[oldhondacafe]

Hi, I haven't posted for quite a while but I've finally retired, last week, so I thought I'd try again. I have cooled off on building crazy, modified, café bikes? and am now more interested in doing something a little more practical? I hope. I've still been buying up old Honda parts and stuff and , now, finally have time to do it. Anyways I surf e-bay a lot for stuff and found this CB450 frame for sale and thought it was close and cheep so I bid and no one else did so I won it. It turns out, it is from the estate of old time Honda racer Bob Hansen. I didn't actually know much about him so I looked him up and he was quite a racer. The e-bay listing also had a photo of one of Bob's replica bikes he'd built and I liked it and it seemed like something I might like to try so I decided to copy that photo and build a replica/ tribute bike from it. I won the frame + swing arm for $50. , no one else bid? I drove down to Fallbrook, CA to pick it up and met Bob's son. He was very helpful and also told me a bit about Bob. Most of the other parts I need, I already have or will get from e-bay. I've stripped the frame and swing arm and de tabbed and painted them and installed new bronze bushings all ready. Now I'm on to the front end. I have a CB450 triple clamp and CB750 forks (disk brake) I'm cleaning up now. then 19" alloy front rim, new spokes and disk hub. I plan to run the stock CB450 disk system but drilled rotor and stainless brake hose. I have a CB750k rear hub and drum brake with 18" alloy rim and new spokes. The rims are the shouldered ones from the guy on e-bay ( I'm lazy and like to shop e-bay and have for years, and like it) I've run them on several bikes now and think even though they are made in China (what isn't, now days?) the are good parts and look nice, plus, I can afford them. Probably Avon tires? The rest of the build will be rebuilding a motor (I have) and making exhaust pipes, rear sets, and alloy parts, brackets etc. I plan to get the CR450 body kit from Airtec and paint it like the photo also. The rest, I'll fill in as I go along. I hope to post photos as I go and since I'm retired now I should have lots of time to do it. Here are a few photos; I guess I need practice working the photos? The 1st is the frame, as I got it. 2nd, is photo from e-bay sale that show a bike Bob built? and 3rd, is painted frame, de tabbed. My hope is to build a bike that looks close to the bike pictured.

 

[oldhondacafe]

Here's another photo of stuff I've done this week. 2.15x19" front wheel, 2.15x18" rear wheel (still need to polish hub and lace up. new bearings for wheels and steering, new chrome clip-ons, nos tach, CB750 fork tubes, 1 resealed and polished & 1 to do, CB450 caliper and new hose, other bits?

 

[TrialsRider]

Congrats on retiring, it's pretty awesome isn't it you finally get to do whatever the @#$% you want to do.

 

[67BGTEV]

This is a very interesting build. Looks really great so far.

 

[upperb]

Very cool.

Enjoy your time building this bike. Be sure to let friends and family know about it and that you are not twiddling your thumbs, now that you are retired (lest they feel compelled to help find things for you to occupy your time--and distract you from your build)!

Looking forward to seeing it come together. Good luck!

 

[oldhondacafe]

Thanks, I slept in past noon the first few days, now I'm hot to do this. It's really nice to go out to the shop and start on something when I know I can, now, work on it all day if I feel like it, and not stop and go to a job. I've done some more today, I tried the cb750 rear wheel hub and I could have made it work but I noticed it was in worse shape than I thought. I used the cb450 hub and it's fine. I drilled it to vent air and will try to make a scoop to force air through it? The front fork dust seals came in the mail today so I threw it all together, like a roller? and took a photo. I will do as much as I can with all the parts I've ratted away for it and when the social security checks and pension checks start coming, Ill order the fiberglass body parts and paint. I still have to weld mounts to the frame for rear sets and the fairing, at least, so when I get the frame finished completely, I'll decide if I paint it black or red? I have a good motor already, it still needs buffing but I'll put it in to see about the exhaust. I've seen them with 2 into 2 and 2 into 1 pipes. I have a decent 2 to 1 pipe and I have some headers I cut out of a CBR1000 hurricane pipe that I might try to fab some megaphones for? I have them on a CB500t and the work good.

 

[TrialsRider]

Things that you want to disappear from view are best painted black, things that you want to draw attention to are best painted in a brighter colour,
no offence intended but that's not really a frame that you want to draw massive attention to, black or even silver-grey will make it blend nicely with the rest of the bike imho.
... only responding to that because you put a ? after the black or red.

