Topic: Logan's Reward - CB500 and CB550 Cafe Projects

[madmtnmotors]

I'm concerned about those bends in the rear brake rod, under pressure the rod will now want to flex, and under extreme braking it may bend rather than transferring force to the brake.

The bends in the rod are bad. What's worse is the fact that the rear brake rod is backwards. The rear brake rod is in compression (push) as currently routed. The rear brake rod needs to be in tension (pull) when activated. The actuator rod bracket at the brake lever should be on top (similar to the stock configuration), i.e. rotated 180 degrees.

[madmtnmotors]

Looks to me at this point that you might consider putting the stock brake pedal pivot and linkage back in place, then linking your rearset to the stock brake pedal pivot.

[Restoration Fan]

Good catch, Wilbur.  I do indeed have it backwards.  Thank you.

The arm is configurable on the rearset so I can remove it from the bike, remove the circlip, put the arm up on top (and adjust the angle of the toe piece as well) and then put it back on the bike.

[mystic_1]

One tip that applies to both sides is to try to match the angles on the actuator arms on either side of your linkage rod.

In other words, strive more for this:

|______|

Than this:

\______|

or this:

\______/

mystic_1

[Restoration Fan]

 But the last one looks like a touchdown. Who doesn't like a touchdown?
 

[RAFster122s]

Any work lately to report?
David

[Restoration Fan]

I just started back working on it today, as a matter of fact.  I bought a new Motion Pro throttle body and mounted that, along with re-mounting the mirrors.  I also went to Bill Benton's and got the proper chain adjusters and key inserts for the bike. 

Those, the front brake calipers, the front fender and the throttle cables will all go on tomorrow.  Assuming all of that goes without a snag, I expect to try & crank it either Wednesday or Thursday.

[RAFster122s]

Well, where's the Weekly update??? 
(Busting your chops...)   

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Ah. Give him til Thursday - see above.

[calj737]

Ah. Give him til Thursday - see above.

He posted "Wednesday or Thursday" on May 30!!! Pete's Sake, its June 8 already!!!! He's probably loitering over at Bill's with googly eyes at the preparations for the Race weekend. Gonna have to change his avatar to "Voyeur" 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Ah. Give him til Thursday - see above.

He posted "Wednesday or Thursday" on May 30!!! Pete's Sake, its June 8 already!!!! He's probably loitering over at Bill's with googly eyes at the preparations for the Race weekend. Gonna have to change his avatar to "Voyeur" 

Damn! Didn't catch the posting date. I guess Ron is due.

[Restoration Fan]

LOL.  Yesterday was my wife's 50th birthday so the boys and I had been kind of busy.  She decided to invite family up for the weekend and "honey do" projects have been consuming all of us this past week.

Logan and I did manage to get the new throttle cables sorted out yesterday and got the carburetor spring installed to make it snap back into position.  Rear sets have been removed for now and the original footpegs and controls are on, mounted and working.

Projects around the house and guests this weekend will likely invade on my time to finish up the wiring but I intend to try and sneak in some time either late at night or early morning.  Because I really want to have it ridable by Thursday of next week.  Logan takes his MSF class on Tuesday and Wednesday.  He can run by the DMV and pick up his license on Thursday and I want this bike ready so that the 2 of us can go for a ride...him on the 500 and me on Stella. 

(He's also going to take a ride on Stella at my insistence...just so he can appreciate the fun I've been having all this time...from all of the hard work he put in with me.)

Either way though, the bike is ready to try being cranked.  I have only bench synched the carbs and haven't even tried to set the timing yet but I never removed the points plate from this engine so I'm hoping the timing is still set from when it last ran.  We shall see.  But I thought it would be cool to let my 2 brothers-in-law who are coming up to visit this weekend be here when I do the first startup for the bike.

[calj737]

Yesterday was my beautiful young wife's30th birthday so the boys and I had been kind of busy.

FTFY. Man, you live dangerously 

[Restoration Fan]

Yesterday was my beautiful young wife's30th birthday so the boys and I had been kind of busy.

FTFY. Man, you live dangerously 

LOL, good point.  Truth be told, she seemed to enjoy that one more (& worry less about it) than when she turned 40...err.. 20...oh you know what I mean.  It's all good though.

We repainted the dining room, the connecting wall into the living room and she had started painting in the kitchen while Logan & I replaced the chandelier in the dining room with a new one and also installed a light in the kitchen to replace the one she took down a few months ago because she "just didn't like the way it looked".  Anyway, since we spent so much time on her birthday yesterday I ended up doing some work from about 7 until almost midnight last night.  When I came upstairs, there was still about 2/3 of the kitchen needing paint and most of it was the 'cutting in' work around the ceiling that I'm fairly proficient at and she is not.  So I went ahead and painted everything in the kitchen and got it finished so that it would be one less thing for her to worry about today.

