1982 CM450e - City Commuter Cafe
- Thread starter DoTheTodd
- Start date
JGHiggins1
Been Around the Block
I fitted a gm coil to my cm450 it works great! there is a whole outline of the process over at hondatwins.net. Here is the link if you still need a coil alternative.
http://www.hondatwins.net/forums/64-electrical-discussion/7367-gm-disributorless-coil-mod.html
I ended up drilling and doing some creative wiring to mount mine a bit differently but this is a good starting point.
http://www.hondatwins.net/forums/64-electrical-discussion/7367-gm-disributorless-coil-mod.html
I ended up drilling and doing some creative wiring to mount mine a bit differently but this is a good starting point.
I feel like a bad penny, I keep popping back up, but I made a little bit of progress over the weekend.
A month or so ago I found a sweet deal on an exhaust system on ebay. It is a 2-into-1 that fits a CM450, but the picture on the ebay listing showed a bike with no oil cooler. I wasn't sure if it would fit, but for a cost about 1/4 of a new MAC system, I thought I'd give it a shot. It was a bit rustier and rougher when I got it than it looked in the picture, but it will be cleaned up later, so I'm not too concerned. I tried installing it and wouldn't you know, it didn't fit. The pipes wanted to run right where the oil cooler mounts. Obviously, I'm not removing the cooler, so I "negotiated" with the exhaust.
After that, it fit perfectly. I'm going to replace the muffler for a short reversed megaphone before it's all done.
I also made my seat pan for upholstery. It fits snug, it is made of a thick enough metal to not bend, it gives me the lines I want. I'd say it turned out alright.
I have a bunch of electrical components sitting on my bench right now to be installed. I have the 1st off, so my plan is to get out there and do some wiring. Hopefully I'll have more progress to post by this weekend.
A month or so ago I found a sweet deal on an exhaust system on ebay. It is a 2-into-1 that fits a CM450, but the picture on the ebay listing showed a bike with no oil cooler. I wasn't sure if it would fit, but for a cost about 1/4 of a new MAC system, I thought I'd give it a shot. It was a bit rustier and rougher when I got it than it looked in the picture, but it will be cleaned up later, so I'm not too concerned. I tried installing it and wouldn't you know, it didn't fit. The pipes wanted to run right where the oil cooler mounts. Obviously, I'm not removing the cooler, so I "negotiated" with the exhaust.
After that, it fit perfectly. I'm going to replace the muffler for a short reversed megaphone before it's all done.
I also made my seat pan for upholstery. It fits snug, it is made of a thick enough metal to not bend, it gives me the lines I want. I'd say it turned out alright.
I have a bunch of electrical components sitting on my bench right now to be installed. I have the 1st off, so my plan is to get out there and do some wiring. Hopefully I'll have more progress to post by this weekend.
I also have a question. I'm thinking that I'll stick with the lead/acid battery that I have and just install the battery box that I made. Placement is my only issue. I had originally planned on attaching the battery box to the stamped backbone, but I'm having second thoughts now. I've read a lot about mounting the battery to the gusset of the swingarm, some pros, some cons. Does anyone have any actual experience with this? Will it work? Will I get acid splashed onto my legs? Any other better ideas?
Just posting more progress to keep myself accountable.
I made and mounted a bracket for my license plate and tail light.
Like my custom license plate?
My precision mounting technique to hold it in place while measuring.
Another angle. Sorry it's a bit blurry.
I tried to keep the angle of the license plate so that it was visible, but still left enough room for tire clearance. At full shock compression I still have plenty of space.
I also installed the rear turn signals.
Then I made a bracket and mounted the ignition.
I made and mounted a bracket for my license plate and tail light.
Like my custom license plate?
My precision mounting technique to hold it in place while measuring.
Another angle. Sorry it's a bit blurry.
I tried to keep the angle of the license plate so that it was visible, but still left enough room for tire clearance. At full shock compression I still have plenty of space.
I also installed the rear turn signals.
Then I made a bracket and mounted the ignition.
This isn't related to this bike, but I was going through some old pictures and found some fun ones.
