First build, CB200...note long post but pictures included to keep your attention

[Fretless Six]

I've wanted a bike (especially a cafe) all my life and I've finally managed to get one on Wednesday! While my family loves cars, no one rode bikes, whenever I asked about getting one they usually responded with "absolutely not" and "when you move out you can do whatever you want". Well I'm 25 and moved out two years ago and I finally pulled the trigger. I told my parents about it yesterday and I got the weirdest most unexpected response, one of excitement and happiness that I was able to do this...sweet deal. Now mind you, I've been a gear head all my life and have helped with friend's projects but never had anything myself, so this is a learning experience for me so I apologize in advance for all the stupid crap I say.

Anyway on to the good stuff, the engine is seized up, so I filled it with Sea Foam to try and loosen it up some. It's moving a little bit more than it did when I got it but no real luck on that front, I tried to unscrew the points base to get out the cam chain but the goddamn screws are so soft that I stripped some of them, I'm thinking that I'm just going to beat the shit out of them with a flat head screw driver and see if they come out that way. I budgeted out for a new set of allen bolts to throw on the bike anyway. I'm assuming that once my engine is no longer a paperweight and the cylinders are off I'm going to have to get it honed, I know I need rings but do I need new pistons too?

While I let that soak I started to tear down the frame; the last owner decided that this little 200 needed road bars (who puts road bars on a bike this small?) so I tore those off. The exhaust is in great condition, but I'm really looking to mount it under the seat so if anyone wants a good set of CB200 pipes, shoot me a PM. Everything else is coming apart slowly but surely.

Here are the goods so far, I've planned about $1300 to $1400 above the 350 I already spent so far, someone chime in and tell me if I've missed anything:
Cam chain=$40
Pistons=$91 (I couldn't find them anywhere else but Ebay UK, I don't know if they need to be replaced but always good to budget for it anyway)
Bored and Honed=$100
Lapping tools for valves=$10
Torque wrench=$40
Angle Grinder=$20
Mikuni VM20=$124
Seat=$112
Exhaust=$200 (don't know where I'm getting this done yet)
Tires=$180 (on the safe side)
Bolts=$35
Clubmans or Clipons?=$100

I'll keep everyone updated as I go along, I'm going to try and sell parts that I don't want on fleabay to try and keep costs down. Let me know what you all think, opinions appreciated!

 

[Fretless Six]

More pictures as apparently they didn't show up, sorry for the bad pictures, used my ipod

 

[Fretless Six]

Frame shot

 

[Zooweemama]

Cool, man. I'll be watching. Wish I had a little more time and $$$ to give my CB200 some much needed lovin'.

 

[Erskine]

Pillar Drill
Taps and die set
Stud extractors
Digital calipers.
Welder

and consumables ....... drill, cutting/grinding/flapper disks for angle grinder. welding supplies.

lots of electricity.

Oils and lubricants.

Beer.

 

[Sonreir]

Don't forget an impact driver. It's a must-have.

 

[stik70]

Cool project Fretless!! Looks like you have a really nice space to work in. Keep posting pics!!
Kev

 

[teazer]

Stand the motor up and pour a decent penetrating oil in the plug holes or better yet, grind off the cam chain and pour it straight on top of the pistons.

I'm told a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF works well but I never tried it, so can't comment.

Of course it might not be the pistons rusted up, but that is the most common problem with bikes that sat for a long time.

 

[Fretless Six]

Yeah, I had it like that last night while I was wrenching on the crank to try to get it moving again. It's upright now, I've got some PB blaster in there now so we'll see if that works.

 

[crush1776]

As a last resort you can pour some kerosene on top of the pistons, throw some pieces of rag in there to act as a wick and light it up for an hour!

Caution: fire can be hazardous to your health!

 

[tinyhondaurl]

I picked up 3 CB200's a couple of weeks ago. 1 frame and 2 rolling chassis, the whole pile cost me 180 bucks. Only 2 motors. Both were stuck tight. I got really lucky and filled the cylinders with penetrating oil and waited a day. Now the top end is off one and the cylinders slid right off with a little persuasion. Like someone already said, get an impact driver and probably a good drill with a set of bits in case the driver doesn't work. I've been really lucky so far and only had to drill one out. I'm really glad to see all of these 200 builds going on, it's definitely an inspiration to help me keep my butt moving. I'm about to start a thread of my own in just a minute. I have another one here from about 4 years ago of my '74 CB125S. Had to sell that one when I moved back to the midwest but now I'm putting together these 3 so we'll see how it goes. Good luck to ya.

 

[Fretless Six]

Yeah, they seem to be really cheap but then you start finding little things that need fixing (or big things in my case) and next thing you know you have about 100 little parts that are $10 each and you're cursing Sochiro Honda.

Anyway, small update I guess. I managed to strip the frame last week and order a new cylinder as I hadn't noticed before but there's a broken fin at the bottom of the original one that's down to the sleeve :-[ . Actually proved to be a godsend; had the cylinder been salvageable I would have had to get it bored and honed plus new pistons, that would have run about $150. I ended up going on ebay and finding a cylinder for 50 shipped that the guy is honing for me!

When I get home on Tuesday I'm going to repaint the frame, not too sure of colors yet but I'm thinking maybe red and gold, or black and yellow...something like that.

 

[stik70]

Cool! We need pics!!!
Kev