1980 CM400, my first attempt at a cafe bike.

hey guys, I was just tuned onto this awesome forum by a friend. so here it is, this is my first go around at a cafe bike. this 1980 CM400 was my first bike and now it's gonna be my first cafe project.

so here's what we're starting with.


today parts started coming off.





and started on the new paintjob. I'm going for the yellow and green kind like the old lotus F1 cars. gonna be 2 yellow stripes down the top of the tank and down the fenders. and I think 2 real thin stripes on the fenders. yeah I know rattlecan paintjobs don't look as good as proper auto paint but I only have so much cash to put towards this project.



this is more or less what inspired the paint job idea.


the handlebars, blinkers, mirrors, and new grips should be here in a few days.

the last guy that owned the bike is officially on my shit list as well. pulled off the nuts on the frame mounts for the rear shocks to find this





guess he decided that you don't need to get the right nuts...

suspension posts repaired, the washers on there are oversized but they're what I had on hand, I'll get some more properly sized washers next time I go to the hardware store.


stripped as she's going to get for now. handlebars are off, old mirrors are off. old exhaust pipes etc. the rear fender is staying on for the moment until the new seat arrives and I see for far back the seat extends. once that done I'll mark where I wanna cut the rear fender then it'll come off and get cut down and repainted.


I'm getting the tank and side covers prepped for more paint. and waiting for parts to show up.

Welcome to the CM family. Looks like you already have a CB400t tank too!

rlhphotos said:

Welcome to the CM family. Looks like you already have a CB400t tank too!

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thanks for the welcome. yep, the bike came with the cb400 tank.

Re: 1980 CM400, my first attempt at a cafe bike.

Gotta love the CM's. They were the ugly bastard child a couple of years ago, and now they're pretty popular. Lots of good info on here about them. Congrats and good luck!

Re: 1980 CM400, my first attempt at a cafe bike.

coldfuzion76 said:

Gotta love the CM's. They were the ugly bastard child a couple of years ago, and now they're pretty popular. Lots of good info on here about them. Congrats and good luck!

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funny how those things tend to go. I have 2 questions for you guys.

1. what are people using for rearsets for these bikes
2. I was looking at just putting in a pair of shorty universal mufflers. good idea? bad idea?

thanks.

Can't help you on the rear set question but when I got my CM the stock exhaust with the crossover pipe was long gone. I welded a length of tube from the header back on each side and clamped shorty mufflers to it. I can't compare how it ran stock vs. my set up, but for the year I owned it I never had any problems with that exhaust set up.

onetruepunk87 said:

Can't help you on the rear set question but when I got my CM the stock exhaust with the crossover pipe was long gone. I welded a length of tube from the header back on each side and clamped shorty mufflers to it. I can't compare how it ran stock vs. my set up, but for the year I owned it I never had any problems with that exhaust set up.

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mine doesn't have the crossover either, I just want some smaller/lighter pipes.

Check my sig links. I used the Dime City rearsets. I could have gotten away with the cheaper Loaded Gun ones, but I got the Dime City set for the adjustments in case I needed them. I used their linkage set, too, but had to buy some more tubing and threaded rod to make the brake linkage, as the one they send isn't long enough for that side. Wasn't too bad to install, though.

As for the exhaust, I'm running shorty's and haven't had a problem with them. I also switched to pods, and had to re-jet accordingly. If you do go that route, make sure you get the actual K&N filters. The cheap Emgos block the port in the carb that allows the piston to work properly. It'll run, but won't rev past about 7k or so.

coldfuzion76 said:

Check my sig links. I used the Dime City rearsets. I could have gotten away with the cheaper Loaded Gun ones, but I got the Dime City set for the adjustments in case I needed them. I used their linkage set, too, but had to buy some more tubing and threaded rod to make the brake linkage, as the one they send isn't long enough for that side. Wasn't too bad to install, though.

As for the exhaust, I'm running shorty's and haven't had a problem with them. I also switched to pods, and had to re-jet accordingly. If you do go that route, make sure you get the actual K&N filters. The cheap Emgos block the port in the carb that allows the piston to work properly. It'll run, but won't rev past about 7k or so.

