Author Topic: Cafe Project, 1972 cb500-First Bike First Build! (Read 22186 times)

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #25 on:** March 01, 2011, 07:06:04 AM »

My plan for the tail of the bike is to weld in a curved tube to connect the frame where I shortened it. Im not putting in a half hoop, but more of a 1/3 hoop if that makes sense. Basically it will have an hard angle where I weld it instead of a smooth transition from side to side. I'm also going to weld it in at a slight upswept angle.

I think something like a tube bent to about a 10-12 inch radius will work. Does anyone on here have something that would work? Or have any advice on how to get it done without going to a fabricator.

Thanks

Little_Horse · « **Reply #26 on:** March 01, 2011, 07:20:12 AM »

I can bend one exactly like that my die bends radius' of about 10 1/4 $20 + shipping if you are interested.

~LH

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #27 on:** March 21, 2011, 04:41:50 PM »

I am not going to use the stock chrome headlight bracket and wanted to remove it. I am planning on using a smaller round headlight and will make a bracket that holds that when the time comes. I want to use fork boots so I had to do a little problem solving. Since the headlight brackets have the sleeves that go over the fork and hold the boots up I had to come up with something. I was going to have a machinist make something for me but I decided to try and make it.

I did it the only way i knew how. I don't live very close to town so I started out by making a bar of aluminum. I buried a can in sand, then put some dirt in a wheel barrow and made a little pit in the middle. I buried a pipe down to the pit and attached a little blower to the top. I got some coal from the train tracks down the road and lit it on fire and cranked the blower. I melted a bunch of aluminum cans that my Granny gave me and poured the aluminum into the can. It came out kind of messy but it's good enough. The diameter was too big to fit in my jaw chuck on my lathe so it first had to turn it down about a half inch by hand. (it was rough) Did i mention that this is on a woodlathe? Once it was small enough i chucked it up. I have a slide rest that I had to do some rigging but I got it on the lathe. I did the best I could with no real knowledge of what I was doing. I used a forstener bit to drill the hole for the fork tube, that was funny. I haven't ever turned any metal before but I think it came out pretty good. I am going to put three set screws in the lower smallest part under the boot. Now I just got to make a second one.

I'll post up pics of the both of em once its done. But I was pretty excited about this so here's a couple of pics.

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #28 on:** March 21, 2011, 04:42:27 PM »

The rest of the pics.

MasterChief750 · « **Reply #29 on:** March 21, 2011, 06:38:29 PM »

socalenduro · « **Reply #30 on:** March 21, 2011, 07:25:06 PM »

Quote from: Dr. Honda on March 21, 2011, 04:41:50 PM

I am not going to use the stock chrome headlight bracket and wanted to remove it. I am planning on using a smaller round headlight and will make a bracket that holds that when the time comes. I want to use fork boots so I had to do a little problem solving. Since the headlight brackets have the sleeves that go over the fork and hold the boots up I had to come up with something. I was going to have a machinist make something for me but I decided to try and make it.

I did it the only way i knew how. I don't live very close to town so I started out by making a bar of aluminum. I buried a can in sand, then put some dirt in a wheel barrow and made a little pit in the middle. I buried a pipe down to the pit and attached a little blower to the top. I got some coal from the train tracks down the road and lit it on fire and cranked the blower. I melted a bunch of aluminum cans that my Granny gave me and poured the aluminum into the can. It came out kind of messy but it's good enough. The diameter was too big to fit in my jaw chuck on my lathe so it first had to turn it down about a half inch by hand. (it was rough) Did i mention that this is on a woodlathe? Once it was small enough i chucked it up. I have a slide rest that I had to do some rigging but I got it on the lathe. I did the best I could with no real knowledge of what I was doing. I used a forstener bit to drill the hole for the fork tube, that was funny. I haven't ever turned any metal before but I think it came out pretty good. I am going to put three set screws in the lower smallest part under the boot. Now I just got to make a second one.

I'll post up pics of the both of em once its done. But I was pretty excited about this so here's a couple of pics.

umm did that really just happen?
IMPRESSED

bigtexan449 · « **Reply #31 on:** March 21, 2011, 07:41:43 PM »

and that is the coolest thing i have seen in a long while...very cool!

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #32 on:** March 22, 2011, 03:02:15 PM »

OK, here's a little something I left out I did recently. I had a fellow member on the forum make me up a hoop for the back of the bike. So I cut it to shape and welded it in. Still got a little smoothing out to do but it's looking good to me. It looks a little hard edged were the bend starts but this is the way I wanted it. In the end when I make the seat it's gonna look just right, or at least i think. Also, here's a pic of the new shockmounts I made welded in. Made them from 3/8 steel using an angle grinder, belt sander and a drill press. They were TIG welded in by the guy who works on my dad's lawnmowers. The bolts are shoulder bolts, I'm gonna have those welded in place once im done figuring how long they need to be. Ok, enough said. Pics!

