DEET MB5 - Fully Legal

Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Daffy Duck Seat

Absolutely pouring rain here today, so what better way to spend it than in the garage ;)

Got a nice bit of work done on the MB5 today. Before I could tear it down I had to mockup where I was going to put the license plate and trim the rear of the tank to suit the lines of the tail.

First up was trimming the tank. The way the rear of the tank hung down below the tail bugged me a bit so I shaved off a tiny bit to smooth out the transition. Think it looks much better.

Before:

tankPreTrim.jpg


After:

tankPostTrim.jpg
 
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Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Plate Mockup

Next up was figuring out where to put the plate. Came up with a spot I was happy with and will allow me to conceal a plate light. This past year our DMV has started issuing smaller motorcycle plates which is great. Previously they were around 8" X 5", but now they are 7" X 4", looks much better. I don't have a plate for the MB5 yet as it has to be inspected first, hopefully next summer. My other two bikes still have the larger plates so I had to mock-up with a bit of cardboard cut to size. The final placement will be about a centimeter back from where it is shown here.

licensePlateMockupRear.jpg


licensePlateMockupSide_1.jpg


licensePlateMockupSide_2.jpg
 
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Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

After both of these were out of the way, and a couple of other small things, I started to tear it down. Its an amazingly easy bike to strip down. I thought my CB400T was easy, but this was even easier. Engine is so light it was a joke to remove it from the frame :)

stripDown_1.jpg


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stripDown_3.jpg


stripDown_Engine.jpg


stripDown_Tank.jpg
 
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Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

Awesome! I can't wait to see this thing!
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

Nice Deacon, better than factory fit and looks the part well!
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

Deacon,

I just noticed this build. Great job on the seat. I'd never given much thought to these little bikes, but looks like you're going to have a cool ride there.

CC
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

Thank guys.

CC, I've always loved these little bikes and always wanted one. Pretty hard to find one though, so even though this one is in hard shape I couldn't pass it up. Will make it work somehow :)

Cleaned all the mud and grease off it yesterday, so I can get started on prepping for paint and such this week.
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

wow that thing is neater than hell will def be following this build
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

That's a 12v cdi system correct? got me thinking about a few things now. Any chance you can take the rotor off and take pictures? I have a 2 stroke street project that i'm building that is 6v points that i'm thinking of swapping over to cdi. There are a few options however I like to look at them all. It's a 125cc engine. If you ever wanted to go up to 125cc i have a funny feeling it might fit, minus the engine mount on the head. I have two engines will low milage that i'm debating taking apart because when I mean low i mean only 1200 and 1800 miles on each of them. However I'm bumping a motor up to 175cc at some point in the future. I wonder if that stator/sprocket cover will fit my motor now 2. Might look a little cleaner in my frame since I swapped it to a completely different frame.
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

nevermind on the stator cover just looked at the bolt placements using ebay. completely different. Mine's magnesium anyways. :)
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

Glad you found a pic. I was just about to respond that it may be a while before I could get the pics since I don't have the correct puller at the moment.
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

Saw that site a couple of weeks ago, lot of nice parts there for sure. For this initial build I'm going to stick with the stock engine, just so I can experience the stock 7hp first before making any improvements :) Hoping the following winter to open up the engine and make some changes.
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Fork Work

Started in on the forks last night. The right side fork was leaking a bit but I was intending on replacing the seals anyway. Cheap piece of mind while I have everything apart. Here's a short write-up for those that haven't disassembled a fork before.

Exterior of the forks looked really good, especially considering the bike was used as a off-road beater. No rust or pitting on the tubes. Even the dust covers were perfect.

forks.jpg


Didn't want to risk marring up the tubes in a vice so I removed the top bolts with the tubes secured in the trees, makes it pretty easy. Once the top cap is off, there is an inner bolt that is holding the spring under pressure. It requires an Allen wrench to remove. Once these are removed you can take the spring out and drain the fluid. I never measured what came out of mine but it wasn't near the correct amount.

You can see the inner bolt in this picture.

forksInnerBolt.jpg


Next remove the bolt at the bottom of the fork that holds the piston to the bottom of the lower case. I put the fork in a vice to help with this bolt removal.

forksBottomBolt.jpg


forksRemoveBottomBolt.jpg


Once this bolt is removed, you can then take out the fork tube, piston and lower spring. I then took out the clip ring and carefully popped out the fork seal.

Here are all the parts (with the exception of the bottom copper washer). Going to repaint the lowers, install new seals and fresh fluid and they should be good for a while.

forksParts.jpg
 
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Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Easy Strip Down

That will probably be my last bit of work on the MB5 for a month or so. Just sold my house and have to be out by the end of the month, so I'll be pretty boxing everything up and moving it into storage. New house is not supposed to be ready until late September, so I'm going to have some serious withdrawals by then :(

I already have the MB5 totally disassembled and ready to be moved out. Starting in on the CB350 tonight. I don't have a trailer so the easiest way to move both bikes is to take them all apart. :)
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Fork Work

When you get a chance i need some measurements off the front end of your bike. Ill send a PM
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Fork Work

they are 27mm fork tubes if that's what your are wondering if I remember correctly.

search the web for jap motorcycle bible.
 
Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Move 'Em Out

Got the bikes all put in the back of the SUV today and brought them down to store at my father's place. Both bikes fit in the back of the rig no problem. Only thing I didn't take at this time was the 350 engine. I'll bring that down another day when I'm feeling a bit stronger :)

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Re: Project DEET- Mini Smoker - Couple of Parts

Got a couple of parts in the mail yesterday from eBay. My bike never had a front brake caliper when I bought it and the rear brake pedal was bent and cracked pretty good, so I picked up two of these from the same seller. Amazing how excited we get about getting 30 year old, used, dirty parts in the mail. :)

Need to find a brake MC now, thinking I may buy a new aftermarket one.

brakeCaliperAndPedal.jpg
 
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