Topic: Chris' CL350 Cafe Racer Build (Update 09.03.07) FIRST RIDE

[chrisf]

Hi:

I spent the holiday stiffening my CB350 frame. Being new to bikes, I didn't realize the CB350 frame is made of unit steel. Well, it turns out the frame needed a lot of work. Keep in mind that the following pics are raw. many of the welds need to be dressed out...

First, I chopped off the back of the frame and welded in a support bar. Hopefully, the tire won't hit it at full bump. You can also see where I boxed in where the battery used to be. The bottom side of this will be .060" 6061-T6 sheet structurally riveted using aircraft rivets.


Then, I welded a triangle tying the seat bar to side tubes. You can aslo see where I welded up the seat tube and backbone


Next, you can see kinda a side view where I cleaned up much of the unneeded brackets and such. On the CB350 frame, there were a bunch of spot welds where the unit steel meets a tube. I drilled these slightly and gave them a rosette welded. The rosettes still need to be dressed smooth.


Finally, the work I have left to do on the frame.


Whew! Looking at the pictures, it doesn't seem like I did a lot. But it is very messy shaving down those seems, welding in temporary bridges, etc. I think I still have 4 more hours in the frame: both shaving/welding and dressing the welds I did. Who knew such a little frame would take so much work!

Again, remember that I still need to clean up the welds and make everything pretty, but you get the idea...

--Chris

[kghost]

no pic's....they must be busted?

 

[Jay B]

Looks great. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[kghost]

Looks good.

Tho it does beg the question...what motor you putting in that thing?

Looks sturdy enough for warp 9 now! 

[bill440cars]

              Agreed, very nice work indeed! I'm with you, I hope you don't have a problem with that tube
       between the upper shock mounts too. I think this is about the most involved activity on the frame
       of a build that I've seen. Keep up the good work and, by all means, keep us posted.

                                                          Later on, Bill

[ohiocaferacer]

Chris,

Looks like your on the right track with welding that frame up, but you might want to reconsider that upper shock support that you welded in. The tire rides up in that area all the time......we always have black rubber marks on the frame up in that area.

You may want to consider an arched rear frame brace similar to what my friend Terry has done to his CR450 frames over at Team Hansen Honda. Gives you the clearance and braces that rear part of the frame.

 

Later,
Greg

[chrisf]

Hi:

Thanks for all the responses. The motor is going to be a regular CL350 motor for the time being. That should be enough for a light little bike. When it gets to feeling slow, I'll get a new project. But I've only ridden a bike once, and that was last week. So a twin should be plenty for right now.

I updated my website with these new additions. This weekend, I hope to finish the frame: finish the welds and sanding the ones in place. Sounds easy but it is increadibly time consuming.

Greg: I'll mount the swing arm this weekend and test for clearence. But I think you'll be right. Your buddy's frame has a dramatic bend. Does it need to be this high? On your bikes, does the tire hit the seat?

--Thanks, Chris

[ohiocaferacer]

Chris,

Never had any issue with seat clearances.

Definately keep us posted on your progress....looks good.

Greg

[bill440cars]

         Hey Greg,  I figured you'd pop in on this one. How are your projects going? I haven't been to your site lately. I need to get over there and check some fork specs for an idea I have.

                                                        Later on, Bill

[chrisf]

Will the tire pass through the fame at full bump? My current thought is to cut the shock tube support out and weld in 1/4" steel plate, then run a 3/4" tube across the top. Basically, if I move the cross tube up an inch or so, will I likely have contact with the tire? That's why I aksed if the rear tire ever hit Greg's seat.

--Thanks, Chris

[chrisf]

OK, another update. Sorry about the large pics, I have them optimized for my website...I forgot to mention that I ordered som Tommaselli clip-ons ans grips. I need to order some tapered neck bearings tomorrow and hopefully some Tommaselli rearsets this week. We'll see if I can get away with it or not!

Anyway, some pics (also on my website www.fiaccone.com):


This picture shows the smoothed out, boxed in rear section. Again, the bottom side of this will be riveted 6061-T6 sheet. I will use some tiny, dry cell batteries about the size of a deck of cards. These will site between the frame rails and seat. For some reason, I decided to sand on the welds where the unit steel meets the tube. This was stupid and now looks horrible. I'll have to figure a way out of this one. The worse of it is that the welds looked fine!



Here's the back section smoothed out. I didn't worry about dressing the backbone much because 1.) it wouldn't be seen mucn and because it is such a highly stressed member of the chassis. I wanted some weld bead in there. I'm pretty proud of the boxed section by the shock mounts. I sanded that down with a 3" air sander, then finished the profile with a hand file. It was very time consuming!



Another side pic of the frame. Noticed where I welded in the seat post. I may go back and weld a strip of steel under the lower rear motormounts.



Another wide angle of the same. I chopped the rear section short because I'm going to do the layup of this seathttp://www.fiaccone.com/CafeRacer/OthersCafe/large/Cafe2.jpg next weekend. It should look the dog's balls when it's done.