Little_Horse · « **Reply #33 on:** March 22, 2011, 03:35:15 PM »

good to see the hoops work out for you

keep up the good work

Toxic · « **Reply #34 on:** March 23, 2011, 04:52:56 AM »

Well there are lots of extremely talented builders on here but that is the first time I've seen someone make there own forge.

Serioulsy impressed.

midnightrider · « **Reply #35 on:** March 23, 2011, 06:54:10 AM »

Wow, that aluminum casting you did is incredible! Have you had some formal training in the fabrications you've been doing, or have you taught yourself?
You're doing a hell of a job, brother. Keep it up!

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #36 on:** March 23, 2011, 08:47:48 AM »

Quote from: midnightrider on March 23, 2011, 06:54:10 AM

Wow, that aluminum casting you did is incredible! Have you had some formal training in the fabrications you've been doing, or have you taught yourself?
You're doing a hell of a job, brother. Keep it up!

HI,
I was an art major in school, actually my major was in crafts. I'm a woodworker and have done some metal fab. But only small jewelry size stuff. The only casting I've done was with pewter, casting into cuttle bone. But as far as the methods on the motorcycle I'm just figuring it out as I go. But I've always been good at making stuff even when I don't know how. I usually look up videos on youtube on how to do stuff or look in a book then come up with some rigged up way I can do it with what I have. I think it's all about mindset, just think about what people made a long time ago with the tools they had, and how nice the end result was. Most of the time the hardest thing about a challenging problem is just convincing yourself you can do it. Once your over that, if you dont have a deadline you can take as much time as you need. Oh, and money, that can be somthing that slows you down too! I also have a 1954 CJ3b, an old Willy's Jeep. I bought a MIG welder and a plasma cutter for working on that. The smallest hobart welder and the small Hobart plasma cutter. I mainly do sheet metal work on the jeep but that gave me plenty of practice and the mindset to figure out problems. I bought this motorcycle for the same reason, I just wanted to know how to work on engines, actually i just really wanted to take one apart, it was fun doing it. I've always liked taking stuff apart to see how it works. I just ended up deciding to go a little farther with this project than i originally planed, I'm sure you guys know what that's like!

dagersh · « **Reply #37 on:** March 23, 2011, 09:22:00 AM »

Doc,

Keep it up. Pretty incredible build going on here!

Subscribed!

Gersh

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #38 on:** March 25, 2011, 06:10:26 PM »

Round Two!

I got around to making my second fork boot collar (that's what I'm calling them) today. From the other day doing it i learned a couple of things so it went a little smoother. Today, I put an aluminum bike pedal in along with the cans. Right before I poured, I cranked my blower and got the aluminum a little hotter. This made the casting a little better. You can compare the pics from the first one. It took me two days to make the first one, and only a couple of hours to do it the second go around. OK, I took more pics, shows the process a little better than last time. Now I need to drill and tap holes for set screws to hold them in place.

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #39 on:** March 25, 2011, 06:11:43 PM »

and the rest......

fastbroshi · « **Reply #40 on:** March 25, 2011, 06:17:20 PM »

Holy moly, John Britten has been reincarnated!

fastbroshi · « **Reply #41 on:** March 25, 2011, 06:20:03 PM »

You might be interested in this guy's machining videos on youtube, do a search on tubalcain, he's got a bunch to watch.

MasterChief750 · « **Reply #42 on:** March 26, 2011, 05:16:23 PM »

and your doing this on a wood lathe? im intrigued, my to be father in law has one just sitting in his garage

bikerbart · « **Reply #43 on:** March 26, 2011, 05:40:15 PM »

this is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time.I am abso focking lutely impressed.

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #44 on:** March 26, 2011, 07:49:32 PM »

Quote from: masterchief1112 on March 26, 2011, 05:16:23 PM

and your doing this on a wood lathe? I'm intrigued, my to be father in law has one just sitting in his garage

It's on a woodlathe, but I am using a slide rest, cross slide what ever you call it. My lathe is old but the speed is very adjustable, so I can dial it to just what I think it should be, think being the key word. I also have a 3 jaw chuck. The first one i made I started out with it between centers and turned it down by hand. I figured out how to get the second one in the chuck and roughed it out with the cross slide, went much smoother. People have made way cooler stuff with way less. I say go for it, if you are even the slightest bit convinced you can make something give it a try!

