Topic: The Hot Mess - 1975 CB550F1 Frame/1981 CB650 Engine

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Yes, the CMR Racing parts are exceptional in quality.  Brent can attest to the quality of the swingarm (he's been racing with).

The tank has almost a cobra hood look to it.  Here are some older shots of it when Denis at CMR was mocking it up with a R6 front at his shop.

024_zpsd9c04445 by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

025_zpse0262279 by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

026_zps35e551ec by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

032_zps69c5cf36 by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

[FunJimmy]

That tank and seat combo looks great. I prefer a more traditional seat hump but they're huge work to fab out of aluminum. Cost would be prohibitively expensive.
Maybe I missed something but why have you retained the passenger foot peg hoops?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

That tank and seat combo looks great. I prefer a more traditional seat hump but they're huge work to fab out of aluminum. Cost would be prohibitively expensive.
Maybe I missed something but why have you retained the passenger foot peg hoops?

I figured I would explore using what I already have.  I am not retaining the passenger foot peg hoops, but was trying to figure potential mount points for both rearsets and the exhaust hanger bracket.  So that's why they are on there until we figure out where to hang metal.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Going to use my Metal 7 West aluminum fender, too.

All of the bodywork will be aluminum.

4_inch_wide_cafe_front_smooth_zpsfce1ed6d by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Bars will be adjustable Renthal Clip-Ons

p-28068-01_zpsxxx50cda by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

[Bigsam302]

Bars will be adjustable Renthal Clip-Ons

I have those and they are nice. Don this project is looking really good. Keep up the good work!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Bars will be adjustable Renthal Clip-Ons

I have those and they are nice. Don this project is looking really good. Keep up the good work!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

It'll have to be fast and nimble to keep up with yours.

[Bigsam302]

Bars will be adjustable Renthal Clip-Ons

I have those and they are nice. Don this project is looking really good. Keep up the good work!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

It'll have to be fast and nimble to keep up with yours.

The way you are going, you will not have a problem doing that...well, maybe just a little

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Sam,
Yours will definitely have more grunt and top speed.  I just want mine to be akin to a supersport.

[GV1390]

Great work and style, as usual Don!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Yes.  I got my replacement hub from Devin at Cognitomoto.  Since I upgraded GSXR forks from 2007 (2005-2010 Generation) to 2012 (2011-2014 Big Piston Fork), I needed the matching hub.  Devin was nice enough to swap me a newer model hub.  Can you believe this was once a solid block of billet:

IMG_0883_zpszolcgai3 by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

IMG_0884_zps2kftquq3 by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

IMG_0885_zpsy1ylfq5o by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

Now onto wheel building.

[calj737]

Looks like you opted to have him wet blast it too!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Looks like you opted to have him wet blast it too!

It looks like it, but this is what you get when you specify bare or no finish.  Devin offered to anodize or powdercoat it, but since I am anodizing both front and rear hubs at the same time (to match color/finish), I opted for the bare metal.

[Trad]

This bike is crazy good Don!!! Are the tank and seal alloy?

Edit: Looked close at the tank. The welds say that's alloy.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

This bike is crazy good Don!!! Are the tank and seal alloy?

Edit: Looked close at the tank. The welds say that's alloy.

Jared,
Thanks and yes the are. CMR fabricated the tank, and Ian Halcott fabricated the seat.

[slikwilli420]

Hey Don, whats the scoop with the AP calipers you were going to use?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Hey Don, whats the scoop with the AP calipers you were going to use?

I am still trying to make them work for my stockish 550. Since this bike has a modern USD fork, I am using the matching Brembo monoblock calipers.

[DaveBarbier]

Has anyone used these lights? They have a white side facing LED to illuminate a license plate and then amber turn signals -- and mount the license plate to the bike. 



I was thinking of using these on the back and something discrete on the front -- maybe the Motogadget handle bar-end mounted LEDs.

Hey Don, just saw this post. Any updates on the turn signal situation? I have a pair of these I could send you, but they're not amber, they're red. I have to double check I still have them though. I use amber ones for my front signals but I just disconnected the license plate light. Let me know if you're interested buddy!

