Project cheep

Zonda

CB450 Nut
I've started this project with a CB450 K2 frame and a lot of spares. The aim is to build the bike without buying any parts (apart from tiers) ! Sounds almost impossible, but and there is always a but, I've gone through all the parts and come up with a plan.
K2 frame, black bomber tank, Bates (long beach) seat, CB500 front end, a very cool two into one megaphone, the wheels are all in fare order and should be right to go, the engine is basically done but requires a re-bore and as there is a set of 3rd oversize pistons, that should be the engine done! the rear sets will be a set of CB77 controls that have been lying in the shed from when i road one years ago and i'll run modified lights and stock instuments. I'll run flat bars till it's registered then look at a different setup. anyway here is a mockup of the plan!
Rod
 
Zonda said:
I've started this project with a CB450 K2 frame and a lot of spares. The aim is to build the bike without buying any parts (apart from tiers) ! Sounds almost impossible, but and there is always a but, I've gone through all the parts and come up with a plan.
K2 frame, black bomber tank, Bates (long beach) seat, CB500 front end, a very cool two into one megaphone, the wheels are all in fare order and should be right to go, the engine is basically done but requires a re-bore and as there is a set of 3rd oversize pistons, that should be the engine done! the rear sets will be a set of CB77 controls that have been lying in the shed from when i road one years ago and i'll run modified lights and stock instuments. I'll run flat bars till it's registered then look at a different setup. anyway here is a mockup of the plan!
Rod

Hey Rod ..... sounds like a fun project, keep us up to speed as the bike comes together ... happy building ;D
 
Project Cheep came to a stand still even before i could start. the reason... :eek: :eek:
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She's gone now and I'm back on track, I've striped the tank and "por15" sealed the inside and it's ready for a repaint, which I'll do next week. The frame is waiting while i build the seat, as the seat is molded over the rear frame tubes and when finished will be sealed (sort of), the seat base and padding will act as a lid which will attach at the back and lock at the front giving me an area 2 1/2" to 3" deep for all of the wiring and for my carry-all for tools etc. :D
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The original hump from the old cafe seat will be bonded onto this, sides and seat base made then its on to the rear sets and front end.....
Rod
 
The aircraft is an Australian Air Force Mk IV Spitfire with Mk VIII wings, She flew in combat during WW2 with 77SQN. Bit of a story with this old girl, we’ve had her for about 5 years, 18 months ago I started to work on her with the intent to get her to a state where she could be displayed at a local museum, all this was going to take only 6-8 months ;) Ha! We Pulled the wings and then the fun really started, fabricated new skins for 10% of the under-wing surface and several sizeable repairs to the fuselage. Remanufacture the undercarriage mounting points due to the fitting of Mk VI undercarriage. The prop tips were rotted (wood) so I cast new tips out of epoxy and bonded then on and covered the prop blades with several layers of fiberglass (this is for display only and will never spin) recovered the fabric flight controls and numerous other small things, making dummy cannons tips, etc. anyway a few weeks ago we had an offer to ship her to her new home for free, so I dropped everything and went flat chat to finish her, gave her a quick repaint and she’s now gone. :'( Eventually she will come back and be restored to full flying condition, supercharged V12, 3000HP on open pipes, yeh!!! ;D

Rod
 
Zonda said:
The aircraft is an Australian Air Force Mk IV Spitfire with Mk VIII wings, She flew in combat during WW2 with 77SQN. Bit of a story with this old girl, we’ve had her for about 5 years, 18 months ago I started to work on her with the intent to get her to a state where she could be displayed at a local museum, all this was going to take only 6-8 months ;) Ha! We Pulled the wings and then the fun really started, fabricated new skins for 10% of the under-wing surface and several sizeable repairs to the fuselage. Remanufacture the undercarriage mounting points due to the fitting of Mk VI undercarriage. The prop tips were rotted (wood) so I cast new tips out of epoxy and bonded then on and covered the prop blades with several layers of fiberglass (this is for display only and will never spin) recovered the fabric flight controls and numerous other small things, making dummy cannons tips, etc. anyway a few weeks ago we had an offer to ship her to her new home for free, so I dropped everything and went flat chat to finish her, gave her a quick repaint and she’s now gone. :'( Eventually she will come back and be restored to full flying condition, supercharged V12, 3000HP on open pipes, yeh!!! ;D

Rod

That's the most beautiful aircraft ever. Sounds like a rewarding job.