I always knew that my dad had a bike at one point, but he got rid of it when I was a baby so I didn't know any details. After I saw this picture and asked him about it, he said that it was a CM250 is he remembers right. This picture is my mom and sister messing around on it. I guess the CM line runs in the family
This is the bike that I learned to ride on. A little Honda 50.
Me again with more dirt bikes. The 80 on the right is what I graduated to from the 50 and the Yamaha on the left was my dad's 250. My sister had a 150 and I jumped to that when I outgrew the 80. I only rode the Yamaha 250 a few times before we sold all of our bikes. Try not to be too jealous of my sweet bowl cut.
I always knew that my dad had a bike at one point, but he got rid of it when I was a baby so I didn't know any details. After I saw this picture and asked him about it, he said that it was a CM250 is he remembers right. This picture is my mom and sister messing around on it. I guess the CM line runs in the family
This is the bike that I learned to ride on. A little Honda 50.
Me again with more dirt bikes. The 80 on the right is what I graduated to from the 50 and the Yamaha on the left was my dad's 250. My sister had a 150 and I jumped to that when I outgrew the 80. I only rode the Yamaha 250 a few times before we sold all of our bikes. Try not to be too jealous of my sweet bowl cut.
I ordered a bunch of parts with my tax refund. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to put them on. What I did manage to do this weekend was the headlight bucket and the new muffler. The headlight was super easy, but I wanted to get it on there so I can figure out how I want to mount my speedo and make sure the two don't occupy the same space. The muffler on the other hand needed some negotiating.
I started out with my cheap used exhaust system from ebay. Earlier I had bent the pipes to fit since the exhaust was made for a cm450 without an oil cooler. Even after making it all fit though, it was really rusty and had an ugly muffler welded on, so I cut that muffler off. However, that left me with a collector outlet that was way too big for the muffler that I wanted to run. I cut off the headers so that the collector would be easier to work with, then cut some notches and went to town with a hammer. This brought the outlet down to a much more manageable size. Then I cut the connector tip off of the stock exhaust and welded that onto the outlet. Now the outlet was a stock size and I was able to slide the new muffler right on.
I also had to cut out about 5 inches of header pipe to make it all sit how I wanted on the bike, but in the end it looks like I had it in my mind.
I started out with my cheap used exhaust system from ebay. Earlier I had bent the pipes to fit since the exhaust was made for a cm450 without an oil cooler. Even after making it all fit though, it was really rusty and had an ugly muffler welded on, so I cut that muffler off. However, that left me with a collector outlet that was way too big for the muffler that I wanted to run. I cut off the headers so that the collector would be easier to work with, then cut some notches and went to town with a hammer. This brought the outlet down to a much more manageable size. Then I cut the connector tip off of the stock exhaust and welded that onto the outlet. Now the outlet was a stock size and I was able to slide the new muffler right on.
I also had to cut out about 5 inches of header pipe to make it all sit how I wanted on the bike, but in the end it looks like I had it in my mind.
Also, off topic, but I you guys would appreciate this. One of the reasons that I didn't get as much done as I wanted to was because I was making a present for my brother in law. His birthday was a couple weeks ago and at the same time he got a job offer at the headquarters of a fuel company. It was a little bit late because I had to gather some parts, but I hope he likes it.
RoyalRider
2010 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 - 1982 Honda CB125s
Inspirational build mate, really loving the detailed photos so thanks for that! ;D
Maritime
Over 10,000 Posts
Great work so far. The lamp it cool too. there is a thread called what did you build today for that kind of stuff, you should post it there too for other folks to see. We like more than just bikes here. If you look around there are lots of creative folks who build other stuff too.
Cheers
Maritime
Cheers
Maritime
TheCoffeeGuy
Books, Books, Books, knowledge is within
Loved my 1982 CM450! 6 speed and all. I did mine up like Prince in Purple Rain. put forward controls on it. had a leather diamond stitched seat amd matching 30 inch sissy bar. Got rid of the cross over exhaust and went with the MAC 2 into 2.
can't wait to see your finsihed product.
can't wait to see your finsihed product.
