My 1970 CB175 - the first build

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Biensur22

New Member
Thought I'd share this with all of you as I've been browsing a while and appreciate the wealth of knowledge on this forum. I picked up this 1970 CB175 off craigslist for $500. Everything's there, and short of a slight idling problem and stripped taillight mounting bracket, the thing is in perfect running order.

Then I found that the headlight bucket was cracked, and the brakelight wasn't coming on, and to top it all off in my frustration of checking continuities I dropped the headlamp glass first on the concrete... Luckily I phoned my GF's dad who's been doing this since the late 60s and asked for some help. He was nice enough to send me a new headlight bucket (complete with headlight assembly), taillight mounting bracket, brakelight switch, and even the highly coveted scrambler pipes - all of which he just happened to have "laying around."

Got everything together to make sure it all fires up just right before I do a complete tear down and start the reconstruction process. Had one problem with the new high pipes fitting but I'm sure that will just take some minor modification, bending, prying, etc (any suggestions would be greatly appreciated).

Had a few thoughts about where I want to take this one.

I've decided that I'm going to try and build a cafe seat out of wood, red oak base and speed hump with a stripe of cherry down the middle. I plan on staining it to bring out the stripe, hope it turns out well, but I'm no woodworker and I'm limited on tools - already made 3 trips to Harbor Freight.
 

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As you can see from the tank, it's got a big freakin dent on the sides, and while I was prepping the filler I thought, why not just use this to my advantage and make some knee dents. I have no idea how to go about this though, I've seen some others that turned out nicely, but I could use a few pointers.

And here's what I've got of the seat... i've been too chicken to start carving it down and frankly I'm not really sure where to begin. Any ideas on how to shave it into a 1/4 sphere? You know what I'm goin' for...
 

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Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it, I'm doing all this in the shed in my backyard. After clearing out the 15 years of lawn chairs and irrigation hoses that have been collecting cob webs, and even a hornets nest (that one was fun), I ended up with my own mini-shop.

Here's what i'm dealing with in terms of the exhaust. Not quite sure what's going to be needed to make these fit as nicely as the two pipes I just took off. Got a lot of cleaning to keep me busy in the meantime. Good think i'm unemployed- err... retired.

Also, if you take a look at the accelerator cable, it's uber long. I've been trying to figure out a replacement option, I need to carve off about 12" or so since I'm planning to use the clubman bars on there now. I've heard of people just shortening the cable, but I also know that causes huge potential for fraying. I went to the shop to order a shorter one but they said they could only get me a full stock replacement.

As you can see with the seat... i haven't gotten very far - might go for it tomorrow night after some liquid courage.
 

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Cool man - another 175! Search for a build by "Curbcast". He made some stuff out of would and I'm sure he'd help ya out.

Another member (Nario) showed a picture of some knee dent making tools. And his turned out great.

But let us know if you need any help! Very large knowledge base on here.
 
175's rock. Plus, if you're out for a ride and lose your chain like I just did they are not that hard to push home.
 
well it did die on me when i was out the other day and the battery had no charge to it, so yeah, luckily it's easy to give a rolling start (as I took off the kick-start lever).

Taking the Carbs apart today... maybe I can figure out this idling issue... Anyone have any pointers on shortening an accel cable?
 
Check out MotionPro.com, they can make custom length cables with a lifetime warranty.
 
Fantastic! Thanks for that.

I'm also looking into some rearsets but, as I'm sure many of you know, Brent over at Motobits is not machining new parts for a while. I was wondering if anyone know what the best alternative was for a CB175? His were reportedly the best as they nearly bolted right on. Anyone have success with any others? Preferably something that doesn't require too much modification, I am limited to what I can do in a 7'x7' shed (barely fits the bike).
 
I didn't know Brent was taking time off - hope everything is ok.

I have Motobits rear-sets, and I never really looked into what else might fit. Maybe Raask from Omar's? Might just have to "make" something work.
 
Watching with interest. Hey what shape are your CL pipes in? I'm looking for a ratty set that I can either wrap or paint. I have a nearly mint set of pipes (pipes only no mufflers or shields) that I might be willing to trade for them.
 
diesel450 said:
Watching with interest. Hey what shape are your CL pipes in? I'm looking for a ratty set that I can either wrap or paint. I have a nearly mint set of pipes (pipes only no mufflers or shields) that I might be willing to trade for them.
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If Biensur22 doesn't work out, PM me. I have some extra pipes you could have on the cheap.
 
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