I guess it's my turn, 1978 CB400t project

ericngsta

ericngsta

smallstate
Well, I picked this up right before August this year.  I've been reading and lurking around here, but this is how it turned out.  I don't think it looks too bad for my first motorcycle.

When it got home:

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Tear down

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Almost...drag bars, temp. exhaust fix, rubber grips, cable replacements.

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Almost...dropped drag bars for clubmans, chopped fender, chopped seat, upholstered, cleaned, tank replaced (old one brittle with rust and pinholes, and painted. no more dookie console/speedo/odo. new headlamp ears/lowered headlight.

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The new paint scheme

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95%,

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So at this point, I'm about down, there are a couple more things to do, like a new exhaust mainly; other small bits and tweaks too, but it's good to ride as it is now.  I can't think of anything else to say, so questions? comments? suggestions?
 
Wooshka, looking good man! Not bad at all, and especially good for a first crack. Perhaps ditch the comstar wheels in favour of some spokies though. Otherwise its quite good. Did you make the seat cowl yourself?

Cheers - boingk
 
Looks good. Still new at this myself, but most would probably change out the wheels to some spokes. Your bike though, so if it's good with you that's all that matters.
 
Looks really sweet, very cute, perhaps some rearsets and put some clip ons on it instead of the ace bars ( think you call them clubman bars over there), nice colour too. ;D
 
I see you are running pod filters, did you re-jet the carbs? I am stripping doown an 81 version of the same bike and I have the carbs pulld and about to clean them. I pulled the air box and I do not want to put it back in. So I want to run pods, but if I need to re-jet I should do it while I have the carbs out.

Great looking bike. Is the tail home made? What fender is under it? Is it the stock cut down?

For a first bike it turned out pretty nice, I hope mine turns out half as good.

Cheers
 
Sweet! I've got the same bike: '78 CB400T Type 2

keep the comstars, everyone around here has spokes. I'm going to get my centers powdercoated black and polish the rims. I like the clubmans too. I made some rearsets but I didn't like them I found the stock controls more comfortable (I have freakishly long arms.) and yes maritime you will need to rejet. Here's mine:

Shifter side:
PICT0209.jpg


That's how I rode her this summer but I'm rebuilding it and making more changes this winter.
 
Hey man, really a nice job! As with everyone else, I've got ideas that I'd do to it and since advice is free...you should assign exactly that value to what I'm about to lay out....hehe

Were it mine, there's really not alot I'd change on it except for the following:
1) Rearsets. They make a HUGE difference in the comfort and rideability of a bike with low bars. Since you have those spiffy aluminum peg mounts I'd just move to the Passenger peg location, hang a shifter off the same bracket and just shorten your existing rear brake pedal.

2) Paint the wheel centers black

3) Emgo short megaphones

4) Braided brake line and EBC pads up front

5) Ride it like you stole it!
 
Glad to see the project is coming along. You removed the center stand. Excellent choice. Are you going to shorten the cables?
 
hey hey, personally I haven't removed the center stand, since the stock kick stand seems a little short for comfort, but it's also an easy way to get the rear tire off the ground while i need to work on it. johnson_steve's bike doesnt have the center stand however.

but yeah, the fender is the stock fender chopped, and the seat is from roccitycafe, who is on DTT, I had to chop a lot of it off to get it the way i wanted.

For this bike, I find it more comfy with the stock controls as well, its the perfect height for me, so I'll have to experiment with rear sets on the next project.

I wanted the short megaphones for a while now, but I decided to finish the rest of the bike before dealing with the exhaust. as for spokes, I think I'll keep the comstars for a little bit, they are in excellent shape. clip on's are also a maybe, I find the classic ace bars to be soooo sexy.

The colors on the picutre's aren't the best, either taken with an ancient digi cam or my macbook lol. It's cherry red and ivory. I'll try to get a better picture of the colors next time I do something drastic to it.
 
