Topic: THE CB400F cafe racer ( Seat Build, Chrome resto & speedo setup )

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

hi thought i would start  by presenting my good old bike, it's a 1975 Honda cb400 four super sport. I bought it last summer for 10.000 Danish kroner, just under 2.000 USD. i have since done a lot of stuff with it, and because i just joined this foum a few days ago i will update you on what i have allready done.


This is how it looked when i first got it home last summer

it wasn't long before i found that it was very easy to flip the handle bars to get a bit of the cafe racer look.




a bit of nice matte Black paint


clean up the brackets for the handle bare with a grinder.


how it looks on the bike




This was only the first part of the progress

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

i'm uploading some more Pictures to photobucket right now

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

after i installed the new bar end mirrors, i decided that i the chrome and wheels should be polished. because it actually looked good when i got it, but 5 hours and a tube of autosol polish it made a World of diffrence.



front fender.


doing the front Wheel




this how the front wheel ended up looking after the polish and rubber spray.




the exhaust got a good rub Down too






this is how it look on the bike Again, i really like the shine it that it got now.



i did a Little Photo shoot of the bike afterwards.






standing there it looks like a real super model..




better stop now my computer is starting bug a bit.

[Bankerdanny]

Welcome.

I would say you got a heck of a good deal, especially with the original exhaust system in such good condition.

Please don't cut it up for a cafe. Find yourself an original seat, give it a fresh paint job, and enjoy your beautiful bike.

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

sorry to disapoint you Bankerdanny :/ the plan is a cafe style but i'm not gonna cut or destroy any of the original parts i have saved them in a box so that it can be put back to original with in a couple of hours  hope that gives my project a bit more recognition from you and by the way the exhaust is not the original but a Marshall Deeptone 4 into 1.

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

the first series of Pictures are taken in my parents drive way but this the shed that have for my bike, i can't call it a workshop because there is not Space for much in there. that does not hold me back for getting my fingers dirty in there through the Winter.



it can get pretty crammed up in there


I needed a bit more Space so i made a second floor


I seek inspiration all over the internet but one day i came across another Danish guy that had this very cool headlight I wanted one like it so i wrote to him and he said i could get it at Ebay.de (Germany) so ordered one and I’m very happy with the much stronger light that i produces, compared to the original.
Also on EBay I found a pair of very nice clip ons that i also ordered for the bike and here i got both the clip ons and the head light on.



the headlight have a led Halo as DRL, it gives a really cool look to it.


Top view.

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

After i had the exhuast sytem of the bike the first couple of times i was realley fed up with the old rusty bolts that held on the sytem. therefore i changed them to some cooperative allen bolts.





i'm sorry i don't have any Pictures of my making them but as you can see i redid the light i the speedo and tach.

it is an led strip that i found on ebay, it fits just perfect inside i think it is with 24 LED's.

[iron_worker]

Your polishing job really brought some life back into that bike.

I love the lines of a 400F exhaust. So swooping and clean. 

IW

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

IW yes it really did but over the Winter it has gotten some rust spots so i have just bought some new chrome cleaner powder on ebay.co.uk i will present it here how well it Works, i'm really excited to see if it is as good as they said on youtube.

[iron_worker]

Well the problem with cleaning up rusty chrome is that once it has rusted it means that there is already porosity in the chrome and the rust is coming through. Now the base metal is exposed ... though maybe not visibly ... so the rust will keep coming back. 

But if you keep it well maintained it should last much longer than if the rust were just allowed to progress naturally.

IW

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

i think i will try to give it some kind of protective coat with some Wax or something i will check the options

[iron_worker]

Wax is fine for the fenders and such but not so good on hot engine components.

IW

[andy750]

Hey very cool exhaust! Can you post a link for the Ebay seller who has those headlights - I like it a lot! Did you have to rewire or use a relay?

