Topic: '78 CB750K cafe-"ish" project - Ottawa

[Kemp]

Kind of put a crimp into your plans! Sorry, just couldn't resist

[Buster68]

From the beginning, I had wanted to drill my brake rotor, both from the practical desire to lighten the rotating mass and to clear rain, and also because the old solid disk rotors look so dated and dull. I downloaded a few templates, but for whatever reason none of them printed to the correct size, so I decided to bust out the compass and protractor and work out my own pattern for fun. It proved to be a lot trickier than I initially thought to work out a pattern that looked good, and yet still proved symmetrical all the way around a 360 degree rotor.



I eventually worked out five concentric circles spaced at 9mm spacing, and then holes working outward at 12-degree intervals, and after the fifth (outermost) hole, I backed up the next one 3-degrees.



The finished pattern, taped to the rotor. I used a hammer punch through the paper to mark the rotor itself. You may notice that i have reversed the normal look of the pattern flowing "backwards" on many rotors - I kind of like the look of it "clawing" forward. (this is of course the right side of the rotor)



I used my drill press at a very low speed (probably around 300rpm), and used cobalt bits and lots of oil (or in my case, because I am cheap, I used the old palmolive trick). I drilled pilot holes using a 5/32" bit, and then the main holes at 5/16"

[Buster68]

Kind of put a crimp into your plans! Sorry, just couldn't resist

I can't believe I missed the opportunity to use that.

[snowman]

Buster, really starting to take shape. I've been wanting to drill my rotors as well, but the few shops I've contacted they politely told be that they're not interested by quoting me absolutely ridiculously high prices.

I guess I will starting to look if I can pick up a second hand drill press and do it myself, until then I will call a few more machine shops.


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[Buster68]

Buster, really starting to take shape. I've been wanting to drill my rotors as well, but the few shops I've contacted they politely told be that they're not interested by quoting me absolutely ridiculously high prices.

I guess I will starting to look if I can pick up a second hand drill press and do it myself, until then I will call a few more machine shops.

Machine shops are probably quoting you a lot because, although it isn't extremely technical, it is really time consuming. I am admittedly slower than a trained machinist, but I have probably got at least four hours invested in my brake rotor already.

I know there are shops that specialize in this, where you mail your rotor to them and they do them for around $100 or something (don't quote me on that), but all of the ones I have seen are in the States, and of course living in Canada you will end up doubling that on the shipping back and forth.

Having said that, you are only two hours away in Montreal, so if you find yourself in Ottawa and are willing to spring for a couple of cobalt drill bits, I would be happy to have you over for a beer and help you out with my drill press.

[snowman]

" Having said that, you are only two hours away in Montreal, so if you find yourself in Ottawa and are willing to spring for a couple of cobalt drill bits, I would be happy to have you over for a beer and help you out with my drill press."

Be careful I might just take you up on the offer.  Seriously, I'm in Ottawa a couple times a month because we're doing a program with DND and if I can't get a shop to drill my rotors I will take you up on the offer.

Very much appreciated and we will touch base in the new year, thanks Rob.

BTW, here's a teaser of what I'm planning for my build (Xmas present to myself).



PS. What kind of beer do you like?  That's what I like about this forum, members helping fellow members.


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[Buster68]

" Having said that, you are only two hours away in Montreal, so if you find yourself in Ottawa and are willing to spring for a couple of cobalt drill bits, I would be happy to have you over for a beer and help you out with my drill press."

Be careful I might just take you up on the offer.  Seriously, I'm in Ottawa a couple times a month because we're doing a program with DND and if I can't get a shop to drill my rotors I will take you up on the offer.

Very much appreciated and we will touch base in the new year, thanks Rob.

BTW, here's a teaser of what I'm planning for my build (Xmas present to myself).



PS. What kind of beer do you like?  That's what I like about this forum, members helping fellow members.

Snowman, let me know when you are going to be in Ottawa and we will set something up. I can save the pattern I made, or if you have something else let me know. I would bring at least one each of a 5/32" and 5/16" cobalt drill bits, as the rotors are pretty hard on the bits.
Nice tank and seat. When I was still considering doing a full-on cafe (before I also decided to take on an FXR project this winter) I was seriously considering getting an aluminum tank made by Roc City down in Rochester.

[Buster68]

So I got my seat back from Rob and Salvador at General Upholstery here in Ottawa. First time I have used them, but won't be the last. I was really impressed. As a reminder, here are the designs I was playing with:



And here is how the seat turned out - real tuck-and-roll, not just simulated with stitching either. Has that '70's dirt-bike look that I wanted:









Of course, with that and the front brake done (plus the fact my crimpers arrived in the mail this morning), I don't have a lot of excuses left to avoid starting the electrical work, which I hate...