 

[oldhondacafe]

I think so too, I'll probably leave it black because the bright stuff shows better that way and I like them shinny. I started on building the rear sets today. I blew up some photos that I downloaded off different sites,( Actually, I'm not that computer literate, I found some photos on line and took pictures of them on my computer screen. kind of reverse engineering?) Anyways, I measured the frame tub that the pegs will be welded to ( 1& 1/8" Dia.) then I measured the picture to guess the other measurements to come up with a paper pattern, then trimmed and fitted it till I liked it. What I decided to do was to make a boxed section, similar to the section that mounts the swingarm pivot bolt. I figure if that supports the swingarm and all the weight and stress that involves then the same type of structure should be able to support the pegs. What I did was to cut a piece of 1/4" steel plate for the outside plate and 1/8" for the inside, then a piece of 1'8" x 1/2" strap that I bent to make the spacer. After I got it shaped and fitted, I tacked it together and tack welded it to the frame, I drilled a 8mm hole in some surplus rectangular tube and used it as a guide to keep the bracket square to the frame while I welded it,(see pics.) I took some playing with it, but I got it on fairly straight, it clears the swingarm, ( through it's full sweep) and I left a large "relief pocket" for the nut that will hold the foot peg, in case I need to change it or tighten it after the bike is assembled,(I tried to leave enough room to use a 19mm open end wrench on it?). I made the aluminum covers out of 1/8" aluminum and tried to make them look as close as possible to the photos. Here's a few more photos of todays work;
the last 2 photos show it mostly done, the long bolt shows where the peg will be. The brake pedal will pivot on that bolt too. The other side will be the same.

 

[oldhondacafe]

I've done some more work on the brake pedal and foot peg, also, I fabricated a mount on the front frame head to mount the tach. and fairing. I looked carefully at the photos I found on line and this is what I did, I trimmed down a piece of 1" square tube (.120) and cut 1 side off to make it like channel, then I trimmed 1 down so that one fit over the other. welded ends on it and some reinforcement to the inside so it wouldn't get crushed when I tighten the bolts. I welded the narrow one to the frame head and slipped the other one over it and drilled two 8mm holes though both so the when I get the fairing, I can weld tubing onto the outside channel to mount the fairing and tach. to and the bolt onto the frame. This is so the bracket can be removed when the bike is worked on or serviced, also, I didn't want to weld over the numbers on the frame, in case I decide to try to register it for the highway. I looked on line for rear sets and found a guy in the Midwest who makes them for the cb450, the are nice and look to be well made and well thought out, for $250. but I wanted to try it on my own so this is what I've got so far. I found a swing arm link off of a CBR mono shock and cut out a section with roller bearings. This has a inner sleeve that is thick wall and uses a 10mm bolt, it also has 1/4" steel arms on it. I trimmed it a lot and added a second arm to mount the aluminum brake pedal I made to fit over it. I think it will be plenty strong and looks pretty much like the one I'm copying except it didn't cost $250. to make it? here's a few more photos;

 

[oldhondacafe]

Well I did order the body kit from Airtech last week. It has a 4 week lead time so I started on some other stuff. I got the 5 ohm high output coils and they don't fit the stock mounting bracket,( just like the add said it wouldn't) so I made some out of 1/4" aluminum plate. I'm sorry my pictures are so bad, you might be able to see where I also have 1/8" aluminum straps on top of the coil mounts and also have the condensers mounted to the back strap? I've decided that this will be a "track bike" so it will have a minimal wiring harness with no lights. I'll try to run the smallest battery or a battery eliminator. I'll start polishing the engine covers tomorrow so I can get the motor put in. I guess I could put it in, without the covers too?

 

[woodsman]

I have never seen Airtech's stuff, I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of fit and finish when it comes in.

 

[oldhondacafe]

I've never actually seen any either. They were nice when I called and helpful with the order and were ok with me picking up in person, I'm less than 1 hour away, and I am retired so it no brainer for me. I don't know how much the shipping might cost but it's for sure, not free. I called them today and they are on track to finish them in 4 week, like they said. I did get the motor installed, for fitting, and these are CBR1000 hurricane header with bigger flanges welded to the clamp end. They have the same ID as the stock CB450 pipes but single wall and easy to weld. The CBR pipes were 4 into two, into 1, so I plan to use the double connector part to make the new ones 2 into 1 and I have a nice CBR

600 aluminum muffler (aftermarket?) that should fit, look good and hopefully work ok. Here's another picture;

 

[oldhondacafe]

well I'm trying to get the exhaust fitted today. I'm working with cbr1000 hurricane headers because, I had some, they have the right bends and ID and are also much lighter than the stock cb450 pipes. The flange that fits to the cylinder head is to small so I cut a 1/4" piece of black iron pipe that's larger Dia. and weld it to the pipe. The 4 head pipes are different lengths and the 2 longer ones fit the best. They tuck in tight and close to the frame, close enough together at the ends to fit the 2 into 1 collector piece. I have some old mid pipe sections, with different bends, to run under the motor and out to the muffler and hopefully I will be able to make it fit and look good. When I get it all made up I'll weigh it to see how much weight I will save over stock? I have a few more pictures, if you look at the 2 into 1 collector pieces, see the chalk lines on the one on the left, that's where I cut them again to get the old pipe end out so I can re-weld the head pipes back in?

