That firewood looks nice. Good and weathered. Should burn nicely

 

I probably should have bartered for that instead of the Nighthawk. Instead I traded painting and tuning his RC truck then dragged the flatelining wretch out of there to my buddies shop.
While I wanted to keep the spongebob-duct tape, threaded rod, turn signal stalk, I started to peel back some of the layers of abuse from the maniacal previous owners of this poor little bike.
Turns out it was in much worse shape than first impressions gave.
Back to front:
Shocks, just springs.
Wheels, are true.
Rear body work, hacked apart for an attempt at some sort of disco lighting theme and then mended with pop rivets and that pipe hanger stuff with all the holes in it.
Seat, foam is good but Hannibal Lecter must have supplied the cover.
Airbox, modified with a 32oz Estwing.
Wiring, ugh. Now I know how people who know nothing of a bikes electrical system feel when they look at a wiring harness. The only wires that are un-molested are the two battery cables.
Carburetors, "just need to be cleaned" apparently.
Engine, 9000 miles on the gauge but for some reason the crankcase seems to be a vessel for holding Marvel mystery oil. Has Compression!
Gas tank, Rusty, gummy and denty.
Controls, garbage. Same with the neck bearings, stanchions, fork seals and wheel bearings.
Not bad, right? So first things first was to sort some of the wiring to make some spark. Drain the gunk and replace. Filters, plugs.
Soak, strip, scrub and rebuild the carb bank.

Now that it starts and idles I'll start procuring parts and getting deeper into it cleaning and rebuilding what I can, replacing what I cant.
My hope is to bring this back to life and get it as near to 90hp and and 45-50 ft-lbs torque. I think it can get close to those numbers judging by the stock specs for this model. hoping to reach that with just headwork and tuning. I want to keep the stock internals and the compression at a reasonable level as I plan on actually riding this heap at some point.

 

1100 eh ? xseleven but the cruiser style
it could be a fun bike but you are doing it wrong it appears cause its long and real heavy you wont be able to muscle it through curvy roads sitting down in it and reaching to that broom handle
it needs a standard xs type gas tank so a proper seat that will get you up on top of it wont look weird
top it off with some 4'' rise flat track/superbike type bars
you need to be up on it sitting proud and high to flick it into turns .....well flick may be optomistic
but right now looks like something for drag racing maybe thats your plan if so NEVERMIND

 

Sorry for the confusion, the bars (piece of conduit) and pods and crap are just to wheel it onto the lift and see if it would fire up. We smashed in the knee dents and added Emgo's just to call it a "cafe racer". It's being built in a zero metric tolerance shop so something had to lighten the mood. I already have a couple tanks for it a 1980ish cm450 tank (may be to wide for the front end I'm going with)
and a 1973 cb350 tank in candy gold and black.
I'm actually rebuilding a set of forks and some cheap rear shocks that will show more the direction I'm going with it.
It's a 1983 Nighthawk CB550sc But the shop is split between "the Chickenhawk 550" and the "Honda Nightmare"
Once I get the all the fluids changed out and the clutch slave cylinder rebuilt we'll get a baseline on the engine.
It will be nice to hear something other than a v-twin in here:

 

Dude, that's a Honda.

 

Rebuilding those cheap RFY shocks is a little more involved than I anticipated. I did manage to track down enough information to help me at least not make them any more dangerous. I replaced the unknown oil with Motul synthetic 2.5 wt. That's just a guesstimate but I sure hope it's viscous enough cuz these are a pain. I didn't turn them into bleeder shocks, I used the same method I use on my 1/8 scale buggy shocks to bleed them. They are now nice and smooth. That notchy feeling they had is gone. They feel a tad oversprung for this bike but I wont know for sure until the shakedown ride.
If the rest of the bike turns out fine and these are letting it down I'll consider putting actual dollars into the rear shocks.

I prefer the 73' 350 tank.

The stock forks are a poorly executed good idea with their air adjust. The leading axle, ugh.
I don't know if you can tell from the pics, but this bike was ridden into something head-on.

