CBX550-Brat/urban scrambler on a budget

Fit new plug leads they said, it won't take long they said!!!!..

Well, a whole evening to change 4x plug leads...talk about taking my time. All I had to do was strip off the old leads of cap, coil screw cap and lead sleeve and then slide them all onto the new silicon leads. They're only circa 1mm wider, no problem on a test fit.

However, trying to do all 4 the rubber sleeves were tighter than a tight thing, well lubed with vaseline and WD40 I couldn't get the new leads through the lead marker ring of plastic on #1 lead. tried warming it and gave it a good go, but it would not pass through the marker ring....bugger.
Had to split the rings three times.
Not too sure they'll glue back in place and I rather like the idea of having the factory markings with just a bit of orange visible.

I have a plan, I've ordered a 1:72 letter/number transfer kit for RAF model planes. There's a good selection of font sizes on one sheet. I plan to use new shrink wrap with these numbers stuck on to replicate the OG markers....hope it works? :-/

Here's a few snaps.

The orange looks dull in these images, poorly lit I think. They're actually very bright orange haha!.



You can see #1 doesn't have markers....



With the tank in place, there's just a sneaky splash of colour, caps all facing the same way and outer sleeves the same distance from the cap. They better bloody work, I tell ya.

Only a small cosmetic job, but immensely satisfying....I also cleaned & degreased both handlebar control units and most of the loom/connectors. Nothing to see.....

Thanks for checking in..:)
 
Some shiny stuff has arrived:





I'm very pleased, even though Protech missed out the spacer collets, on my own order was well ha!

Now, do I paint the coil orange or leave it black? I'm looking for orange detailing around the bike and thought the coil would look rather smart....what do you all think?

ITMT..gathered together the latest arrivals, can you guess what they are to be used for?

Answers on a postcard.... :)
 
For those of you who have never seen a mono-shock in situ:



I had thought to paint the spring orange, but I think I'll err on the conservative and leave it powdered black as it looks so smart I think.



Nice n easy to get to the damping adjuster knob, 13 stage adjustment should mean fine tuning can be done on the fly.



Of course, it's not fixed in place yet and the spacers are on their way.

I now need to get the forks refilled and fitted when I've painted the headstock area in glass black. Then I can trial the ride height and rear end for clearance etc. Progress I think?

Cheers chaps.
 
nice bit of progress mate like the idea of keeping spring black looks quite stealth that way 8) keep up mate ya gonna be riding this summer ;)
 
yorkie350 said:
nice bit of progress mate like the idea of keeping spring black looks quite stealth that way 8) keep up mate ya gonna be riding this summer ;)

Thanks yorker, riding it this summer? I certainly hope so fella.

In other news....I've filled the forks with ATF (as per the manual) and now I know how to I can upgrade when/if I want :D
Mind you, what a bloody ballache I've had keeping the oil in them....you wouldn't believe what prize bellend I've been haha!

First, propped them in the back of my van to bring them home from my VW club workshop night, only for one to have rolled a bit a dribbled oil out of the airway hole in the top cap...but, to compound the problem, I took a closer look at the painted fork legs only to tip the thing and piss even more oil out all over the floor/step/tools...f'f*cksake!!
I needed to refill it as enough pissed out to mess with the levels and I'd struggled to fit the endcap against the secondary spring pressure. Eventually, using the plastic coated handles of a pump wrench to grip either side of the top cap housing allowing me to compress and twist at the same time....viola!

So, I had to do it all again.....bloody hell. Popped into Scotty's and got on with it, topped it up nicely and was sorting another pump wrench when big Sean asked what I was dicking around for...told him how I'd got the end cap on and he just grabbed the cap, pushed down and twisted in on.....f'f*cksake!! He did it with his barehands.....

So, I now have two forklegs topped up with oil, painted, detailed and looking smart enough.



Detailed them a touch with stainless bolts and gaitors but I think they're too small. Luckily, I scored a larger pair at the motorbike swapmeet but they need sleeving out on the top (forks 35mm, gaitor tops 38mm).....just need to find some rubber strip.





They'll do ;D

All I need now is new brake pads and I could be assembling the front end...yay!

Want to get it back on two wheels so I can wash down the engine outside.
 
In an attempt to get a bloody move on, I'm deciding if I'm overengineering some jobs such as the seat. I wanted to have it hinged with a roller catch to secure it. This will need brackets and fixings (rivnuts) sorting out etc. All a lot of faffing about and time I could spend actually getting it together and running!!

Whereas, I could just velcro it to the subframe and be done with it?

Here's the underside of the seat.

