1 is Fun, 2 is Difficult, 3 Must Be EASY- CB400F Racer, CB750 Cafe & XS360 Xplr

Pictures say a thousand words:

Now, the explanation....

The rear part of the Yamaha frame has the ugly integrated ring turn signals. Also, the rear hump support was in the way for the flat seat I had planned. I went forward and trimmed the rear part of the frame as far back as possible so I have the most straight tube after the rear shock mounts to join the new rear hoop to the structure. I kept the rear lift handle for now, since the center stand will stay. I prefer the center stand over the kick stand, even if the aesthetics can be worse.

I will be making a custom seat pan for the flat seat to match the complex shape of the frame rails. Hondas have very simple rear frame structures, sometimes stampings but Yamaha's have trussed tubing which is both stronger and better looking.

If anyone wants a seat and rear frame hoop combo for an XS360, let me know. I'm also going to make a setup for a Honda since I have the CB frame right there.

So now the good story....when I was working on the frame, a guy came by and asked if I would be interested in his old bike. He didn't know much about it, but he had bought it twenty years ago and it had been sitting in his shed since. He said he would bring it by and I could look at it. A few hours later a car shows up with a rope behind, pulling this guy on a motorcycle. The motorcycle turns out to be a complete 1974 Honda CB750 with no dents in the tank, rips in the seat, etc. Oh, he also gives me the title.

Does anyone need a 1974 Honda CB750 righteous cafe racer?

It was a busy night. 1:00am was the latest I could stay before I have to be at work by 6:00am. While it doesn't look like I got accomplished, I did lots of planning.

Cleaned up the rear frame rails and eliminated the tabs for the stock seat. How does it look?







This is my battery strap for the race bike.











Received my front suspension from Racetech and a Kawasaki 550 brake caliper to adapt to the CB400F:

Spent the weekend running in circles since when you order 7/8-inch tubing and check "next day delivery" that really means ground. I fixed a few flaws in the frames where I had left creases.

The XS360 frame was pretty much perfect but I did find one area that needed some more metal work:



Next I moved on to the CB750:




Getting the wheels ready for powdercoating involves removing the bearings and seals. I would like to make these Matte Black but cleaning may be a nightmare so Gloss Black may be the choice. The bearing puller and slide hammer was the only option for the blind pulleys.












I decided to mount up the deriguer CB750 seat cowl versus the one with number plates. Molding the two as one proved to be a failure. I may just start from foam if it continues to annoy me. The CB750 cowl has such a crappy ending with no style or relief for an integrated tail lamp. Maybe I can cut it out and add a mesh panel?

Any thoughts?










I had hoped to leave the hinge boss for the seat but it got in the way. Time to make it disappear:

Received my new CB400F frame from the post office and started getting into prepping it. A lot to cut and dress and weld on the stock frame for race duty.

Rebuilding the Comstars for the CB750, the spoke wheels for the XS360 and leaving the CB400F wheels alone for now. No time to lace the to the aluminum rims since the GS1000 hub requires a set of custom spokes.

The week I was away really put the pressure on.

Your a different breed sir.

I dig the tail with the number plate, a lot.

I liked this photo and put it up via our twitter account @vicarmotorcycle https://twitter.com/VicarMotorcycle

Concentrating on blasting, scrubbing, sanding, cleaning, taping, priming, painting engines. Trying out this special "radiator" paint.

Quickie post since I'm late to drink beer.

Tried out the new "Radiator" paint which is high gloss black in color. It went on ok but the coverage is not 100%- which is probably how it works being very light coats as opposed to paint that is dripping off. The Engineer in me says that allowing the fins on the head to actually transfer heat to the ambient air is good. The Designer in me says screw the heat transfer, I want it blacker than black.

Well, its black. ish. No really, its black but if I look deep in the recesses, in bright sunlight I can see some areas that are slightly less black

The removable covers will be removed (hey, convenient) and powder coated some color that may be shiny black, matte black, wrinkle black or red. Maybe gunmetal metallic grey. Can decide. Wheels apparently need to be gloss black or they are a bitch to clean.

Let's see...
Frame- metallic grey
Forks- metallic grey
Tank- alien green pearl metallic
Wheels- gloss black
Engine Cylinder- gloss black
Engine covers- ????

Sandblasted the frame last night of the CB400F to get rid of the corrosion. I then massaged the pitted tubes with a combination of 120 and 240 flap wheels. Final step was a twisted stainless steel bristle roto-buff. It took....f...o....r....e....v...e....r but looks like new. Pictures coming.

Tonight I got food poisoning and can only order more parts...

awesome challenge keen as beans to see this three some

Getting ready for Barber took precedence and work....

I am looking for some key parts at the swap meet and didn't want to start powder coating until I see if I can find them.

Any updates on this insanity?

Everything is in powdercoating. I was waiting for a charcoal metallic powdercoat to come in but the storm along the Atlantic delayed it.

The last thing I did was make a template for the Yamaha XS360 flat seat and removed the centerstand mounts. I decided to go without a centerstand since it would clutter the bike up.

I've been concentrating on the racing fuel business and spec'ing out a 1000HP BBC for testing. A friend is going to build it but hopefully I get enough time to at least torque the heads or degree the cam.

What ever happened to this project?