[onetruepunk87]

Wow, That seat came out great! Looks awesome on the bike too.

[snowman]

One word on your seat, sweeeeet. Wow they did a great job, I may have them do mine when I'm ready. What material did you use for the padding and covering?

Also if you wouldn't mind keeping the pattern you used would be great. I will PM you my contact information so we can get in touch.


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[Buster68]

One word on your seat, sweeeeet. Wow they did a great job, I may have them do mine when I'm ready. What material did you use for the padding and covering?

It is the original seat pan (I wanted to retain the hinge and lock setup), and the upholsterer shaped new padding on to it - slightly firmer than the stock stuff, and obviously a little thinner over the passenger area, in order to keep the overall seat flat.  The upholsterer, Salvador, is from Mexico, and really knows his craft.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Wow, That seat came out great! Looks awesome on the bike too.

Yeah, definitely what he said!!

[snowman]

This will give you an idea of what I am planning for my seat.

 


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[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

This will give you an idea of what I am planning for my seat.

 


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Looks good, snowman -- like a Twinline, Ian Halcott or New Church seat.

[Buster68]

This will give you an idea of what I am planning for my seat.

I had originally planned to do a cafe tank and solo seat, but then when I started the FXR project I realized that the CB was going to be my "two-up" bike, so the plans changed to something a little milder for this bike. I had a full cafe'd XS650, and to tell the truth it was a little annoying not being able to ever take passengers, or even strap a bag to the back. I am looking forward to trips on this CB, which is another reason for keeping a full seat and the grab rail (great for strapping bags down).

[Buster68]

So one of the things I was grappling with (like many others) was where to relocate my ignition switch. With the new gauges and gauge bracket, there was no place for the large Honda ignition switch. I figured that i would have to build a bracket for the frame under the tank, and then re-wire the whole thing. But then I was playing around, and realized if I built a small bracket I could mount it using the existing wiring on one of the new headlight mounts.

Here is the bracket I made:


Here it is on the headlight bracket:



And with the ignition mounted on the bracket:

[apetersonboy]

How did you mount your ignition switch under the headlight ear? Pictures? Looks cool

[Buster68]

How did you mount your ignition switch under the headlight ear? Pictures? Looks cool

Can you not see the pictures? There is a series of four pics that show exactly how I mounted it under the ear. let me know if they aren't showing up for some reason

[Buster68]

My buddy Lee came over and gave me a hand wiring up the indicator and warning LED's, as well as the lights for the gauges. Some small tricky wiring, and I am crap at soldering, so it was great to have his help



They look pretty nice all wired up, and it will the first vintage bike I have had in a while that actually has a neutral and oil lights...
(yes, the triple tree is not attached yet - I have to remove the gauges to put the pinch bolts in before I do final assembly)

[Buster68]

So, I am pretty terrible about keeping build threads up to date, especially as it gets into riding season. I can't even remember how many things I should have updated details on, because now the bike is essentially done. But I will try to at least bring the thread up to date.

Here are some pics of the finished bike (well, mostly finished - there are always a few details that still need attending to). As I said at the beginning, this wasn't an extreme rebuild, not was it is full-on cafe racer conversion, but it is certainly a fun bike to ride now, and my daughters appreciate the fact that I left a passenger seat on it so I can take them for rides:



In these two first pics you can see the TC Bros licence plate mount. I had to have a stepped sleeve machine up to get it to fit the lower suspension mount (they are normally designed for Harley axles, so the mounting hole was way too wide). I used a couple of licence plate bolts with built-in LED's to illuminate the plate



The front brake with the drilled rotor and the stainless lines:



The triple tree, clip-ons, gauges and LED indicators: (I ordered a custom-made clutch cable, which arrived way too short, so I obviously still have the original long one on it)

[Buster68]

A couple of more pics:

A better view of the hand-hammered aluminum fender and machined LED rear lights, as well as the cut-down stalks for the small turn signals (used the same signals up forward as well - from Dime City Cycles)



A bad photo of the Nissin brake master cylinder and lever, which I had to go with to clear the triple tree mount - the stock master was just too bulky. I like the look of the new one though



The seat is probably a smidgen taller than I wanted, but they did a beautiful job on the upholstery, and it is very comfortable



And here is a shot of my teenage daughter on the bike, from our ride this morning when I took her out for coffee (she looks much cooler on it than I do!)

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Great looking resto-mod.  Very tasteful changes.

[Buster68]

Ok - final photo: took it out for a ride tonight along the Ottawa River