BB, a CB450 build

[isal]

For a very long time I've been talking to my wife about building a hot rod. But we've never had the space or money to do so. Now, while cars were my first love, and my wife is the love of my life, I have an ever growing passion for motorcycles and riding. This passion has been growing rapidly since I got back into cycles last summer when my wife suggested I buy a Hinkley Bonneville from one of her coworkers (which I did without a second thought). Then this past April, as the weather started to get nicer, I started to get an itch that turned into a burning desire to build something. I looked around online and in the neighborhood for a suitable rod, but could find nothing in my price range. Then one night I had a dream...

In my dream I was in a dirty garage. Tools and welders and memorabilia were scattered about the whole place. I could see myself with angle grinder in hand, dirt under my finger nails and a few drops of sweat at my feet. In front of me was a pile of steel tubing that morphed right in front of my eyes... but before I could see what it morphed into the blasted alarm went off.

The next day I was smoking a cigarette with my wife. I turned to her and said "you know, I don't think I'm going to build a hot rod. they take up too much space, cost too much, and we already have too many cars." To which she replied "ok..." I continued "I think instead I'm going to build motorcycle, a cafe racer" She immediately, and with out thinking, replied "that's great! buy as many motorcycles as you like, they don't take up much space!" There was a pregnant pause, after which I started cackling maniacally. I went inside and started searching the web for bikes.

About a month later I found a '71 CB450, advertised as with title, on eBay about 30 miles from my house in Denver. I put it on my watch list and forgot about it until the weekend. Then that Saturday, as my wife was taking a nap, I decided to hit the PC and say the "ending soon" email. I checked it out, made a decision and bid on the bastard. And I'll be damned if I didn't win it. A few days later I took a day off work, rented a trailer from UHault and picked her up.

Her is now named "BB". This is the name my wife came up with for her, as I'm now building it for her. You can ask what it stands for, but I'm not sure yet if profanity is kosher here. BB came in pieces, lots of them. According to the seller, the PO had pulled it out of grand pappy's barn and tried to start her without any prep, thus blowing the piston rings. Since she was already apart I've had the chance to look inside, and indeed she needs new rings. Fortunately, EVERYTHING else looks fantastic internally. Outside she was dirty and dinged up, just as you'd expect a 41 year old bike to look. Wait, she's not 41, she's 43! The seller didn't have the title when I picked her up, he sent it to me later, and the title say 1969.

So now I'm off to the pits where I will hold her and pet her and call her BB. And when I'm done I will give her to my wife, then buy a CB750 for myself.

Now, since no thread is complete without them, I give you pictures.

Picking up BB:

BB in her new home:

BB's big, beautiful heart:

Parts parts parts:

Two months later:

My helpers:

 

[isal]

28 philips head screws. That's how many I can't budge on the engine. Monday night I went to start tearing it all the way down but could only get a few. So hit them all with P'Blaster and let them sit for a day. Last night I went back to it and was only able to get three more. I guess that today or tomorrow I'll be hitting up harbor freight to pick up a new impact screwdriver to replace the one lost in the move to Denver. Fortunately I have a stainless bolt set in the mail, so I shouldn't have this problem again.

Tonight, time permitting, I'm going start hacking up the frame. That'll be good fun. Does anyone have any advice on securing a frame to a wooden work bench?

 

[Flugtechnik]

Nice score. I will be watching this one.

Oh, and don't worry about curse words. I mean there is a board call "Shoot the shit" and people post pics of nekkid ladies.

 

[isal]

Haha, awesome. I won't worry then.

Today's update:

I went out to the garage after work to start cutting and grinding. I got the battery hanger tabs off and that was about it. I actually had more time, but I found that I very badly need hearing protection. I'll call it good for the first out time playing with the grinder.

Here are a few other things I learned:

Cut as close as possible because grinding is a, well, grind
When grinding, use the edge of the grinder and make lots of small passes
A 4.5" grinder does not fit in small spaces
I need way more light in the garage

Also of note today, both the stainless bolt set and the feeler gauges arrived. I did not, however, make it to harbor freight for the impact screw driver. That might have to wait until Friday, and I'll get some ear muffs at the same time.

Tomorrow I probably won't touch the CB as new drag bars for the Bonne are due to arrive, so I'll be putting those on because I like instant gratification.

 

[isal]

Just got an email from Harbor Freight. They've got a 1" belt sander for $35 with a coupon. Anyone have any thoughts on using a belt sander as a polishing tool? I was thinking that with a 600 grit belt it could make pretty short work of a lot of real estate.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-x-30-inch-belt-sander-2485.html

Also, now watching a stater cover on eBay as the one I have is really jacked up and a pair of jugs just because it's at $10 and an extra set seems like it would be something good to have.

 

[frogman]

Hmmm wouldn't be that same set I'm looking at, would it? ;D Have at it man, Plenty of parts to go around, nail that alternator cover, they don't get much cheaper. Can always sand out most of the scratches.

I'm in the process of building 2 450s from a pile of parts. One back to stock one to a CR model with full fairing. Bit of advice, don't hack up nice parts, they can be sold for easy profit and junk parts bought and hacked up. The 69 engine is pretty much the same engine from then clear out to 1974. At least it is a 5 speed. Two things most guys recommend is replace the cam chain, and replace the oil pump and plunger and clutch with the latest model you can get. Honda changed size and material through out and from 71-74 are the best due to larger size and more flow.

Big following for these bikes on hondatwins.net if you ever need any help.

 

[isal]

Thanks for the advice, frogman! The alternator cover still have four days to go, we'll see what it's up to in three. And I'll start looking for those other parts now!

