Topic: Garage_guy_Chris's CB450 cafe

[Garage_guy_chris]

I know its not a SOHC 4 but i thought i would post it anyways for peoples winter enjoyment.

I bought this bike for my 24th birthday in 2011 and built it over the next year. Its been done and on the road for the last few years and i absolutely love it. Hopefully before too long i will get off my butt and do a build thread for my 750 which is like 70% done....

Feel free to ask questions i will answer as best as i know, ive probably forgotten some of the details.

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Well here it is my official build thread, things have been quiet as its rather cold so i thought i would get on here and share what im doing, and done thus far.

Here is my blank canvas, bought it as my birthday present, its a 1971 CB 450 ss, i got it in semi running condition.  Started by draining a bunch of gasy oil out of it.





after that i screwed with it and got it started and running, wanted to make sure it wasn't a hopeless cause... Besides a strange carb issue, were the carbs were unsyncable, she was a solid runner.

Next stop was the rusty gas tank will i find pin holes upon cleaning?





Yuk, after only hours....



Initial tear down



Here i mounted a old set of dirt bike bars upside down to get the cafe feel going, and the creative juices flowing

[Garage_guy_chris]

Next the rear seat bracket and frame section disappeared, and a new extended frame was added



Now whats a cafe without a rear pod thingee, heres my initial efforts,





after a while working on this, i didn't like the direction it was going not to mention it was just way to freakin big, so enter a $9.99 beat to S*&T ebay special





BTW the theme of this project is broke college student, so money isn't going to be thrown around on expensive stuff, my main sponsor is Team Ebay Racing, LOL, plus doing it on the cheap gives me more of a challenge forces me to learn new and interesting things like "the rear set dilema"

heres the problem, the passenger pegs are a little to far back and up for my liking and i couldn't find anything universal i liked, I toyed with the thought of building rear sets but thought that maybe there was a better way, I dont have any machine tools, either so. After like a month of hunting around and scouring the internet i found a solution in the form of 98 CBR 600 F3 rear sets they have an aluminum mount plate folding pegs and STEEL shift and brake levers suitable for modification with my welder... Also a nice little bonus after i got the rear sets i discovered that the lever that goes on the engine meant for the 98 was a perfect fit on my 71 so that solved one dilema,

I got brave and cut the stock passenger peg brackets clean off!









Im a bit anal and like things welded up straight and true and accurate so heres my overkill jiging for the welding....



The lever was a perfect fit on the shift shaft but... it was gonna majorly interfere with the exhaust... so new issue, which i anticipated buying the rear sets i did.....



so out came the welder....

[Garage_guy_chris]

Oh i just realized i forgot a pic this is how she sits at the moment, its been a little chilly to be out in the garage so not much has been happening i have been ebaying  aquireing all the needed parts to finish her come warmer weather

[Garage_guy_chris]

 i spent the whole long weekend in the garage and got a whole pile done.....

I got to thinking that the handle bars might be a tad low so....





After that little adjustment I started on my rear pod again i thought a nice 3" exhaust was in order...should be interesting right?



ok not really an exhaust, it was for frenching in the 1937 ford LED tail light i scored on Ebay a few weeks ago



Although it looks sorta done its not theres still mad work to go into this pod first....





Hey you guys like my last little sub-project i was getting sick of pounding sheet metal over the edge of a work bench....



Bent the .065" sheet metal fairly easy, i think its limit is about .080" ?



Part of laying out the mounting for the pod to my newly constructed rear section



Lastly the retainer for the tail light



Ok so last thing was getting the headlight back on there, really wanted to get an overall look at what i have going on....





And finally here are the overall's from 3 days worth of work.....



If you noticed the hole going into the rear pod i decided it would be an awful waste of space to leave it empty, so im gonna utilize it as storage, and to carry some spare parts and tools should i ever break down....





Here I am, i wish it was running and going somewhere....