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Cool, thanks for the info, I'll look into those, this is my first cafe build so things like rear seats are all new to me

welcome to the CM family!! Do you have any fab skills?

Junior Burrell said:

welcome to the CM family!! Do you have any fab skills?

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With metal very little, I'm great with laminates, I built boats in fiberglass and carbon fiber for a number of years

Re: 1980 CM400, my first attempt at a cafe bike.

frozenhawaiian said:

funny how those things tend to go. I have 2 questions for you guys.

1. what are people using for rearsets for these bikes
2. I was looking at just putting in a pair of shorty universal mufflers. good idea? bad idea?

thanks.

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1) I got a pretty nice set from Viet here on DTT. Haven't put them on yet, but build quality looks great.

2) Dime City has a ton of stuff, worth checking out. They can be a little pricey at times, but it is, if nothing else, a good starting point for finding some options. I want to do a scramble style exhaust similar to what Nerdsport did.



http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=43542.0

Re: 1980 CM400, my first attempt at a cafe bike.

rlhphotos said:

1) I got a pretty nice set from Viet here on DTT. Haven't put them on yet, but build quality looks great.

2) Dime City has a ton of stuff, worth checking out. They can be a little pricey at times, but it is, if nothing else, a good starting point for finding some options. I want to do a scramble style exhaust similar to what Nerdsport did.

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=43542.0

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damn, that looks awesome, not what I'm after but awesome none the less.

gonna order a pair of these shorty mufflers from dime city. my question to you guys is this: will I need a set of these reducers to get a proper fit on the stock headers
these reducers:
http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vintage-cafe-racer-caferacer-bobber-brat-chopper-custom-motorcycle-exhaust-parts-muffler-exhaust-reducer-kit-80-47310.html

on these pipes.
http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vintage-cafe-racer-caferacer-bobber-brat-chopper-custom-motorcycle-exhaust-parts-12-inch-shorty-muffler-80-03310.html?___SID=U

also, my headers are pretty rusty so i'm gonna pull them off to clean them up then heat wrap them. my question is how hard is it to also remove the mounting screws for the headers that protrude from the front of the engine? mine are pretty rusty and could stand to be replaced.

I second the recommendation of rearsets from Viet. They are inexpensive and they seem to be working just fine on my CM. I posted some pictures of them on a CM on my build thread if you want to check those out. He is a really nice guy too.

** This message is in no way sponsered by Viet **

DoTheTodd said:

I second the recommendation of rearsets from Viet. They are inexpensive and they seem to be working just fine on my CM. I posted some pictures of them on a CM on my build thread if you want to check those out. He is a really nice guy too.

** This message is in no way sponsered by Viet **

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That build of yours looks awesome, I'll contact viet about some rearsets, what do you guys think about those shorty exhaust pipes I linked above?

planning on pulling off the headers today to get them cleaned up then heat wrapped. my concern is how rusted the flange screws are. this is the worst of them. I have some thread penetrator which I'll use on them. as rusted as they are though I'd like to replace them all together with new screws. anyone know how difficult of a job that would be?

frozenhawaiian said:

planning on pulling off the headers today to get them cleaned up then heat wrapped. my concern is how rusted the flange screws are. this is the worst of them. I have some thread penetrator which I'll use on them. as rusted as they are though I'd like to replace them all together with new screws. anyone know how difficult of a job that would be?

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Should not be any harder than replacing header bolts on a car. They are a two way screw. If you get lucky, the screw may come out when you are taking the nut off (a few did when I removed the exhaust from my CB550 a few weeks back). If not, get something to clamp down on them really tight and you should be able to turn. There is another method (assuming the threads are clean enough) where you screw one bolt in like normal, and another upside down (so it is turning the other way) and you can back the bolt out that way.

I removed the studs on mine and user stainless allen bolts with lots of anti-seize on them, they worked better and they neved rusted. Have to use the anti sieze though or the stainless will gual in the aluminum and freeze up.

Maritime said:

I removed the studs on mine and user stainless allen bolts with lots of anti-seize on them, they worked better and they neved rusted. Have to use the anti sieze though or the stainless will gual in the aluminum and freeze up.

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how did you go about removing the old studs?