Tail Hoop Fabrication

I haven't been able to spend much time on this project lately but I have made a little bit of progress on the tail hoop.  I wasn't thrilled with the battery tray from BCR so I opted to build my own.  I started with a DIY tail hoop from Dime City Cycles.  It seemed a little pricey but it saved me the hassle of finding a local machine shop to bend a pipe for me.

The frame hoop from Dime City Cycles.

I don't have a chop saw so to make sure I got straight cuts I used a regular old pipe cutter.

Cut to length with a pipe cutter.

I also cut some 2" pieces of 7/8" OD pipe to fit inside the ends of the hoop and frame so I can plug weld the pieces together.  The inside diameter of the frame tubing is nearly 2mm larger than the DCC hoop and a bit less than 7/8" so I had to bore out both the frame and the tail hoop with a step bit.

Pipes need to be plug welded before adding the hoop.

I want the entire tray and battery box to be removable so that if I ever decide to change the seat I have the ability to shift the position of the battery box if necessary.  I tacked in two pieces of 3/4" square tubing that will serve as mounting points for the bottom tray and battery box.

Getting the angles and curves just right took quite a bit of patient grinding.

I'm going to weld a 3rd piece of square tube to the frame.  This should provide more than enough support and mounting points for everything.

Checking the measurements before tacking in the 3rd piece of square tube.

Fabrication Begins

The first thing I wanted to fabricate for this project was a new mounting bracket to replace the one that came with the tank and seat I bought from BCR.  I'm sure Benjie's bracket would work just fine if the bolt holes in it actually lined up with the holes on the frame (which they don't), but like the tank and seat, it is a little rough in the details.

The BCR mounting bracket.  The bolt holes are a good 1/4" off.

I cut my bracket from a single piece of 12 ga. steel sheet rather than welding together pieces of  1/8" flat bar like the BCR bracket.  This obviously is a little more time consuming but the end result is much better looking.  Ultimately it took me 3 attempts before getting one that I was happy with.  In the first one the mounting holes were a bit crooked and I cut the second one a little too short.  Fortunately these botched pieces gave me something to practice the bends on  before putting the final one in the vise.

I still have a little more work to do, such as adding a spot for the seat tab to slide into but I think it looks pretty solid so far.  I should add that this is the first time I've ever worked with metal so I'm sure there are better ways of accomplishing this but with my limited experience and tools this is what worked for me.

I marked out the measurements in Sharpie on the sheet metal.

Cutting a straight line with a jigsaw is slow going at best.

I used a 7/8" step bit to create the curved corners.

I cleaned up the rough edges with a grinder.

This angle wasn't too difficult to get right.

The angles of the "wings" took a few attempts.

The bracket with the excess material trimmed off.

All mounted up.

Practice Makes...

One of the hardest things about learning to weld (other than the welding itself) is finding random junk that I don't mind ruining.  I'm practicing on an old steal aquarium stand that had very little surface area.  I have some sheet metal but I'd rather save that for the project I originally bought it for.  I adjusted the heat range and wire feed speed and I seem to be getting a slightly better bead.  It's not as thin as it was yesterday.

The new settings are producing a better bead and less splatter.

First attempt at a butt joint.

Nothing is safe from my welding rampage.

My First Attempt at Welding

Today I received a new toy via the big brown truck; the Lincoln Electric "Handy MIG."  I've always wanted to learn how to weld and with a little money coming my way in the form of a tax refund I thought this would be the perfect time.

I'm glad I decided against getting a cart for this.  I just don't have the floor space.

I was able to get the unit setup and try welding for the first time.  The welds look like crap but at least it worked.  Hopefully I'll get to spend some time with it this weekend and dial in some of the settings.

Wiggly, spattery mess.

A Nice Little Saturday

Lots of time spent in the garage today.  It was even warm enough to work with the garage door open for a while.  I built a new cart to hold the bike during mockup and later during final assembly.  I needed something with larger casters on it because the old cart kept getting stuck as I moved it around.  This one is lower, wider, and has the jack bolted to it resulting in a much sturdier platform to hold the bike.

After that was done I got the bike strapped down and installed the rear tire and brake support bar.

The new cart rolls around the garage with ease.

Before calling it quits I put on the tank and seat that I ordered from BCR a few months ago.  I have mixed feelings about the work.  From a distance it all looks great but up close there are a lot of little things that bug me about the parts.  Both the tank and seat have some issues with fittings and the battery tray is not going to fit on the frame without some assistance from the grinder.  The bracket that came with the tank and see to mount it to the frame doesn't fit either.  The holes don't lines up with the CB450's stock tank mount holes so I'll be fabricating my own bracket no matter what.  I don't know, maybe I'm being to nitpicky but for the money I paid I expected the end result to be a little more "polished."

Looks good from a distance.