[Garage_guy_chris]

the battery and electronics are gonna be under the seat in a tray about 4" - 5" deep. Thats the plan anyone familiar with the 450's knows those air filters and carb placement aren't nice to work with i got something in mind im just waiting on some NOS K&N pod filters and i need to make a fake battery plug to mess around with placement and arrangements to tell if it will work

As for my little sheet metal brake i do have some photo's and here they are:

here is the hinge detail there  3/8"  thick flat bar the bolts are there to jig the assembly for welding they were later drilled to 1/2" and replaced with drill rod. they are also upside down,



here are the hinges situated on the base which is a hunk of 6" x 2" channel about 2" long.







now I added the folding bar thing this is cold rolled flat bar i think its 1/2" thick the cold rolled was used because the edge is nice and square and dimensionally accurate, while hot rolled is rounded and scalely.

the top clamp is a piece of 2 1/2" x 1 1/4 angle with a piece of 1 1/4x 1 1/4 angle welded on it for strength



heres a close up of the end detail:



this is it finished there are 2 NFF 1/2" bolts for the clamp. Now if you look above the coke can you can sorta see the back check which is there to keep the clamp from pushing back with heavier sheet metal in it.

[Garage_guy_chris]

Ok so now that i have a sexy rear section i need a place for the battery and electrical stuff, anyone who knows the 450 will know the stock air filters and the battery placement are majorly problematic for aftermarket filters and the cage is ugly....., and the selenium rectifier is ghetto, and my stock wiring is a cats breakfast....

heres the next journey.....cut and paste time card board is great!





Magic turns cardboard to 18g sheet metal



Now the front plate..







Next I used a pipe for the radius's on the inside.





when i place them i tack weld on the inside then sand the edge down smooth with the other facet,



then CAREFULLY stitch weld the perimeter.





Next i worked out the mounting points



Heres the battery placement,



And.................... the finished product....

[Garage_guy_chris]

Ok so its been awhile and ive been retarded busy with a new job, haven't had much time to work on the bike    but have made some progress last weekend (long weekend) i got my new exhaust sorted which i was quite worried about the bends cost me $100 and i didn't wanna mess them up also if i couldn't pull off what i had in mind i donno what i would do as there aren't any commercially available exhausts for the bike. but anyways heres some photos, enjoy

First thing i did was replace the hoop thing in the rear frame,







a few weeks before i bought some 1 5/8" dia 16g exhaust mandrel U bends from the local performance shop with the intention to make a exhaust, my concern was i needed two pipes perfectly mirrored  which i knew was no easy task only working with u bends once before making the exhaust for my rice powered corolla.

first thing first, i needed exhaust collars for the engine, i didn't intend to use the factory pipes or butcher them for the collars so with the aid of my little newly aquired 9x20 lathe i made 2 new collars out of some DOM steel tubing, took a while to machine but came out perfect and flawless.



then like an idiot i got into my building groove and forgot to take pics but heres the pipes while im mirroring the end section



heres the close to finished product with the shorty mufflers i got a stone age ago,







Now im over the hump last bit of fab is the seat pan then its time to break it down for paint and finishing

[Garage_guy_chris]

OK Now Ive gone and built a gauge mount and im not sure what to think of it, im on the fence, to me its kinda breaking up the lines of the bike, kinda over complicating it what do you guys think?  Be honest! I donno if i should scrap it or not. Im on the fence?!?!?!







Heres without the Fairing thing

[Garage_guy_chris]

Between everything going on not a whole ton has gotten done, I have finalized all the sheet metal she has been re-wired with CBR600f4i switches and a harness derived from the same bike.

So here she is, all mocked up ready for complete tear down....







Bike, meet sandblaster, also meet epoxy sealer/primer.





More pics to follow soon as bike no longer exists as a entity of a whole, it is in probably 200 parts. some stuff has been painted and put away for a little later. My goal is to have her finished for the vintage festival thing at Mosport. but I donno. It was supposed to be finished months ago....

[Garage_guy_chris]

Ok its been way way way too long you guys probably thought i feel off the planet. Im still here, had a rough winter and kinda lost the drive to work on the bike for a while, that and waiting waiting and more waiting for parts the ripple effect can't do that without this..... I will appologise the pics got a little sparce through some of all this.

