Finally starting a thread for my Cafe-Atrocity Nighthawk 450

[Umusername]

So about A year ago I got the itch to build a bike and like many twenty somethings I was broke and impatient and rushed into a bike that looked doable... as we all know a mistake haha. I ended up with a very low miles (about 4500 on the clock and paperwork to prove it) strong running 1982 Honda Nighthawk CB450SC. Luckily I am as stubborn as I was impatient and kept moving forward anyway. This is what it looked like the day I bought it:

 

[Umusername]

The first things to go were the high bars because lets face it, the easiest cheapest mod you can do on the way to being a cafe is club bars. The huge turn signals went shortly after the bars.

 

[Umusername]

I soon youtube'd about everything I could find on how to make a seat and decided on the fiberglass method, of which I regretfully took almost no pictures of. About then is when I started lurking on dotheton and trying to lean all I could. It took me a few months to get the seat how I wanted it (partially because of indecisiveness on the gas tank I was going to use) here was one of my first mock ups:

 

[Umusername]

I soon decided that the little CB350 tank was going to be far too small (at the time I was riding between 300-400 miles a week) and it was not going to hold enough gas as I would have to fill up roughly 3-4 times a week to get to work and school. That was not going to work for me. If any one wants it the tank has been POR kreem sealed and spray can primed white and is just sitting in my mother in laws garage (it does have a tab poorly welded on and I am sure any of you could easily get it off). I also dropped progressive front springs in and replaced the seals as 30 years of sitting didn't do them any good. The tachometer also was not working so I decided to jut take it off and make the bike look temporarily crazy so this is what that looked like:

 

[Umusername]

After giving up on the 350 tank I really was really wanting to to throw the seat on wether it was ready or not to start playing with ride heights and positioning. About that time I decided I really needed new tires and after a closer look I learned from the date codes I had been riding on rubber from 1978... needless to say new tires made a big difference. I also re located the battery to the hump in the seat above the tail section about this time. I also swapped out the gages for some mini's that looked and worked great. Unfortunately after installing the speedo I realized it was in kilometers per hour not miles. This was not a big deal but very annoying as I had to really think about how much I was or was not speeding.

 

[Umusername]

After a while I decided the clubmans just were not working for me and I wanted to get clip ons and rear sets, so I strategically let my sister in law who had never ridden before take it down the street where as predicted she dropped it and bent the bars (allowing me to justify buying clip ons). On top of that the exhaust note was awful so I put on shorty's and wrapped the pipes. My coworkers were also mocking me a bit for having such a colorful (as in many different shades of paint primer and bondo) so I primed it white.

 

[Umusername]

I still to this day am working on getting the brake side linkage just right (time and funds have been more limited). I would like to find a a way to eliminate the ugly aluminum triangle frame support on each side as it would give me much more room and allow me to put the pegs a tad higher and farther back creating a cleaner linkage line and clearing the exhaust better but I can't bring myself to remove them (Honda probably knew what they were doing when they put them there). Here are two of the many bad set ups I have tried for the brakes. I know they are bad and I will be fixing it soon the bottom picture is how I plan to do that.

 

[Umusername]

This is again where I got bad at taking pictures as the last one is close to how the bike sits now. Here is a little bit of the in-between of all that. I picked up a KZ440 tank (I think I know it is a kawasaki about that size and era) and cleaned it out months back but could not find a good petcock for it so It sat with the rest of my parts. One day I had an idea: just cut out the petcock from your good tank and graft it in, while you are at it why not just graft in the gas cap too. I had found some links online to people making gas tanks out of fiberglass so I decided that there was no reason I couldn't just put it together like that. So I did. As a note for anyone trying to do this the type of resin is very important use epoxy resin not polyester. Just trust me. I did get it together and working the way I wanted it to in the end though.

 

[Islandstar]

HOLD ON, LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT...

YOU WERE WILLING TO RISK YOUR SISTER IN LAWS LIFE AND SAFETY, SO YOU MIGHT PURCHASE NEW BARS?

Did you make sure to yell at her for being stupid? Because there is nothing like a little mental abuse piled on top of physical pain, to make your point even more convincing.

Lol!!! I guess I was reading it too fast coz I thought he said "tragically" and not "strategically". Lol

 

[Fredgarvin]

so I strategically let my sister in law who had never ridden before take it down the street where as predicted she dropped it and bent the bars (allowing me to justify buying clip ons).

