'74 CB200 build-Sanity

[Fretless Six]

I started this build about a year and a half ago; it's been slow going due to the rigors of law school and all that entails. This project has kept my head straight, and been a life-line of sorts to keep me grounded during my 80-90 hour weeks,\ between working at a firm, working at Sam's Club (how the hell do you think I pay for this shit?), and 15 credits of my second to last term at school. I'm proud to say that she fired for the first time in 38 years last night, but more on that later.


The journey is 90% of the story isn't it? Let's start there.

 

[Fretless Six]

I purchased the bike in April of 2011. I, like a lot of other kids I guess, was not able to buy a motorcycle while I lived at home. I'd moved out of my parents house years ago, had always been a gear head, and was able to ride friends dirt bikes to get a taste of what a real M/C would be. I finally saved enough scratch to purchase what was essentially, a pile of shit. But it was my pile of shit, and that was enou


350 bones, a seized motor, and the deal was done...more on that seized motor in a bit.

 

[Fretless Six]

Soon after bringing it home, into the basement it went. I started stripping the frame and found that, luckily, the tank, frame, and electronic components were all in great condition. This being my first project, I meticulously took everything apart. The electric harness was removed with great care with my intention being that I would reuse as much stuff as possible, and rebuild stuff that didn't want to cooperate.


In case you're wondering, yes that's a basement. The house I was renting at the time didn't have a garage, but it had an awesome workshop in the basement. My landlord being the stand-up guy he was didn't mind the bike being in the shop.

 

[Fretless Six]

So the motor. I knew going into this project that it was going to be a pain in the ass, just didn't realize how much of a pain in the ass. Hind sight being 20/20 and all that stuff, I probably would have bought a bike with a working motor. But being the hard headed idiot my girlfriend and family says that I am, I bought a bike that needed a complete rebuild. My thinking was that if I bite off more then I can chew for my first project, I'll learn a lot of skills that will serve me on my next build....oh how wonderfully right/wrong I was.


The motor had been seized forever. The pistons I later found, had somehow welded their rings to the inside of the jugs...how that happens is still a mystery. No amount of sea foam, PB Blaster, cursing, and beating the shit out of those pistons, got them to move an inch. Finally I said fuck it and like any frustrated human being, lit it on fire

 

[Fretless Six]

Since most of that motor, save the con rods, bearings, and transmission, were garbage I picked up a new case and head on ebay.


I rebuilt the transmission out of the two garbage motors I had acquired, and set about rebuilding the top end. I managed to get everything back in order and hit my next small road block. Honda let Pinhead from Hellraiser design the cam and chain...seriously it's like a puzzle box trying to get the damn thing back together. I think I spent about a week fooling with the damn thing by myself before I realized I needed to bring in an extra set of hands to hold everything together.

 

[Fretless Six]

In the mean time I ground the frame down. I took off all extraneous tabs, rust, and kick stand to get my new seat to fit.


I rebuilt the forks, the rear brakes, and ordered a set of clip ons. I had a rolling bike...finally

 

[Fretless Six]

I've since moved and put a new workshop into the garage of my new place. The garage is down a hill on the side of the house...kind of doesn't make sense because the way my house sits next to my neighbor's fence, you can't fit anything into the garage. The bay is about one and a half deep and one wide but it's pretty much useless...for storing cars that is.

 

[Fretless Six]

So anyway fast forward a bit. Put the motor into the frame, managed to get CL350 scrambler pipes for free, got some rear sets, and had a friend weld up some tabs for me. Got all that installed. Since I'm retarded when it comes to anything electrical, had another friend give me a hand with the wiring harness. We redid all that and reconnected all the components which were usable, save the battery. The bike now runs off of a giant capacitor.


So here is where it stands today. Last night I installed some Mikuni VM20's, and replaced all the hardware on the outside of the motor. I got a bolt kit from Z1 Enterprises; it cleans everything up and gets rid of Honda's crappy Phillips head stuff that will strip at the mere sight of a screwdriver.


I actually got it to fire last night, I was pretty excited about it. We put ether through the intakes to see if we were getting spark, and sure enough it went off without a hitch on the second or third kick.


I need to figure out about a starter motor block off plug because she's kickstart only now.


Only thing left is valve adjustment, petcock rebuild, and some new throttle cables. I think mine are bound up. I'll keep y'all updated as this thing develops.


Paint will be done over the winter. I'm thinking of sticking with Honda green and maybe going with dark gold rims. We'll see what happens though.

 

[YogiBear]

I like the direction of this build. I think green and gold would look great. And your avatar cracks me up btw ;D

 

[caveman592]

Looking good. What are your plans for the front brake? Also can you maybe post some close ups of how you did the rearsets?

 

[Fretless Six]

I'm keeping the mechanical brake; I know it's a pain in the ass, but I've got the parts for it so I figure I'll make it work. I'll take some pictures of the rearsets this week. They're off the shelf pieces from Dime City, they're pretty sturdy.

 

[caveman592]

Sweet thanks for the info. I was able to get my brake to work but the auto adjust doesn't so I have to get in there every time I want it adjusted. Just something to be aware of.

 

[Barnburner]

I finally saved enough scratch to purchase what was essentially, a pile of shit. But it was my pile of shit, and that was enough

Haha, perfect description of how I started with this "hobby". It's starting to look like nice for a pile of shit though! FYI, you can use a freeze plug from any major auto parts store to block off the starter hole (they're like 4 dollars).

 

[Fretless Six]

Got the motor running! It's louder than I thought which I was happy about. Just need to tune the motor and adjust the idle.


I'm having an issue with the rear shocks I got from Dime City. They fit fine at the top of my bike but the clevis at the bottom which connects to the rear fork is threaded for a much larger bolt than the one that fits the rear fork. If I thread the bolt through the shock it doesn't fit the rear fork, if I use the stock bolt it puts too much shear on the bolt because it's too small and I'm afraid it'll break. Anyone have an idea as to a solution for this?

 

[deepwaterimports]

any more updates mate?