Finally gonna make the 450 "shine"!!

[jonescafe72]

Well, I haven't posted here in quite a while, and wasn't going to until I actually started the tear-down. We just moved into a new house, so I had a huge list of "honey-dos" before I could start wrenching again. I'm finally gonna make my 450 look like I had originally intended when I brought the bike home in '92. Here is a before picture, as it sits in the garage now:

here is a picture of the intended tank:

Going to go for a Honda "manx" look. I've got a seat coming from Clubman, new pods, mufflers, and shocks....etc... I'm planning on a tear-down and cosmetic rebuild during our plant shutdown the first week of July. I will keep the pics coming!

 

[kachunk]

Ahhh... the rare "Hanx" see in its natural habitat, weather beaten pavement.
Got a good start there - gray and black can be really nice if done right. Should ditch the passenger pegs, reflectors, and find a way to blend that horn in (paint black?)
But it sounds like you've got some parts on the way and a plan.
So whats the final vision?

 

[jonescafe72]

All of the parts that I don't have to make are here and I've slowly started the teardown. The seat hinges, seat lock, helmet lock, and side cover brackets have been removed. I am going to take my time taking it all apart. Started fabbing the mounts for the rearsets, which I inted to make, and also started the mounts for the tank and seat. I know it's not the "cool thing" right now, but since I do ride year round, including in the rain, I'm going to be putting the rear fender back on. I do plan on chopping it some, and any way, the old manx bikes that I'm trying to emulate had fenders. Yes, I'm changing the horn........

 

[jonescafe72]

Update:
The week is here, and I don't know that I'll make it all come together in just the short amount of time that I allowed myself. So far I have disassembled the bike and have been cleaning and painting smaller parts. I have started stripping the frame, and will probably have it painted tomorrow. I'm using appliance enamel, and so far I like the results that I'm seeing. The engine will be on the stand this afternoon. I still need to adjust the valves, and swap the head gasket. I can't believe how dirty a 40 year old engine can get (LOL, it's a joke)! The blade broke for my bandsaw, so I will probably finish cutting out the rearset mounts and levers once I go back to work next week. Took a brass brush to the motor mount bolts, and cleaned them up real nice. Once I have the engine back in, and a solid roller, I'll start polishing the fenders, headers, and such. Here are some pics of the progress:

 

[jonescafe72]

Well, the frame is painted, engine mostly put back together and painted. While adjusting the valves, I found a large piece of rubber "O-ring" that ended up being from the cam chain tensioner. I got the engine back in the frame, and that's about how far I've progressed. Having 4 kids running around the house, and all of their friends has taken quite a bit of time away from the garage. I guess my one week rebuild was a bit of a pipe dream, but at least now I have a great start!
If you look down along the cam chain, you can see the o-ring that was just sitting there:

This is the o-ring rubber that I found along side the cam chain

starting to put things back together on the painted frame

Looks clean to me!

Haven't tightened any of the bolts yet, but I think it's coming back together nicely

 

[whitefox]

It's looking sharp, it'll look brand new when you're all said and done.
What did you use to clean up your head? If you media plastid it (which it looks it) what type of media did you use?

 

[jonescafe72]

No media. I used Simple Green in an engine sprayer, and alot of water from the pressure washer. It really cleaned things up well.

 

[BigBSBusa]

That's very clean!