Topic: Foale frame CB750

[Terry in Australia]

Good news on the wheel sales there (some pople have strange tastes)

Ouch! I've got the same Henry Abe wheels on my K1 Cliff.

I know...

I just sold them to a guy in Japan for $1050.00 AUD plus shipping.............. Thanks Tom!

[maduncle]

Brilliant sale there Terry - that's half the repair bill covered.

[RupertB]

A package arrived from that nice Mr Swarbrick this morning - I haven't unpacked it all as it is going to Stafford on Thursday to be nailed to the engine in due course, but meanwhile here are a couple of pics - looks like a performance system for a CJ250 but as I say it is only part of it!
The one pic is a view down the inappropriately named 'silencer' - bear in mind these are the baffled ones. Should be really mean-sounding, and are legal as long as they are 'no louder than whatever was fitted as standard when the bike was made'. Good job it is a Foale Special, not a whispering CB750!

[Greggo]

Very. Nice.

[Terry in Australia]

Berry nice Tom, are they stainless steel, or do you have to paint them? Cheers, Terry.

[RupertB]

Mild steel, not stainless - easier to bend to final shape as the silencers need a but of cosmetic surgery to put a slight bend into them to get the angle right. Once the dry build is over anf the final assembly starts (roll on the day!) then they wil be sprayed black. They look great in the plain steel colour as they are, but would soon become a delicate shade of rust if left, sadly!

[Terry in Australia]

Mild steel, not stainless - easier to bend to final shape as the silencers need a but of cosmetic surgery to put a slight bend into them to get the angle right. Once the dry build is over anf the final assembly starts (roll on the day!) then they wil be sprayed black. They look great in the plain steel colour as they are, but would soon become a delicate shade of rust if left, sadly!

No worries mate, hit them with a light coat of zinc rich etch primer which'll stop them rusting, and make the paint stick. Cheers, Terry.

[mosquito1960]

Hi
New to the forum. I have just bought a foale frame which has been messed about at the back I wonder if I can get some measurements of the seat tubes as I need to rebuild them and the cross brace over the rear wheel.
 

[RupertB]

Pics on the forum please! Most interesting, have sent you a pm for further odds and sods.

[RupertB]

Latest stuff - not the highest quality resolution, but the Grimeca calipers are now mounted on the forks using custom-made brackety things, thanks to Gremlin Racetech of Staffordshire. My opinion of them is extremely high, partly because of the speed and care in their work, but also because they haven't sent the bill yet.
I also had a phone call today from Holtworks who are doing the tank, I should get the frame back around the end of next week, and the tank and seat a couple of weeks beyond that. Once I get the frame there will be a mad dash to NBS in Stafford and a 3 way meeting between me, Nigel of NBS and Gremlin Racetech should see a rapid dry build to locate rearset hangers and exhausts and line everything up, followed by a rapid disassembly for powder coating to take place. Watch this space I suppose...

[Terry in Australia]

G'Day Tom, nice work there mate, I haven't seen many Grimeca's or Brembo's etc bolted to CB750 forks, but it looks like they've done a good job, so I might have to "borrow" their idea, I've got a box full of Brembo calipers here that I'd love to install on my K1. Keep up the good work, have you finished your renovations yet? Cheers, Terry.  

[RupertB]

House renovations are mostly done - just one room to decorate and that can wait, lots of details to do including quite a lot of gloss on the woodwork, but four dogs make glosswork a dodgy undertaking. Quick dry gloss is rather crappy but has to do, as slow dry would just be rubbed off at Jack Russell to Labrador height!
I went for Grimecas partly because they are a lot cheaper than Brembos and have a wide gap that will fit the Honda disc so didn't need to buy new discs. I know first hand how bad Honda discs are, but the ones on the Foale are drilled and the pad material is so much better than when I had my 500/4, also this bike won't be going out in the wet so should have more than adequate brakes. Also I got inspired by the photo of Tony Foale's first bike (allegedly) which should be shown below - he had Ceriani forks but spot the calipers.
The custom made caliper brackets cost under 200 pounds which I reckon is a bargain for the work and skill involved - I would have struggled to make them out of cardboard!
Spring is now well and truly here anyway - we had an hour of hail and thunder today and everything is soaked. It isn't even warm hail!

[RupertB]

Well - nearly there metalwork-wise anyway. Tony Holt of Holtworks (Essex, UK) is doing a stunning job doing the tank and tail unit, and sent me some pics of the tail unit a few minutes ago, one of which should be attached below. He is doing the tank in the next couple of days, and the dry build should be ready to do on Saturday. More pics as and when they get to me. Cheers all.

