Nighthawk Bobber - CB550sc

clem

clem

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DTT BOTM WINNER
Well, I hope that I don't get the axe for having a DOHC honda but here we go. I bought the bike back in the early 90's for $500 and it was in good condition. I rode it for about 2 years then it started having charging issues and I parked it. I figured that I would tear the bike completely down, clean it, then troubleshoot the electrical when it was going back together....It never got put back together! About 5 years after that I tried an ill faded attempt at a mild "Kong" job only to go unfinished due to no welder. That brings us to the early part of this year when I got the idea to do a full hardtail bobber even though it is a shaft drive.
Here is how it once looked:
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After the Konging!Lol
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The bobbing process:
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I've got the engine torn down right because I found water in the oil. I realized that I left the engine on the floor of my dad's shop back in 98 for a hurricane and it got about 6" of water in the shop!
Hopefully I'll get it back together soon.Looking to get the bike on the road by April.
 
I spent most of the afternoon soda blasting the engine cases today. After being covered from head to toe in baking soda I actually feel refreshed.
I was looking at the cyclinders today and I'm hoping a good honing will fix them up then I'll have to hunt down a new set of rings. Going through this thing is showing me how bad it actually is to let an engine sit for 10+ years.
 
Does anybody have a good recomendation for removing the old gaskets? Tried the NAPA gasket remover but that's a mess in a can.
 
I used a scotch bright pad to get rid of old gasket. A razor blade can work but you have to he very careful not to cut the aluminum and ruin your mating surfaces. Cool build BTW.

Nice to see a good frame built with a Jig Etc. Are you going to run the shaft exposed? It would be neat to coat it in a nice powder colour that contrasts with whatever you do for a frame colour.
 
Thanks for the tip on the gasket removal. I really thought that the soda would take it off but it didn't. The shaft will be exposed like an old BMW. As far as paint, I was shooting to do the tank and rear fender like the old elsinore honda's from when I was a kid. I think they were silver with the black strip down the middle, the frame will be black and I'm going to blast the rims and clear over the aluminum. I thought about putting some powder coat on the shaft but other than black, I'm clueless as to what may look good on the shaft.
 
Erskine said:
Very nice bit of engineering there mate :)
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You talking about the unistrut frame jig? Haha

Maritime that would be cool to have some pinstripes on the shaft! There is a housing at the end for the worm gear that's thicker, would be cool to paint a little number plate on there. I think they were green back then, I'll have to find some of my dads old pictures of his cr250.
 
Thought that I would post a pic of the custom triple clamp that Dave Munz over at Munz Engineering made for me
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MotorbikeBruno said:
Looking real slick. Love the "old" honda dash (that is in incredible condition!) And that triple clamp looks awesome!
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Thanks Dude, Dave Munz was easy to work with for the triple clamp. He'll do one off customs at reasonable prices. The thing that tripped me out about the old Honda instrument light cluster is that the lower portion is from a 2008 CRF450R motocrosser and the shape and bolt hole pattern are exactly the same. I was thinknig that since there is close to a 30 year difference between the two parts that they might not line up but they fit perfectly. Since the bike had no cool factor when I bought it I figured that I would take stuff from different era hondas and mix them up on this build. Hey I may soda blast that indicator light cluster and polish the raw aluminum.
 
CrescentSon said:
I so want you to pull this off. A nice Nighthawk bobber would fit in well around here.
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Yea, I want to do it right. I've seen alot of bikes that just look like they were hacked up and I don't want to do that! This site has some of the best garage/home builds that I've seen and that's a big reason why I'm here.
Does your name refer to the Cresent City?
 
Well, I set the case with final drive to make sure I had the right angle on the shaft. I figured that I would angle it to where it is when I was riding the stock frame. It lines up perfect.
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Blasted the front rim at work today
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Then I recieved my tires
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I got the rims back from the powder coat guy, he charged me $50 a rim.
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Then proceeded to chip them....sucks cause the guy wants $225 to redo them.
Then I started putting the engine together
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That part is going pretty good so far but then I disassembled the starter to repaint it and when it was done I dropped it on the cement floor, not good. I hope that this is the last of the bad luck for this build and that I can get this thing rolling soon. Peace.
 
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