I personally like the look of USD forks and I'm willing to put up with the inevitable bro's in their mma affliction shirts trying to strike up some blah blah.
I found someone with far better math skills than I to direct me as far as trail, rake and offset. I actually got lucky and was able to use a lower yoke/triple from a k3 gsxr 600. Cut a stem on the lathe and upgraded the neck bearings.

As sure as Axe body spray smells like date rape, a 19" wheel will cause mucho clearance issues. Not really an issue as I will be changing front and rear to 17".
I like the look of spokes but since this is my bike and I'm the one what has to maintain it, it will have tubeless alloys. 03' GSXR front and a Honda Deauville NT650 rear. Neither of which I currently have.

No way I was going to attempt to make the top yoke on the Bridgeport. So I called a certain VA based custom shop and got this beautifully machined top and stem nut.

Next up will be some bodywork and figuring the rearsets.

 

Good call on keeping a 17" front wheel - from the pics it looks like the spoked wheel might hit your headers under braking.

 

looks like the 17 might be a problem too, maybe just the photo angle. undo the fork caps and let it drop.

you could get a 16 from a blade or hornet.

 

That's a good idea. I put on the biggest 17" tire we had, a 120/90 and at full compression it would just scrub the inner header pipes with the forks near what is to be full lock. With a 120/60 the forks would have to be fully compressed, flexed backwards over 2.5cm and at those same two degrees of turning. I'm no Marc Marquez, so if those requirements were met during riding I think tire rub would be just one more cause of death on the list. I could lace a 16" but then I would probably run into problems with the collector scraping during right turns. Really, this 4 into 1 is kind of a pain. I think it's some crappy Mac exhaust. Just one more thing that, if this bike turns out alright, I would put actual monies into. Nice stainless 4 into 2...

 

let me see if I got this straight:

- Harley dude complains about how cruiser rides, so buys another crusier
- makes changes that are basically only cosmetic and don't actually address previous complaints (you are going to get the wave from HD dudes anyway, I do all the time on the ducati, get over it).
- throws parts at it without fully understanding the effect of geometry on the chassis


yup....all seems smart. carry on.

 

I was sincerely hoping you personally would comment on what a shitbox I was building! I have read quite a few "build logs" on here, and dammit, I'm actually a fan. You've made my day more than once. That said please allow me the obligatory retort because I feel like my entire manhood has been called into question since someone on the internets doesn't like my bike.*

Harley dude? Not entirely accurate. In my town if your a bike mechanic and you want to actually make enough $ to feed the family you have to work on Harleys. I've asked my boss on numerous occasions to let me take on metric work. This is usually met with the same amount of enthusiasm and disdain as your comment waah!
whatever, I'm building it for me and me only. I've been working on bikes for thirty years most of them professionally so if I don't understand something I know someone that does pal!

Geeto is right though, this is a vanity project. I've tried to make that apparent. Though it is built of spare parts nothing has been thrown together with reckless abandon
*Just playing. That's how these usually read.

So I had time this weekend to start changing those things what hold your feet and started some work on the seat. Yup it has a bum stop even though the frame of this bike has one built in because I like how a painted steel cowl looks on the back of a bike. Originally I had planned on just bracing the frame between the rear shocks but now I'm thinking that I'll bend some tube and integrate an LED strip for run/brake/turn and make a loop out back also.
The guy doing the headwork has told me I should use a catch can for the crankcase vent, but I might just shove some uni foam into the rear downtube and run a line to it, eh?

 

A real fan, I'm touched (in the head but you knew that)

here is the point I try to make with everyone: Just because it is a custom doesn't mean it has to be a "Racer". Having the racer mantle comes with certain functional expectations, if you aren't going to try to live up to them then why even emulate it in vanity. Why not instead make the custom bike you are going to actually enjoy to ride? I doubt low clipons and a tank humping riding position really contributes to that.

seems like you are at least checking the clearances and such which is more than most do, so carry on.

 

Checking clearances, you will be proud to know I have two Gerstner chests just loaded with feelers, Starrett dial calipers, micrometers, steel rules, edge/center finders...etc. I've been lucky enough to have some better brains show me how at least some of them work.

