winter project 1969 cl450 cafe racer

So I got the itch for a winter project but didnt have a ton of cash to spend so i found this cl450 on craigslist and even though i dont know jack about these bikes I am going to try to make it into something cool.

DAY ONE:
I got it home last night and today I wanted to see it run before I tore it apart so I spent a couple of hours cleaning the carbs and getting it started. I managed to get it to fire up but I only ran it for a minute because it was leaking a bunch of oil from the cover that is behind the generator cover ( dont know what its called) the phillips head screws holding it on were loose and one was missing... tightened it up but it still leaked so I guess its a gasket, I will get to it when the engine is out.
After seeing it run I took a bunch of stuff off the bike, I dont know why but I love to take things apart! Now that the bike is stripped down I can really see how cool this thing will look when its done.

I am going to post pics up here as I get things done and look forward to sugestions on how to make it look good. I am a firefighter and have a pretty great schedule for working on projects so hopfully I will get it done pretty quick. This is all new to me so i will also have a million questions!
Here are the pics of day one,
also a link to the first start on youtube 1969 cl450 cafe racer project first start
Thanks for looking
Bob

u remind me of my self years ago...
ive had a 71cl 350 and 450 over the years..
best thing i can tell you.. just enjoy it. take your time. make the best bike you can.. ull see some that can turn an epic bike out in 3 months.. but just know at the end.. it will only be you that can see the corners you cut..

enjoy, you cafe racer

That's going to be a great project and a great bike. Get yourself a proper Honda shop manual and go to town!

DAY 2:

Actually its day 3 but I was on duty yesterday so no work on the bike. So today I spent most of the day getting my garage cleaned up so I could kep all the stuff comming off the bike organized. After cleaning I wanted to make a cardboard mock up seat pan and cowl but i saw this seat from roc city cafe racers that looks like it would work. http://www.roccitycafe.com/item.php?path=store/cbrr,
Since I am up in the air about the seat I decided to finish stripping the bike down, I wanted to keep it able to roll around for a while so I left the swingarm and forks on. After getting the engine out I pulled the left side covers off so I could polish them up and because they were leaking and needed a gasket. When i was looking at the front sproket I noticed it kinda wobbles around on the shaft, is this normal?
Anyways heres some pics from today.

two more

Man I want one of these lil bikes! good start so far cant wait to see how it comes along

Didn't get any work done on the bike over the weekend but I did pick up a nice free standing buffer so i can get some polishing done on the engine! More to come......

I hope getting rid of that 16" rear is part of your plans.

yeah, I have an 18 inch wheel lined up for only 30 bux but i have to drive 3 hours to pick it up. It's on the list, I am kind of obsessed with the seat right now. I almost bought a leather sandbag and some hammers to try to make a metal one but I am thinking I should just go fiberglass, we will see.....

Got off duty after a 48 hour shift this morning and got a chance to make some progress on the bike. Went to an arts and crafts store and got some foam to make a plug for a fiberglass seat pan. Also took the engine to the local pressure car wash and used some engine bright to try to degrease it for paint, what a pain, still need to get grease out of a lot of nooks. I got my buffer in the garage and started buffing on some of the engine parts, also a pain I was supprised how ruff the castings were after the clear came off..... have a lot of wet sanding to do!
Heres a couple pics from today:

And here is a shot of the new buffer..... I love this thing!

Well its been a few days and not much work done, spent a week on vacation in southern california. Went to Garage Company in inglewood and saw some amazing bikes and got some cool ideas for my build. I finished stripping the bike down to the frame today and cut all the stuff off the frame i wont be needing.... I am waiting to trim the back of the frame untill I get my plug made for my seat. I also found out that the cl450 has tapered forks at the top clamp and I cannot just push them up to lower the front, I am not sure what I am going to do because it also is going to make putting clip-ons on a pain in the ass.

I also tried to pop out a dent in the gas tank today but had no luck so I decided to hammer in some tank indents... they look pretty good so far, I need to use a little filler and see what happens. Anyways next step is getting the seat pan and cowl made up so I can cut the frame and get it to powdercoating.

Here is a couple new pics

as far as the tapered forks go, is there a front end swap that would fix it?

Looks like a good start. What type of hammer did you use for your knee dents? They look pretty smooth.

I used a rubber mallet, dont know if its the best way to do it but it was all I had. Still needs quite a bit of filler!

Been a while since I updated but I got the frame sandblasted and I picked up a cb450 front end so I can now use clipons and lower the front end a bit. I am having a local company bend a rear frame hoop that will be done in a couple of days and then I can weld it in and paint the frame, I put a few things back together as a mock up and I am realy liking the look. The 18 inch rear wheel looks sooo much better!
Here is a couple more pics