davidgwells
Active Member
I'm looking for a rear 18" reverse comstar from a cb750 KZ model. The KZ was for a drum brake.
Wtb 18" reverse rear comstar
- Thread starter davidgwells
- Start date
SoyBoySigh
Been Around the Block
If you're still looking for this particular wheel, I'd check out the Custom DOHC forum, at CB750C.com, there have gotta be plenty of folks around there swapping out to wire wheels whenever they can, as such there should be a few of these rims around. HOWEVER - there IS another solution. A friend on my home forum, at CB1100F.net, his name is Melchiro - he's got a track bike thread where he shows some very very high grade mods he's done with comstars, where he took a sixteen inch rear comstar on a CX650 or GL650 Silver-Wing to be precise, and a rear 18" rim from a CB900F - also a much more common rim - and in YOUR case I would suggest a CB750C rear rim 'cause that's also got the rear drum - see, just like the SOHC CB750K drum and the SOHC CB750F disc hub AND the GL1000 rear hub - despite the fact that the GL still wound up with a disc hub AND a shaft drive on it AND a DID 17x2.50" rim (Would be very useful rim for say, a 40 hole front drum hub such as Kawasaki H1 2LS drum hub, forty spokes, about the same size as the rear CB spoke flanges so might just lace right up with a couple slight mods, grind down the ends of spokes etc etc -Sorry, I'm just in the middle of TWO wire wheel swaps right now - A DOHC CB750F got 3.00x18 Borrani and 4.25x18" Excel dimpled rims, GL1000 front hub and KZ1000A rear, and a KZ440LTD gets a GT750J 4LS drum front hub with a SIXTEEN inch by 3.00" NOS Borrani Record rim, and a KZ305 or early KZ400 rear hub, I dunno I've got some 48 hole 3x16 rims off KZ1000CSR but I might grab a 36 hole KZ305 rear hub OR a 3.5x16 off a Polaris Victory cruiser, tough to figure out the rear wheel I've got TWO of those 48 hole rims so I'd really like to use 'em and have a spare, not sure if I can get an odd spoke lacing pattern done on a 36 or even 40 hub, or drill 12 more holes in the 36, or 8 in the 40, and lace 'em up funny again yet fill all the holes, or just go with the 3.5 Victory rim on this here KZ400 early, ie larger than post '77 version, drum hub - and maybe THEN work on a spare rear rim - I'd really like to use the CSR rims 'cause shit I'd just like to use SOMETHING off those two rims - oh, and the DOHC might just get the KZ1000CSR rear hub for a 48 hole SUN rim, though that means no dimples so it won't match the borrani, neither will it be as strong or light either or - but yeah I'm just in the middle of my spoke order so I'm asking their opinion over at Buchanan's. In ANY case, extra-heavy-duty custom spokes all around, weird wider off-set drilling patterns for strength if I can get 'em, etc. It's a real dilemma, 'cause the conical '77 KZ1000B type hub, actually off the KZ750B twin but the same damned hub, which would be used with later KZ type sprocket carriers for off-set for the 160/60ZR18 tire, - 110/80ZR18 front has been the PLAN but they've recently discontinued most of 'em so 120/70ZR18 might have to be the answer ... but yeah the Conical KZ hub is as light as the CSR full width hub - though the full width also has a wasp waist in it exactly like the center of the conical hub, so it's the same hub but with TWO wider flanges and no steel core, it's got the 48 EQUAL spokes which is good, and it can get a really nice cross drilled rotor off a VN1500 classic from the late '90s, yet the conical '77 hub looks WAY more awsome - I wish I could just cut it down on the cush side and fit a much smaller cush drive on that side, like half the diameter from a smaller CB or other bike, then use cut up skateboard wheels, preferrably glow in the dark or day-glo, for the cush drive .... anyway the conical hub looks better AND it fits the front hub from the OEM front Comstar rim of the CB750/900F rims - which means I SHOULD be able to go with a smaller non-slotted rotor from a SOHC comstar same bolt pattern or so I've HEARD, and then I'd like to drill the shit out of that AND have it lathed down to a smaller diameter like 200-250mm and run a modern caliper and hanger on that modified rotor. IF I can get it lathed down, it should be no problem, but at least the SOHC type are a smaller diameter at least. The FRONT of the DOHC gets 320mm rotors here, they're off a Yamaha EXUP 1000 ... what's it ... FZR1000 - they were CHEAP at least - but anyway, I've got CBX calipers and hangers, same caliper as the SuperSport type I've already got, but the different hangers and fork legs on the CBX means they'll sit off-set further out so that I can use the bigger floating rotors ....) Which brings me back to MELCHIRO, as he's the brotha who turned me on to the CBX caliper on DOHC CB750F front end (got a 37mm alloy lower yoke from a Euro spec '79 CB900FZ -North America only got the model in '80 with the 39mm but I already rebuilt my 37's - I THOUGHT about sticking it on the KZ and getting something bigger, but maybe down the road. As it stands, the CBX trick is pretty cool and saves a good thousand bucks off the "Fisch-Head Big-Brakes" version with the custom machined caliper hangers .... Yeah, lemme just say: Melchiro's track bike thread is THAT good:
