Re: 1972 CB450 cafe BCR original
I made a custom rear swing arm, its 3" over stock. I think the 450's are a bit stubby looking. So I grafted two arms together, slugged and tigged. Then the shocks were too short, so I again cut CB550 shock mounts off and grafeted those on, the 550's are 1" higher. Then I pc'd it a second time. Remeber cut twice, powder coat once. I know that lengthening a swing arm slows the steering, heck this whole bike will be slow, that how I ride anyway. I even swapped out the disc brakes for a drum. The bike is just for fun, no track days.
The frame is starting to come together, Benjie made a custom rear hoop, its wider than the frame and wraps the upper shock mounts. The frame is powder coated in Anthrecite. The forks are pc'd silver and rebuilt, all ballz tapered bearings, BCR bars with 450 gauge. I painted the body work in the same color as the frame so when I stripe it, the two tone paint will be seperated by a 1/4" stripe the same color as the chassis. Since I had no idea where the stripe would be, everything got painted. I spend three days and three rolls of fine line tape before I settled on a design, I wanted to bring out the shape of the tank but not look too trendy. BCR made this metal one off tank and its fits the 450 so nice, it has an Italain bike look to it, I just love it. I don't have photoshop so the paint and stripe is getting the old school method.
BCR made a set of pea shooter pipes that are nice and tight that wrap the frame. Benjie made the pipes to my frame dimensions. They fit really nice.
Here's a couple of pics as the build was progressing.