1979 Honda CB400T tracker- new name "Grey Bike"

[VonYinzer]

Interesting...

 

[tomsljr]

A pile of parts on the way. New MC, clutch lever assembly, through-the-bars switches, SS brake cable, throttle. I am going to try to keep the bars as clean as possible while retaining all the stock functions.
I have a plan to encase the control cables in grey shrink tubing. Anyone here ever try that? Braided PET is also a possibility. A goal of the design aesthetic is to eliminate as much black as possible from the bike. I have even re-wrapped the harness in white tape.
I am just about through cleaning and painting the front caliper in white 2k. Pics of that in a day or two and probably a big dump of photos on Sunday or Monday.

 

[onetruepunk87]

This is coming along nicely. The white shocks and fork boots are a nice touch.

 

[Bert Jan]

Ace! i cant wait to see how you solved the seat thing.

 

[tomsljr]

Well, I received a box of love in the mail today from DCC. I threw the stuff on to get a feel for how it's gonna play out.

Freshly painted headlight bucket, grips, clutch assembly, right side switches, throttle assembly.

 

[tomsljr]

Freshly cleaned (man, was it gross inside) and painted caliper with new Galfer line.

 

[tomsljr]

And another view of the bar lay-out. All switch wires are going to be run through the bars, this Sunday's project. Hopefully the new MC will get here by this weekend so I can wrap up this end of the bike for now and start on finishing the back end.

 

[cb 400 t]

The bike is looking great

 

[Scruffy]

From something we literally couldn't give away at the bike shop to something a whole lot of people would be fighting over... Impressive transformation. White grips and fork boots are an interesting touch.

 

[tomsljr]

Thanks! My brother did pick it up from a bike shop of sorts, $400 as a rolling runner. The real problem with them is that they tried to make a 400 look like a bigger bike, so everything is oversized. When you get rid of all the crap, there is actually an ok bike underneath. Not a great bike, mind you, but a decent bike.

 

[tomsljr]

A small update. I have finished running the new switches through the bars and installed the new master cyclinder. I have also reassembled all the foot controls and pegs back where they go. I have started to lay the harness back in to see where the wiring will have to be extended etc. Once I have all the electrical components in I will temporarily tie everything together until I know it works properly, and then it will all be soldered and shrink wrapped.
Question: Can the coils on these be rebuilt? It seems the plug wires are fixed. I would like to replace them. A good substitute coil if that won't work?
Bert, I am going over to by brother's shop on March 10 to work on the seat. You only have to wait a little longer.
Anyway, a couple of pics. They are really hard to take, as my shed is only 10 feet by 12 feet. Hardly enough room to put the bike in, much less take pictures.

 

[tomsljr]

And another

 

[tomsljr]

I worked on getting the tank cleaned up today. Then I rolled her out in the sun to get a look at where I stand.

 

[tsbigdog]

You know when I was a kid I had a white and grey Mongoose Freestyle BMX. I loved that bike. That's a color combination that you would never think works, but it does. Very nice work so far. Can't wait to see where this goes.

Is that a Goodrich brake hose on the front? Have you used them before? I'm trying to decide between pressed ends and AN fittings. What length did you get?

 

[tomsljr]

Thanks.
The brake line is Galfer from Dime City. It's 35", and could stand to be a couple inches shorter. It uses the screw-in banjos.

 

[tomsljr]

Working on the tank tonight. In case anyone thought the color scheme was going to be all boring.

 

[Tim]

This is looking pretty cool.

Did you use caliper paint on the caliper? Eastwood sells some - resistant to the all mighty brake fluid.

 

[ronnie]

Awesome job! Do you have boots to match the tank though???

 

[tomsljr]

Tim, I used 2k urethane for the caliper. We will see how it holds up.

And here we are finished with the fancy part of the painting. The white has to be touched up, then clear and pinstriping.

 

[tomsljr]

And a couple on the bike. The clear should really make it pop.