SO his trick with the comstars is THUS: High grade bolts, like you get for motor head or cylinder bolts, the ones that hold camshaft caps down are like grade nine or grade twelve bolts - you can get NYLOC type nuts for 'em in the same grades too, just find a good fastener dealership site and order the shit - he got all the good bolts, though he MIGHT have saved the original five hub bolts from one or the other of the two hubs ... see, like I was saying about the GL and CB-K/CB-F SOHC hubs, they were all made with the same flange diameter and width - see, though the cush drive IS important, that Super-Sport disc hub ain't just over-priced it's also over-built AND over-rated! Ha ha. It's one huge heavy fucker. I mean, even the KZ hubs have got the wasp waist in 'em to save SOME weight - to me the conical one's the coolest, though I'd sure like to find something smaller and lighter still - Harley wheels are about the best way to save money on all this shit they've got huge selection in the aftermarket and the prices are about HALF of the custom shit the like of what I'm building. I mean, OTHER than my little KZ front rim with the 4LS drum and vintage NOS Borrani rim 'cause even WITH all of the great prices I got on shit it'll still wind up being a thousand dollar brake system and wheel when it's all done - ie you might as well go with the Fisch Head Big Brake stuff at that price - I originally intended to use an H1 500 triple Kawasaki front drum, and KZ400 early rear drum, as they're both 40 spoke and the largest diameter yet light in the rear hub, that you can get in that class - the next 40 spoke drum you'll find in this diameter would be a $2000 Fontana or certain Grimecas though I THINK they're 36 spoke too just like MY front rim - anyway. the PLAN was to use a couple of old chromed steel chopper kit rims and ready-made spoke sets the like of which they used to sell, and still sell for around sixty bucks for the rim and spokes I've seen 'em priced that cheap on fleabay LOTS of times, the chopper rear wheel kits they sell for the likes of CB750K SOHC bikes, - hence hundred dollar wheels all built - and then you see the whole PURPOSE of the sixteen inch rims is to use Maxi Scooter tires, the like of which they're designing for the likes of the Honda NC700 and Suzuki Burgmann etc etc, my rims get 110/70-16 front and 120 or 130 /70 aspect rear, though even BETTER sizes are out there. But, the LTD was built for a 130 rear rim, and the front will just fit the 110 so I like THAT - oh, and I bought NOS belt pulleys for it too, and am sourcing a reproduction belt from the likes of Gates manufacturing, I was looking at their shit for a long time 'cause I wanted a belt drive on my DOHC, using their "Poly-Chain GT Carbon" chain strength equivalent in the SAME WIDTH, their new belts they put on the "Zero-S" all electric bikes ... so yeah I've looked at GATES' site many many times, dug all through it, there's not a doubt in my mind they'll either have the belt I want, or they could take my pulleys and machine 'em to fit something even MORE awesome, maybe the Carbon strength belts that would kick ass and be worth the extra expense of machining....
I here-by give you ALL the expressed right to copy-cat my killer KZ "Sweet Sixteen" (it's for my lil' GRRL's 16th, on the Pisces Gemini cusp to be specific, some six seven months away.... Hence the attention to detail and going over-board on the brakes and shit while not caring if it's a really slow bike, it's her first "proper" bike, and she wanted a bigger scooter I said "I'll meet you half way" ... or more like "I'll meet you at the AXLES on up!" But yeah, MAYBE one of you DTT fuckers can beat me to the Bike Exif exclusive calendar shoot with YOUR version of the sweet sixteen, but just remember WHERE YOU HEARD IT FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE. 