cb400 rat/brat/cafe

Sooooo couple updates. The wires coming off the rectifier to the battery had been messed with by the previous owner and are all shorted. They actually broke with a little force they were that old :eek:

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The connector was bypassed as well. I've been planning on rewiring eventually so I've decided I may as well just do it. I Bought some wire off mark13018, it's a killer deal and was here in 3 days! Fortunately I found a new rectifier for 12 bucks shipped on ebay.... Modified a seat pan just gotta get it together then make some mounts!
 
Well getting ready for finals plus work pretty much took every second of my time but I'm back to putting hours into the build. Working on cleaning the rust out of the tank, it's soaking in vinegar right now. Pictures are pretty much impossible since I'm in a tiny shed and can barely walk around the bike haha, Basic electrical is all sorted out. I replaced the sprockets and chain, and decided to ditch pods and just stick with the box. Really all I'm waiting on is a clean tank and I can take her out.
 
Also doing the gm coil mod since it's all apart anyways, it should be an improvement over stock!
 
I've got a problem and I need help, this tank is a BITCH!!! so I put in 3 gallons of vinegar- perfect. all the metal looks bare and shiny, so I remove the plug and drain it, draining most of the rusty stuff. I put another half gallon in and slosh it around and pour it out. ANOTHER HALF GALLON and pour it through, put maybe quarter gallon of gas in, shake it around and empty into an old gas can. Literally 2 minutes later there's a brownish rust film on the inside of the tank. WTF?!?! I've even tried wd40, like a shit ton of wd40 in there after. Sorry for the wall of text, frustrating! any suggestions?
 
You need to neutralize the acidity of the vinegar with something like bicarb & water immediately afterwards. Google flash rusting and you'll find heaps of tips on how to avoid it. :)
 
Had the same problem with my rusty tank. I found you need to be super quick on the change over, drain the vinegar, have some water with bicarb on hand to neutralize the acidity of the vinegar, drain the water, and then immediately pour in methylated spirits/denatured alcohol to remove any remaining water. Once you've drained the metho, then pour in some something like WD40 or oil to stop it rusting again. Atleast that worked for me.
 
still haven't had a chance to clean the tank but wiring's about halfway done, Pulled it out of the shed to get i

 
It's been a long time since I've posted here haha... a lot of work has been done on the bike, wiring completed, fork seals changed, airbox swapped for pods, shimmed and rejetted, exhaust finished, fender tucked in, and tank switched! Really all I have left is the seat and some lighting. I've decided on a barebones rat-style bike. Here's a terrible picture of how it sits now, I'll get another one once I have a chance.
 

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if you still have the stock mufflers your better off putting them back on.those lil muffs are too loud and it will NEVER run right
 
I ran through the carbs really well, jetted up and followed these instructions http://www.hondatwins.net/forums/63-fuel-supply-carburation/23714-cb400-cv-carbs-pods-how-make-them-work.html. Pulls like a bat outta hell, haven't found any flat spots either. maybe I just got lucky? You're right though they are loud out of the box, I redid the baffling inside to cut down some of the noise and supply a more adequate back-pressure. I might eventually get a MAC 2-1 for scavenging but it just isn't affordable right now, I'm poor!
 
So I've gotten the wiring all done except for the electric start. Should I just wire it up or leave it kick only? Other than that I just have to get access to my university's water jet to cut a bracket for my cluster, then fiberglass a seat! Progress is slow cause I'm broke but hopefully I'll be able to pick up some epoxy resin and glass here in the next month. As is, the metal base for the seat works well enough with some padding to ride, and should be enough to get it street legal. I just used the factory mounting points and rubber cushions. Layout for the bracket, and some pictures of the bike.
 

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...Pictures I didn't attatch... ::)
 

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thanks man I've been following your build too! I'm terrible at taking pictures and the start of the thread was a shit show but I'm in the home stretch now, once I have some money I'll be fiberglassing a proper seat and tail!
 
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