Topic: Nicklopic's CB650 cafe thing (Top end build with modern suspension)

[PeWe]

Eow, That's a good looking exhaust man.

Kemp at Ripple Rock is a great guy to work with too.

Those exhausts have a really good tight fit and very light! No reason using expensive titanium, use a Hindle and skip one sandwich.

I have one on my CB750.
Kemp has been very service minded and helpful. A really great guy.

You'll love the sound, your neighbours too when you handle the throttle with care. Out on the road when giving full, it sings really nice!!!
Or between the houses in the city.  Look for the guys with juice blenders on the car roofs. They will hear you!

[Nicklopic]

HEY GUESS WHAT
I rode it today! Nothing crazy, about 2 miles. Just a couple laps around the block. Nothing wild, but God damn was it satisfying. My neighbors probably didn't enjoy it as much as I did since I didn't bother with the muffler
I assembled everything and got to see it all in one piece and God damn does she look fineeeeee lol
I also made the guide for the chain. I used the UHMW because that showed up days ago and I haven't gotten the TL guide yet. But it works great. Does exactly what it's intended too. I made a support tab for the monoshock, an old tab and a piece of plate I welded up. I drilled and helicoiled the swing arm and bolted said bracket down.

[Nicklopic]

#2

[Nicklopic]

I did 3 separate posts for the pictures so I could keep the resolution just a little better

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Congrats!  I hope you have a blast riding it.

[DaveBarbier]

Yes! Awesome, feels good to take the first tip around the block. Love the finish on the engine covers.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nick,

What is the difference in length between the original swingarm and the new one?  Between the front end swap and the rear swingarm, I'm curious as to how this bike handles.  Please share a ride report once you give it some spirited rides.

[Nicklopic]

If anyone's got the measurement of a stock swing arm feel free to drop it. The original is burried at the moment and Im way too lazy to dig it out right now lol
The TLs swing arm is about 20.25" from pivot to rear axle as it sits now. I'm prepared for needing offset triples but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I do need to sit down and check rake and trail but I only just got the rear together

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

If anyone's got the measurement of a stock swing arm feel free to drop it. The original is burried at the moment and Im way too lazy to dig it out right now lol
The TLs swing arm is about 20.25" from pivot to rear axle as it sits now. I'm prepared for needing offset triples but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I do need to sit down and check rake and trail but I only just got the rear together

Did you simply make a shock mount and use the TL donor shock, too.  I have no knowledge of the dark art of suspension set up, but I am curious what adjustments you may or may not need to make this all function and handle well in the twisties.  It looks cool.

[Nicklopic]

So the TL1000s use a weird rear suspension. It has a damper, and a spring carrier. No monoshock. The shock I'm using is from a car 929rr. It has adjustable bump and rebound and a res. It's a linkage set up on the 929 so the spring might be a bit too stiff, however I do have the the monoshock at an angle which should decrease the effective spring rate and dampening. By how much? Who knows. Ill get to it. It has travel numbers that work great so I can always have a new spring made from Pac or someone. First impressions seem like it'll be okay though.
I'm by no means an expert and barely have a clue what I'm doing with any of it. I'm learning as I go and just winging it lol

[DaveBarbier]

Rake, trail and offset is a whole other thing and I would recommend to get as close to the stock 550 as you can. I had Devin at CognitoMoto make me custom triples so my bike has the same geometry as stock. I can see your bike is leaning forwards but no idea if that will affect anything in a detrimental manner. But this is with you off the bike, it might level out when you get on it.

As far as setting up preload and sag for your weight it’s not that hard. Here’s what I followed on race tech’s website.

https://www.racetech.com/page/id/30#3

[Old Scrambler]

This build caught my eye...........Good advice on suspension ..........hope the 'muffler' will be short ala CB500X

[Nicklopic]

I've gotten a little bit done lately, been waiting on parts and trying to deal with online classes for school. Not a fan of those at all.
But I got the offset sprocket from D&G. It's... Okay, it's a bit rough and it seems the retainer plate was an afterthought because there's no way I can use said retainer without cutting it down which worries me a little. But I have ideas. I did some other stuff little stuff, but I didn't snap any pictures so I'll get to that another day.

****But I need some advice on my rear master res. I'm wondering if it's location in the second photo is high enough since there will be a little bit of a bend in the hose. I do also have the res shown in the 3rd photo that I could use, it would probably straighten said bend out while mounted at the same height.