If I want to, later I could use the 2 shorter head pipes and make TT style pipes (1 into 1 pipes) that could fit close to like the stock CB450 pipes, that would be the more traditional look? I might do both, just to try it and the see which ones I like better. I could use the Dunstall style mufflers and paint them black?

 

[oldhondacafe]

I did get the pipes done yesterday, I took photos this morning, outside in daylight and the photos are better. The pips tuck up nice and tight,(have to remove pipe to drain oil though) and the whole thing weighs just a little more than one stock head pipe. I still need to make brackets to secure the muffler to the frame. I also made up the linkage for the rear brake, this roughly follows the one in the photos I'm working off of. I'll do the same for the shifter side. I want to get it to run and tune it some , so I will start on making a "roller starter" next week, I've deleted both the electric and kick starters so this is a must since I don't plan to try to push start it all the time?" Here's some more photos;

 

[oldhondacafe]

I've been working on building 1 into 1 pipes for the CB450 this week. I found some rough looking, but sound, Dunstall type mufflers on E-bay and they came last week. One of them had some nasty dents, but they were in just the right place to let me cut them out. I didn't completely gut the mufflers but I did cut about 6&1/2" off the length at the rear of the muffler. I also trimmed off the bracket for the original mounting brace, I will weld a lug to the rear of the muffler to copy the type used in the pictures I'm copying. Reducing the diameter of the end cone was a challenge, I used a large hose clamp to bring the ends together after I cut a section out of it and used a plastic faced hammer to adjust it to line up. If you look at the photos, you'll see where I cut the header pipe and added about 5/8 " more pipe to the down pipe to get it to run under the frame. This also allowed me to rotate the lower piece to get it to line up with the lower frame rail so the muffler would line up better. I think it all fits pretty nice and looks pretty much like many of the bikes I've see in old pictures, which is the look I'm trying to have. It's probably going to be loud, oh well. Most of the parts I used for this were light weight so it's lots lighter than a stock pipe and muffler. I bought a new mig welder last week and I wanted to try it out, too, so that was part of it also. Using solid wire and gas to weld is way nicer and less work to clean up the welds. I don't grind my welds completely flush on thin tube exhaust pipe because I don't want them to crack later, and it's going to be a track bike. This new welder can do Aluminum too, and the spool gun came today so I'll start on the battery tray and oil catch can tomorrow. The last 2 pictures show some detail how I welded the tube flange collars to the header flange so the pipes fit and seal right. I just welded in the gap at the top and filed it to fit.

 

[oldhondacafe]

 

[oldhondacafe]

I have been spending a lot of my time away, at my 91 yr. old mothers recently, she is in failing health and I'm bless to be retired now and have time to see her. I did make it down to Vista CA, to Airtech to pick up the body kit for this build yesterday. They finished it in 4 weeks, as promised, and it's really nice and fits well. I hope to get to work on fitting it soon. I made the battery tray and catch tank last week and it's ok? I will have to adjust it if it doesn't clear the chain. The Airtech parts are very nice and I need to up my game some to do them justice, I think. Any ways, here's a few more photos.

 

[oldhondacafe]

I wanted to finish the exhaust on this before I start on anything else. I tried to make lightweight aluminum exhaust flanges for about 2 hours and gave up. It would take me many more hours to make anything that would look even passible. I found these from Dime City for $50. with nuts and washers. $10. to ship and fast delivery. they look and fit great, done deal! I will weld tabs under the seat, now that it's here, to fit the struts to hold the back end of the mufflers and hopefully call it done. Then it's on to fitting the tank, seat, and fairing. here's more photos;

 

[upperb]

Looks like it is coming together nicely. Keep up the good work.

 

[oldhondacafe]

I've been busy with my Mom but she passed on a few weeks ago (of old age, not covd-19) so I'm trying to get back to work on this, it is always good therapy to work on motorcycles. The weather was good enough to paint last week so I did, after I find the Honda decals I bought for the tank again , I'll stick them on and clear it all. I finished the foot shift linkage, covered the seat pan, and cut a fork brace off an old rusted fender, to mount the fiberglass one onto and it looks ok to me, so I'll probably run it. I need to clean and rebuild the carbs now, then see if it will run for me. I'm 66 years old now, so I don't plan to push start it much. I've deleted the electric and kick start so I need to make a roller starter and that's my new project for next week. here's some photos from today.