[RupertB]

Just been sent another one of the underside of the seat - note the adjustable mounting points so I can move it back if I get fatter!
Also a pic of the frame with plates welded on for tank and seat support. I have sent some of these to Tony Foale - just hope he approves of what I am doing to one of his babies!

[maduncle]

How could Tony not approve? You have cleaned up the frame and got rid of that bodgy rear end on it - looks great and the seat pan is a work of art too!

[RupertB]

Had a reply from Tony Foale - he likes it. No risk of a Foale fatwa then!

[Terry in Australia]

Very nice work Cliff, and a nice fit too. I never knew that Tony Foale was an Islamic extremist, but I suppose that explains why he hasn't done much in recent years, those terrorists are as busy as one legged rednecks at an Afro American kicking contest! Cheers, Terry.

[maduncle]

Very nice work Cliff, and a nice fit too. I never knew that Tony Foale was an Islamic extremist, but I suppose that explains why he hasn't done much in recent years, those terrorists are as busy as one legged rednecks at an Afro American kicking contest! Cheers, Terry.

I wish it was my seat pan Terry!

[Terry in Australia]

I like the one on Tony Foale's bike in that pic above Cliff, and I'd use a fibreglass Ducati Imola replica tank, because I think they're about the coolest tank ever made, and I'd fit the original Egli fairing that I've got in my garage. Cheers, Terry.

[RupertB]

Progress has taken a hit at the moment - frame is on its way to Stafford and swing arm is there, dry build almost ready to go but unfortunately my father in law has had a massive declinein his health and after three miserable days in the local hospital is now in a hospice just down the road. Sadly I imagine work will resume on the project in a pretty short space of time. Nigel of NBS in Stafford will carry on with the dry building and I trust his judgement completely, but things are not good at the moment. More news when it comes, don't lose heart!

[RupertB]

Incidentally if any of you ever see a pair of Earles forks, fatherin law was a mate of Ernie Earles and was the man who turned the spindles for the very first pair of these forks. He was also a pal of 'Smokey' Dawson of DMW motorcycles, and racing mechanic to Ken Wharton in the 1950s. He has the odd distinction of having fractured his skull many years ago when he went through a car windscreen. What was odd was that he went from the outside in, being on a motorcycle before the accident, and inside the car after it. He was 91 last November, and at 88 years of age went out on the back of a Gold Wing on a couple of rides with the man who sold me the Foale. He would have liked a ride on a motorcycle, but I suppose a Gold Wing is as close as you can get to the real thing....

[Terry in Australia]

Sorry to see your deadline is slipping Tom, I guess you'll just have to console yourself by riding one of your other beautiful bikes for the time being. All the best to your father in law mate, it's always hard on the family when age and illness finally catches up with a family member. Cheers, Terry.

[RupertB]

Bad news is that the father in law died yesterday - all very peaceful and inevitable, and thanks to the staff in the hospice who are without exception utterly wonderful. So enough of the sad stuff, father in la was a toolmaker and engineer, so let's get on with the project. The tank and tail unit are finished and en route to Staffordshire for the dry build. Well the frame is, the tank etc will be put on a secure shelf until final assembly, but here are a couple of pics of things - one of the finished tank, the other stuff is the tank before the top went on so you can see the oil tank. Looks like someting Brunel made but smooth with the cover on. Just got to pay the bill, which is a bit alarming but craftsmanship is not cheap, and this is a real piece of craftsmanship I am delighted to say.

[ivanhoew]

gosh thats a stunner .should be in pride of place in the modern art museum.

[Terry in Australia]

G'Day Tom, firstly, I'm sad to read about your father in laws passing, my sympathies to your wife and your kids. The tank looks superb mate, quality costs, but no-one minds paying for stunning work like that.

I worked for a plant hire company when I first retired from the regular army, and my Operations Manager's standard reply when a customer questioned the quote for a job was, "It costs what it costs". I still use that saying now when my wife asks why I spend so much on my motorcycling hobby and it seems to shut her up, I know it means nothing, but it also means everything.   

I see the crap that Benji turns out using pounds of filler to get his trademark "Dead Porpoise" shape and then I see a tank like yours and I "pity the fool" who buys a Benji tank. Out of interest, what's the fuel and oil capacity? Cheers, Terry.