[Nicklopic]

 So I got my swing arm back from my friend Thursday. Today I got it all assembled again. He did an awesome job, the tab he made by hand and is like perfectly symmetrical. He used 4943 filler rod incase anyone wants to know for their own projects. Also shameless plug, if you need fab work done on long island, he's a good dude. Has an engineering degree and super hands on and works timely. His Instagram is https://instagram.com/otties_metal_talk?igshid=wpoj8l5vs0ht
I got a new plate mount that replaces the axle slider block so it's all sleek. Now using an RK 520 X-ring chain. The chain cover was cut and clearance to clear the big offset.
Now the bad news, I'm a moron and didn't attach my messnermoto filters right and lost one on my test ride at dusk. Rerode my route and couldn't find it. I'm pissed. Ill look some more tomorrow. Stalled out on the way home, probably from running like #$%* without a filter and the starter acted up. Super sluggish to turn over had to push it a few hundred feet and it end up cranking and firing after a few more tries. Might need to look into that a bit.

[DaveBarbier]

Dude, looks awesome. Bummer about the filter though!

[Nicklopic]

Would you believe I actually got it back? Lol
I took pictures of the filters and traced my route out and posted it on some neighborhood Facebook page with a $20 reward. Yesterday afternoon a lady messaged me after finding it intact! Even delivered it to my job! Apparently she found it on my own street in a ditch lol

[RAFster122s]

Nick, great news and very lucky. There are good people out there and with all the ugliness of late I think many are drawn to make a difference for the good.

[Nicklopic]

Personally I just think she was enticed by the $20 but I don't give a dang what her motivation was because it worked out for both of us haha

Also, where do you guys like to get jets? JetsRus? I'd like to order a few mains because I'm definitely lean at WOT

[DaveBarbier]

Yeah, I like Mike at Jets R Us, he’s a good guy.

[Nicklopic]

Yeah, I like Mike at Jets R Us, he’s a good guy.

Littt, I ordered 3 steps of mains and 1 step in pilots so I have them. I know the mains are a lean, a little choke helps up high but things are obviously off. Wideband will get hooked up by the weekend so I can see how the AFRs really are

[DaveBarbier]

There’s always the option of going to a dyno Like Rick Stetson up in Northborough, MA.

[MRieck]

There’s always the option of going to a dyno Like Rick Stetson up in Northborough, MA.

That certainly takes the guess work out of it. Rick knows what he is doing.

[Nicklopic]

I'll end up having it dyno tuned eventually but I know I'm going to want to ride it a lot so I want it in the ballpark. Plus I need to make sure there's not unforseen issues but I don't want to be worried about melting a piston while doing so lol

I also want to order the powerarc cable so the timing curve can actually be modified when tuning happens

[Nicklopic]

While looking at another topic and playing on C5s website it seems C5 says the old ignitions don't like temperatures above 200°... Kind of ridiculous given its supposed to be stuffed inside a semi air tight compartment on an air cooled bike but whatever. I ordered a ignition cover and a sheet of unifoam. I think I'll try to cut an air inlet and outlet to try to keep the module cooler before any issues possibly arise since summer is here. Plus I need to recover the pod that took a tumble the other day to fix a couple knicks lol
Tomorrow I'm going to get my wideband set up, jets should be showing up Monday so I can toss those in once in.

Currently my carbs are only bench synched, should I be synching them everytime I change jets? (I have the motionpro synch set on my shelf, just haven't used it yet)

[DaveBarbier]

I think I forgot you’re using the C5. Oh man, after my problems with it I’m really hoping yours works! Keep in mind I still have my kits to fit the Dyna S If you remember mine was shutting off after about 1 hour into a ride at like 85° outside temp and up. Eventually it failed completely and I went with the Dyna and it’s been working perfectly.

As far as playing with the ignition curves I only tried the 4 built in ones. And at the dyno we found that the least aggressive map gave the most power. That’s the default map 1. But I think I remember member h.lanooy did dive pretty deep with custom mapping and got some good power.

Regarding the carbs, no need to sync every time you swap jets. Only when you play with the needles/slides.

Are you in the city or are you more upstate? Maybe sometime we could get a ride going. But I ain’t riding into the city, haha