'Cause so far as I know, not since the Harris Magnums and the old school Harleys with sixteens front and rear, NOBODY had done this on a custom build. Certainly not with these types of tires, not with these types of brakes! So go ahead, I mean shit this bike is gonna be the very first of a new breed ha ha, I dunno what it'll be called, but they didn't know what the first street-fighter was either, neither did they know what the first chopper would be called.... I will be a GAWD amoung bike geeks, a messiah. Especially when I release my calendar shoot of said bikes with all of my GRRL's high-school aged GRRL-Friends as models in very tasteful "GRRL on a BIKE" photo lay-outs..... Yeah, there'd better not be any jerking off to my calendar I have planned, not if you're over eighteen at least. Though, I probably won't be done the builds for another two years anyway, so it's more like a 2015-2016 calendar we're talking about. Still, it'll be fuckin' awesome, 'cause I haven't even mentioned much other than the wheels, but the body-work, though still classic inspired and using mostly old parts aside from some billet and clip-ons and shit, it will be really far off the map too. This KZ is gonna be ... Just totally freakin' WEIRD that's the only way I can describe it without spoiling it for you. Like, how about a low padded sissy-bar on the ass end of a fender-less dual/one-and-a-half seat, with a whip antenna type of deal with a hunter orange flag on top of it for trucks to see her and not run over my kid? A sissy bar of a sort, yet the bike's stance will be decidedly FORWARD ie aggressive, as opposed to laid back and ... laid back. So, a lot of elements will be out of place. Scrambler pipe and bash plate. Fork boots and head-light ears, clip-ons or some kinda club-man or aero-bar drag height type of arrangement, though she SAYS she doesn't want feet going too far back. But I'm still going with vintage reproduction rear-set pegs from Motocicli Veloci Milano in Italia, only with some NOS Kawasaki dirtbike, ie F7-F8, type of knobby peg rubbers all over 'em. YEAH. And an over-sized tank like a Kawi H1-H2 in stock purple livery and decals, OEM seat cover over flat assed blue gel Dr Scholl's shoe insole material, they make huge blocks of it for wheel-chairs. Not freakin CHEAP by any description, yet there are lesser quality versions of the waffle pattern ones sold for cheapo auto seat covers/cushions sold on clearance at Crappy Tire. That is to say: "Canadian Tire" ... for our American friends. So yeah, I've already got enough of the cheapo version to do both seats. Should give a semi- Wrench Monkees seat profile, yet with far superior comfort. I'm thinking more like double the thickness those fuckers use, 'cause most of theirs look kinda stoopid to tell the truth. That's the Euro-Trash factor shining through for ya'! Ha ha ha. No, really though, I CHALLENGE you to steal my plans here, 'cause I've already got most all of my parts, so it should only take about two or three years, accounting for the fact I'm on disability and have 24 hrs a day to work on these bikes, so it should only take me four or five times as long to finish as it would take you if you started on yours next spring, on my working dead-line.... So yeah, steal my plan. Please. Just ... don't usurp my Bike Exup interview, or my Time Man of the Year cover shoot, etc.
Where was I? YEAH - the bolt up Comstar hub conversion. See, just like those SOHC honda hubs, all the rear Comstar hubs with that same five spoke pattern, just like the Boomerang Comstar hubs made for CBX750 or CB1100F Euro/Canadian spec bikes, and the XBR500 was a drum braked version, the wire wheeled version of which was exactly like the GB500 only the tank is ever so slightly different, so you could build a GB500 with one if you got a reproduction Air-tech fibreglas tank and a cafe seat for it, that would fool the experts, and then with the XR650L engine which is identical but bored and stroked out you could have a super-powered GB500 replica, and I think you'd probably STILL pay less than you would for a crapped out example of the "cult bike" GB500 ... anyway yeah, there are SEVERAL examples of the boomerang comstar too ... is there yet ANOTHER example? Well, there are NON-REVERSE comstars, which should be able to bolt up to the reverse comstar WIDER RIMS - and be even cooler there-by IMHO the earlier silver comstars are the best looking - see, what Melchiro did was he'd bought a rim that a moderator on the Custom forum had welded up to FIVE INCHES WIDE, I think it was for a CB900C shaft drive itself, though it MAY have been for the F type supersport chain/disc hub ... anyway, yeah he took the second hand wheel that was already welded up that wide and put it on his CB900F ... it may have actually been a '79 'K model with the easy rear-sets on the frame (I'm going to a LOT of trouble with my supersport, I got some chopped off SOHC passenger peg triangles of tube steel, from another member here on DTT, and I'm getting 'em welded onto my DOHC frame, and lugs for adjustable rear-sets, in the vein of Ducati 750SS and 900SS or the Honda SuperHawk CB77, all have TWO alternate positions for the rider's pegs, well I'm doing the same only without the fancy "HIRTH" type circular spline faces on the joints, as that's freakin' excessive ... anyway, I'd MUCH rather have the 'K model, just for the easier rear-sets and the beautiful classic appearance of a frame without bolt-on Dunstall rip-off rear-set brackets amounting to ten pounds of aluminum....
