73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! Thanks to all for the kind words!!

[tWistedWheelz]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Yep, I like this too, and the color does make the overall effect much better!

 

[diesel450]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Too good to use chrome pipe?

It does look a lot better.

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Tubes are rusty under the tape but perfect in the slide area so why replace? Bike is going to have a polished but gritty look to it.

 

[ClintSHF]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Quick update. Lots of little things getting done, mostly working on the plug for my seat mold and figuring out what sorts of products I need to produce it. I'm ready to make the mold now though so that will happen as soon as I get a free moment. I'm also getting the motor back together in the next day or two. I'm waiting to paint the frame as I need to make an electronics tray and I want that to mimic the shape of the seat, so I need to wait until I have the seat to make that so that will be a little while longer. I'll post pics when all that is done.

So, I get a call on Thursday from a guy who says, "I hear you work on bikes. I've got a 78' CB550 Four that I want to get rid of." SO, I go look at it, bikes complete but the top end is off and in a box. But the bike is clean. all the chrome is mint the tank repainted with no dents. I asked him what he wanted he told me to just take it. I made him take $50 so I wouldn't have to feel guilty. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I may part it out or I may just flip it, or maybe do the rebuild and then sell?

ahhh! I had been looking through craigslist and i saw this bike on there, and the guy who was selling it said he had just gotten rid of it when i made an offer on it! hahaha, I just picked up a xs650 from a guy in carabesset Valley but awesome to see someone else from Maine on here!

-clint

 

[Big R]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Tubes are rusty under the tape but perfect in the slide area so why replace? Bike is going to have a polished but gritty look to it.

i was referring to what i did on mine - but it wouldn't work below the triple anyway.

 

[tWistedWheelz]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

i was referring to what i did on mine - but it wouldn't work below the triple anyway.

With three set screws at the top it would, stay on your scrapping game Rich!

 

[Big R]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

With three set screws at the top it would, stay on your scrapping game Rich!

Actually, you would only NEED one set screw. 2 is better, 3 might be overkill (and distracting)

 

[tWistedWheelz]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

^ you give a guy an idea and he tries to stab you with swaggers spoon, geeze!

 

[MrBerner]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Ahh, but you see, there's no tape under the clamp. This is purely decorative, need to hide rusty fork tubes somehow. :

ah hah! Very clever sir, Very clever!

 

[diesel450]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

i was referring to what i did on mine - but it wouldn't work below the triple anyway.

Oh, right, That is a great idea though.

Clint- Welcome abourd here! What year is your XS and where are you located? Looks like we might get a Maine DTT ride together after all.

 

[Blake]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Oh man, just came across this thread while searching for spoking and truing wheels. Looking excellent!

 

[diesel450]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Thanks and thanks for chiming in! It's getting real close now. I just need to finish the seat up and the exhaust and wiring.

 

[Big R]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Hey Diesel, weren't you looking for a shifter pedal? I was looking through the parts bin and found the spares for the 175. Let me know if you still need it

 

[diesel450]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

YES!!!

Thanks!

Still got my address?

 

[Big R]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Nope, sorry. Does it matter what condition they are in? I mean, they're not chewed up or anything.

 

[ClintSHF]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

it's a 1976 xs650 got it real cheap 360 dollars from a guy from carabesset valley, he said it had brake problems, I took the calliper off cleaned it out real good, the piston was locked up i pb blasted it and it freed up some then i purchased a 14 dollars rebuild kit for it from mikes XS and now everythings fine on the bike! now I just working out what i wanna do to it!
I'm thinking alought of black going for the tough bike look. I love what you did with the hockey tape on the forks looks awesome btw. And I'm located in scarborough, about 5 minutes from the maine mall in south portland, we could def. get a ride together my buddy has a 76 RD

and here a pic of the bike i'm working on now
taken before i took it all apart

post like this are huge inspiration to work on my bike I love it!
keep up the awesome work and once my build is done we need to get together with a few other mainahs' bub.


-C.Worster

 

[diesel450]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Clint- looks good! I just tuned up a 77 for a guy and it runs great! They are great bikes, truly reminiscent of the old Brit bikes. This 200 is starting to come together. I'm waiting on what I hope are the last bits tomorrow!

Check out my other build thread to see the '72 R5 i'm almost done with as well. http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=9431.0

 

[Big R]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

here's those shifters - i'd like to keep one so whichever one you want

the rubber on the top one is really good, the bottom's rubber has a splt though

 

[diesel450]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Rich- the top one with less bend is the one I need. I have a brand new OEM replacement rubber that I will send you in exchange if you want?

Okay, I'm getting really close now. I finished up the exhaust today and really like the look. I went with 2-2 with a couple of shortys from MikesXS. They were a little more than the emgos but have a mechanical baffle with no glass pack.

Also, I opened the wallet and broke the budget for some new gauges. I just couldn't bring myself to use the old ones they just don't look right. These look great and they show 0 miles which is nice on a total rebuild.

Yeah, I know, its never gonna hit 160mph but still looks good I think!

 

[LL]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

Hey looks good! Did you figure out what the proper ratio is for the tach? I've searched around and can't find a definitive answer.

 

[diesel450]

Re: 73 CB200 straight up Cafe racer!! "Smokey"??!!

I think what Rich said above is right. I bought these from MikesXS and they said that they will work so we'll see.

I just realized how crappy these pics look. not just the cell phones fault though. The shop is in the middle of a large warehouse, no windows and terrible yellow/orange light. I'll get the bike outside for some shots once the seat and painting are complete.

We are moving the shop to the far end of the building soon which will give us a little more room and better security but also our own 12X20 overhead door that we can open for real light!!