jonsnibbor
New Member
Hey everyone! Greetings from St Petersburg, Florida. This is my first bike, first build, and first post so be nice but I definitely welcome tips/constructive criticism because I'm definitely not as mechanically inclined as many of you are. Here goes:
I got this pic from a google search but mine was almost exactly like it when I got it, just not as shiny.
It ran decently, the only thing I had to do was make it look like this:
It can't be that hard, I thought. If only i could go back in time i would have slapped myself. First things first-removed the extra stuff, windshield, seat rest, side covers, rear fender, etc. Probably dropped 50 pounds right off the bike. This next pic is after I had done a bit of messing around...I had taken off the chainguard, replaced the sprockets and chain, painted the rear wheel (supposed to be flat black but turned out really dark green for some reason? I'll have to redo it) and also discovered underneath the vinyl that the seat foam and pan were moldy and rusty. Pitched it in the trash, I'm planning on making a fiberglass seat. Also, I know the jack looks very unstable here, I fixed it right after i looked at the picture. I had put the pods on before I read how ineffective they are, so I'll be messing with them later. Planning on rejetting and putting on K&N pods, if anyone has any specifics on jet sizes that would be very helpful! Oh I also took off the bulky four way exhaust. I got a four to one exhaust from carpy that I wrapped but i forgot to take a picture of it. I had to take it off to use this jack. i had also replaced the rear springs-used the old suspension set but put new progressive springs in. Much better!
Took the carbs off to clean. I found it to be really difficult to get the carbs off the boots-had to use a tie-down from my old truck to wrench the things off.
Cleaned them out, they really werent too bad though.
Tore into the front end. Here I had painted the headlight that nasty dark green color, it clashes pretty bad with the black frame so I'll be redoing it. Also sorry the pics aren't great, taken with an old ipod.
Planning on hiding all the electronics somewhere...most likely under the seat I'll be making.
This was a fun day. By the way I live in an apartment...doing all this on the front porch is not ideal. trying to not piss the neighbors off too much.
Taking the forks apart was a real job. I needed to replace the springs and seals but popping those seals out was really tough. Ended up filling the tubes up with water and using a long pipe clamp to compress the fork until the seal came out. Ended up shooting oil all over the place but hey it worked.
New springs.
My ghetto set up for painting the front forks. Flat black, will clearcoat with spraymax 2k satin.
This is the front fender, decided to chop it down a little. Covered it in tape and drew a line where i wanted it cut the used an angle grinder to make the cut.
More angle grinder fun. I love cutting off dead weight from the bike. I removed a bunch of tabs that I won't be using and also the nasty old center stand. Probably lost another 8-10 pounds there.
New (old) tank I got on ebay for 70 bucks. It has a little rust and needs some bondo on the outside but I really like the shape of the tank. Its from a 1982 CB750f Super Sport. The gas tank mount on the frame is too far forward for this tank so I had to cut it off, add some steel to either end of the mount (had to learn how to weld-got a cheap welding box from harbor freight for 100 bucks-its working decently) and weld it back further. My welds dont really look too great but they are pretty strong, and its not really too crucial to the bike's structure so I'm not worried.
I know, I know, the welds look pretty bad but I promise you they're strong!
I was nervous to do this. No turning back now!
The pieces I cut off.
Thinking about welding them back on like this to make the shape for the seat. Opinions welcome!
As she stands today:
What do you think? Digging the tank swap? I am.
I got this pic from a google search but mine was almost exactly like it when I got it, just not as shiny.
It ran decently, the only thing I had to do was make it look like this:
It can't be that hard, I thought. If only i could go back in time i would have slapped myself. First things first-removed the extra stuff, windshield, seat rest, side covers, rear fender, etc. Probably dropped 50 pounds right off the bike. This next pic is after I had done a bit of messing around...I had taken off the chainguard, replaced the sprockets and chain, painted the rear wheel (supposed to be flat black but turned out really dark green for some reason? I'll have to redo it) and also discovered underneath the vinyl that the seat foam and pan were moldy and rusty. Pitched it in the trash, I'm planning on making a fiberglass seat. Also, I know the jack looks very unstable here, I fixed it right after i looked at the picture. I had put the pods on before I read how ineffective they are, so I'll be messing with them later. Planning on rejetting and putting on K&N pods, if anyone has any specifics on jet sizes that would be very helpful! Oh I also took off the bulky four way exhaust. I got a four to one exhaust from carpy that I wrapped but i forgot to take a picture of it. I had to take it off to use this jack. i had also replaced the rear springs-used the old suspension set but put new progressive springs in. Much better!
Took the carbs off to clean. I found it to be really difficult to get the carbs off the boots-had to use a tie-down from my old truck to wrench the things off.
Cleaned them out, they really werent too bad though.
Tore into the front end. Here I had painted the headlight that nasty dark green color, it clashes pretty bad with the black frame so I'll be redoing it. Also sorry the pics aren't great, taken with an old ipod.
Planning on hiding all the electronics somewhere...most likely under the seat I'll be making.
This was a fun day. By the way I live in an apartment...doing all this on the front porch is not ideal. trying to not piss the neighbors off too much.
Taking the forks apart was a real job. I needed to replace the springs and seals but popping those seals out was really tough. Ended up filling the tubes up with water and using a long pipe clamp to compress the fork until the seal came out. Ended up shooting oil all over the place but hey it worked.
New springs.
My ghetto set up for painting the front forks. Flat black, will clearcoat with spraymax 2k satin.
This is the front fender, decided to chop it down a little. Covered it in tape and drew a line where i wanted it cut the used an angle grinder to make the cut.
More angle grinder fun. I love cutting off dead weight from the bike. I removed a bunch of tabs that I won't be using and also the nasty old center stand. Probably lost another 8-10 pounds there.
New (old) tank I got on ebay for 70 bucks. It has a little rust and needs some bondo on the outside but I really like the shape of the tank. Its from a 1982 CB750f Super Sport. The gas tank mount on the frame is too far forward for this tank so I had to cut it off, add some steel to either end of the mount (had to learn how to weld-got a cheap welding box from harbor freight for 100 bucks-its working decently) and weld it back further. My welds dont really look too great but they are pretty strong, and its not really too crucial to the bike's structure so I'm not worried.
I know, I know, the welds look pretty bad but I promise you they're strong!
I was nervous to do this. No turning back now!
The pieces I cut off.
Thinking about welding them back on like this to make the shape for the seat. Opinions welcome!
As she stands today:
What do you think? Digging the tank swap? I am.