So yeah, his FIRST wheel was ready made, but his second rim he sent the original unmodified Supersport rim to Kosman and had it welded up to 4.5 or 5.00" wide, then he drilled out the rivets ever so carefully, he used some kinda special socket to take off the special factory "DO NOT REMOVE" bolts from both hubs, and reassembled the wide 18" rim on the CX shaft type hub. See, the larger rim is the only sensible way, though when you argue the costs you COULD have a custom gear-set made for the transmission, but that leaves you with stock rims - which are probably much much lighter anyway which SHOULD be a priority as it once was, back in the '60s - well it IS with ME which is why I'M going with the wire spokes - but I'm going with much the same tires as Melchiro. He had to relieve a spot and weld in a patch to cover it, in the sides of his CX swingarm, just clearing the shaft. And it's a trick to get that wheel in there, as the tire bead only fits within that tiny slot at the front end of the arm. So, if he has to swap wheels at the track, and this IS a dedicated track bike - It's also got full SuperSport bodywork on it so it's basically a tricked out CB900F with a CX650 engine in it ... the only cooler CX I've ever seen is "Turbo Tim's" dustbin fairing one, with the awesome bodywork and turbo PLUS water injection!!! Sez the dustbin gives him an extra 10MPH at the top end. 'Cause dustbins are the most efficient, it's surprizing, but for the equivalent frontal area which is also an important factor, the dustbin is far far superior for cutting down drag, I'd like to experiment with one myself. Alas, I'll probably just use some kinda Ducati 900SS type, though what I REALLY want is off the Magni-Honda MH900 which is a CB900 in a custom frame - welded on pegs like a 'K model or SOHC, it's a twin headlight model like the RCB/RS1000 type only much much more beautiful ... can't find a reproduction of it ANYWHERE though.... Yeah, anyway Melchiro's awesome CX must be a bitch to swap tires on, but his bikes have gotta be some of my favourite '80s Honda builds anywhere, and he's got all the damnedest tricks up his sleeves. Lemme tell ya, if you watched his You-Tube vids of his track laps and shit, you'd lose ANY trepidation over bolting together your own comstars. The successor to the Comstar, the hybrid Carbon-Steel wheels of the VF1000R and other such bikes, the 500 two stroke GP models etc, they came from the factory not with rivets but with Nyloc bolts of the very same description of which I am speaking here. The ASTRALITE rims which the comstars copied, famous composite racing wheels of the '70s, THEY were bolted together. The rims on the Bimota HB2 and HB3, well the earlier version in sixteen inch sizes (ring any bells?) the same spec/size as found on the Harris Magnum framed CB900F racers, THOSE rims were bolted together AND sealed up with epoxy between the two bolted faces. Though those rims had far more bolts than the comstar would, and the later '80s hybrid Comstar rims off the VF1000R had something like SIX bolts in the rim and six in the hub. Or was it twelve and six? I'd have to look at some pics. All I'm saying is, there ARE other factory OEM wheels from Honda, from the very next year - as in, the IMPROVED version of the comstar, which are bolt up rims. See, the problem with the originals was that the rivets could wear out. Though, I haven't seen any and have heard of few if any and I suspect that their damage was related to being bolted in improperly, as in without cush drive spacers - what Kawasaki called "Coupling assembly sleeve", which puts lateral twist on the hub, or impact with curbs etc ... in any case, the story goes that A FEW of those old rivets wear out and fail with time. I shouldn't think this would be any more catastrophic than a broken spoke on a rim with say 32 or 36 spokes, as opposed to a 40 or 60 spoke hub. You get my point. You need to INSPECT the fuckers. Well, for the later VF-R type comstar mark 2 ... or would it be mark FOUR at this point ... maybe FIVE ... anyway, they came with clear instructions not only to inspect 'em just as with the rivet type rims, but also a way to FIX the fuckers if you MIGHT have a problem. At the dealership of course. But yeah, all I'm getting at, is that Melchiro wasn't going off the reservation in doing what he did, he was right in tune with Honda's own post-comstar thinking. This is why I suggest it. I mean, would I be somehow liable if I recommended that you go with wire spoked rims, and you failed to do your own proper assembly, or maintainence, and you fucked yourself up on those WIRE rims? NO. If that were the case, they not only wouldn't be making 'em anymore, there'd be a few rich gimps out there (a term of endearment AND entitlement: I'm one too! So while I CAN say it, YOU CAN'T ha ha ha. Kinda like "Queer".) and you'd see lawyers on TV asking if you or a distant ancestor had been injured by a wire spoked motorcycle wheel. I think I could make a VERY good case in court for the bolts being an IMPROVEMENT over the rivets, as the only inspection for rivets is that they haven't failed YET. So there, all you freakin' NAY-SAYERS!
Now, what I'm talkin' about is a whole lotta crazy crazy stuff that would probably cost a LOT more than your basic '80 CB750K rear wheel. But the 'C model rims are all up for grabs so much more common - nobody WANTS 'em for some reason ... wouldn't be hard to bolt up a master cylinder on the lee-ward side of your right peg mount, and stick a disc type swing-arm in there. Yanno? I think the 900 swinger's a bit longer too. Though, the coveted 1100R swinger's supposedly thicker walled, larger diameter, and chrome-moly steel to boot. Seems to me, I'd WAAY rather have the earlier CB1100R models with their pre '83 tubular swingers, than the 'D model with it's CB1100F swingarm and rims.... Maybe with a Euro-Spec 900F rear SILVER boomerang comstar on it, in 18 inch, or better still the 18" x 3.5" rear rim off the European CBX750 (their version of the first new engined night-hawks, had tuning for something like 100RWHP using non self-adjusting hydraulic rockers, just a straight up race cam, ported etc etc, LOOKS like a night-hawk engine but it's a beast of another feather altogether. With black boomerang rims. Awesome bike, but again rare. But yeah, gimme the earlier version of the 1100R it may not make as much power in stock trim, but with MODERN work done on it, ported race cams etc, people get 140HP out of 