CB400F First Build! College Kid's Cafe Project

[aaron33royer33]

Good news today!

I picked up a $50 battery at Advance Auto Parts and hooked it up to my bare bones wiring setup. I turned the key on, turned off the kill switch, tapped the starter wires together and BOOYAH the motor turned over with ease. I was short on time, but only noticed spark on one of the plugs that I had sitting outside of the cylinder head hooked up to the coils... I tested the coils previously and they gave spark to each plug, so I'm assuming it's a problem with the points? What else could be the culprit?

I was excited to take some pictures and a video, but my phone died as I took it out. The picture I'm posting with this is pre-battery install. I will be sure to take some images sometime over the next two days before my spring break starts. Unfortunately I won't be in town during the break to work on the bike :'(

I'm going to use Naval Jelly to try to de-rust the tank since there wasn't any metal rescue or evaporust at the few stores I went to a few days ago.
1) 1/2 jar of Naval Jelly in gas tank full of water. Sit for 24 hours.
2) Rinse.
3) 1/2 cup of Baking soda dissolved in 2 liter bottle of water then poured into tank full of water. Sit 2 hours.
4) Rinse and pour in gas to prevent flash rust.

Here's the link where I found the recipe. The guy also described the detailed chemical reaction if you're interested haha http://www.motorcycleforum.com/showthread.php?t=96738

Clutch cable and air filter currently being shipped...

 

[Sonreir]

tested the coils previously and they gave spark to each plug, so I'm assuming it's a problem with the points? What else could be the culprit?

I think you answered your own question.

[quote author=mechanicalATL]I turned the key on, turned off the kill switch[/quote]

 

[CafeMack]

Love the enthusiasm you have, but are you building this thing in a closet?

 

[aaron33royer33]

Haha it's a 5x5 foot storage unit. The thing barely fits on the diagonal. I'm going to have some friends help me lift it out when we attempt to start it outside. It rolls fine, but it's literally wedged into the unit. Definitely beats paying an extra $50/month for the bigger unit ;D

 

[aaron33royer33]

Hey hey I'm back and so is the CB! I got the bike up and running today after finally debugging all of the original wiring system. After hooking up the fuel tank, and buying a fire extinguisher, the bike fired right up with the electric start. I ran it in neutral for about 20 minutes with no real issues i.e. random smoke, electrical issues, strange sounds.

Here's the link to the video on youtube... https://youtu.be/k4yC_KKwejk Let me know if there's any issues with the link/video

Now to tune that sweet sweet engine.

 

[aaron33royer33]

to clarify, none of the issues I listed occurred. They were the things I was expecting to happen and was pleasantly surprised when they didn't

 

[hooligan998]

That's a bad ass little build you got going on. I'm in to see where it goes.

 

[farmer92]

After hooking up the fuel tank, and buying a fire extinguisher

Love that confidence ;-)

 

[aaron33royer33]

Great progress in the past two days since starting the bike. I have done the following tasks:

1) put on and adjust chain.
2) check drive and shifting on center stand
- only problem here is that it will not stay in first gear. It keeps jumping up to neutral.
3) clean up the wiring, and put on the side covers.
4) Mock up the tank and seat position.
5) Install rear brake
- I have no idea how the return spring goes on...
6) RIDE IT!!!
- I cruised around the storage facility for about 20 minutes using gears 1-4. Pretty good fun to finally get on the throttle and reward myself a bit after staring at a non-moving hunk of parts for months.
7) Front Brake Inspection.
- Biggest issue of the past days. I bled the front brake system and when I tried to get the brake to activate, it would not budge. I took the caliper assembly off and sprayed some penetrating oil all over the pad and piston. I finally got the piston to push the brake pad out, but I am still unable to fully remove the piston. Any help or advice for this is greatly appreciated.
8) Aesthetics
- removed the fenders, installed the tachometer, installed rearview mirror on the end of left handlebar.
9) Rear tire/wheel removal
- After riding, I took the rear wheel off the bike and took off the ancient tire that was on the rim. I'm trying to save the rims and get a refinish opposed to buying new ones. We'll see what kind of true condition they're in after I clean em up. I've got new spokes on the way, so I took all of the old ones off.

All in all best weekend of the summer haha

 

[Narb1989]

Hey man, fellow Mech here myself. Ive been building a 350f for my whole life it seems. I recently moved to Warner Robins. My bike isnt done but its still up in NY at my Dad's. I hope to bring it down here in October. Let me know if you need a hand with anything and ill drive up north. Bike is coming along!