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Bought a 1969 CB450 with a 71 disk frontend...19" front rim, 16' rear...the PO had the forks shoved up 4" through the top tree when I got it...and shortened shocks in the rear...
Runs decent...carbs need work, tank is rusty...
As purchased(except for pushing the forks down)
Following lots of great builds and advice on the site I am ready to start...
16" rim
Removing wiring harness and misc parts.
Homemade workstand to bring it up a bit...Engine out.
Cool little bike, man. Welcome aboard. I'm about to tackle the tank rust too. I picked up 2 bottles of the works toilet bowl cleaner at the $1 shack, and plan on following the directions from the $50 mod thread.
I've done the tank sealer twice now and have been pretty impressed with KBS Coating. It cleans the rust off pretty well then has a de-activator type stuff to help stop the rust then the sealer. It's definitely more than the cheap way but I was pretty happy with it. I have a '70 450 that I'm building only now I'm moving again (twice in 6 months) so the project is on hold again. I just had a little cash to spend on it too! Damn!! Be sure to post on how your tank cleaner works, I'm interested! Welcome to the Ton!
ps did the previous owner shorten the rear shocks/springs himself or did he just buy shorter ones? I'm looking for shorter one's to go on my project is why I ask...
Thank you for the input guys, as well as the warm welcome...I have been searching for various ways to de-rust the tank...I added filters just to ride it around a bit and they were filled quite rapidly.
I was directed to a great site (Moped Army) on the topic...
The Shocks seem short to me...about 10" or so...the back end was low, though the 16" rim n tire only added to that feeling. I'm looking to get some Hagen units in the near future.
If you end up getting Hagon's and you feel like making a couple of bucks to put toward your project I might be interested in the shorter shocks. They look like they are in pretty good shape. I'd just want to be sure that the springs weren't cut to shorten them and what the total length is eye to bolt hole. My project is for my wife and she's only 5'1" so I have to lower it a bit to get her to fit on it.
I'm also working on a 450 (CL) so i'll be following your thread here. I'm just trying to figure out how to clean my tank as well, so thanks for the pointers.
Stock rim size is 18" on my '71 so you lost an inch of ride hight right there. Good to see another 450, I be following your progress. I also have lots of spare parts, let me know if you need something.
Cheers
I bought an 18" rim complete the other day off ebay...it is in great shape, got it over the weekend. The 16" is in great shape, but i think the 18" flows better with the direction. The shoes looked new and someone had already installed new sealed bearings and seal.
Also picked up a couple stock disk brake handlebar units and some new fork boot bellows from the local motorcycle dismantlers. I had a modern unit on the bike currently, but really like the fruit jar style better.
This weekend I also made templates to begin doing the knee indents....I picked up a $3.00 rubber mallet from Big Lots with the plan to shape it on the sander into a teardrop shape....I noticed that Eastwood carries them too. Anyone tried this style hammer?
Just finished doing knee indents on my XS750 tank that is going on my XS650 cafe build. Let me offer a few words of advice on the project. This was my first time trying to do something like this, too. You can get some nice tools that you will need at Harbor Freight if you have one near by. The tear drop hammer is nice to have but the best thing I found to use was called a football and is a tool used by body shops to smooth out dents. It is a heavy piece of metal about 5-6" long and shaped roughly like a football. It has a post sticking out at 90* from the football that you can hammer on. The body shops put the tool in a vice and hammer the fender or what ever against it to smooth it out. I used it the exact opposite way......I hammer it directly on the tank and found it to be great in creating the curves I wanted without leaving hundreds of hammer dimple marks that I would have to bondo out to get a smooth finish for painting. You can also angle the tool as you go along the tand and create nice smooth curves. It really is a great tool for this kind of stuff. I think I paid less than $25 for all the hammers and this football at HF. If I can figure out how to do it right, I'll put a pic or two here to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. Good luck at any rate! The football is second from left in the pic.
I watched Sully's Garage video and it looks so easy, key word "looks" ....but I have seen some rough knee indents as well...I know that "putty and paint can make it what it aint..."
I'll stop by HF this evening and see what they have...the football looks quite useful!
No problem, RoadRocket! That football really works....start with your tapered hammer and get a small depression going in the center....then take the football and work your way out to the edges, rolling the football on its side as you taper up to your edges. Just do it in small stages but don't be afraid to whack it! You will soon develop a feel for how to hit it to accomplish what you want. Be careful as you get to edges of curved and straight lines.......you have to be soft here or you will cause a crease in one area or the other. If you look at the "after" pic you can see what I'm talking about in the upper left curve into straight area. See the crease? As you said, you can cover up a lot of mistakes! I'm attaching a before and after of my XS750 tank so you can get an idea of what you can do. I just finished putting the coat of etching primer on mine and will start the bondo next. Hope this helps a little!
JACKSTRAW I hate to talk sht but next time you plan on knocking dents on a tank do me a favor and find a beat up one . I Cant belive you ruined that cherry ass 1970,s xs 650 tank like you can buy them at wall/mart!! Unbelievable too many clowns jumping on these bikes now days!
You should definitely stop talking shit, especially when you don't even know what you are talking about!
Number one, that is a 1977 XS750 tank, not one from an XS650. Very few people are restoring XS750s so I doubt my "bashing in" a cherry one would cause much furor among the XS750 fanatics. In the second place, that "cherry" tank had a six inch long crease in the other side, luckily for me, right where I "bashed" in the knee insert on that side. It also had a small dent where the petcock on that side bolts to the tank. A lot of time and work went into fixing that dent so that the petcock would bolt up and seat without leaking around the gasket.
Next time you decide to criticize someone's choices regarding modifying stock parts on this Forum, I suggest that you at least know what part you are talking about. Also, before you decide to criticize someone you don't even know for that decision it would be nice to give them a chance to respond before you resort to childish comments and name calling!
Everyone is allowed their own opinions...but what we do with the parts and bikes we have is our own. We all know that not everyone will agree with our changes to them.
I'm sure this has been going on for centuries...there are no wrong or rights.
If builders never took liberties with existing factory bikes we wouldnt have Racers to look up to...
Von, I realize that it wasn't my thread! Read my posts..... I was offering advice on something the thread holder asked for. I wasn't the one who broke in with entirely unwarranted and unfounded juvenile comments and name calling about a situation he knew nothing about. I apologize to road rocket but I do not apologize for defending myself from ridiculous statements concerning my work.
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