'em on a regular basis. So why bother with the 'D model? What I really wanna do, is get my swinger modified in the same fashion as those earlier fatter swingarms, welded up, maybe a single under-slung brace just a half hoop mounted halfway between the pivot and the axle ... not going around the outside of the chain but rather, tucking in close around the tire so the chain is all to the far left of it.... Yeah, it's a PIPE DREAM, I know. I should be able to start my build threads soon, I've already got loads of pictures, but I'm planning a move to a new place here, got loads of stuff on the go - so the forums are low priority right now. But, of course today I felt like ranting. AND helping out with people's comstar dreams. I freakin LOVE comstars. I wanna build up a good set myself, wanna use two 18" front black ones off the GL1100, and put a Ducati cush drive on the left side of one of 'em, get 'em welded up all fat, and see if they come in at lighter than a set of equivalent Astralite rims, or Dymags, etc etc etc. 'Cause the rear Comstar hub is one heavy bastard, lemme tell ya. I've got one polished up as a door stop, 'cause I'd originally planned on doing the "dromedaris" trick, again a CX thing - buddy bolted on custom drilled flanges to bolt on wire rims on his CX hubs - well, it worked for him, but SIXPACKRUNNER's version, on the DOHC custom forum, is best: Took his CB900C shaft type hub, lathed it down, then lathed out a SOHC rear drum hub, and stuck 'em together and welded 'em up. Gives me all sorts of ideas for other rims. VFR1200F rear single sided swingarm, with a single sided front drum hub, a smaller one preferrably, and this awesome stainless steel Harley type rear rim, with off-set spoke holes for chain clearance hence built just like the stock VFR and Ducati type single sided rims, it was something like seventeen by seven, or seventeen by six and a half. Perfect for the VFR tires, it would just be a wire spoked version, that's the only thing to change. There are a lot of wheel swaps on the GL1000-GL1500-GL1800 "Naked Wings" forums, using all sorts of sport bike rims etc, three spoke mags all that stuff, and I BELIEVE they're using the same or similar methods. I mean, all you really need on those CX and GL type shaft wheels is the right spacing and hole pattern for the cush grommets and the bevel gear/circumferential gear face to plug into. So, with the right off-set set in for depth and face etc, you could concievably drill five holes in any old hub and go to town! If you can get a wheel machined, some do it on a drill press in a jig if they don't have access to a mill - if a guy was set up he could do the same machine work on ALL of the wheels people might send his way, given a selection of different shaft bikes and their dimensions etc. But so far as I know, they all do their OWN wheel swaps. But yeah the CX shaft drive stuff has LOTS of options. Just not nearly so many options as the CB bikes whether they're disc or drum braked. I guess the drum stuff has better wire spoke hub selection, but the disc stuff have better selection in the modern three spoke cast mag rims etc etc.
Surely, you've already got your wheel. So I'm talking to a freakin' wall. But obviously, I'd talk to a wall all day if it wants to hear about motorcycle wheels!
-S.
SO his trick with the comstars is THUS: High grade bolts, like you get for motor head or cylinder bolts, the ones that hold camshaft caps down are like grade nine or grade twelve bolts - you can get NYLOC type nuts for 'em in the same grades too, just find a good fastener dealership site and order the shit - he got all the good bolts, though he MIGHT have saved the original five hub bolts from one or the other of the two hubs ... see, like I was saying about the GL and CB-K/CB-F SOHC hubs, they were all made with the same flange diameter and width - see, though the cush drive IS important, that Super-Sport disc hub ain't just over-priced it's also over-built AND over-rated! Ha ha. It's one huge heavy fucker. I mean, even the KZ hubs have got the wasp waist in 'em to save SOME weight - to me the conical one's the coolest, though I'd sure like to find something smaller and lighter still - Harley wheels are about the best way to save money on all this shit they've got huge selection in the aftermarket and the prices are about HALF of the custom shit the like of what I'm building. I mean, OTHER than my little KZ front rim with the 4LS drum and vintage NOS Borrani rim 'cause even WITH all of the great prices I got on shit it'll still wind up being a thousand dollar brake system and wheel when it's all done - ie you might as well go with the Fisch Head Big Brake stuff at that price - I originally intended to use an H1 500 triple Kawasaki front drum, and KZ400 early rear drum, as they're both 40 spoke and the largest diameter yet light in the rear hub, that you can get in that class - the next 40 spoke drum you'll find in this diameter would be a $2000 Fontana or certain Grimecas though I THINK they're 36 spoke too just like MY front rim - anyway. the PLAN was to use a couple of old chromed steel chopper kit rims and ready-made spoke sets the like of which they used to sell, and still sell for around sixty bucks for the rim and spokes I've seen 'em priced that cheap on fleabay LOTS of times, the chopper rear wheel kits they sell for the likes of CB750K SOHC bikes, - hence hundred dollar wheels all built - and then you see the whole PURPOSE of the sixteen inch rims is to use Maxi Scooter tires, the like of which they're designing for the likes of the Honda NC700 and Suzuki Burgmann etc etc, my rims get 110/70-16 front and 120 or 130 /70 aspect rear, though even BETTER sizes are out there. But, the LTD was built for a 130 rear rim, and the front will just fit the 110 so I like THAT - oh, and I bought NOS belt pulleys for it too, and am sourcing a reproduction belt from the likes of Gates manufacturing, I was looking at their shit for a long time 'cause I wanted a belt drive on my DOHC, using their "Poly-Chain GT Carbon" chain strength equivalent in the SAME WIDTH, their new belts they put on the "Zero-S" all electric bikes ... so yeah I've looked at GATES' site many many times, dug all through it, there's not a doubt in my mind they'll either have the belt I want, or they could take my pulleys and machine 'em to fit something even MORE awesome, maybe the Carbon strength belts that would kick ass and be worth the extra expense of machining....