c
 
Yes, I can honestly say that I love what i do, I've always had a passion for old aircraft and bikes, tried the car thing with no luck. The costs was more than i could justify for the end result, i lost money, big time, on both cars that i rebuilt/restored :mad: so back to my beloved bikes and aircraft.

project cheep will be super clean old school with a few high-tech touches. my biggest problem so far is where to mount the battery? I'm not to keen to put it under the seat hump, so I'm looking at a capacitor discharge system with a small battery to excite the alternator and keep it all powered up :-\ (not sure!!) the rear sets will be modified CB77 ones (old school theme) clip-ons well as i don't have any I might have to buy some, :( but looking over the local wreckers stash i found that the GB500/400 has 35mm forks and clip-ons, might just work!. the overall colour scheme will be high gloss black with chrome highlights, sort of Black Bomber Cafe racer. to go with the Black Bomber theme and my love of old aircraft the tank badges will be RAAF roundels.

Rod
 
Project cheep is back on the boil ;D been doing a lot of thinking with this one, as i want it to look almost stock. Sort-of like what the factory would have built if they built race replicas in the 1960's.

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After a lot of mods were done to the frame and then undone, here is what i've settled on. It's not by any means finished and the welds will have to be cleaned up but I'm sort of happy with how it's coming together.
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The rear inner guard (required by law) is from a CB500T which didn't cost me anything!! free from a mate :D, although I'm sure he'll call in a favour sooner or later! I wanted the seat to sit down over the frame to hide the frame tubes and give the bike a lower look so I had to cut the seat in half and it's at work getting widened.
The tank is finished and look a treat, the K0 CB450 Tank needs a different rear mount and that is what the bump and bolt on the spine of the frame is.
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The CB77 rear sets have come up a treat and will give the bike that period look alas i'm converting the rear brake to cable to match the CB77 brake pedal, the CB450's rear brake is very powerful when set up right so going to cable wont hinder the bike ;) any thoughts??
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That is a gorgeous plane...second most gorgeous plane from WWII...the first being of course the P-51 Mustang..in the words of a young Christian Bale...CADILLAC OF THE SKY!!!
 
The CB77 and 72 came with a sort of rear set, the foot pegs could be moved to three different positions, all you needed was the extension bar for the gear change side and as the rear brake was cable operated that was just repositioned. You could also rotate the pegs and then adjust the position of the pedal in relation to the foot peg :D

Sorry no Stuka, love to be able to recreate the famous Stuka scream on my bike ;D oh yeah ;D

Rod
 
Any more progress on the project?...
This thread is a very interesting read!! ;D
Im dying to see how it looks wtih a K0 tank!!
 
The Tank ;D. The badge is from a early 60's Kawasaki and goes with the "Do the Ton" theme "100MPH" and is only mounted on black cardboard for the photo, I've made the disk that they will mount to but have not painted them yet :D. As you can see the tank is quite deep which allows for a deep seat, i'll have about 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" under the seat flat and heaps under the hump for all the electrics.
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Rod from OZ 8)
 
That tank looks classic man...simply beautiful...and the badge idea is sweet...

Id love to have a Generic DOTHETON vinyl sticker to go under my clear coat come repaint time....HINT HINT>..
 
Beautiful tank, and love the badge, great idea! I can't really tell from the pics but is the paint on the tank gloss or satin. It looks like satin in the first pic but gloss in the others.
 
The tanks is gloss, I've polished the tank but will give it the final wax when it’s fitted. Unfortunately the fluro lights and camera flash don’t show up the black that well and chrome never looks good in photos :( During the build up I’ll use another tank (CL) in case of accidental damage :).

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The gas cap is an aftermarket one but a mid 70's Honda MX one is on it's way and has a better look and finish. I'm restoring a CB450 K1 (very rare in OZ) and the engine for that will go into the cafe (initially for rego), this will save some time as I’ll have a run in and rebuilt engine for the K1 resto and that will allow me to build the Café engine as I sort out other issues on the Café and of couse get some time up on the Cafe 8) This is were “project cheep” will end and “project more grunt” will start ;D ;D

The engine will not be standard!! custom sleeves and 497cc, mild cams, lots of head work, center pull Mikuni’s, home made ignition running off the crank, O2/temp sensors on the exhaust for tuning, K0 six spring clutch with heaver springs and barrett plates, CB500 gear cluster, remove the taco/points drive cam journals supports and replace with the for a cleaner look, and upgrade the oiling system. sigh...

Rod From OZ 8)
 
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