72 CB350 For the Daughter

Got rid of the lip. It was a little bit of work because I was going slow so as not to cut into the tank. Put some more phosphoric acid in the tank so it could continue doing its work to the rust. That is when I noticed a pin hole on one side. Hit is real quick with the welder and all was good. There was a bunch of rust underneath the lip that the wire wheel took care of. That is when I noticed about 5 pinholes on the other side. I guess I know why the tank was lined before I got it. So I guess I get to line this tank.
 
Ordered the powder coat powder tonight...ah yah

Finished cleaning the inside of the tank and got a few pics of the pinholes. Picked up some Red-Kote so hopefully this weekend I will be able to get the tank lined. Keeping the fuel cross over tubes clear is going to be a pain, but I will get it done. I have never lined a tank so this is going to be an endeavor.

Left side




Right side







Inside of tank cleaned.

 
Lined tank yesterday. Successfully managed to keep the cross over tubes clear using some weed eater string and as far as I can tell there are no puddles. I did a lot of rotating of the tank to keep it from puddling and to keep draining the excess.




Started stripping the paint on the side covers. Holy layers of paint and primer. The top color was maroon candy, then a dark under color, then primer, then red, then primer, the red again, and finally primer. Of course I find a corner chipped off on one of the covers so I get to make that piece out of epoxy.
 
Realized I never posted a pic of the "cover" I made for the kick start lever. It may not be the most elegant solution, but it isn't horrible. It serves the purpose of protecting the splines of the kick start shaft and allows me to easily put a kick start lever back on if need be.

 
I have been trying to remember the last part I need to make for about two weeks. Every time I remember I am in a place where I can't write it down. I was watching the Supercross races from last week when I remembered this morning. SO I hopped up and went to the garage to make it.

The brake light and license plate mount. I knew I wanted to tuck the light just under the seat, but wasn't sure how to mount it. I ran through a number of options in my head, but settled on a simple bracket that I found in my parts drawer and some bent steel.

The first three are with just the piece I made. The colored in black part in sharpie will be trimmed to follow the curve of the plate mount part that came with the light as will the extra bit of metal on the back end of the bracket.
The last two pics are with the plate bracket that came with the light. Not sure if the angle will work yet with the tire, but it can be bent/adjusted to fit.











 
Did a little work on the tank design. I can't tell you how many times I printed this in different sizes and paper types (letter, legal, ledger) to get it to where I was satisfied with it. I originally put it lower on the side of the tank, but it just looked weird with nothing over the front center portion of the tank. I actually kind of like how the end of the wing wraps onto the top of the tank a little bit.

 
Nothing better then the good ol' wing logo. That will look nice. If you want it done in vinyl or stencil, hit me up.
 
So I am not 100% satisfied on the wing. Looking at on just the tank isn't giving me the warm and fuzzy. So I decided to take some pics from a slight distance with the tank and seat on the frame to hopefully get a better idea.

In my mind I had a thought/vision of the wings being streamed down the side of the tank like the bird is moving fast. Sort of like how some people like the rear ends lower on old muscle cars because they thought it made them look like they were moving fast.

OK...I put 6 different sizes on and took two pictures of each. The first is me standing with the camera about chest level and the second is me squatting trying to get about as level with the bike as I could. Let me know what you think.

1





2





3





4






5





6


 
Very nice project. Subscribed.

Of your tank designs, I really like 3. It aligns with the bottom of the tank to keep that signature cafe line going, the front matches with the front curvature of the tank, and the logo isn't squished and bastardized like 4.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would go with the 5th. I think if you use the 3rd the end points of the wings will come too close together on top of the tank.

But if you would use the 5th. I would still them a bit closer to the bottom of the tank.
 
I wonder how it would look if you made 3 even larger and just put it on one side. Break up the symmetry a little.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would go with something like the modern logo with part of the feathers being tank color for a more stylish interpretation. something like http://wallpapercave.com/wp/AvMMmXM.jpg

Any of the shapes you came up with work. I think that long is better - so maybe #1 or 2 and maybe higher on the tank to sweep part way across the top.
 
thrillseeker said:
I wonder how it would look if you made 3 even larger and just put it on one side. Break up the symmetry a little.

This could be cool. Maybe 2x the size, starting on one side and going diagonally across the top to where the fingers end up on the opposite side.
 
I also feel like the wing logo by itself looks strange floating without something to give it a foundation. Honda uses "HONDA" under it or the HM circle to give it a foundation. thats probably why I feel like closer to the bottom looks good. it visually gives the wing an attachment and makes it look like it belongs there instead of just being slapped on as an afterthought.

here are some examples:

http://i2.wp.com/honda400four.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/honda-cm400t-cafe-racer-blue-cb400f-tank.jpg?w%5Cu003d960
http://kickstart.bikeexif.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/honda-cx500-625x417.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9fay19WNn4/T_jxyfWMwQI/AAAAAAAAOG4/k7U-POsUKGg/s862/honda_cb750_caferacer2.jpg

This is what you get when you ask a graphic designer for ideas. More input than you wanted. :)

But really, we're just trying to get you to waste all your printer paper and ink. ha
 
I appreciate all of the suggestions and thoughts. I don't know what I want to do. I have a vision in my head, but I just can't seem to get it to translate into something viewable which is frustrating. Not being very artistically creative probably has a lot to do with my struggle with this. I don't want it to overpower or dominate the look, but at the same time I want people to look at it and know what it is. Going too small with it just leaves too much blank space. The tank is going to be one solid color other than this. No bottom band or stripes.

I do kind of like the cm400t in the link above. The tank on it is a bit taller so it might work a bit better than on mine. However, I can move what I have printed out forward and down and see how it looks.
 
Back
Top Bottom