"Traveler's" 1977 CB550K Cafe build

Okay...even though it look like this outside right now....


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I bundled up and went to work.

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Pulled the gauges, top tree, and some bits and took them to the house for restoration. Went back out and gave the lower tree some attention

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Amazing what a little prep and some Duplicolor engine paint with the ceramic additive can do!

Pulled the tank and found more work.....coil brackets are rusty...so that's one for another day.


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~Joe
 
Tackled some more stuff tonight.

Decided the headlight bucket needed some attention. So....I took a permanent marker to the scratches on the headlight bucket, since it's plastic, and the polished it out with Lemon Pledge cleaner. The scratches are out of sight, so, I think it'll work.

Before:
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After:
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Then I headed for my gauges. Got them ready to go, waiting on the backing for my speedo I bought from a guy, as the original was bent and ruined. Got some sore fingers out of this deal......in the corners had to use a screwdriver with the Nerv Dull to get the job done. Also polished up the chrome hardware that hold the top tree on.

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Anyway, progress was made.

~Joe
 
lol your more than welcome, get down off your soap box :p youll get repsonses just keep posting stuff. usually no one will respond to pictures of your gauges or whatever when youve got pictures of your frame and stuff starting to get put back on it and it starts to come together then people will be all over this. keep up the good work man and dont take it personal if no one responds.
 
Don't take it personal Joe, I'm sure 99 percent of the people that read these appreciate the work you are doing. Just keep at it like Force said, and you will start getting all kinds of props.


Besides, I personally enjoy all the before/during/after shots but am stuck for the majority on my cell phone. I might start getting blisters on my fingertips just typing all this!


And once you start getting the nod from guys like JRK, Troybilt, Motofiaccone, Kanticoy, and some of the other top notch builders, guys like myself don't feel the need to chime in. You're doin great man.
 
looking great man! i dig the marker trick! be sure that paint on the trees cures. i know rattle can will be pickey in certain temps!
 
Even colder today....but back to it I went. ;D

Went to a friends shop, and used his sandblasting cabinet. Cleaned up my electic panel, the bracket that holds the tach and speedo, and my top tree. Normally, sandblast and aluminium don't work well at all togther...but it left the top tree with a really nice "suede" finish. I then clear coated the top tree, using enginge block paint, again from Dupolicolor, but this time in clear.

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Here it is all dried

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I painted the gauge bracket black, put prior to painting, I flattened the bracket with a hammer, so that the gauges would face straight up, like an old English cafe racer!

My Clubman bars and headlight brackets showed up today, so I started putting things together.

Are are some pics.


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Also stayed in the garage until I was "too cold", and went through my wiring harness, pulling out the wires I will not be using, and putting it all back together.

~Joe
 
looks great joe! great idea!
we have that same finish in a powder coat, it is called blasted alum
looks like this
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Yeah, that "suede" look....I REALLY like it....sets off the chrome on the bolts, bars, etc. perfect...the black too!

~Joe
 
JRK5892 said:
man that blasted with just clear looks awesome! very industrial and clean look! i love that idea!
Click to expand...

It actually has the same look as the silver powder on my Harley's motor.

~Joe
 
BadKaw said:
Joe,
Thanks for your service to this country! Verrrrry cool build! You have a 'vintage Honda' dealer? Or was it a dealer where you picked up the 'vintage honda'? Sorry for the dork question...just some cool implications with that. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for saying so.

Yep...vintage Honda dealer, other stuff too, like old Ducati, BSA, Triumph, and old Harleys.

Most of it needs restored though.

~Joe
 
Be careful when you blast aluminum using the same medium you used for ferrous materials. If you get steel or otherwise grains in your aluminum you could get dissimilar metal corrosion.
 
yes sir... gives it a great surface for powder... we do not blast to clean we blast for a good surface to powder on, the metal is always degreased, chemical strip, blasted, blown and/or wiped, and powdered...
never heard of that... any reason why?
 
Its all here.

http://www.tpub.com/content/aviation/14022/css/14022_109.htm

I guess it wont matter when it comes down to motorcycles and cars, its just a general shop practice for me.
 
Traveler, what kind of media did you use? Just curious. Plain old "play" sand has to be cleaned up very thoroughly if it touches steel. Just FYI

Tree looks good!
 
According to the owner, I asked him if it was play sand, and he told me "no...this is the corse stuff". :-\

Damned if I know...I used his compressed air to clean everything off, brought it home, and sprayed it.

Looks good.

~Joe
 
That's actually kinda funny. Take it from me, playground sand hurts like hell when it hits bare skin. So its kinda coarse too.

But it is lookin good!
 
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