Topic: 1981 CB650 build thread

[ratrod79]

Hi im new to the forum but i wanted to post my build so far.all the work i do myself and im self taught. i bought my 81 cb650 2 years ago for $200. ripped it appart over the winter and did all new top end gaskets, took the frame down to bare metal and painted it satin black, welded a frame loop, chopped the exhaust and welded on some turndowns on it and header wrapped it, threw on some UMI pod filters, pulled off the gauges and center kickstand and a few other unnecessary parts and a ton of other stuff i cant remember.
the bike when i got it. ugly as hell





this is actually the engne crash bar that i cut down and used as a frame loop

[ratrod79]

everything got taken down to bare metal and then i painted the frame with vht satin roll bar paint


i used the foot pegs from a 90's gsxr that i had laying around. i had to cut down the peg mounts and re-weld them and do a ton of grinding to the new pegs to make them fit right



i painted all of the other parts gloss black to give it a nice contrast with the frame and also got a set of wire spoked wheels and some meaty tires. the front tire is a duro tire i got off of ebay and the rear came with the bike. i wish i took some more pictures of the build but oh well.

[ratrod79]

my two loves in one picture



close up of my battery hold down (no its not just the belt holding it on)



and this is my favorite and most recent picture. i go riding all the time. still need to put a seat on it but its not terrible without one haha. let me know your thoughts and any suggestions

 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

That's a good looking bike. It could use some upholstery.

[ratrod79]

That's a good looking bike. It could use some upholstery.

thanks man! i was actually just working on a seat pan today for it. im trying to do all the work myself including the upholstery but i want to do a dark brown leather seat with some stitching i think. ill make sure to post pics