Btw you must have picked your day for the photoshoot as i cant believe its so sunny in Denmark

thanks
Andy

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

hey andy

well yes the weather was verry good that day, but we do actually have a lot sun in the summer ( a lot of rain to though ) i think i will do a new shoot this summer.

here is the headlight you can get with diffrent mounting styles. http://www.ebay.de/itm/MOTORRAD-H4-KLARGLAS-SCHEINWERFER-5-3-4-ZOLL-SCHWARZ-MIT-LED-STANDLICHT-RING-/300873272140?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item460d71cb4c

no need to rewire, i believe it was just plug and play i even think the colours mach to.

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

i got these nice little discrete turn signals on Ebay too, i think they were only 9 $ or so. i made at bracket for them in the workshop at school. instead of painting it i Sticker bombed it like i did with the speedo and then clear coated it.



it bolts on to where the brake line is attached.




this is how the Led halo looks in the headlight.


this is the pattern it makes.


had a Little visitor one day.


i also modified the bracket for the speedo and tach so they didn't hang out so far from each other.

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

i considered just buying a cafe seat, but they are expensive, so when i one day had some time in the after noon i went home and took my bike to the school. at school there is a workshop that have some mashines that i don't and i started making a seat out of some kind of poly.......... foam.

for those who don't want to read this i also have a video of it. How to make a Cafe Racer seat ( 1975 Honda cb 400f )

i started by taking Peace of thin plywood, and measured the Width of the bike in the front and in the back.

[/img]http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a571/Mikkel-s-h/DSC_0186_zps9685a183.jpg[/img]


i sawed of the end so it was nice and round as i wanted it, and made hole so the rear brace thing would fit.





Next i glued on a piece of the foam and started shaping it with a coarse planer and a thin saw.








I thought that it was to tall so i shaved it Down a bit.


Much Better.


Glued one more piece of foam on for the front part.



shaved it Down so it mached the rest of the seat.


when i was happy with the shape i wraped the seat in this food foile stuff i had and some tape.




i took a Phat Peace of wire i had and taped i along the edge of the seat to make the seat kind of hollow.



the profile of the seat will be some thing like this on the bike.

[Frankensteins Bride]

Very nice start to your seat! Can't wait to see your finished product!

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

As i told in the last post i ordered some chrome polish called Polian from England and here are some Photos of what it did to my exhaust

here is some before Pictures.







the powder is just mixed with Water and it is pretty much just mix and play





The muffler before


After


All of the headers after a good polish.


the front fender

[Powderman]

Nice, much better result than I would have expected.

[Islandstar]

After i had the exhuast sytem of the bike the first couple of times i was realley fed up with the old rusty bolts that held on the sytem. therefore i changed them to some cooperative allen bolts.





i'm sorry i don't have any Pictures of my making them but as you can see i redid the light i the speedo and tach.

it is an led strip that i found on ebay, it fits just perfect inside i think it is with 24 LED's.

I'm sorry too!!!

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

yes i was really surpriesed too, there are some videos on youtube where Polian i demonstrated, but i did't believe them untill now

if you want to do it you self you can search Google for som Pictures i think. but it is not that hard all you do is take a flat head skrew driver and pry the chrome trim open all around the edge, and when you are done squeeze the trim on Again

[Glaede]

Hej, fedt projekt :-) Fedt at se nogle flere danskere herinde.. Hvor er du fra i landet?

Enough danish, nice project! :-)

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

jeg bor i Esbjerg nu men flytter til Svendborg om et par måneder

thank you

[Mikkel_H_ Denmark]

last week i re did my speedo setup and removed the tach for a "less is more" kind of look.



just made this nice Little bracket and bolted it on where the ignition was placed .





i'm really happy with this improved look



and yester day i droped of the bike at my mechanic, he is going to change the cam chain. and i hope the bike will ride as good as new

[Viktor.J]

You'r doing great !

I Live in sweden and would love to get some more info on that chrome polishing "Polian"
Where in Denmark are you ?