1972 Honda CL175 - First Time build. Help!

[MattC]

Side by side clean ups

 

[BCC]

I would have waited until you had the pipe made before cutting things off. Here is how i welded a hoop on a cb350 and its been holding up well.

 

[MattC]

Good news! Parts came, and fit going to be a fun weekend.

 

[MattC]

Think I got the wrong seals, no way these fit. Way bigger than old ones too

 

[teazer]

You will probably find that fork oil to be a little light. Modern forks use really light oil, where our old clunkers have much cruder damping designs and tend to work better with much heavier oil. 20wt or even 30wt is not unusual.

 

[DohcBikes]

I can't find a hoop that fits online and have been trying to make one for nearly 3 weeks now! I can't find a shop in town that can bend pipe either, don't know what to do.

I see that you found a rear frame section. Here is a member that is making them in case anyone else needs one.
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=54894.0

 

[MattC]

I tried contacting him but no response. Most people I contacted didn't have the small size die to bend it to fit this little frame. I was lucky to find one on eBay.

 

[MattC]

So this is what I had to slug up to get the hoop extra sturdy, then put plug welds in it.
Also got first coat of primer to sit over night

 

[trek97]

Did the po give you any hints why it wasnt running?

 

[jpmobius]

Might be a good idea to assemble the rear wheel and suspension before welding anything. Most bikes can not have a hoop welded in like that without bending up the "hoop" for clearance. Put the swing arm back on temporarily with the rear wheel and just one shock. Either take the spring off of the shock first, or fully compress it with a ratchet strap until it bottoms out. Allow at least an inch of clearance between the hoop and tire, and add for a fender if you plan on one. If you plan on actually riding the bike, I heavily recommend you plan on a fender!

 

[MattC]

You guys are scaring me now! Tomorrow I plan to go for mock up. I specifically cut the rear mudguard out. Is it that necessary:/
I plan to get new shocks, I will aim for highest ones I guess, this is all a learning process! The hard way...

Last owner said it was and "electrical" problem, and he included a brand new Coil with the bike I have to install. I will be posting on the forum once I get to that bridge.

 

[MattC]

Okay, kinda worried and stressed out now.

What if the tire doesn't have enough clearance, what would I have to do now?

 

[irk miller]

Without enough clearance, it's going to hit the hoop and act like a brake. If there's a fender in-between, it might get ripped out, jammed up or something similar. Worst case scenario, it causes your rear end to lock up and loss of control. Most of the time, it just rubs.

 

[jpmobius]

I specifically cut the rear mudguard out. Is it that necessary:/
I plan to get new shocks, I will aim for highest ones I guess, this is all a learning process! The hard way...

Certainly you can ride it without a rear fender or a front for that matter - but you have to wonder how the manufacturer came up with such a huge component and why they installed it. Rest assured that the people that designed and styled your bike really like motorcycles and have a very keen eye towards making them look as good as they can. They likely would have left them off, or would have at least made them more attractive if they could have. The fact is that both tires throw off an incredible amount of dirt and water which will mostly land in inaccessible places on your very intricate motorcycle. Claiming you don't ride in the rain is silly - unless you don't ride it. On the rear, the back and top of the engine get covered. The carburetors live there, and they are not all that fond of being submerged in dirt and water. The front is not so bad - you as the driver will get the worst of it which is ok if you do not need to see where you are going. You also might notice that pretty much all race bikes have fenders and mostly are not compelled to do so (possibly this has changed from long ago). Has to be a good reason. All that said, you can certainly make them smaller and still keep a great deal of their functionality depending on the level of surgery.

Far more importantly, don't make ANY changes to the geometry of your bike unless you know what you are doing. Raising the rear suspension to solve a problem you created with the hoop is the wrong way to solve the problem. Raising the back of the bike this way will steepen the rake angle of the front suspension. This will also reduce the trail, which is the castering effect that makes your bike want to steer straight ahead. Both will reduce high speed stability. How negatively - if at all- this will effect your bike depends on a lot of factors, but unless you are both knowledgeable about this aspect of chassis engineering and have a dedicated intent to change your bike for some specific reason you will be well advised to keep the stock geometry. Remember - the folks that made your bike were extremely knowledgeable engineers that could build your bike with any geometry they wanted, and decided on the geometry you have after a lot of testing. That said, raising the back a bit will not likely be a massive change or especially dangerous, but could definitely be very noticeable.

Lastly, as popular as they are, the hoop you wish to add is NOT (generally) an especially important structural element of the frame aside from being a support for the fender and seat. It does next to nothing to contribute to chassis stiffness, and if you left it off altogether you will not see your bike handle any differently than with it or the stock "hoop".

 

[maxDTM]

I would also like to contribute to the fender discussion. A few months back some idiot spilled white paint in the road and I rode through it. I got drops on my seat and frame but without fenders my bike and I would have been covered:

 

[MattC]

I will figure out how to run a mud guard or something and pray I have tire clearance I guess.

Headlamp came in the mail.

This lower race was a real pain to get out, now I'm trying to install tapered bearing but I think they gave me the wrong size :/

Also painted the frame today, will let dry over night and see if I want to clear coat and touch ups

 

[Tim]

The lower bearing will be a tight fit. Measure the stem at the bottom and the bearing to see how close it is.

You'll want to put the tree/stem in a freezer, and if need be warm the bearing and then pop it on. Don't forget the seal below the bearing, and you may just consider walking the tree and bearing into a shop and paying them $10 to press it on for you properly.

 

[MattC]

Got the bearings in, definitely had to use the freezer trick and it was manageable but took some time.

Also decided to throw some light clear coat over the bike, the black finish dried dull.
And couldn't help doing a little mock up.

Waiting on my 2nd pair of fork seals, hopefully these fit so I can rebuild the forks and I need to start making a seat now!!!

Besides that I have to order a couple parts but I'm excited now

 

[MattC]

Can someone please confirm what size fork seals I need in this 1972 CL175
Thanks.

Also how do I get this sproket off!?

Also how do I get this ignition out so I can clean this up? Thanks!

 

[5ivemoto]

When we took apart the cb160 ignition that was similar we put the mount in a vice and gently removed that retaining ring with a brass punch and a dead blow


Prob not the right way but that's what we did with good results



Also we coat everything with pb. When in doubt lubricate