That is sick. what is fucking wrong with you? Wait a second, I dont even want to know.
I think I am done with this shit.

Wait theres one more thing. You took a halfway decent bike and turned it into a complete fucking peice of shit too.

 

[AlphaDogChoppers]

Nice first post, Fred.

 

[mark13018]

Nice first post, Fred.

+1 Hahaha.

 

[AlphaDogChoppers]

I can see you are having fun with changing your bike around, and when you get it finished, it has the potential of being pretty cool. I think the thing I like most about your project, is that you continue to ride the bike as you are modifying it. I see so many guys on this, (and other) forum(s) tear a perfectly good bike all to pieces and they have nothing to ride for months, or years, or sometimes the bike NEVER gets finished. Congratulation on keeping your bike a rider.

So here's hoping that eventually, it will stop being an atrocity, and become a nice little bike. It has potential.

 

[Umusername]

YOU WERE WILLING TO RISK YOUR SISTER IN LAWS LIFE AND SAFETY, SO YOU MIGHT PURCHASE NEW BARS?

I meant that mostly as a joke and to make a positive out of something that is clearly not what was intended. She wanted to try riding it and I gave her a quick walk though and let her ride 30 yards down a residential street. She never left first gear and actually dropped it at nearly a complete stop (stalled out and fell over) I figure it is better to lean on something that is worth nearly nothing. She ended up buying me a new clutch lever ($3 at my local shop that lets me pull parts in the back) and we laughed it off. I gave her the broken lever as a high school graduation present with a note attached that said "remember to use protection."

I can see you are having fun with changing your bike around, and when you get it finished, it has the potential of being pretty cool. I think the thing I like most about your project, is that you continue to ride the bike as you are modifying it. I see so many guys on this, (and other) forum(s) tear a perfectly good bike all to pieces and they have nothing to ride for months, or years, or sometimes the bike NEVER gets finished. Congratulation on keeping your bike a rider.

So here's hoping that eventually, it will stop being an atrocity, and become a nice little bike. It has potential.

Thanks so much for the positive support I really appreciate it. I am happy with the way it is going and it is very fun to ride, it actually handles better at my local canyon road then my friends on modern Ninja 250R's and that in it self I feel is something to be proud of. More than anything I feel I need to invest in some welding tools and learn how to weld. When I started the build I had a friend in town who could help but he has since joined the Navy and is living on a ship in San Diego (such a hard life he has). I feel like I am learning tons just because of this project and I know that when it is done my next one will be light years better simply because of new knowledge and better planning. If only I knew a way to make this bike a little lighter still because even after cutting off around 40 pounds worth of junk it still weighs over 370 and that is too much. my next big change will probably be the Emgo fairing that Dime City has and up grading the rear shocks. It will never be done but someday will need to be abandon.

 

[burnicarus]

This is looking sweet

 

[Umusername]

This is looking sweet

Thanks man I tried to check out the link to yours but it didn't work. How is the 350 coming?

 

[burnicarus]

Just put up my new build. I got the 350 up and running, did a lot. But after a while I just couldnt bring myself to change it from stock and I wanted a faster bike that I wasn't praying to the gods with while driving on the highway. Check my sig for the new build.

 

[Umusername]

How often should a muffler be repacked? I have Emgo Shortys on and I know that I have seen many places that they come packed very poorly when you first get them. I have been running them since February this year and like the sound a lot better than the stock one s but have noticed that they are getting louder. Basically I am asking what everyone else's experience has been with them and if you have any tips. I am also considering putting a 3 inch extension in so the pipe doesn't end right at the cuff of my pants any more (it was great all winter but now its as hot as it is going to get in Phoenix this summer and I feel like I am cooking my legs everywhere I go... I wonder if people behind me constantly smell BBQ...)

 

[john83]

Moving the pipe back would also give you some decent clearance on the shifter and rear brake lever. They look pretty close to the mufflers in the pictures.

 

[Umusername]

Moving the pipe back would also give you some decent clearance on the shifter and rear brake lever. They look pretty close to the mufflers in the pictures.

I totally agree and am looking into it. I am anticipating running into an issue with the connection because of the up sweep being part of the junction. I will play with a few ideas for sure though and post pictures when I do. I may even try removing the junction and eliminate some weight and clutter. We will see how it goes.