New Project! CB450 soon to be a cafe racer! - Page 4

Shaun @ Tru6 · 05-14-2008, 09:09 AM

Please make 2 and let me know how much I owe you!

fingpilot · 05-14-2008, 10:56 AM

Tim.... I started out with a '74 CB750F just like you.

Be reaaallllllyyy careful you do not let this thing get out of hand.

Dueller · 05-14-2008, 11:01 AM

Here's an interesting seat project from another forum. Making a seat base out of an old fuel tank.

http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=74040

Dueller · 05-14-2008, 11:04 AM

Tim Hancock · 05-14-2008, 11:27 AM

[QUOTE=fingpilot;3942206]Tim.... I started out with a '74 CB750F just like you.

Be reaaallllllyyy careful you do not let this thing get out of hand.

[QUOTE]

I know, I must resist!

My wife is already sure I have a problem!

Tim Hancock · 05-14-2008, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dueller

Here's an interesting seat project from another forum. Making a seat base out of an old fuel tank.

http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=74040

I have spent a bunch of time searching various forums (DoTheTon.com etc) and I just really don't care for the large humps many of these bikes are ending up with. I am going to mock something up and see how I like it. Many of the guys building these things are doing some serious cob jobs....I am hoping mine ends up looking a bit more refined. I am having a hard time deciding between the replica racer and the cafe look. I might just end up with a b@stard that is somewhere in between. Maybe I will have to come up with a new name for the style of mine

. We shall see.

No matter.... this is a FUN/CHEAP project thus far.

Dueller · 05-14-2008, 12:03 PM

Your seat design looks promising...but I think the top line of the seat cowl would look better with a slight downward line. Will be cool to hide/locate the tail light in/under the cowl. I'd like to see it fabbed on alum and polished.

What have you thought about for the tanK?

Tim Hancock · 05-14-2008, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dueller

Your seat design looks promising...but I think the top line of the seat cowl would look better with a slight downward line. Will be cool to hide/locate the tail light in/under the cowl. I'd like to see it fabbed on alum and polished.

What have you thought about for the tanK?

For the time being, I have decided to either simply hammer in knee dents or cut the rear knee sections out and weld in some narrower sections. Someday I would like to make my own tank from aluminum, but for now, I will simply mod the stock tank.

I would not be suprised to see myself make a couple different seat designs before I am satisfied.

I really like the tail on this one, but maybe just slightly bigger. The problem is that the rear tires on these bikes can swing up into the area on LARGE bumps and I am not so sure that some of the guys cobbing some of these bikes know this (I collasped my rear shock to the bump stop and know for sure where the tire can travel to).

This seat looks kind of bad, but after seeing how the guy built it, it along with some slightly newer GP racers, gave me my current idea.

Having just ground off a bunch of crap from the frame rails and after riding the bike sitting on those rails, I kind of want to keep my seat low which makes the hump portion kind of dicey with respect to bump stop wheel travel.

Dueller · 05-14-2008, 09:26 PM

tim...what if you cut the knee indents out of the tank symetrically on each side and thentook the part you cut out and moved and welded to the opposite side" I'm not a fabricater and my explanation isn't very good. But you would end up with the piece you cut out of the right side welded into the left side and vice versa. The interior plane of the left side would now be the exterior plane of the right side. You get my drift? Anyway you have an extra tank to play with.

Your seat drawing reminds me of this bike. Note the "faux" tank pads painted on this bike.

Tim Hancock · 05-15-2008, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dueller

tim...what if you cut the knee indents out of the tank symetrically on each side and thentook the part you cut out and moved and welded to the opposite side" I'm not a fabricater and my explanation isn't very good. But you would end up with the piece you cut out of the right side welded into the left side and vice versa. The interior plane of the left side would now be the exterior plane of the right side. You get my drift? Anyway you have an extra tank to play with.

Your seat drawing reminds me of this bike. Note the "faux" tank pads painted on this bike.

Yeah Dueller, I really like many parts of that bike (I think Souk originally posted the pics of it and he definitely is partially to blame for my recent obsession with this type of project).

Interesting idea about the tank in regards to the swapping left for right of the knee dent areas.

I fabbed up a mock-up up tail from some scrap steel sheet just to see what my solidworks sketch would look like and I am not sure I like it...yet. I may shorten it slightly or maybe I will try a more squared off shape like the bike above. I have no deadlines for this project and will probably try a few different tail ideas before I find one that I really like.

Dueller · 05-15-2008, 08:03 AM

where/how do you plan to mount the battery?

Tim Hancock · 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dueller

where/how do you plan to mount the battery?

Worst case.....stock location, but I will probably buy a gell cell type battery and mount it down low up against the middle down tube just above the swingarm. I have heard of guys using small multiple battery "packs", which might be useful if I decide to get rid of the electric starter.

You obviously have been looking at the forums also as you seem to have a good grasp of the minor details that are troublesome with these projects. I think you need to pick one of these projects up also.

Dueller · 05-15-2008, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

You obviously have been looking at the forums also as you seem to have a good grasp of the minor details that are troublesome with these projects. I think you need to pick one of these projects up also.

Gotta finish this one first

Tim Hancock · 05-15-2008, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dueller

Gotta finish this one first

Hell, that looks done to me!

Dueller · 05-15-2008, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

Hell, that looks done to me!

yEAH...BUT i GOTTA FIND THAT OTHER 600CC'S

Tim Hancock · 05-15-2008, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dueller

yEAH...BUT i GOTTA FIND THAT OTHER 600CC'S

hmmm.... I guess I did not look close enough at the front hole

5axis · 05-15-2008, 11:49 AM

something old and something new

Honda GP tail in CF

with a little work it may be just right.

http://www.yoyodyneti.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=SH023008K

Tim Hancock · 06-02-2008, 02:26 PM

Got sidetracked last week or so prepping (CLEANING

) the hangar for my daughters graduation party... the wife was eyeballing my cafe project nightly to be sure I was cleaning not "playing" as wife wife thinks of my projects

.

Well yesterday I got around to cutting my seat pan and tonight I will finish fitting prior to welding it to my rear tail piece. I also cut my stock rear fender and after fabbing up a couple of tapped weld in rear subframe plugs, I made a sheet steel bulkhead and welded it the remaining fender to act as a block off plate to keep debris from getting past the fender and seat.

Tim Hancock · 06-03-2008, 03:44 AM

Couple shots from last night.... got the seat pan/tail tack welded (I HATE welding thin aluminum

). Used a shrinker/stretcher tool to get the front of the pan to follow the upsloping frame tubes....not sure yet how I will finish the rear of tank/front of seat pan area. Fun stuff thus far.

obrut · 06-03-2008, 04:00 AM

very nice tim. the boys over at dotheton are pretty impressed too.