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Hey Folks been lurking around this forum for a while and recently signed up for an account. I might as well introduce myself and show my latest build.
A little history on my shop. My family has owned a motorcycle shop for over 40 years. Its predominately a Harley Davidson shop and I grew up around Harleys, although Ive always had an appreciation for all different types of bikes. In my younger days I was all about racing.... drag, road, and dirt. So I have a fond appreciation for simple, functional designs. I took these same philosophies and applied them to building custom Harley's for many years. After a while that scene got old to me. I got tired of seeing beautiful clean customs getting passed over for bikes with swords and grenades mounted for no apparent mechanical purpose. (no offense just not my style). So I decided to take a break from building until I could find another genre too apply my expertise to. Earlier last year my father came to me and asked if I could restore a couple bikes for him. I had been itching to start building bikes again so I said sure. The first and easier one was a 1977 Harley Sportster XLCR, and the 2nd was a 1971 Harley FX Superglide .... the boat-tail. The xlcr came out mint and was very easy cause the bike was complete. The 71 FX was/is a lot more in depth restoration and is currently awaiting paint but the build is basically done...(just need to disassemble and paint and reassemble) I mention these bikes because this is where my research got me re familiarized with cafe racers. I remember them fondly from my youth and in truth, my families business was built on triumph's and bsa's. They were the cool bikes to have in these parts in the 60's. Mostly chopped but still cool non the less. So in a nut shell that was it.... start building some cafe racers. I did a couple for friends of mine.... nothing major just weight savings and solo seats. Now Ive decided to take the same philosophies Ive learned in building customs, from racing, and from riding, and apply them to cafe racers. The bikes will be clean, functional, and purpose built.
So here is the first build that I will open up to public forum. I wanted to start with a very pedestrian bike to showcase some of the techniques and just what is possible with these bikes.
1980 Honda Cm400
The bike ran good and shifted smoothly although the carb's needed a good cleaning.
The first order of business was to get this bike stripped down and to see exactly what I was dealing with. A couple problems immediately showed there face. 1st off the rear section of the frame is stamped steel and not very cafe racer looking. 2nd the tank sat very high in the back. 3rd The seat rails were a little to low to get the desired look I was going for. 4th the triple trees are flimsy.
So I decided to cut the rear frame section out. By replacing the stamped steel I could make a stronger less flexing rear section and get the desired look I was going for. I still have to make the rails for the shock mount but this is the desired look
The next thing I wanted to do was lower the tank on the frame. I cut the rear mounting bracket from the frame and was able to lower the profile of the tank on the bike. I also had to notch out the tank to allow the frame rails to pass through. To avoid any future problems I re enforced the bottom of the gas tank along the mounting tab
The triple trees were something I thought long and hard about. I could easily have taken a better front end from another bike and mounted it on this bike. But after thinking about it I really wanted to show what could be capable from such a generic bike. So I figured I could make an upper triple tree that was pinch bolt style and thus reducing flex. I could also get stiffer spring to help with the ride and performance. Still IMO keeping the stock front end on the bike. (with some tweaks) lol
This upper tree isnt finished.... I left it basic for now because I might add a speedometer into it... so I didnt add any visual cuts yet. That will come at a later date
The original tank has a great shape. I am not crazy about the gas tank cap cover and needing a key to get inside there. So I am going to replace the key cylinder with a simple t handle that I will make later on. But the tank itself it nice and more importantly it is rust free on the inside. So in keeping with the traditional look that I like, I decided to put knee indention's in the side. So after taking about 4 hours to get just the right shape of the indention's I finally got it right and scribed onto the side of the tank. As most of you know there is 2 ways to do this. Either cut each side and switch then re-weld, or hammer the indention's in. I decided on the later because it is a technique I haven't tried previously and something I wanted to do.
I decided that the next thing I wanted to tackle was the seat and cowl. I haven't fiberglassed it yet but have finished making the mold. Sculpting the mold was easy enough. But getting a vision in my mind was the hard part. I knew the basic look I wanted from the tail, keeping in mind it has to be big enough to fit the battery and electrical underneath. But it is difficult combining the desired look and function into a piece that flows with the bike and the gas tank. When I first finished with the mold it looked a little to much like a bubble. Its hard to describe but something was off. Then I noticed the top of the gas tank. Which has a raised section down the center. Which causes an object to look thinner. So I added that same raised section to the top of the seat cowl. And that did the trick... Made the cowl look thinner and also flowed perfectly with the lines of the bike. Also on a side note.... I plan on having a number painted on the side of the cowl. This number will be outlined in a pinstripe to match the knee indents on the side of the gas tank.