I think one of the things that bugs me the most is that the tail light is a little bit off center.  Not a big deal if you're painting the tail a solid color but with the striping that I had planned it would be very noticeable.

I'll definitely need to order my new shocks a couple inches longer than stock.

I think I'll use the tank and seat for now and then figure out what to do later on.  They can be swapped out easily enough.

More Goodies

I got a whole heap of odds and ends from BikeBandit.com today.  Many of the items are being replaced purely for cosmetic reasons.  I'm also replacing all of the springs and rubber bits as I go along.

Lots of parts!

Mockup Continues

Last month I spent a good bit of time tearing down the engine and then cleaning and bead blasting the cases.  They turned out beautifully to say the least.  If I wasn't worried about corrosion building up I'd leave them as is.  There's something about the look of raw aluminum, especially the cylinders and cylinder head with all the casting textures.  After the cleanup process was complete I got to spend several hours with an air gun and tap removing the built up crud from all the bold holes in the casings.  Lesson learned: Always plug up every possible hole before blasting something.

I reassembled the engine minus all of the internals for mockup purposes.  I'm going to paint the cases when the weather warms up so it made no sense to completely reassemble the engine at this point.  I installed it in the frame this evening and it looks pretty darn good.  I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I'm going to paint the cylinders black.  I love the way it looks on my T-100 but the fins are much thicker on that engine and the edges are polished to breakup the black.  I don't think I'd be able to achieve the same look with the CB450's engine.

I wonder how long it will be until the fins start oxidizing again.

NOS and Brass

I love getting deliveries, it's like someone is bringing me presents all year long, even if I'm the one paying for them.  Today I received the NOS left control switch that I tracked down on eBay.  Not only is it in perfect condition, it is the updated version that Honda did that allows the wiring to be run on either the inside of the bar (stock) or on the outside of the bar.

It's pretty cool that you can still find stuff like this for a bike that's nearly 40 years old.

I also received the pair of brass swingarm bushings that I ordered from Bob Frankze.

Nice and shiny!

Controls and Mockup

Today I decided to take another crack at the controls. I drilled and tapped a new hole next to the old screw that I stripped yesterday. The screw only holds a wire clamp in place so its placement isn't crucial. I think it will work.

After that "success" I tackled the LH controls. This side looks like it has seen the pavement close-up. The pin inside the housing that lines the controls up on the bars is bent and loose. It would take a good bit of force to do that. The indicator switch has some issues of its own. It will go to the right and back to center with no trouble but it will not go to the left. My hope of keeping the stock controls is slipping away. I'm going to hit up eBay later to see if I can find some replacements.

The locator pin is pretty jacked up.

I'm at the point where I need to start mocking up the bike so I can decide what I'm keeping and what I'm going to replace. The mockup will also make it much easier to figure out what parts will be powder coated, painted, or polished. I strapped the frame to a dolly for the time being so I can push it out of the way when I need to.

It's slowly starting to look like a bike again.

Since I cut out the old suspension bushings yesterday I made a temporary set out of a wooden dowel for the mockup.

I was surprised that this actually worked.

Cleaning Up the Swingarm

Today I cut the chain guard mounting tabs off of the swingarm and ground them smooth. Then I removed the old suspension bushings (or whatever they're called). I knew I would need to remove them before powder coating so I figured I take care of it while I had the tools out. They took a bit work but eventually I got them both out. First I drilled out the crusty old rubber and then used a jig saw to make some relief cuts in the bushing's outer "shell" being careful not to cut all the way through and damage the swingarm. Once the cuts were made the bushings came out with a few taps from a hammer/screw driver.

I also disassembled the RH control switch and removed it from the old handle bars. I'd really like to keep the stock controls but I'm not sure if that will possible now. I stripped the head on one of the tiny screws inside the control housing and wasn't able to get it out with an extractor because of its size. The extractor just twisted the head off of the screw. I decided to call it quits for the night after that.

Back to the Frame

I decided to change gears today and get back to working on the frame.  I cut off the brackets that the center stand mounts to and ground down the welds.  I have a few more places to smooth out but I think I'm almost done.

I've been using an angle grinder for the rough work and a die grinder for cleanup.  Then I take a palm sander with a 120 grit sanding pad to finish it off.  The end result looks great.  Once the frame is powder coated you'll never know the tabs and mounting brackets were ever there.

Grease Gun to the Rescue

I finally got the piston and the old brake pad out of the caliper last night with the help of a grease gun. I got the idea from a post on a forum somewhere and thought I’d give it try before taking more drastic measures. I took the tip off of the grease gun hose and the threads fit (sort of) into the caliper. A few minutes later the pad and piston started to emerge.

Grease gun attached to caliper.

The grease gun made quick work of forcing out the pad and piston.

A quick soak in some solvent to break down the grease and that parts are ready to be bead blasted.