Woody's 1972 CL350 Brat-tracker Project Bike - Finished for now - Aug 20, 2010

[woody1981]

Geeze... why don't I have more time to work on the scooter? Anyway... I found some time to head to a friends and get the bumpstop welded up. I made a template of paper earlier, and then I scanned it in flat and made an autocad file to have a fab shop CNC plasma cut the cowl out of 16G steel.

Ignore my crappy welding... I'm not great with with a welder... but I'm really good with a grinder ;-) Also, my bends look worse then they really are, and since this is being covered in padding and vinyl I figure they won't be visible.

Here are the pics. Sorry they kinda suck... just from my phone.

- Woody

[woody1981]

It's getting close folks!

Today I installed all the new cables. Black break, throttle, clutch, speedo, tach. The brake and clutch cables I had professionally shortened by a guy here in town. The tach and throttle cables didn't bug me with their length. I shortened the speedo housing with help from you guys, but I wound up ordering the Motion Pro inner wire kit for $12 instead of jacking with re-squaring the meter end of the inner wire. Not too bad. The clutch and brake are routed really smoothly and they lay down nice and tight to the bars. Very pleased with how this baby is turning out.

Also new in these pics is the rock guard on the headlamp. It's intended for a Jeep. I clipped off the outer ring to make it a smaller diameter and then installed from the inside, using the pressure from the bulb to hold it in place. It looks BOSS! It was a huge PITA to get the bulb back in to replace the pivot screws, but now that it's done it still adjusts just as it should... unless you guys have ever really looked at how the bulb is held into the headlight ring, this probably doesn't make sense. Anywoo... it looks awesome and really adds to the look IMO.

It's getting dang close to fire-it-up time... soon. Very soon. The weather here is still in the upper 90's+ so I'm not too worried about it... there is still plenty of good riding time to come.

More updates soon.

- Woody

[valvesprung]

This is shaping up to be one of my single favorite builds so far. Attention to detail is amazing man, can't wait to see the paint!

[woody1981]

Got the tank and side covers back today... OMG... I love it. I'm not gonna post the final pics until I have the seat upholstered and the bike is complete. It's way different then what most people do to their bikes... I think people will either get it and love it... or they will hate it. I don't really care, cause it's my bike.

The nice thing is that my painter is going to buff out the stock tank and remove the crappy vinyl pin-striping tape and hand stripe it. He also did a set of side-covers for me in satin black. So I will have two tanks, and two sets of side covers. We don't wear the same clothes everyday... why should my bikes. :-)

Hopefully I can get the seat upholstered this week and take pics soon. Everything else is buttoned up other then plumbing the tank and tuning it up.

More progress pics and details soon.

- Woody

This is shaping up to be one of my single favorite builds so far. Attention to detail is amazing man, can't wait to see the paint!

[Kev Nemo]

Bummer you couldn't have put the battery in the rear tail section and done away with the sidecovers/glovebox/battery holder completely-would've looked super-tough. Really diggin' the seat. Did you do something other than black?

[woody1981]

I kinda like side covers on the scramblers. The pipes go right across that area on the left side, and in the interest of having it run well I'm running stock air-cleaners etc... This bike was too clean to begin with to really hack it up too much. In the interest of getting back on the road ASAP I chose not to do anything too radical like relocating electronics.

As for the seat I need to get the pan buttoned up and then I can talk with some upholsterers this week. I'm hoping to find a happy medium between black, and some thing really distressed. I'll see what the upholstery people think.

- Woody

Bummer you couldn't have put the battery in the rear tail section and done away with the sidecovers/glovebox/battery holder completely-would've looked super-tough. Really diggin' the seat. Did you do something other than black?

[motofiaccone]

Hey Woody:

This is really looking fantastic. Well done. Is this the bike for your brother or are you keeping her?

--Chris

[woody1981]

Hey Chris,

My bro and I are still working on the CM400 we scored for free... we'll get it done (when he has time) and then we'll decide if we want to sell it and re-invest in something else or what. He want's something a little bigger that he and the wifey can go two-up on a little easier. Probably CB550/750 or XS650.

This bike is staying with me... it has already been deemed the "buddy bike".

I need to get cracking on the seat tonight or tomorrow. I'm being hard headed and I won't fire it up until I have the seat back. Just how I am.

- Woody

Hey Woody:

This is really looking fantastic. Well done. Is this the bike for your brother or are you keeping her?

--Chris

[Kev Nemo]

Aw-couldn't tell from the daylight pics if you were keeping the airbox. Good idea actually

[midnightcafe]

Sorry I'm at work, don't have time to search the thread- but I really want to know how you integrated that mesh onto your headlight??

[valvesprung]

Dammit man...you can't keep me waiting in suspense any longer! 

[woody1981]

Is a headlight rockguard off a jeep, I got the extra one (since he got them as a pair) from a member of the Hondatwins.net forum. I basically took the headlight out of the rim, buy removing the left/right adjuster screws and then removing the top and bottom pivot pins. I used tinsnips to clip the rim of the rockguard off and a little more until it layed down into the HL rim nicely. Then I reinstalled the bulb. The pressure of the bulb against the guard is what is holding it in. It's freakin' tight... it' aint moving.

Hope that's clear. I didn't take pics.

- Woody

Sorry I'm at work, don't have time to search the thread- but I really want to know how you integrated that mesh onto your headlight??

[midnightcafe]

Is a headlight rockguard off a jeep, I got the extra one (since he got them as a pair) from a member of the Hondatwins.net forum. I basically took the headlight out of the rim, buy removing the left/right adjuster screws and then removing the top and bottom pivot pins. I used tinsnips to clip the rim of the rockguard off and a little more until it layed down into the HL rim nicely. Then I reinstalled the bulb. The pressure of the bulb against the guard is what is holding it in. It's freakin' tight... it' aint moving.

Hope that's clear. I didn't take pics.

- Woody

Brilliant! I'm gonna have to get on that  Thanks woody!

[woody1981]

Patience grasshoppa. I am going to finish up the pan with a buddy tonight. Hope to get it to upholstery tomorrow. I don't know what the turn will be on that... hopefully not more then a week.

- Woody

Dammit man...you can't keep me waiting in suspense any longer! 

[woody1981]

Quick update... but no pics yet.

Installed 11" shorty shocks tonight. Even thought they are .75" shorter then the redwings, they are way stiffer... and they're lower, so they must be better.

Seatpan was finished and is at the best upholstery guy in the area. Should be done this week. Hope to shoot photos next weekend.

Stay tuned kids.

- Woody