allow myself to introduce...myself.

[manualofman]

Hey guys - Long time lurker, first time poster here. This forum has been a great resource while I gauge taking on a cafe racer build. Spent quite a good time looking for a bike on CL and eBay and finally got one off my friend this past weekend. Therefore, the project has been officially started.

It's a funny story how I got this bike. During college about 6 years back, I picked up a 76 Honda CB750K on eBay for $500. Got her running nice over the course of a summer. Ended up selling it to my buddy who wanted a bigger engine than the 1970 CB450 he was riding. I decided to sell it at the time because I didn't have the time, money, or resources to commit to a cafe build. And the parts market wasn't nearly as big as it has become now.

Fast forward 6 years later, after lamenting for a month and a half over the overpriced basket cases on my local CL's, I found out over dinner that my buddy still had the CB450 collecting dust in his parent's garage. It was at my house within 24 hours.

And so it begins. I'm keeping up with the build on my blog and will likely be a very active n00b on this forum for some time. Don't be too harsh. I'm not a hipster, i swear! ;D

 

[JustinLonghorn]

Welcome to the fold, sir.

First things first, lose the extended front end, Ha! Seriously, good luck with the build, and ask any questions you may have. You might get some shit for Noob questions, but you'll also get the answers.

 

[manualofman]

Thanks Justin!

Replacing that fork is exactly what I'm trying to do, it's ridiculous. In my friend's defense, thats how he got it. I'm guessing its the source of my friends describing it rides rough at high speed (wobble?) and also at certain throttle speeds (lean messing with carb/vacuum function). I'm trying to determine whether the PO dropped in longer tubes, or also replaced the shoes too.

Can anyone tell by the picture? Should I even bother forking out (bazinga) over $100 on new chromed fork tubes or just buy a used stock size fork set off eBay and clean it up.

 

[JustinLonghorn]

If you can find a clean used set for less money, buy the used set. That way you will have an extra set of lowers.