I here-by give you ALL the expressed right to copy-cat my killer KZ "Sweet Sixteen" (it's for my lil' GRRL's 16th, on the Pisces Gemini cusp to be specific, some six seven months away.... Hence the attention to detail and going over-board on the brakes and shit while not caring if it's a really slow bike, it's her first "proper" bike, and she wanted a bigger scooter I said "I'll meet you half way" ... or more like "I'll meet you at the AXLES on up!" But yeah, MAYBE one of you DTT fuckers can beat me to the Bike Exif exclusive calendar shoot with YOUR version of the sweet sixteen, but just remember WHERE YOU HEARD IT FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE. 'Cause so far as I know, not since the Harris Magnums and the old school Harleys with sixteens front and rear, NOBODY had done this on a custom build. Certainly not with these types of tires, not with these types of brakes! So go ahead, I mean shit this bike is gonna be the very first of a new breed ha ha, I dunno what it'll be called, but they didn't know what the first street-fighter was either, neither did they know what the first chopper would be called.... I will be a GAWD amoung bike geeks, a messiah. Especially when I release my calendar shoot of said bikes with all of my GRRL's high-school aged GRRL-Friends as models in very tasteful "GRRL on a BIKE" photo lay-outs..... Yeah, there'd better not be any jerking off to my calendar I have planned, not if you're over eighteen at least. Though, I probably won't be done the builds for another two years anyway, so it's more like a 2015-2016 calendar we're talking about. Still, it'll be fuckin' awesome, 'cause I haven't even mentioned much other than the wheels, but the body-work, though still classic inspired and using mostly old parts aside from some billet and clip-ons and shit, it will be really far off the map too. This KZ is gonna be ... Just totally freakin' WEIRD that's the only way I can describe it without spoiling it for you. Like, how about a low padded sissy-bar on the ass end of a fender-less dual/one-and-a-half seat, with a whip antenna type of deal with a hunter orange flag on top of it for trucks to see her and not run over my kid? A sissy bar of a sort, yet the bike's stance will be decidedly FORWARD ie aggressive, as opposed to laid back and ... laid back. So, a lot of elements will be out of place. Scrambler pipe and bash plate. Fork boots and head-light ears, clip-ons or some kinda club-man or aero-bar drag height type of arrangement, though she SAYS she doesn't want feet going too far back. But I'm still going with vintage reproduction rear-set pegs from Motocicli Veloci Milano in Italia, only with some NOS Kawasaki dirtbike, ie F7-F8, type of knobby peg rubbers all over 'em. YEAH. And an over-sized tank like a Kawi H1-H2 in stock purple livery and decals, OEM seat cover over flat assed blue gel Dr Scholl's shoe insole material, they make huge blocks of it for wheel-chairs. Not freakin CHEAP by any description, yet there are lesser quality versions of the waffle pattern ones sold for cheapo auto seat covers/cushions sold on clearance at Crappy Tire. That is to say: "Canadian Tire" ... for our American friends. So yeah, I've already got enough of the cheapo version to do both seats. Should give a semi- Wrench Monkees seat profile, yet with far superior comfort. I'm thinking more like double the thickness those fuckers use, 'cause most of theirs look kinda stoopid to tell the truth. That's the Euro-Trash factor shining through for ya'! Ha ha ha. No, really though, I CHALLENGE you to steal my plans here, 'cause I've already got most all of my parts, so it should only take about two or three years, accounting for the fact I'm on disability and have 24 hrs a day to work on these bikes, so it should only take me four or five times as long to finish as it would take you if you started on yours next spring, on my working dead-line.... So yeah, steal my plan. Please. Just ... don't usurp my Bike Exup interview, or my Time Man of the Year cover shoot, etc.