Along with the two rubber bung locators I have, that fit holes on a cross brace, I think two strips of velcro along the subframe will hold it in place well enough, do you?

I've ordered industrial strength velcro which is self adhesive but can be stitched into the seat leather as well.

FOOTNOTE: Here I am dithering about whether to use/or not to use velcro when there are amazing feats of engineering featured in other 'builds'....I feel inadequate on here :-(
 
I know my mantra is aimed at getting the bike together and running, but I will need something to sit on so justified some time on the seat tonight. Got the material grab strip pop riveted in place





and added more padding ,to cover two nuts for the bungs and rivet heads, so it's a bit more comfy now.

Spent an hour cleaning the petcock off the primered tank...came out nice, but it's not complete and the original CBX tap is fine....cleaned the wrong one... ::)
 
I know what you mean about getting a bloody move on. I've postponed a lot of jobs on my bike that can be done after it's up and running. It seems like the seat might be a bit shifty with just those two bungs and velcro. Could you attach a few studs to the seat pan and weld pieces of tube to the frame that correspond with the studs? A male/female situation. That would eliminate any lateral movement.
 
I get what you're saying Adam, thank you.

The seat is quite firm from a lateral movement point of view, the bungs are a tight fit in the crossmember. The velcro is to hold it in place when off the bike really. I have considered an over-centre catch underneath to hold it in place as well, but might be impeded by the filter box/gubbins and rear guard. Hmm....I've got the velcro on it's way, I should do a mock up and see it it will work...can't see it not working to be honest. It'll not have to come off too often, but will need to be removeable for access. More to think about haha!
 
Threw the front wheel on to check that it'd go on.....Yay it does, but clearance is tight, especially with the mudguard between the tyre and brace.





Looks tough though.

I can space the brace up a few mm to create more room. I like it close as per trials bikes, rather than scrambler stylee. I could use the brace to mount the guard but prefer to make my own hoops and tags to mount it using the fork legs as per Mr Honda.
 
I'm loving the look and ideas you've come up with here. I've been looking at picking up an '83 gs750e and have had a few reservations as to what to do with it being a monoshock bike. You've given me some great ideas of how to make it work. Nice work!
 
dilbone said:
I'm loving the look and ideas you've come up with here. I've been looking at picking up an '83 gs750e and have had a few reservations as to what to do with it being a monoshock bike. You've given me some great ideas of how to make it work. Nice work!

Thank you dilbert,pleased some of what I'm doing may help you.

I'm winging it to an extent, had an initial idea to Brat it, but it's morphed into what it is....in a good way, that I'm happy with the urban scrambler look and still useable and practical for popping to the shops or a quick bluesky blast.

What bikes have inspired you regarding style/look. Lots of beautiful bikes out there.

I'm sure some will tut tut at me choosing enduro tyres, especially as the CBX is a capable retro sports bike....but I'll be chugging around on it when it's ready...not bothered about hooning it too much.
 
canyoncarver said:
I do like the boomerang comstars.

I like them too canyoncurver, especially the alloy rims :) Fiddly to detail and repaint but think they scrub up well enough. I really like the enclosed disc brake system, fronts look like Brit TLS vented brake drums which is cool. Cheers Colin
 
NoRiders said:
Thank you dilbert,pleased some of what I'm doing may help you.

I'm winging it to an extent, had an initial idea to Brat it, but it's morphed into what it is....in a good way, that I'm happy with the urban scrambler look and still useable and practical for popping to the shops or a quick bluesky blast.

What bikes have inspired you regarding style/look. Lots of beautiful bikes out there.

I'm sure some will tut tut at me choosing enduro tyres, especially as the CBX is a capable retro sports bike....but I'll be chugging around on it when it's ready...not bothered about hooning it too much.

I don't really have a particular bike that is my "ideal" or even "inspiration." Like you said, there are so many nice bikes out there...I think I end up building a picture of one in my head one part and piece at a time with every picture I see that has some aspect to it that I like.

I built a bobber/chopper from an XS650 and a "brat" bike from a GS750, I didn't really have a specific bike for either of them but stole ideas from all sorts of bikes haha!!
This '83 monoshock gs750 I'm looking at will probably take on more of a cafe racer look if I ever get a hold of the guy to go pick it up.
Meahwhile...I'll just keep watch this one and see what ideas I can steal!!

 
Small, but significant update: Had meaningful conversation with Cara doing the seat, she's now got my rendering and had a look at the materials, I just need to do my bit and she can do hers yay!

She'll run up a trial cover in vinyl before working on the leather for real. Important part the seat.

Now for the tank....and forks, engine clean/paint, hoop weld etc etc.
 
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