Nudie Frame day finally came after the second worst thing i had to do sand blast the frame......



Soon after got it in 2part epoxy primer then a nice acrylic urethane top coat.





same for all the bits





next in prep for parts wheel time, just my way of not screwing up





Finally got into the tank and rear section, and alot of small stuff. at this point its getting cold and miserable up here in late october, Toronto so im slowly taking over the basement, so cars can be stored for the winter, can't park on the street... Sorry for the lack of photo's the painting was very time critical and messy.

DTT meet Ghetto paint booth, dont try and read it, you may get insulted, retarded friends, damn sharpies.....















Now im sick of deconstructing #$%* and wanna start seeing something resembling light at the end of the tunnel, so i tried out refurbing the forks, also tried out polishing too, messy messy messy

[Garage_guy_chris]

Ok Now its cold out painting window is done, i just finished it running a 1500w heater in Ghetto Booth to cure the paint overnight........   just barely got it done, had a lot of cursing and frustration and "re-do's" But its all a learning process and its only the second time ive really used a HVLP gun....

Now Im basically all inside hiding out in the basement, so i dove into the engine, Im glad i did found a couple issues that would have grenaded the engine quick time had i not got in there and overhauled it....  Surprisingly after 40 years tolerances were still good, all it got was a light cleanup valve job, a honing, re-ring and a new cam chain. Also two new used tensioners as two were delaminated and ready to fail.









Next decided to lightly blast the cases and give them some fresh paint

Stupid head studs....













Oh cant forget the notorious starter clutch, I opted to just replace all the dumb parts and hopefully it will all work...





Ok now arrive some of those needed parts CMSNL to the rescue, My butt still hurts from the UPS bill, crooks....





Also had another first and gave lacing a try ended up working out ok, my brain hurt a bit at the end hence forgetting more photo's but it got done...





Now Back to the engine had to wait for a damn chain, and find STD. rings..... Lucked out there
Im also a cheap-ass and decided i didn't need to spend $$$ on a cam chain tool, so spent a couple hours in the garage and basement....

new cam chain a-la old chain


Fishy Fishy, dont let it get away!!!



meh who needs a joiner link. This worked really well as i screwed with the cam timing, getting things set...


Heres the $2 chain tool, lol


Id say successful if i do say so myself...

[Garage_guy_chris]

Time for a wedding,  Does thy frame take thy engine? They do!

Oh Much thanks to DTT my spine thanks you, simple yet effective, worked great!!! the money i saved on the chiropractor is getting rolled into the project..... That engine is a beast......





Heres a half answer for my friends that were asking what happened to that cool old motorcycle you had? it disappeared a while ago, and why is the basement so messy with all this crap???

[Garage_guy_chris]

And now for the bike porn  I finally made a good amount of progress and took some photo's its getting really close to being done almost all the parts are here waiting, just a few dumb-ass things are outstanding.   At this point i need 3 to 6 weeks and i think she is done! 




















Holy crap has this been a journey what started out as a quickie build has turned into something i never expected.  I continually  look at the bike and say what if?  I see so much potential in this old steel and aluminum hunk.   Like a blank canvas to a painter. This project has really effected me in a way i never expected, I finally found a way to express my artistic side in a manner im capable of doing. I can't express how happy i am with the way its turning out. and to know i have done 99.5% of the work!  The whole idea of this thing was to spend as little money as possible and take the time to learn it, im one of these people who just wants to try everything, once and if i can figure out the problem and build the solution to do so!

[Garage_guy_chris]

Ok so.... its finally done! the hardest and scariest part was getting it out of the basement and up the stairs beside the house, I screwed 2x10's all the way up the side to make ramps, im used to lugging 190lbs dirt bikes not 400lbs street bikes. 

anyways she made the journey to the garage safely! 

[Garage_guy_chris]

A few shots with it really really done and some miles put on

[Restoration Fan]

Really nice work, Chris!

Ron

[82cb750c]

Well don excellent

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Chris,

Really nice build.  Kudos.  Now start that 750 build thread!