I removed my center stand because the exhaust was in the way it used to tuck under the bike at that point. I'm going back to that style exhaust for next year with no mufler. I'll cut my post down to 1 picture so no one else gets confused; the orange one is mine, the red one with the stripe is erics. and yes I've since shortened the cables.
 
miss alliekat said:
Looks really sweet, very cute, perhaps some rearsets and put some clip ons on it instead of the ace bars ( think you call them clubman bars over there), nice colour too. ;D
Click to expand...


oh she did so not call it cute. ITS MANLY!
 
What jets did you go too? I would like to get some soon as I have he carbs out to be cleaned up. I spent today stripping the bike down to frame. Getting ready to paint, frame is in the basement now, got to build a spray booth to paint it and many other pieces. I am going with the stock comstars on my bike, they are black in the center and I am going to polish the lips. I agree, keep the comstars, look at what Canuck Plumpers bike looks like, nothing wrong with that! I think there are different schools of thought on Cafe. I am going for the spirit of it, not the authentic 60's cafe, heck it's an 80's bike. I just want it to look better, and be mine, not the same as everybody elses. Built not bought. You can see on this site there is very talented people who can give you great ideas. Some will like what you do, some will say it isn't really Cafe, but they all will help, which is awsome. Some sites if your bike isn't exactly like thiers, they crap all over you. Not here. I think this site has some of the best people I have seen on the web.

Cheers,
 
Oops... once again my abilty to read EVERYTHING has left me looking stupid....lol....

I just realized after reading this thread three times that there are two different bikes here. I swear.. sometimes I feel like I've completely lost my marbles.

As for the center stand. Just a personal preference. One less thing to paint and a bit of weight gone.


Cheers... I should get glasses I think.
 
This looks awesome dude! Great job. Wish you weren't across the f'ing country so we could take these 400s to the streets.

Keep the comstars... too mahy spokes but to paint them. I didnt go black cause then I could never go back (uh...) but a titanium/gunmetal centers with polished lips. Love the clubs, and am now thinking of dealing with my head light/ears sitch cause I like what you have done. your just running the single speedo now? Assuming you got it from Mikes, no? How did you get all the shit wired?



sXe
 
sxecafe said:
This looks awesome dude! Great job. Wish you weren't across the f'ing country so we could take these 400s to the streets.

Keep the comstars... too mahy spokes but to paint them. I didnt go black cause then I could never go back (uh...) but a titanium/gunmetal centers with polished lips. Love the clubs, and am now thinking of dealing with my head light/ears sitch cause I like what you have done. your just running the single speedo now? Assuming you got it from Mikes, no? How did you get all the shit wired?



sXe
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm only using a speedo right now, until I can get a good looking tach, I think I want to find one that differs from my speedo. But for the wiring, I basically cut the main bunch of wires in two, and rewired the bike all over. The stock wiring is terrible, way too many useless or unneeded loops. It took a couple hours, all you really need are a bunch of male/female wire connectors, some extra wire and a multimeter. Unforutnatly I have no record of how I wired it, but I used the clymers wiring guide (which was extremely inaccurate) to wire everything up.
 
Yeah.. I have to do the same thing... I think the guys at Honda were smoking some flux when they designed the schematics.
 
yeah, it really jsut takes time to sit down with a multi meter. your hands will hurt if you crimped as many connectors I did lol.

@ Maritime : as for jets, I went up to 120 and 98. Ideally I would probably go up to 125 for the main jet, but I couldn't get my hands on 125's. Maybe the next time I clean the carbs I'll have to check if I can get 125's. Should be plenty enough for the pod filters.
 
Thanks for the jet #'s. I just ran out today and got some carb cleaner etc. I will see if I can find 125's and 98's to put in so they are ready to go. I know someone here posted a web link to a site that has tons's of jets.....now if I can just remember which thread it was? I will search and let yo know if I find it again.

Cheers,

Maritime.
 
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