1979 Honda CB400T tracker- new name "Grey Bike"

tomsljr

Been Around the Block
Hello all. I am a returning member, gone for some time but now back as I start another project. I am building a a 1979 CB400T as a tracker-ish sort of thing for my brother. He purchased this bike a little while back for $400, under the condition that he also take the CM400 that the seller also had. The CB was running (poorly) and the CM is pretty much a goner. It will be used to scavenge the odd part from.

Good things about the bike:
Clean tank. Very clean in fact.
It is running. Poorly. More on this later.
The wiring harness has not been chopped into, and all electric bits are working as they are supposed to.
Very little rust on the frame, or anywhere else for that matter.

Things that are of concern:
There is some sort of poorly done patch job done on the carbs near the cable loom. JB Weld or similar has been smeared all over the left carb. Not sure what it is there for yet.
The bike is running incredibly lean. This is to be expected, as the air box is gone and there is no restriction at all on the intake side.

The throttle seems to be totally knackered. Easily replaced.
Ignition caps are shot. Looking at replacing coil, cables and caps.
The crappy broke-back pressed steel frame of the CB400t.

Things that are going to happen:
Seat pan is going to be narrowed and reshaped to follow the frame shape. My brother has an industrial quality sewing shop, so expect something extraordinary in the upholstery department.
The usual relocation of electrics to an under seat box. A lithium battery will be fitted, as well as an updated fuse box, flasher relay and possibly the RR as well.
Daytona style bars.
Slightly longer shocks.
PC'd frame, swinger, and various other bits.
Mucho polishing, painting and general pimping-out.

I hope to have this wrapped up fairly quickly so my brother can be on the bike by spring.

I have trolled a bunch of builds in this section in the last week preparing for this project. There are some really inspiring things going on here. I look forward to your input as things progress. And I promise a lot of pictures!

For now just this one, the bike as it was as I picked it up yesterday:
 

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Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

nice! im working on a 400t as wel, ill be watching the progress of this build.
 
Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

A little progress so far. I have started reshaping the stock seat pan to narrow it and have it conform more to the shape of the frame. In case anyone hasn't mentioned it, the frame on these things is the work of the Devil. Pics later today of this.

Question for now: Sources for replacement shocks? The clevis to clevis thing really seems to be the hang-up. Dime City has a set that looks like they will work. Any one else?
 
Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

I would chop the frame at the rear where the tubular tubes are coming out from under the tank and where the framenumber thingy is. Make the high tube horizontal and into a hoop and let the lower tube connect where the shock comes. kinda like this;

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its my gfs cb200, her build thread is here;
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=32298.10
 
Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

Down the line there may be some chopping and such on the frame, but for now I plan to leave it as is. I don't have easy access to welding equipment and I would like to keep some parts of this simple. I am going to have to load everything up at some point and take it to a buddy's place to fab up the battery box and electric tray.

As promised, here is today's picture. Seat pan reshaping is pretty much complete. A lot of sawing, tapping and banging. The whole thing sits lower now and follows the tank line and the flow of the frame. Best possible compromise I think for the silly shape of the rear end of this thing.
 

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Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

Some progress this week. I finished the tear-down. I gave the wheels a light soda blast and they came out looking great. I will post some pics of those after I get the rims buffed out. I got started on blasting the engine, but the rain slowed me down as water and soda don't mix.
Last night and today I spent de-tabbing, refining the seat pan and was able to get about half way through fabbing a battery/electrics box. Pics, 'cause I know why you're here:

After reshaping the rear of the seat pan, including laying in some new sheet metal and cutting out for rear fender clearance:
 

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Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

Boy, that rear fender really looks weird now. Better do something about it:
 

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Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

Tomorrow will be finishing the battery box and getting everything that is going to powder ready.
Also, where you see the mounting bolt for the fender is where the turn signals will be mounted.
 
Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

I finished the battery box today. Next is cleanup and prep for powder.
 

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Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

Hey Tom,

I think its very good of you to dive in like that, but keep in mind the seat will be awfully high if you continue this way. You'll need at least 5cm of foam to be a little comfortable during riding, and by the looks of it you're almost 15cm in the back already( from top seat to underside seat) That'll give you a 20cm seat, wich IMHO will look well... ridiculous, since you so low on the front of the seat. I think it will be some 'blob' of fabric instead of a seat. Seats are very tricky, so i hope it will turn out o.k, just my 2cents ;)
 
Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

I understand your concern. What you are seeing is mostly a trick of the light. The total depth on the seat pan is maybe 5 or 6 cm (having to convert here.) The foam will add another 4cm or so. My goal was to keep the line from the tank flowing through the rear. I also wanted to avoid the flat slab looking seat that seems to be the default solution. If it comes out too fat, I have a fall back plan.
 
Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

ok, cool you thought it over. curious how its gonna be. subscribed!
 
Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

Frame, swing arm and various other bits dropped off for powder coat today. It's going to be done in a nickel silver metallic that I think is going to look really nice. While that stuff is gone, I will be working on polishing and painting some of the other bits.
 
Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

I got started on the polishing this evening. I began with the fork lowers. Sanded with 220, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000 and finished off with a rub of Mother's. It's hard to tell from the pic, but they are pretty much like chrome now. My own finger prints are what is clouding them up.
 

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Re: 1979 Honda CB400T tracker

My brother picked up the stuff from powder today. Not a great pic. The finish is a titanium metalic, but just looks like primer in the photo. Hopefully he will make it this weekend with the stuff and I can start putting on this pile of parts that I have been prepping. It should be a roller with the engine back in by Sunday.
 

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It's a roller. Had a lot of powder to get out of inconvenient places and little hiccups here and there, but it mostly went back together very smoothly. My brother and I worked together and got it to this point for today. Now it's time to gather more parts and get all the little bits on.
Pardon the pics. These were taken with a GoPro, and they do tend to distort things a bit.
 

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