Here's a picture of the swingarm where I chopped up the chain guard mount. I also welded in some of the open ends. Who knows if it needs all this strength, but I cannot hurt.



As always, you can read more about it here: http://www.fiaccone.com

[seaweb11]

I have a couple of stripped CL350s lying around if you need anything drop me a line

[chrisf]

Hi All:

This is a duplicate from what i put on my website, but I figured you guys might want to have a look....


First, WTF is this thing? It threads through the neck and has the ability to be tightened. If it isn't important, I'd like to get rid of it.


Chopped the gauge mounts off. I'm only going to run a tach, so I'll use the old handlebar mounts for the tack bracket.


I sanded it with the air sander, then finished the shape with the file. Then, my buddy polished it up.


Here he is polishing one of the forks. I'll finish the fork he started and polish the other one this week (hopefully).


This is where the neck lock went. I chopped it off and hand filed the profile.


Moulded the seat. It's a long story what happed and best read on my website.


Another pic of it curing. The mould was for a CB360 and is a bit too short. I'll mould the front section this week. Then, I'll bond the front section and the rear section to a sheet of 6160-T6 and cover the slightly padded area with suede or alcatera. It won't be as light as I wanted, but it will do.


I also bought these headlight brackets for $50. I got the polished type.

Comments and concerns always welcome.

--Thanks, Chris

[Klark Kent]

clearly 'nil satis nisi optimum' with you
keep up the good work and keep posting pics.
good luck
-KK

[Roach Carver]

that thing you want to ditch is the steering dampner i believe. Helps get rid of the head shake. I think i would keep it or plan on replacing it with a newer version (hydraulic)

[chrisf]

Hi All:

This is all last weekend's work, but I finally got access to my website...First, the rear view of the seat. I had to make the seat in two sections and bond them together (Not shown in these pics). Obviously, it needs to be trimmed out and sanded down, but you get the idea.



The shape might be a bit controversial; who knows? What are your thoughts?



And yet another view. The seat itself will be covered with a thin layer of yoga mat foam, followed by a thin layer of suede/alcatera. The rearmost hump and the front hump will be British racing green. The frame: semigloss black.



Again, since these pictures were taken, I've trimmed and bonded the front and rear section together with a sheet of aluminum. It is very stiff and weighs maybe 2lbs--much lighter than some of the other seats I've seen out there. There is still some work to be done on the seat. I need to trim up the sides and give it a good sanding before paint. Right now, the tank is going to be either the high temp aluminum/ceramic coated gloss or Britich racing green. Hard to decide.

I'm also almost done polishing my forks. what a PITA.

--Chris

[ProTeal55]

Looking killer , like the seat and the tank graphics 

[bill440cars]

that thing you want to ditch is the steering dampner i believe. Helps get rid of the head shake. I think i would keep it or plan on replacing it with a newer version (hydraulic)

         Absolutely right, that is a factory steering damper like 71cb suggested. It is a good item to have, whether it is that type or a hydraulic item.

                                                       Later on, Bill    

[masonryman]

The hump behind the tank looks like it might wear on the jewels if you know what I mean

[chrisf]

Hi All:

Spent Sunday in the garage. I managed to get the front end mocked up pretty well. It still needs a few adjustments, but I'm really happy thus far with how it's turning out.

I also started painting the engine with VHT 127. I have a green screen studio at work that is full of 500 watt lights. Hopefully, a few of them will heat the engine up enough to cure the paint. I'll know more on Tues or Wed.

Instead of duplicating a allt he pics from my website, please have a look at my actual website instead. The Superbowl starts soon!! As always, comments and concerns are appreciated.

www.fiaccone.com/CafeRacer/Cafe.html

--Cheers, Chris

[chrisf]

OK, Here's some more...
First, what is this peg under the grease nipple?



Here is the aluminum underseat pan. This will be structurally riveted and hold two small batteries and the ignition relay.



Here is a side view of the same. I used clecos to hold it in place. This will get removed today and set of the shelf until after the frame is painted.


Here is the stock starter cap all trimmed up and dressed with a green roloc disk.


Then wet sanded with 400 and 600 grit. I wanted the casting marks sanded out.


Followed by a polish.


Here's the before:


As always, better commentary is on my website. Have a look; enjoy!

--Chris

[bill440cars]

 
          chris, That is one Fantastic job you are doing there. You've got some great features going on this bike! That tray for the electrics and batteries, the tach mount and especially the cap to cover where the starter went.   Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

                                                  Later on, Bill  

[ProTeal55]

Looking tight , keep up the great work....

[Green550F]

That little post is a CB shifter piviot point!
I'm doing a CL to Cafe too! Not getting as serious as you on the fame mods. I'm not planning on actually racing it. Just a play in town poser!

[chrisf]

A little update of the finished result. Not bad for 1.5 hours worth of work and $2 in bolts. I might make a sleeve out of 6061-T6 tube that hides all those threads...