[DaveBarbier]

Still got 'em if you want 'em.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Thanks, Dave.  I picked a pair up in February cheap on Amazon.  ($26 for the pair)  Not sure if I will run them or not.

I just sold my older 2007 GSXR forks/calipers/rotors so I bought new rotors for my 2012 GSXR front end!

I still have to figure out whether I can use my (used) Ohlins steering damper.  It has a shorter throw so it would need to mount (like a modern bike) near the steering head.

I also bought some NOS carb insulators for the early 1979-80 head so the spacing will be correct to 750 carburetors.

Dave, are you still planning to run the 1981-82 style head? If so, I have a spare 1981 rebuilt head and a fully-rebuilt of CV carbs (by Harisuluv) so they look brand spankin' new.

[DaveBarbier]

Thanks, Dave.  I picked a pair up in February cheap on Amazon.  ($26 for the pair)  Not sure if I will run them or not.

Dave, are you still planning to run the 1981-82 style head? If so, I have a spare 1981 rebuilt head and a fully-rebuilt of CV carbs (by Harisuluv) so they look brand spankin' new.

I like the look of my flex strip brake light. Maybe that's something you could look into. I think mine's made by Truflex or something, not even sure if that's the manufacturer, haha.

Yes, I am running the '82 head. A couple months ago I drove up to MRieck's place and picked all my stuff up. Ported, bored, Serdi valve job, vapor blasted...it's a thing of beauty. I also got brand spankin' new CR26 specials from Godffery.

Thanks though!

You seem to be coming along nicely. My motor is just sitting disassembled because I'm waiting on funds to get a cam. Once I get that I can do the assembly.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Thanks, Dave.  I picked a pair up in February cheap on Amazon.  ($26 for the pair)  Not sure if I will run them or not.

Dave, are you still planning to run the 1981-82 style head? If so, I have a spare 1981 rebuilt head and a fully-rebuilt of CV carbs (by Harisuluv) so they look brand spankin' new.

I like the look of my flex strip brake light. Maybe that's something you could look into. I think mine's made by Truflex or something, not even sure if that's the manufacturer, haha.

Yes, I am running the '82 head. A couple months ago I drove up to MReick's place and picked all my stuff up. Ported, bored, Serdi valve job, vapor blasted...it's a thing of beauty. I also got brand spankin' new CR26 specials from Godffery.

Thanks though!

You seem to be coming along nicely. My motor is just sitting disassembled because I'm waiting on funds to get a cam. Once I get that I can do the assembly.

So Jeff was able to custom rack you a set of CR26s for the 650?  IF so can you PM me cost details?

[Camrector]

You could probably go with 29s with a MReick 650 head.

[DaveBarbier]

Thanks, Dave.  I picked a pair up in February cheap on Amazon.  ($26 for the pair)  Not sure if I will run them or not.

Dave, are you still planning to run the 1981-82 style head? If so, I have a spare 1981 rebuilt head and a fully-rebuilt of CV carbs (by Harisuluv) so they look brand spankin' new.

I like the look of my flex strip brake light. Maybe that's something you could look into. I think mine's made by Truflex or something, not even sure if that's the manufacturer, haha.

Yes, I am running the '82 head. A couple months ago I drove up to MReick's place and picked all my stuff up. Ported, bored, Serdi valve job, vapor blasted...it's a thing of beauty. I also got brand spankin' new CR26 specials from Godffery.

Thanks though!

You seem to be coming along nicely. My motor is just sitting disassembled because I'm waiting on funds to get a cam. Once I get that I can do the assembly.

So Jeff was able to custom rack you a set of CR26s for the 650?  IF so can you PM me cost details?

PM headed your way. But as far as custom racking, you mean spacing? No, they werent spaced for the 650, at least the '82 head. I actually did it just now because you just reminded me, haha. Easy peasy.

[DaveBarbier]

You could probably go with 29s with a MReick 650 head.

MRieck recommended 26's for me with the same 2.5 stage port. I love the .5 by the way, haha. He recommended that because I wanted a more streetable bike with a more stable idle. No doubt the 29's would scream more in the top but you sacrifice idle and putting around.