Just a note... Its hard to see the raised section on the cowl because of the tape... it makes it blend it. But its there if you look closely.
Also the seat backrest pad will be inlayed in the cowl. Just take a little 1/4 inch gas line and tape to the cowl in the outline of the pad. Something very easy to do and gives a very clean look when finished.
I have the motor disassembled and ready for powder coating. Motor was mint inside. All of the parts and measurements are within tolerances which considering the bike only had 7500 miles isnt a surprise. I have a friend who is a factory trained mechanic for honda and suzuki... He does all my motor reassembly and is one of the best foreign bike mechanics I know. I know I could reassemble this but dont want to risk making a mistake or missing a trick in reassembly.
Next up is fiberglassing the seat cowl and making the frame rails for the shocks. Once that is done I can move onto making the rear-sets which will be fun.
Ok so made some progress over the last week on the bike.
I first fiberglassed over the mold for the seat cowl. Process was pretty straight forward and didnt have any problems although in the future I think I am going to put one layer of fiberglass over the mold and remove the mold. Then on the inside of the fiberglass apply the tape and wax and then re-fiberglass on the inside. This will give me a really smooth outer layer of fiberglass to work with. By fiberglassing over the mold there is alot of bodywork that will need to be done before paint. The other way leaves minimal body work and will save time in the long run. But either way the seat came out nice and the shape looks great!
I also was able to weld (tack) the rear section of the frame together keeping everything straight and true. This involved making slugs on the lathe anywhere round pipe is welded together. Also I had to make upper shock mounts. Although not pictured here I radiused the mounts to fit the frame rail and this will give a good surface area for greater weld strength. I will also drill a 3/8" hole through the upper shock mounts and frame rail. It will be pinned with 3/8" steel rod and welded. This will provide plenty of strength and although its overkill it will provide me with a piece of mind and never have to worry about repairing a cracked weld on a painted frame.
Next up is to put some sheet steel in between the frame rails going back to the hoop. This will help support the rails, also act as a plate to mount all the electrical under the seat cowl hump. Also time to start drawing up some rear sets to make up. I plan on taking some measurements from some modern sport bikes so I can get a similar riding position which should work out well
Just a quick update and no pics for now...
I was able to pick up a 1990 or 91 Kawasaki ZX-7 basket case. It will never run but the frame is good and there was 2 sets of wheels, 2 swingarms, 2 front ends complete, and almost 3 full sets of body work. No plans for anything yet but its nice to have this stuff laying around to use when I decide. Do have thoughts though putting a 1200 sportster motor in it. I always thought a full fairing sporty would be cool... (in my mind a major mistake by Buell)
Anyways I grabbed the rear sets off of the zx-7 and made mounts for them to fit on the cm400.
The Motor is on its way to The Powder Pro along with misc other parts for powdercoating.
The Frame, swingarm, tank, and tail section is at a place called Landricks Customs in Mass. I gave them my basic idea for a paint job and let them run with it. Its been my experience with painters that I get better results when I give them a general idea and let them do what they want. Not sure why??
I decided that Im going to put 18" wheels front and rear so Buchanans is stamping some excel rims and making stainless spokes for me to true with the stock hubs. Which are being polished.
I believe thats about it for now. As soon as the pretty stuff comes back and the final build starts I will have tons of pics and frequent progress reports.
Hi everyone, hope everyone's holiday season has been good. Well the bike had to take a back seat for a couple weeks, the holidays and a wedding tend to stretch the budget a little thin. Anyways the powder coating and the paint is back and the final build is ready to start fast and furious.
The powder coating came out really good. In the past any powder coating I have received has had an orange peel wavy look to it. Well this is not this case. This is the first time I can honestly say the powder coating actually looks like a good paint job. The Powder Pro did a great job!!!!
As for the Paint.... let me start off by saying that I hate painters!!! lol I have been burned by so many different painters so many different times I cannot even count. Well this couldn't be further from the truth with this bike. Landrics customs in Sturbridge Mass did an amazing job. The black is deep, really deep, the lines align perfectly and the bodywork is flawless. I cannot say enough good things about it. I'm not being payed to say this in any way shape of form. He does great work.
Here is a teaser. I received the paint last night and took a couple pics in my kitchen. Tune in for more this week
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