I don't think the term racer could ever be applied to this thing. I dunno streetfighter? Not quite either. It is what it is, a mishmash of aesthetic and performance enhancing mods. As far as the ergonomics, the Virago is way to small for my big dumb apeish frame, so much that I will regularly sit on the bit** seat. I've literally built this Honda around my body size. Any day I get to ride now is enjoyable! I've been riding this XV around for the past seven years like it was a TZ350 so the Chickenhawk will definitely suit me better especially since my days of long rides are sadly behind me. Maybe this is my mid-life crisis? At least I won't get in trouble for sticking my willy wonka in it and the insurance is lower than a new M5...

 

you dont need more bracing between shock mounts it will be fine with no hoop at all
i would remove those engine crash bars cause lowered as it is they will ground out quick
ideally you need longer forks somebody out there makes screw in extensions tho

 

Had to take some time away from this project to start on another Honda.

Pretty excited to take an NSR 500 for a ride.

 

Good to see another woodchuck on the forum.. Carry on

 

Wanted to post an update even though there hasn't been any progress that could show in a picture. Still waiting on parts from Lithuania to convert the rear wheel to 17" and some other odd and end like a steering damper. (going to use the same system the gsxr used)
I finally got the reworked head swapped on to the engine. I was pretty sure the RFY shocks would still be just spring holders even after a rebuild and recharge, but for the money and time I'm a bit surprised at how adequate they perform. I had been thinking that the bike was overpowered without all the bodywork and weight removed from the rear of the bike it would feel a bit loose coming out of turns, especially left hand turns.
After installing a hoop in the rear and a lot of testing and adjusting the forks and shocks I was almost ready to put a stock front end and shocks back on the bike. I put it back on the lift and saw the stamped steel brace on the swingarm has torn away right under the driveshaft and more the swingarm bushing on the same side is already oval trash.

I can't get the camera in there right now to show the extent of the tear.
I need to figure what has gone wrong. Are these two unrelated problems coincidentally located next to each other? Did one lead to the other? Is it something else I did that affected the swingarm? The bike was buried well over the swingarm in mud but looked intact when I changed the bushes initially. It's possible I damaged the bushing when installing it. At this point, since the bike now runs and rides and stops I think upgrading to needle bearings would be a good option. Problem is I don't have either the skills to determine if there is some tiny bend or kink to the frame that would be damaging the swingarm. I can tell the wheels, forks and neck tube are straight but that's as far as I can get right now as I'm between shop spaces. (long story involving my boss, booze and the police). I ordered a used swingarm to use once I give up trying to repair this one with my crappy flux core welder.
I'm not sure about running a splash guard in the back or some fender and all the electrical is still homeless. I haven't even decided whether to use a keyed ignition switch or just a toggle. I'm pretty happy putting the battery between the rear motor mounts at a 45 degree angle. For some weird reason I don't like the idea of putting any more weight on the swingarm as I've seen people put batteries there. I also need to finish the bodywork on the seat cowl and then finish the upholstery which I am wholly unqualified to do.

 

Are the frame and swing arm straight? Looks like it's had a hit in its day. That's pretty much the only way that bracing could be damaged like that. Would explain the fubar'd bearing as well.

 

It very well may have been hit, as the stock front end was a miserable mess including bent fork legs. The frame is straight and that swingarm was intact when I changed the bushings out earlier this year. It didn't even have bearings but what seemed like plastic. I had the machinist at our shop turn some new ones out of some polyurethane ones that came from some older Vance and Hines race kit. The problem is that everything worked as it should* until a few spirited test rides. (DISCLAIMER Don't ride your half built project on the road! Our shop is located adjacent to a airport. I'm not riding bikes like this down the street)
*I may be going overly critical on this 30 something year old bike with the modern front tire and forks, but the rear has never felt as planted as I would like. It rides great at the legal limits, it's when really pushed hard that it gets a bit dance happy.