I've been wanting a metal lathe for a while, this just made me want one worse. I have one that I'm going to be going to look at soon. Also on the look out for a small vertical mill. Then I want to do some more casting. If anyone is interested you should look up lost foam casting. It is super simple and you can really make some cool stuff. I am going to make some rear sets using all this stuff soon.

alrighty then!

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #45 on:** March 26, 2011, 08:01:35 PM »

Pretty soon, im going to be putting the engine back in. I rebuilt the topend and gave it a good cleaning and painted it, polished some stuff. Also rebuilt the carbs. After I get some electrical done, im gonna start it up, or I am going to try. It didnt run when I got it so this will be the first time. So this brings me to my question.

Im looking to get the exhaust pretty soon. I dont have an exhaust at all, what I want is the smallest exhaust you can buy. I would like a four into one, somthing real compact and short. I need some advice on where to look. If you have links, post em up so I can have a look. I dont want to spend too much, but I want it to look good. Everybody probably wants that. If I cant find somthing I like, i'm just gonna figure out how to make it.

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #46 on:** March 28, 2011, 04:58:39 PM »

Got a little work done today, Cut down the bar mount thing. I really like the way it looks. I didn't want to use the lights so I didn't want to leave it stock. If I do lights I'm gonna make something low key. Tools used: Hacksaw, bandsaw, belt sander, polishing wheel (Soft fabric wheel, and soft wire wheel)

Oh, and I whipped my steer tube nut back into shape while I was at it. I think its called a steer tube nut. I need to learn the names for stuff!

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #47 on:** March 28, 2011, 05:39:00 PM »

Also, i need some help. I already asked some of this but I'll put it into a list.

I need:

-New exhaust. (I want something small and short, 4-1)
-New shocks
-Rear sets (if they are too $, I'll make em)
-Taillight (small, round, red-about 1.5-2" dia.
-Headlight (round, something around 5" dia.)

Now if I had a bunch of money to through at this stuff I wouldn't need help. I would just make it rain! But since that is not the case
I'm looking for a cheap but not dangerous option for these parts.

If you know of a website(s) that has a bunch of good stuff let me know, links appreciated.

Thanks for the help!

midnightrider · « **Reply #48 on:** March 28, 2011, 06:07:54 PM »

Quote from: Dr. Honda on March 28, 2011, 05:39:00 PM

Also, i need some help. I already asked some of this but I'll put it into a list.

I need:

-New exhaust. (I want something small and short, 4-1)
-New shocks
-Rear sets (if they are too $, I'll make em)
-Taillight (small, round, red-about 1.5-2" dia.
-Headlight (round, something around 5" dia.)

Now if I had a bunch of money to through at this stuff I wouldn't need help. I would just make it rain! But since that is not the case
I'm looking for a cheap but not dangerous option for these parts.

If you know of a website(s) that has a bunch of good stuff let me know, links appreciated.

Thanks for the help!

http://www.dimecitycycles.com/
They've got all of that stuff. I think they're the best cafe source on the net - they're good dudes and I've never heard of anyone having a bad experience with them.

Dr. Honda · « **Reply #49 on:** March 31, 2011, 05:32:13 PM »

Well.... My cheapness got the best of me! I decided that it would be cheaper and more fun to make my own rearsets. Despite the fact that I will spend way too much time on them!

I've been looking at a bunch of commercial rearsets and homemade ones and I've got a fairly good grasp on a plan. I started by making the pegs, now I have to make the lever and the connecting rods.

Once again i used a woodlathe to make these with my handy slide rest clamped to it and my cordless drill being used as the powerfeed.
This time I didn't cast the aluminum, I bought some solid rod and plate. (Cans are cheaper!!!) but it turns my smoother and the threads are perfect. The threads in my shock boot things I tapped are a little rough, but fine. I think the casting is brittle, something to do with the molecules probably!?!? I got a tap and die set from Harbour freight, it worked great! First time I've ever done it, Now i want to do it to everything.

The brake and shift lever will fit on the inside part with the smallest diameter between two washers.

I think I'm gonna use the passenger peg mounts to mount them, it feels pretty good. But it does put the brake and shift lever pretty low. Chime in on that if you got an opinion.

Oh, and I put the motor in the other day to do some figurin, I'm gonna get a count on what hardware I need and replace it all.
Even though it's coming back out, It made me feel like I was way closer to being done.

OK, enough said. Here's some pics, more to come soon.

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Author Topic: Cafe Project, 1972 cb500-First Bike First Build! (Read 22186 times)