She just got up a few minutes ago to get coffee and was pleasantly surprised by me having stayed up late to do that for her.  So I figure I'm pretty much golden for a few days anyway...at least until I find something else to screw up.

[calj737]

So I figure I'm pretty much golden for a few days anyway...at least until I find something else to screw up.

Or publicly reveal that she is actually older than 30... How's the black eye and bump on your forehead from the frying pan healing up anyway?

[Stev-o]

50 is the new 40!

[Restoration Fan]

I really do not like redoing things...which anyone who followed the Stella thread must find hilarious, since we ended up doing everything on that bike 2 or 3 separate times.
Anyway, the carbs are back off the 500 because I apparently left off a piece when I put the carbs back together.  Specifically, the piece that goes between carbs 2 and 3 for the carburetor return spring to hook underneath.

The carb spring wasn't really working and so I went and pulled the set of carbs that are being held for the 550 and looked at those.  I then realized that it was no wonder the spring wasn't working, since I had it hooked underneath the wrong thing.  (I thought it seemed awfully sketchy and didn't really seem to be making the spring stretch very much).  So anyway, I have to find that piece and put it on the carbs today, then remount the carbs and hook the throttle cables back up again.



In the meantime, I plan to use the time while they're off the bike to more easily finish up the wiring today and get all of the wires into the black weather shield.


Front wheel still needs to be taken off and get the brakes mounted but I did finish clear coating the front fender and everything is ready to go there.  Baby steps but I definitely think I will get this thing cranked this week.  Not in time for Logan to ride it tomorrow but maybe he'll be more motivated to help me finish it up when he gets home after completing his MSF class today.

[Restoration Fan]

One last circuit to wire on the 500 now and I hope to finish that tomorrow after work.

And I have determined that my welding desire and theoretical 'knowledge' far outpaces my technique & skill.  Still have some fill in welds to do but at least it's holding together like I want it.  It might be the single ugliest example of welding ever performed...but it's better than my first try yesterday. 

[calj737]

A little tip for you: if you're new to welding, put your tacks in the underside where they will show less. Also, you want the metal super clean. Use a ScotchBrite on a die grinder to polish it up, then wipe with acetone. Then tack.

[Restoration Fan]

That's a great tip.  I still have to go back and finish welding the spots in between and then I'm going to do the grinding to make it look better.  They just need to be smooth at the end because I'm going to paint the seat pan the same color as the tank and fender.

[calj737]

Just curious, what process are you using? And equipment? Some are much easier for new welder so than others.

I had to laugh when you said "grind down the welds..."  My buddy who taught me to weld (he is an extremely talented welder) always busted my chops with, "You are a grinder, not a welder". 

[Restoration Fan]

I have an Eastwood 135 MIG welder.  Since this is literally the 2nd thing I have ever welded (other than my practice, test pieces), I freely admit to knowing little about what I'm doing.  But I chose the Eastwood over the same sized Hobart and Lincoln because positive customer reviews, but primarily because of the infinite gauge dial on the Eastwood.  The Hobart and Lincolns each had an A, B, C, D, E setting so it didn't allow for as fine of granularity of voltage on the thinner pieces like I'm using.

The seat pan bottom is made of 16 gauge sheet metal and the rear cowl is 22 gauge.  So I'm starting on the heavier gauge and trying to ease the puddle onto the 22 gauge without blowing it out as I'm making the tack.

Because of the 2 differing metal thicknesses, I went with the settings slightly below the recommended setting for the 16 gauge, using the .25 wire with C25 gas that I'm using.  I found out that wasn't strong enough and ended up bumping it up to the recommended setting for the 16 gauge.  That seemed to work well.  But I had heated up the metal and made enough splatter mess that I put it down for a bit to let the metal cool.  I plan to pick it up at that point tomorrow.

[calj737]

And how much gas are you flowing? It looks like you're low on your shielding gas.

Something about MIG: MIG always starts cold because there's no advance arc to preheat the metal. It's pretty tough to tack two different sized pieces together, even for more experienced folks. But you're attacking it the right way; puddle on the 16, wash onto the 22 and get off. And welding on a curve is even harder. Easier to weld downhill than up. Wash upwards with a reverse "C". Even count 1,2, wash 1, wash etc. 2 count on the 16, 1 count on the 22. Might help...

[Restoration Fan]

Great catch, cal.  I hadn't even thought about checking the flow on the regulator because I was focusing on all of the other stuff.  It was set on the minimum 5 L/min on the regulator.  The gauge goes from 5 - 30 L/min.  What would you recommend for the C25?

[calj737]

At least 15-20. If you are indoors, and no breeze, 15 should do. Given your differing metals, might try to bump it up just a touch and try again. The gas really helps protect the metal from blowing out too quickly.