 

Judging from your photo, that swing arm looks awfully rotten. Maybe all the rust perforation has something to do with it. I wouldn't ride that the way it is. You might also want to take a small hammer with a pointy end and tap around the lower part of the frame. If there are any spots on the frame that look like the swing arm, you might want to put the whole thing back where you found it.

 

Sorry but, you've built the kind of Bitsa that I just don't get. The front forks, wheel and brakes look way too beefy, the motor is massive and everything behind that quickly turns to shite.
It's not weight that is tearing the marginal bits apart it's torsion.


... steering damper is great in concept but what are you going to attach it to that doesn't already flex and wiggle?

 

It's not weight that is tearing the marginal bits apart it's torsion.

That's what I've been thinking the entire time too. After all It looks like Honda copied most of this spine frame from a Bonneville. The Hinckley ones? I'm not too sure. But I have kept the HP kind of close to stock and replaced a lot of the stock 22g gusseting for some much healthier stock as well as added some bracing where the top of the stock sub-frame appears to have been just laid on top of the rest of the bike. After looking at quite a few used swingarms to replace mine it looks like the 550 Honda ones were not built to the same standard as the 650 and 700 of the same era. They could interchange but the bigger cc bikes have taller final drive gears and are considerably longer. I'm going to replace mine with one in better shape until I can jig the original one and replace the stamped bracing with something a little stronger.

I'm going to attach the steering damper from the stock mount in the gsxr lower yolk to a beefed up version of the steering stop on the neck tube. I don't want to do that until the new shop is in order because all I have is a crap Lincoln flux core welder. It's fine for an exhaust repair on a 96 civic but not this.

 

2 things that will test your swingarm integrity real fast; on a chain drive bike having the chain too tight and on a shaft drive bike having a spline joint seized up.

oh make that 3; getting rear ended by a truck.




:| it's a cruiser frame so occasionally you need to remind yourself that Honda designed, spec'd and intended it for bopping down to Dairy Queen not for go fast.

 

open your eyes ya dopes fer fucks sake dont go blaming the war on a soldier
rust has eaten that swingarm.period
lesson learned? you got it out of mud
its junk nothing but scrap
the frame is very likely similar condition unless it was bat acid that was focused on the area of the torn ujoint boot
acid migrating then to the caverness interior lol
but yeah check the frame any place where liquids could settle drill 3mm holes to check wall thickness of tubes and formed sealed gusset structures
goddamit how could you not ........

 

and yeah it looks stupid as all fuck out,i am embarassed for you
great job of making a shit motorcycle out of a very good one ,like all the other sheep

 

The frame is in remarkable shape considering. The swingarm definitely had rust on the bottom side but not rot. It may seem like not much has happened by a string of pictures but I've had this thing apart to the last nut and bolt cleaning and inspecting it. I wouldn't have even mentioned the swingarm stuff here it was in shit shape to start with (like I need to add fuel to get this thing flamed here) It was in a passable condition, enough that I stuck my ass over it and gave it enough hell that it decided to actually rip... Fear not, a new one is on its way and I'm already searching out needle bearings to put in place of the "very good" plastic that was there originally.
In all seriousness I appreciate the forum. The knowledge base is unequaled and the flaming is entertaining, and on some days motivating (My thread ends with an actual, running bike, with fenders. Not on page 2 with a stupid flat black half a POS bike that can't get out of it's way. Hell, most of the folks around here are gonna need a sporting liter to get by me)



This is your "very good"?

And this is shit?

ARRGHHH!!! One of these days I'm gonna build a bike that everybody loves!!! You just wait and see!
Then you'll be sorry you ever laughed at the time I built a weird ass bike out of a little wrecked piece of trash!!
Long live the 80's UJM's!!!!

Edit; Your absofrickenlutely right. That damn battery vent is exactly above that spot. That's why most of the ones I've looked at are in worse shape than mine... Drips right down inside that boxed in part...

 

Could be right but in my experience rusty iron don't bend it breaks

 

Might have got rain in it then froze.