 

[frogman]

HA, just saw the green plate with the with mountains on the car towing that old beast! ;D Had to reread, where in the world did you find that thing? I grew up out east of Denver, I though me and all my buddies found all of the barn finds out there years ago!

I still have plenty of family all over CO, go back at least twice a year.

 

[isal]

LOL, I believe you and your buddies got most of them. It took me months to find this one. It actually came from a guy who inherited it from his grandpa. Then he tried to dry start it after 15 years of sitting and blew the rings. He took it to a shady shop in Louisville where the owner gave him peanuts for the title and then listed it on eBay. And that's where I found it.

Next time you're in Denver hit me up, we'll go hit some twisties or at least get a beer!

 

[isal]

Zero stuck screws, that's how many I have now thanks to my $7 impact driver from harbor freight. It may be cheap Chinese junk and the bits won't last much longer, but it beats the shit out of drilling and extracting screws.

Next up I need to rig some kind of engine stand in the center of the shop so I can work on it away from the crumbling brick walls. Oh, and decide if I'm going to polish or paint the motor. And get the cylinders checked and order new piston rings. Guess its going to be a busy week.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

[frogman]

I can make engine stand suggestion, at its back at harbor freight. Go buy the metal bench grinder stand. Then make a smaller stand for the engine out of scrap angle and flat iron. Then bolt it to the bench grinder stand. Sets the top of the engine just about eye level for me and I'm 5' 8".

Once you have the engine torn down, go get the polish machine over there and bolt IT to the top of the stand and go to town polishing covers. I also bought two types of wire wheels for cleaning steel that slip right on the polisher.

;D ;D

Now if only my spokes would get here.

 

[axeugene27]

lookin real nice. did those ignition coils come with a bracket that fit right on the stock bracket

 

[frogman]

[START THREAD JACK]

Yeah I used the bracket that came with the coils, and mounted them to the stock bracket. I posted how on Honda Twins both for my 360 and my 450.

http://www.hondatwins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=13815

They work great, I have never had an issue with my 360 NOT sparking, things will lay your ass out on the ground if you grab a lead wrong.

Polishing is both a blessing and a curse in that everything I had needed hours sanding to remove deep corrosion then hours on the wheel. Each cam bearing took at least 4 hours to do the side covers took days, the cam covers took at least one day. IN the end I settled for shinny, and I am glad I did because they have a warmer feeling and look to them, the slight haze makes it feel old but still shinny like your grandmothers good silver.

Its a vintage bike, its supposed to look like that.

[/END THREAD JACK.]

 

[isal]

Frogman, I love the multipurpose stand and the height looks great. Your engine, however, looks truly fantastic! I'm not crazy about the idea of hours and hours of sanding and polishing, but damn if the payoff doesn't look worth while.

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[frogman]

No, don't take my time as being average, this bike sat outside for an untold number of years. The original candy red had faded completely to silver, all of the clear coat on all the covers on the engine had either been blasted away by the weather or beaten off by the owners its had over the years. Heck I started reshaping the cam bearings with a HAND file just to remove hammer and screwdriver marks. I'm not anal but sometimes I just can't stand to look at stuff like that. If I had to do it all over again, I would have painted or replaced all of it.

I did go get a bunch of these and the 2" mount for a drill. Mounted the drill in a vise and went to town. They do an excellent job of removing the clear coat as well as most of all the scratches or dents. Done right you have little left to do except sand with 160 to 400 grit afterwards. :

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/3M-2-1-x-4-77-in-medium-conditioning-disc/_/N-25ew?itemIdentifier=829038&_requestid=5003113

Works well for cleaning up metal surfaces for paint too.

 

[axeugene27]

Get aircraft stripper and remove the clear chemically it couldn't be made easier. Just wear gloves and eye protection.

 

[isal]

frogman, I hear you on the ymmv polishing. It just seems like every thread I've read they've had a bitch of a time getting everything all shiny. I've decided that it's what I want to do for this bike, but I may end up painting the next one. We'll see how it goes. And I'll probably pick up a pack of those "conditioning discs" just to have around as I can see them being useful in all sorts of places.

axe, I'm definitely going to get some aircraft stripper for the tank. Will it work for the frame too? Speaking of tanks...

I took the day off work to tend to one of my dogs with a bloody ear and run a bunch of errands. In between some of those errands I mysteriously found myself in the garage. I'd been trying to figure out what to do with the old gas that was still in the tank and the intardwebs were letting me down. So I got a big old pickle jar out of the basement, hoped it was big enough, took a flat head to the tank cap lock (was already marred) and opened up the petcock. Nothing but a dribble there, so I'll be replacing that. Then I cut the tube between the main and reserve and the gas starting pouring, onto the floor. I got most of it into the jar which I then decided to use to soak the pistons. One of 'em isn't bad at all, the other one has tons of carbon build up. I'll post detailed pics when I take them out of the gas jar in a few days.

After I drained it all the way I discovered yet another affect of the awesome low humidity in Colorado: no rust whatsoever inside the tank. I was very pleased about that. And now, some pics:

Inside the tank:

Pistons and Petrol:

Tank left:

Tank right:

The tank definitely isn't perfect, but some bondo will do the trick and besides, I like the shape. The emblems will be going in favor of something custom, got plans for that and the overall paint on the tank. It'll look snazzy.

 

[axeugene27]

I would just rebuild that petcock really is nothing to it. Save your money for something else

 

[axeugene27]

depending how much you are doing to the frame. I would just sand the rust off, rough it up clean it up, spot prime and spray it. I wouldn't strip it unless you plan on doing some powdercoating or serious modification

 

[Blackbomber]

Killer bike, and your engine looks fantastic. Stainless will seize in aluminum without threadlock, or something else to protect it, though. There is a funky reaction between the two metals.