Where was I? YEAH - the bolt up Comstar hub conversion. See, just like those SOHC honda hubs, all the rear Comstar hubs with that same five spoke pattern, just like the Boomerang Comstar hubs made for CBX750 or CB1100F Euro/Canadian spec bikes, and the XBR500 was a drum braked version, the wire wheeled version of which was exactly like the GB500 only the tank is ever so slightly different, so you could build a GB500 with one if you got a reproduction Air-tech fibreglas tank and a cafe seat for it, that would fool the experts, and then with the XR650L engine which is identical but bored and stroked out you could have a super-powered GB500 replica, and I think you'd probably STILL pay less than you would for a crapped out example of the "cult bike" GB500 ... anyway yeah, there are SEVERAL examples of the boomerang comstar too ... is there yet ANOTHER example? Well, there are NON-REVERSE comstars, which should be able to bolt up to the reverse comstar WIDER RIMS - and be even cooler there-by IMHO the earlier silver comstars are the best looking - see, what Melchiro did was he'd bought a rim that a moderator on the Custom forum had welded up to FIVE INCHES WIDE, I think it was for a CB900C shaft drive itself, though it MAY have been for the F type supersport chain/disc hub ... anyway, yeah he took the second hand wheel that was already welded up that wide and put it on his CB900F ... it may have actually been a '79 'K model with the easy rear-sets on the frame (I'm going to a LOT of trouble with my supersport, I got some chopped off SOHC passenger peg triangles of tube steel, from another member here on DTT, and I'm getting 'em welded onto my DOHC frame, and lugs for adjustable rear-sets, in the vein of Ducati 750SS and 900SS or the Honda SuperHawk CB77, all have TWO alternate positions for the rider's pegs, well I'm doing the same only without the fancy "HIRTH" type circular spline faces on the joints, as that's freakin' excessive ... anyway, I'd MUCH rather have the 'K model, just for the easier rear-sets and the beautiful classic appearance of a frame without bolt-on Dunstall rip-off rear-set brackets amounting to ten pounds of aluminum....
So yeah, his FIRST wheel was ready made, but his second rim he sent the original unmodified Supersport rim to Kosman and had it welded up to 4.5 or 5.00" wide, then he drilled out the rivets ever so carefully, he used some kinda special socket to take off the special factory "DO NOT REMOVE" bolts from both hubs, and reassembled the wide 18" rim on the CX shaft type hub. See, the larger rim is the only sensible way, though when you argue the costs you COULD have a custom gear-set made for the transmission, but that leaves you with stock rims - which are probably much much lighter anyway which SHOULD be a priority as it once was, back in the '60s - well it IS with ME which is why I'M going with the wire spokes - but I'm going with much the same tires as Melchiro. He had to relieve a spot and weld in a patch to cover it, in the sides of his CX swingarm, just clearing the shaft. And it's a trick to get that wheel in there, as the tire bead only fits within that tiny slot at the front end of the arm. So, if he has to swap wheels at the track, and this IS a dedicated track bike - It's also got full SuperSport bodywork on it so it's basically a tricked out CB900F with a CX650 engine in it ... the only cooler CX I've ever seen is "Turbo Tim's" dustbin fairing one, with the awesome bodywork and turbo PLUS water injection!!! Sez the dustbin gives him an extra 10MPH at the top end. 'Cause dustbins are the most efficient, it's surprizing, but for the equivalent frontal area which is also an important factor, the dustbin is far far superior for cutting down drag, I'd like to experiment with one myself. Alas, I'll probably just use some kinda Ducati 900SS type, though what I REALLY want is off the Magni-Honda MH900 which is a CB900 in a custom frame - welded on pegs like a 'K model or SOHC, it's a twin headlight model like the RCB/RS1000 type only much much more beautiful ... can't find a reproduction of it ANYWHERE though.... Yeah, anyway Melchiro's awesome CX must be a bitch to swap tires on, but his bikes have gotta be some of my favourite '80s Honda builds anywhere, and he's got all the damnedest tricks up his sleeves. Lemme tell ya, if you watched his You-Tube vids of his track laps and shit, you'd lose ANY trepidation over bolting together your own comstars. The successor to the Comstar, the hybrid Carbon-Steel wheels of the VF1000R and other such bikes, the 500 two stroke GP models etc, they came from the factory not with rivets but with Nyloc bolts of the very same description of which I am speaking here. The ASTRALITE rims which the comstars copied, famous composite racing wheels of the '70s, THEY were bolted together. The rims on the Bimota HB2 and HB3, well the earlier version in sixteen inch sizes (ring any bells?) the same spec/size as found on the Harris Magnum framed CB900F racers, THOSE rims were bolted together AND sealed up with epoxy between the two bolted faces. Though those rims had far more bolts than the comstar would, and the later '80s hybrid Comstar rims off the VF1000R had something like SIX bolts in the rim and six in the hub. Or was it twelve and six? I'd have to look at some pics. All I'm saying is, there ARE other factory OEM wheels from Honda, from the very next year - as in, the IMPROVED version of the comstar, which are bolt up rims. See, the problem with the originals was that the rivets could wear out. Though, I haven't seen any and have heard of few if any and I suspect that their damage was related to being bolted in improperly, as in without cush drive spacers - what Kawasaki called "Coupling assembly sleeve", which puts lateral twist on the hub, or impact with curbs etc ... in any case, the story goes that A FEW of those old rivets wear out and fail with time. I shouldn't think this would be any more catastrophic than a broken spoke on a rim with say 32 or 36 spokes, as opposed to a 40 or 60 spoke hub. You get my point. You need to INSPECT the fuckers. Well, for the later VF-R type comstar mark 2 ... or would it be mark FOUR at this point ... maybe FIVE ... anyway, they came with clear instructions not only to inspect 'em just as with the rivet type rims, but also a way to FIX the fuckers if you MIGHT have a problem. At the dealership of course. But yeah, all I'm getting at, is that Melchiro wasn't going off the reservation in doing what he did, he was right in tune with Honda's own post-comstar thinking. This is why I suggest it. I mean, would I be somehow liable if I recommended that you go with wire spoked rims, and you failed to do your own proper assembly, or maintainence, and you fucked yourself up on those WIRE rims? NO. If that were the case, they not only wouldn't be making 'em anymore, there'd be a few rich gimps out there (a term of endearment AND entitlement: I'm one too! So while I CAN say it, YOU CAN'T ha ha ha. Kinda like "Queer".) and you'd see lawyers on TV asking if you or a distant ancestor had been injured by a wire spoked motorcycle wheel. I think I could make a VERY good case in court for the bolts being an IMPROVEMENT over the rivets, as the only inspection for rivets is that they haven't failed YET. So there, all you freakin' NAY-SAYERS!
