Topic: CB750 to GL1000 front end conversion *UPDATED* pics.

[eurban]

Jinx-
Wonderful work on the custom fork caps.  The stock steel GL pieces with their plastic caps are definitely in need of an appearance upgrade!

[Jinxracing]

Thanks for the compliment eurban; I was motivated by necessity more than anything else. The GL fork tubes were a freebie, but they were missing one of the caps and I had no luck finding one on eBay so just decided to make my own.

[ic455]

Ok, I searched "GL1000 fork swap" and wound up here   Been seeing a bike sitting by side of road about 20 miles from my house for awhile.  Stopped today to see what it was and it's a '76 GL1000.  Looks to be complete, although mostly disassembled.  Still has giant front fairing, hard bags, king/queen seat, everything.  Guy wants 200 bucks for the lot.  I'm thinking about going after it with my trailer Saturday, as the first thought that came to me was "can I put this dual disc front end on my 750 K6?"   I guess by the info I see here the answer is yes?

[mkramer1121]

Yes, it will be a direct bolt on replacement using the GL trees.  The trees are wider however, so you'll need to beef up your steering stops a bit.  Also, the forks are longer, they'll need to be pushed up through the tripple trees.

[Noel]

Those fork caps are looking fantastic! I'll have to drop by soon and get an eyeful. Actually charged up the battery and rode around a little bit last week. Really ought to sort out the last of the CB500 project. Too many hobbies...

[Jinxracing]

I guess this is turning into my "project" thread so here are some pics of an underseat battery box I made out of 1/16" aluminum to hold the undersized TR5-12C battery from www.batteryspec.com. I still need to make the two side pieces, but it feels pretty darn rigid as it sits right now. I'm hoping that with some flat black paint on the sides it will almost disappear from the final side view of the bike.

[xtalon]

WOW!!!  That's impressive.  Not that I have the skill to do anything like that... so I don't need a step by step how-to, but I am curious how you made that?  It looks pressed.

--xTalon

[Jinxracing]

Thanks X, but it's actually my first attempt at sheetmetal work. My neighbor gave me an old press brake/shear/slip roll machine. This is the type that bends the metal by pressing the metal down into a V-shaped groove which explains the scars on the metal about 1/4" on either side of each bend. Aside from that, it worked great. I made cardboard templates just like I've seen them do on OCC, then measured again and transferred the measurements over to the aluminum. Shear, shear, bend, bend...it's mostly just being careful and using common sense. Making curved pieces seems like it would be a whole 'nother deal though. 

[bill440cars]

          Boy Jinx, that IS impressive work! Very nice indeed!  Sure makes me wonder what you'll be up to next?   It's cool to see fabrication at work. Keep up the good work guy.

                                                      Later on, Bill

[Jinxracing]

Thanks for the compliment Bill, nice to hear. 

Now that I've got a bit of an idea how to bend the stuff, my next project is an oil tank made from brass sheet and brazed together. Gonna be tricky, but I think I can pull it off.

[Noel]

The battery mod is going to be killer. What are you going to do with the rest of the electrics?

[Jinxracing]

The battery mod is going to be killer. What are you going to do with the rest of the electrics?

Thanks dude. The rest of the electrics are going to fit under the tank (I hope). Anything that doesn't will get stashed somewhere else...under the seat hump, in front of the coils, in the headlight, etc. I'm using a tank that has a bit more room underneath it than a stocker so my fingers are crossed.