures.


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Sorry about the last one being blurry. Phone camera + low light + shaky hand = shitty picture
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

Looks like you are on the right track! Hope the back doesn't bother you too much, I'm liking the build.
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection


Well I got the seat finished and I think it came out ok. It's not great, but it will have to do for now. It looks better than stock and is very very comfortable. One thing I learned about this part of the project is that upholstery work is worth every penny. What a PITA! I won't be trying this again anytime soon. For those of you that might be interested in trying this out I have some photos below with descriptions of the different steps I took to do this.


I'm sure there are better/easier ways to do this than what I did.




First thing that I did was create the patterns out of cotton cloth. One line is the stitch line and other is for the seam allowance.


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Next thing I did was transfer these onto the vinyl. Notice that the vinyl only stretches in one direction. You have to keep this in mind when laying out your patterns.


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Next, cut the vinyl and clip the pieces together.


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Then stitch along the stitch lines, stretch it over the seat and fasten it down with either staples, velcro, glue or whatever. I used DAP contact cement and it seemed to work pretty good.


Voila...


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The hardest part of this was actually stitching the two pieces together. If I had better sewing skills I would have probably made this in 5 or 6 pieces. I just didn't think I'd be able to get all the seams together correctly. It was so difficult working the vinyl through the machine that I screwed up at one point the fabric got bunched under the needle and I made a row of pinholes down the side of the seat. I can't blame the vinyl it was actually nice to work with and very good quality. Thank god it's not really noticeable. My wife helped me stretch the vinyl over the seat because it helps to have an extra set of hands.


It'll have to do for now. I'll buy a new seat before tackling this again. Even with buying the materials, a sewing machine off CL and an electric carving knife it only cost me about $100.00 total to do this project. I still saved about $150.00 off a new seat.


Let me know what you guys think.
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

I started on the teardown of the engine and ran into a bit of a snag. It appears that the 4 center head bolts have some kind of rubber seal at the bottom where they go through the engine case. I'm assuming it's to keep out debris??? Can these be replaced? One is still attached to the bolt and the other got pulled off when I was removing the bolt. It made getting the bolt out of the engine case a real PITA. Are these neccessary?

Also, being that this is my first MC engine teardown I was very surprised to find that there are no bearings on the cam journals. Is this normal for MC engines? On a car engine the crank, cam and rods all have replaceable bearings.
 
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection

Normal for OHC Hondas. Hate that about them....I've spent many hours fighting that particular design. XS650s are full roller bearing cams. I'm sure there are others, but that's the one I have experience with. Much better design, but I've never heard of any problems on the CMs. Now CB125s and CB360s....good lord.
 
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