CB450 II - DONE!

Herm21

Herm21

Been Around the Block
Here’s what I’ve been working on since I picked it up back around January. Finished putting her together this past weekend. I still have a few things to work out, but for now I’m calling her DONE!

The exhaust is still up in the air for me. What you see here was an afterthought after the original plan didn't work out. It may grow on me, or I may change it completely. Would like some thoughts on it from you guys though….

Here’s the pics, Hope you like it.

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I like the back end alot! really clean, and I like how you positioned the back fender, I was thinkin the other day about how that might look, you pulled it off well!

where is the oil tank?
 
gribbs said:
where is the oil tank?
Click to expand...

450s don't have oil tanks.


Very nice work Herm. That's almost exactly the look I'm going to go for on my engine except the shiny bits will be brushed instead of polished. Interesting frame mods.
 
Herm,

You're work is absolutely MIND-BLOWING! That bike is so clean and simple! Love it!

Make sure to take a lot of pictures of the bike and you surrounded by girls with surgically enhanced breasts.
 
Absolutely stunning Herm. Fantastic work. Very clean and light looking. Love the seat and paint. Lots of little details.
 
Thanks Guys! I haven’t really seen what she can do at speed yet because of a shifting issue I’m working through, but from the little riding I’ve done, the frame re-work and suspension worked out really great! She’s surprisingly very tight in the turns and very responsive to any movement I make!!! Love it!


philos1 said:
Looks VERY nice.
Is that your horn under the seat?
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s the horn. The seat pan is welded to the frame and the horn is bolted through the pan. I just didn’t like it cluttering up the front end. All electronics and battery are tucked under the seat so it was easy to re-wire.


gribbs said:
I like the back end alot! really clean, and I like how you positioned the back fender, I was thinkin the other day about how that might look, you pulled it off well!
where is the oil tank?
Click to expand...
That fender is actually off the front of a ninja or R1, can't recal which. After some cutting, re-shaping of the plastic with heat, and fresh paint it came out ok. I welded a small tab with two m6 nuts onto the swing arm and that's all that's needed to hold it in place.

goodfornothing said:
Make sure to take a lot of pictures of the bike and you surrounded by girls with surgically enhanced breasts.
Click to expand...
great idea!!! ;D

manchestermichael said:
that looks gr8 is that flexy ezorst tubing you are useing if so is it any good? tank is allso killer
Click to expand...
I was really expecting you guys to kick my ass over that exhaust, I know I'm still on the fence about it!

I wanted a really upswept look for the exhaust. I tried to bend an 18" section of exhaust with my pipe bender to weld onto the existing headers, but of course my bender slightly kinks the pipe as it bends. I knew that going in but figured I'd wrap the whole thing with header wrap to hide the kinks. But after doing it, I didn't like the header wrap at all. Just not the clean look I was going after. So I grabbed some of the flex pipe. It's not the thin aluminum stuff, it's double walled stainless steal flex. You can't really see it in the picture, but It's got some neat industrial like looks to it...for now It'll stay, but I think I'm going to have two completely new pipes made for this bike at some point.



By the way, here’'s a shot of what she looked like back in January… was a mess!
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Can you explain a bit about your swingarm and shock setup? Looks like it raises the rear a bit.
I am interested....

This bike is gorgeous, the tank, the stance, the mods. It all comes together.... Spot on! Nice job!
 
kachunk said:
Can you explain a bit about your swingarm and shock setup? Looks like it raises the rear a bit.
I am interested....

This bike is gorgeous, the tank, the stance, the mods. It all comes together.... Spot on! Nice job!
Click to expand...

It is raised, about 4" actually. I really wanted a sporty look with this bike, and had the 11" shocks on hand. So to use them I decided I was going bring the mounts down. After some thought I ended up cutting a lot of the frame off and welded on what you see. New shock mounts, as well as the rearset mounts, and of course the tail end, and support pieces. I could have done the angled support pieces straight, but had a new bender and wanted to play, looks better I think.

With the rear raised this high the chain did rub on the swing arm at the top and rubbed on the frame rail at the bottom. I used the wheels from the old cam chain tensioner and guides and made some guides for this chain to clear the swing arm and frame. I used the existing chain guard mount on the top and re-enforced it by welding a second thicker tab side by side. And for the bottom I welded a m7 nut into the center stand pivot pin then used another nut to keep the bolt holding the wheel tightened down. There's no center stand, the pin was adapted to be used for the rear brake linkage.

Pics are crappy, but you get the idea...by the way, the frame is not brown, it's actually bronze, the stripes on the tank, seat and headlight rim are the same color...

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That's the bike of the month, for sure--if we had one :)

Well done Herm. I love what you did with the rear suspension, and I'm happy to hear she handles well. She's not twitchy at all? The seat came out perfect, absolutely perfect. The only thing I don't like is the bends in the damper support. Why did you bend it? It looks like you could have just welded in a straight tube.

I have a good supplier for the exhaust bends you need. PM me if you want to get rid of the flex tube. Since you can weld, why not just build a stainless exhaust? That would be cool. If you tacked it all up, I could finish weld it for ya. Something to think about.

--Chris
 
chrisf said:
That's the bike of the month, for sure--if we had one :)

Well done Herm. I love what you did with the rear suspension, and I'm happy to hear she handles well. She's not twitchy at all? The seat came out perfect, absolutely perfect. The only thing I don't like is the bends in the damper support. Why did you bend it? It looks like you could have just welded in a straight tube.

I have a good supplier for the exhaust bends you need. PM me if you want to get rid of the flex tube. Since you can weld, why not just build a stainless exhaust? That would be cool. If you tacked it all up, I could finish weld it for ya. Something to think about.

--Chris
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris! Really appreciate it!

No twitching at all! It’s like the bike is on rails in the turns! The short shocks are very stiff to begin with and I guess the angle their in really enhances what they’re meant to do. I never felt so confident going into a turn as I do on this bike!

I originally did intend on just welding the damper supports on straight, but at that stage wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the carbs and didn’t want the frame to get in the way of whatever I decided. Plus I knew that part of the bike was going to be kept pretty empty so I thought the bends might help with some substance back there.

Stainless exhaust…I like that alot and may take you up on the offer. My welding abilities are only as good as my grinder at this point. Right now I’m in the process of starting a new business and time and money will be tight for a bit, but will definitely shoot you a pm down the line.
 
Another show stopper Herm! Attention to detail and all the custom work is just amazing. I really dig how you did the back end. It is so different and even cooler that it handles well. Please take some photos/video of you riding it.
 
Love it -- cool stance too.

I have a Yamaha TW200 dual-sport that I take up north to ride on the ATV trails and last week I took off the mirrors because I kept catching them on branches... now I find that that by leaving them off I HAVE to check over my shoulder for turns and lane switches.
 
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