 

rusty iron does indeed break, even when not rust it is fractile,butt-eye dyegrass
zinc-steel even jap 3 shit 12 times recycled aluminum lead steel bends without breaking
it is probably just "surface rust" (those 2 words together are a lie and a hoax) move along nothing to see here
but srsly that is bat acid work somebody pulled off the vent tube drop and maybe years latr,used an automobile charger on the dead bat

 

the right plastic bushing is far better in many ways to a drawn cup needle bearing and is an easier install
just get new inner bushings oem for the plastic to rotate on or take a skim cut off the originals in the lathe
go to igus.com
there iglide bushings are amazing better than that yellow crap(bronze) better than any rolling element bearing in this type of application no lubing required but old habits do die hard i put my last ones in and greased them for assembly.
they come in lots of metric and inch sizes i found direct replacwement for my sl350 flange type
the only issue i found was the honda swinger bushing bores gave about .010'' interference fit
stoned as a rat i plodded on and beat them into the swinger bores
only after slamming all 4 home did i go oh shit those bushings are now bell mouthed because the flange ends are not crushedv
i realized creful measuring and spud turning the od of the iglide was in order with just about a slip fit
i asked the engineers about bonding the iglide in a less than interference fit
yes loctite 400 series is the go to
superglue
the astounding thing is this shit is tougher than metal
when i realized they needed sizing and would need to be driven out i thought fuck they will get totally fucked up
i was pissed off and did not feel like fabbing a simple tool to drive them out they were too tight anyway they surely will get destroyed coming out
i picked up a 1/2'' round steel bar ugly on both ends and dam near threw out my elbow by the time all 4 were beaten out and none of them showed any witness to the savagery
so yeah the needle bearings are passay old news totally outdated
the best part is igus will sell you even small pidly orders and register with them chat up the engineers on live chat and your first order can be free as in a samples
i paid 4 dollars each
but have gotten free bushings on another project

 

These look very promising! That Q2 model seems just the ticket but no prices listed, there are however a few of these J sleeve bearings they don't have the same endurance but they are vibration dampening, same reason they used plastic to start with right? These are definitely getting a try, even if they don't have an exact size I can put them in the lathe or Bridgeport you say?

Wow, that website is fantastic. It even has a service life calculator. What a tip! Even my Arduino projects are gonna benefit. Big ups to XB.

 

... and another motorcyclist discovers elastomeric bearing plastics
Personally I use Thordon myself Thordon Bearings

 

any sharp tools that work on wood will generally work on the plastics.
Is best to make your bore holes undersized and then ream or machine them to an accurate size rather then turning a bushing and compressing it into a tight sleeve fit where the material will compress and distort from the desired bore size.

Used in swingarm bushings the plastic will have some advantages but a needle roller bearing is still the best performing swingarm pivot bearing available, rollers have the advantage of negligible friction and free-play clearance approaches zero. You don't want any free-play or bushing flex in your swingarm pivot or your bikes handling goes for a shit.

 

Honda engineered some type of comfort clutch into the driveshaft of this bike so any free anything in the swingarm is now exacerbated with the increased torque. I have had a few shafties and none ever had this clutch in them. My Virago makes almost twice the power it did stock and there was no change in the elevator effect or shaft jack or whatever they call it these days.
This system is not ideal right between unloading and loading. It is numb and wallowing and designed for throttle hands that can't decide what they are doing. So a workaround to that is now on the to do list if I truly want to be able to squeeze any performance out of this relic.

Edit; I have a set of Forstner bits in the wood shop. Same ones won't get all gummed up in the plastics?

 

WTH. Why is a company like Vance and Hines still using polypropylene and delrin??? The stuff I used came directly out of their race package for the XR1200. Granted the structural integrity was compromised by some machining. For the price of one set of V&H motor mounts I can get 5ft of bar stock and never need to buy another swingarm bushing again.
This. This is why I don't waste time at DTT or bikeexit or whathaveyou. (No offense to those) But if I can't be at the track talking with those guys every weekend this serves a good placebo to the LRRS guys.

 

... polypropylene and delrin....

money.


btw: for drilling holes in the plastics you will get far better results using Forstner drills instead of twist drills.