Re: DECEMBER BIKE OF THE MONTH - VOTE HERE!
Beat The Clock
I’ll never forget my first ride on “Beat The Clock”. I had been waiting for a break in the weather for a few days and anticipation was high. That special time came on a late summer morning. The sun broke through the clouds and the rain was gone. The journey had been long and all I could think about was the thrill that awaited me. I skipped breakfast and headed to the garage.
Memories of a long transformation were fresh. Late nights were greeted with busted knuckles. I wore her grease under my fingernails from day one. That day was last winter just before Christmas. I first spotted her behind the previous owner’s garage, on her side. She was no more than a mound of snow. Her current owner hadn’t had her running for a few years and at first he thought she was gone. It didn’t take him long to figure out that the bike had fallen over and was hiding under 6 inches of snow. My heart sank and my expectations fell. But I knew I needed to try to give this Honda a new lease on life. The previous owner and his family had come upon hard times. He tried hard to show care as he brushed the snow off. He tried, but I know the bike was not loved. She was broken but I knew her potential. This was to be my new project and this guy and his family would have a little extra cash for Christmas.
I had the bike running tops by early summer. It really didn’t take much in the way of mechanics. I rebuilt the carbs and found a couple of fried wires. The rectifier was bad and so were the coils. Once I got it running I stripped her down to the bare frame. I sanded, cleaned, polished, and prepped until my fingers bled. Every bit of powder on the bike was stripped and painted with appliance epoxy. I gave the frame a coat of appliance epoxy silver. Other bits were done in appliance epoxy black. I found that the appliance epoxy is very picky and sometimes I found my self redoing a few bits a couple of times over. If it is done right though, it is bomb proof and smooth as glass. Next I prepped the motor and hit it with high heat gloss black. The chrome pieces were done with high heat clear.
I started reassembly and before long she looked like a new bike again. By the time the snow left, I had myself a 1975 Honda CL 360 café racer. The transformation was complete. So I thought.
After a few rides it grew old. I did a lot of work to turn my winter find into this café racer but something didn’t seem right. The bike didn’t have a soul. I can’t explain it. I parked her in the corner of the garage and that’s where she sat.
A couple of months passed and I even considered selling. But during that time I studied the bike. It wasn’t until later that I looked back at my inspirations. I knew right away what I needed to do. She spoke to me for the first time. She was not done. I realized that I let my love for the café have too much influence. She needed a little more work. She was going to have a bobber feel but would be a throw-back not only to the café racer but my other love, vintage board track racers. It was a done deal and I knew just how I wanted her to look, and ride.
I had already done all the grunt work of painting and polishing etc. All I had to do was give her a face lift. So I removed everything café such as the seat and tank. My homemade rear sets were to go too. I knew I wanted not only mid controls, but the bike needed to be longer and lower. I studied the rear triangle and the swing arm. I figured the top shock mounts needed to be a little higher and the swing arm could be about 4.5“ longer. It would give me about the perfect ride height and it looked like the shocks would still articulate in reasonable fashion. So I cut my swing arm and tacked in 4.5 inches. A brace was left on the top seat rail that I had welded there for the café build. I figured it would hold everything from going catawampus once the cuts were made on the seat rails. I then proceeded to cut the top shock mounts. After a few mock ups and looking at the angles, the placement for the top shock mounts were located and it was decided that the new swing arm needed a total 5 inches added. I welded in the new shock mounts at the top of the seat rails and then added gussets. It was ready for mock up again. The battery I had relocated to under the tail behind the seat for the café build, was moved to just above the swing arm. It was mounted in a nice box I welded up. Then Dremmel was used to cut the spades..
The alligator seat from eBay was a nice find. The seller was Motheroadcustoms66 and it arrived in no time. A Model A tail light was added and things were starting to take shape. Chris Fiaccone at www.motofiaccone.com did the final swing arm work for me. Once it arrived I spent a day sanding, prepping and painting. The paint on the frame was feathered and repainted where I had done the new work.
The tank and rear fender were pretty much the final pieces of the puzzle. The tank is the factory 360 tank that came with the bike. I decided to do a 50’s hot rod style lace paint job. For that I laid down a base of Rust-oleum Metallic Dark Bronze. A day later I wetted down a piece of lace table cloth and taped it down. Then I sprayed it with Rust-oleum Metallic Antique Brass. I then topped it off with a clear coat from an aerosol can as well. For that I used Maxx 2 K clear. It is a two stage clear that comes in an aerosol can. The result speaks for itself. I then finished off the build using brass bushings, spacers, washers and brass wing nuts where applicable.
So, I’ve spent endless hours with bleeding hands and sweat on my brow, but now she has a soul. She is an extension of me and every time we hit the wind together, we become one. I am part of her and she is of me. I am a man trying to beat time. I dubbed her “Beat The Clock”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XS1gZWtxuY
