stage one done

Just a little about me. I am an incomplete quadraplegic who walks around using bi-lateral AFO braces on my legs. I also have only about 20% use of my left hand so riding a regular bike is out for me. I have had other bikes in the past, a 72 Harley with foot clutch and suicide shifter, a Ridley and a 81 Hondamatic. all of those have been sold in the past. I do own a Suzuki SV650 that I have adapted using an electric Pingel shifetr and have moved the clutch lever to the right side under the two finger brake lever. Works ok. Anyway... I recently found a 1978 CB400A as seen in the first picture on the trailer. Was running but not very well and had other issues with her. Had a local old bike guru rebuild the front forks which were a mess and got the valves adjusted and bike running decently. I have installed a set of clubmans, shaved the old seat down and recovered it and removed the rear grab rail. Lots more to do to her but right now I just want to ride her for a few weeks. See second Picture. slowly but surely.

hey.. welcome to the site...
Id sure like to see how your bike turns out...

thats definitely an inspiring story. Shows that if you love something, youll find a way.

Well,I did some more work to her but didn't get too much done. Last night I realized that I had a short somewhere because the front headlight would go on and off. So this morning I took a look at it and realized that the angle I had with the bars was causing a crimp. I adjusted the angle and made sure the wiring was good and no more short. I then wanted to start cleaning it up. It has some surface rust but as I started doing this I realized that it was 72 degrees and sunny so I put away the cleaning stuff, grabbed my jacket, gloves and helmet and off I went for a 4 hour ride. I do realize that although it has only 10K miles on it there is a clicking noise in the engine. The valves were already adjusted so I am assuming that there are some worn chains inside that I will have to work on. I will probably just have the whole thing rebuilt over the winter that way I am good to go. It is definitely a blast to ride even in its automatic splendor. I have now named it and when I paint the side covers and tank I will have the name painted on the side cover. "Scared Shiftless" is her new name. Well, I need to get her back into the storage unit (it sucks to live somewhere where you cannot park a bike but at least I have a storage unit close by).

Hope everyone else had the great weather we had and was able to get out and ride.

bode

Hello and welcome to the board!
Looks like an excellent start for a cafe-matic. You should start a thread over in Big Arse Projects to keep us updated on the progress. See ya round mate.
Alex

bode61 said:

Just a little about me. I am an incomplete quadraplegic who walks around using bi-lateral AFO braces on my legs. I also have only about 20% use of my left hand so riding a regular bike is out for me. I have had other bikes in the past, a 72 Harley with foot clutch and suicide shifter, a Ridley and a 81 Hondamatic. all of those have been sold in the past. I do own a Suzuki SV650 that I have adapted using an electric Pingel shifetr and have moved the clutch lever to the right side under the two finger brake lever. Works ok. Anyway... I recently found a 1978 CB400A as seen in the first picture on the trailer. Was running but not very well and had other issues with her. Had a local old bike guru rebuild the front forks which were a mess and got the valves adjusted and bike running decently. I have installed a set of clubmans, shaved the old seat down and recovered it and removed the rear grab rail. Lots more to do to her but right now I just want to ride her for a few weeks. See second Picture. slowly but surely.

Click to expand...

That's pretty rock and roll you're working on these old bikes. If I can help in any way, please PM me. I'd love to contribute. In fact, I'd love to see riding pics. I promise I won't be able to beat them.

--Chris