Now, what I'm talkin' about is a whole lotta crazy crazy stuff that would probably cost a LOT more than your basic '80 CB750K rear wheel. But the 'C model rims are all up for grabs so much more common - nobody WANTS 'em for some reason ... wouldn't be hard to bolt up a master cylinder on the lee-ward side of your right peg mount, and stick a disc type swing-arm in there. Yanno? I think the 900 swinger's a bit longer too. Though, the coveted 1100R swinger's supposedly thicker walled, larger diameter, and chrome-moly steel to boot. Seems to me, I'd WAAY rather have the earlier CB1100R models with their pre '83 tubular swingers, than the 'D model with it's CB1100F swingarm and rims.... Maybe with a Euro-Spec 900F rear SILVER boomerang comstar on it, in 18 inch, or better still the 18" x 3.5" rear rim off the European CBX750 (their version of the first new engined night-hawks, had tuning for something like 100RWHP using non self-adjusting hydraulic rockers, just a straight up race cam, ported etc etc, LOOKS like a night-hawk engine but it's a beast of another feather altogether. With black boomerang rims. Awesome bike, but again rare. But yeah, gimme the earlier version of the 1100R it may not make as much power in stock trim, but with MODERN work done on it, ported race cams etc, people get 140HP out of 'em on a regular basis. So why bother with the 'D model? What I really wanna do, is get my swinger modified in the same fashion as those earlier fatter swingarms, welded up, maybe a single under-slung brace just a half hoop mounted halfway between the pivot and the axle ... not going around the outside of the chain but rather, tucking in close around the tire so the chain is all to the far left of it.... Yeah, it's a PIPE DREAM, I know. I should be able to start my build threads soon, I've already got loads of pictures, but I'm planning a move to a new place here, got loads of stuff on the go - so the forums are low priority right now. But, of course today I felt like ranting. AND helping out with people's comstar dreams. I freakin LOVE comstars. I wanna build up a good set myself, wanna use two 18" front black ones off the GL1100, and put a Ducati cush drive on the left side of one of 'em, get 'em welded up all fat, and see if they come in at lighter than a set of equivalent Astralite rims, or Dymags, etc etc etc. 'Cause the rear Comstar hub is one heavy bastard, lemme tell ya. I've got one polished up as a door stop, 'cause I'd originally planned on doing the "dromedaris" trick, again a CX thing - buddy bolted on custom drilled flanges to bolt on wire rims on his CX hubs - well, it worked for him, but SIXPACKRUNNER's version, on the DOHC custom forum, is best: Took his CB900C shaft type hub, lathed it down, then lathed out a SOHC rear drum hub, and stuck 'em together and welded 'em up. Gives me all sorts of ideas for other rims. VFR1200F rear single sided swingarm, with a single sided front drum hub, a smaller one preferrably, and this awesome stainless steel Harley type rear rim, with off-set spoke holes for chain clearance hence built just like the stock VFR and Ducati type single sided rims, it was something like seventeen by seven, or seventeen by six and a half. Perfect for the VFR tires, it would just be a wire spoked version, that's the only thing to change. There are a lot of wheel swaps on the GL1000-GL1500-GL1800 "Naked Wings" forums, using all sorts of sport bike rims etc, three spoke mags all that stuff, and I BELIEVE they're using the same or similar methods. I mean, all you really need on those CX and GL type shaft wheels is the right spacing and hole pattern for the cush grommets and the bevel gear/circumferential gear face to plug into. So, with the right off-set set in for depth and face etc, you could concievably drill five holes in any old hub and go to town! If you can get a wheel machined, some do it on a drill press in a jig if they don't have access to a mill - if a guy was set up he could do the same machine work on ALL of the wheels people might send his way, given a selection of different shaft bikes and their dimensions etc. But so far as I know, they all do their OWN wheel swaps. But yeah the CX shaft drive stuff has LOTS of options. Just not nearly so many options as the CB bikes whether they're disc or drum braked. I guess the drum stuff has better wire spoke hub selection, but the disc stuff have better selection in the modern three spoke cast mag rims etc etc.
Surely, you've already got your wheel. So I'm talking to a freakin' wall. But obviously, I'd talk to a wall all day if it wants to hear about motorcycle wheels!
-S.
SullivanCB200
Been Around the Block
That's impressive. I didn't read it... but impressive.
