1981 cb650 cafe racer project... need help!!

So I just picked up a 81 cb650 today and I'm going to build it into a cafe racer. This is my first bike in over ten years so I basically know nothing at this point. I believe the carbs need to be cleaned/rebuilt and there is some noise with the exhaust that i havent quite figured out. If somebody could give me some starting points and maybe help me with where to find parts I would be grateful.
Any imput/suggestions would be awesome!!
-nate

How is the suspension? If it's comfortable to you, and the bike is running well, then I would go ahead and start working on shaving your weight. Change your seat. Kill the air box. Replace the battery with a slim hideaway battery. Kill the fenders. And after you do those, then start playing around with the motor to start increasing your power to your comfort level. It looks like you've got a great bike to start with

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Looks like a nice start. If I were you, I'd keep the stock airbox if it came with one (you can always go with the airbox to K&N filter to get the look, but avoid the jetting issues), clean the carbs, make sure there's no junk in the fuel tank, put some new fuel lines on it and ride it for a bit. Get a feel for the machine before you go tossing things in the trash and getting to heavy handed too fast. Especially if you haven't owned or ridden a motorcycle in a while.

Keep your fenders and try to find a stock airbox. A seat is gonna be hard to find given your frame geometry and the stock one actually looks pretty decent all things considered. Get yourself a factory Honda manual in for free online in PDF, print that sucker out, bind it, and go through the FULL tune up procedure in order. Go ahead and clean the carbs thoroughly first. If the exhaust is still making weird noises after that, you might pull the exhaust and see if maybe the baffle is loose and rattling around, it can happen. A set of Progressive springs in the front and rear can make a world of difference. Otherwisse, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Edit: the easiest thing to change out that will make the bike look sleeker and sound a bit meaner is to fit a set of aftermarket mufflers. If you are going to do this, I would do it first and then go through the tuning procedure. Another easy way to clean up the look is to loose the big bulky taillight for something smaller and cleaner. Lowbrow Customs and Dime City Cycles have a great selection of universal parts.