PROJECT CAFE RACER - GAS TANK RUST

GAS TANK RUST

Over the last couple weeks, I've been working on getting the gas tank prepped for paint.  The inside of the tank had quite a bit of rust when I got it, so I've been trying some different methods to get that flushed out as much as possible prior to coating it.  The first thing I did was use a steel wire brush to scrub off any rust I could via the gas cap hole.  Since I wasn't able to find a brush long enough to reach all the way down the length of the tank, I made due with the one I had.  I took a picture of the gas tank rust remover product that really worked well for me; YAMALUBE.  The bottle on the right is the actual remover, the one on the left is the neutralizer.  I would recommend it highly to anyone trying to revitalize their tank.  There is one suggestion that I would make though.  The directions on the remover bottle say to fill the gas tank half full with warm water first before adding the remover.  Don't.  It works better if you don't dilute it.  I would let it set for about 4 hours, shaking it around every hour.  You will of course have to seal the petcock spout off with some aluminum foil or plastic wrap, or both together to ensure no leaking.  After you have let it set for that long, then you can use warm water to flush out the remaining remover before adding the neutralizer.  Its job is to absorb all the moisture in the tank.  You'll have to let the tank dry for at least three days before use, but it will look pretty immaculate.  

One product I would AVOID is one called EVAPO-RUST, which I bought at PepBoys.  It doesn't work nearly as well.  There was actually more rust in my gas tank after using this crap.  It doesn't come with any neutralizer or toner, which means you're more likely to get flash rust.  When I first picked up the product at the store, I didn't think it was made for gas tanks, but when I read the directions on the back there were instructions for small and large gas tanks, so I figured I'd give it a try.  This was a mistake.  Just go straight to the product above and save yourself a lot of work.

The whole goal for me cleaning out the rust in the tank is to prepare the inside to be coated with this other product, RED-KOTE.  This will give the inside of the tank a whole new finish and patch up any unseen pin holes.  By Tuesday of this week, I should have some pictures of the inside of the newly coated tank.  Once this is done, I will take it over to be painted and get this project wrapped up!

CAFE RACER PROJECT - REBUILD DAY 2

 REBUILD DAY 2

Today was a lot of fun!  Prior to Christmas Day I received a few parts in the mail for the build; a 7" Satin Black and Chrome H4 Dime City Cycles headlight assembly shown above and a 38 Tooth Rear Sprocket.  I was a little worried that the headlight wasn't going to fit between the brackets I had installed on the bike last week.  The distance required for the headlight assembly to fit was 8 inches and the last headlamp I had on there was only 6 3/4 inches.  I didn't think twice about it when I ordered the part because one of the review's a customer had left under the product used this exact same product on their Honda CB 360 with the same brackets and they were raving about how it looked, so I just assumed that it would be the same for me.  Lucky for me it was!  It was a tight squeeze but she fit snugly in there and I didn't have to worry about putting things on hold by shipping it back to wait for a different model to move forward with.  This was a huge relief.  In order for Justin's right hand man, Rocket, to do my new wiring harness they need all the electrical elements mounted.  

With that being said, the next things I installed were the rear turn signals.  They were a matching set to the ones shown in the picture above on either side of the headlight.  They are a smoke black color, so they will remain out of sight until I flip them on.  I picked up a few 1.25" Hex nuts at Pepboys on my way over to the shop because the ones that came with the turn signals were a brass/gold color and I only want chrome or black on the bike if possible.  These went on rather quickly so I continued on to...

...the ignition switch.  This was also a two bolt fastening job so not too much difficulty here either.  I forgot my key for it at home, but I will need to swing by Justin's next Wednesday to drop off some money for the new platinum drive chain I purchased today along with the new battery.  I haven't taken any pictures of the chain yet, because I will most likely post about that once it's installed, but trust that it is going to look great.

Speaking of rear drive chains, the biggest job today was getting the new rear sprocket installed.  The four hex nuts came off pretty easily because the guys over at Motorcycle Wheel Works that put on the new bearings didn't tight them up too much on purpose.  I didn't have the proper O-Ring tool to remove the snap ring but Justin let me borrow his to get it off.  After the snap ring and the o-ring were off, the old sprocket took a few taps with the hammer to break loose from the wheel hub, but it didn't put up too much of a fight.  Once the sprocket was off, the four bolts that connect the wheel to the sprocket had to be removed.  This was not easy to do without ruining the threads.  Due to the rust on the backside of the sprocket plate, we had to pound them pretty good with a hammer from the opposite side until they broke free.  The way we protected the threads was by taking the hex nuts and screwing them back on a little so we were hitting the nut and not the bolt.  This wasn't my only obstacle.  After the bolts were removed from the old sprocket plate and ready to be put on the new one, I realized that the back of the new sprocket didn't have welded slots to hold the bolt in place while it's fastened with the hex nut on the other side.  So I had to use a vice grip and my socket wrench at the same time to tighten the bolts.  It wasn't a huge deal, but just made things more difficult.  I got some new hex nuts from Justin so I didn't have to re-install the old crusty ones.  Once those were on good and tight, I got the o-ring and snap ring back on and I was in business.  The wheel went back on nice and easy, and looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

Before I left the shop for the day, the new gaskets for my engine were being installed and it sounds like the new wiring harness could be done as early as a week from tomorrow.  We shall see I guess.  

Check back soon for more updates!!

CAFE RACER PROJECT - RE-BUILD DAY 1

RE-BUILD DAY 1

Today was a big day.  As you can see from the picture above, my bike is finally starting to come to life.  The work I thought I was going to be able to get done this past Saturday didn't happen because the frame was not able to be picked up from the powder-coaters before they closed the Friday prior.  I was bummed because I was looking forward to putting all the new parts back on, but two more days didn't kill me.  Around noon today, I received word from Justin that he picked up the frame and he'd keep it at the shop for me until I got off work to start the rebuild.  After I wrapped things up at work for the day I stopped by my apartment to pick up my toolbox and head out to La Habra.  Everything else was still loaded in the car from my failed Saturday trip.

The pictures below represent what I was able to get done before they closed at 6:00 pm.  The new powder coated frame looked amazing and I am very pleased with how it came out.  The new battery box and the rear frame hoop with a slight kick also look fantastic.  There were even two brackets you can see behind the rear shocks they installed prior to the powder coat for my new turn signals.  They will hide nicely.  We won't bolt the seat down until everything else (including tank painting) is complete.  It will be the finishing touch, but I set it on to make sure it fit and looks okay and it was puuuurrrty.

First, I attached the kick-stand, swing arm and the rear shocks, followed by the rear wheel, then the front forks, triple tree, clip-ons, tach & speedo, headlamp brackets and front wheel.  Overall it went really smoothly because I did a lot of prep work over the weekend.  The gel grips, brake & clutch levers, and left control switch were already mounted on the handlebars, so that saved me a couple mins.

 It feels really solid when I was rolling it from outside back into the garage.  It is going to have a completely different feel to the ride, which I'm pumped for.  I'm sad that it's slowly coming to an end but at the same time, I'm already thinking about what my next project could be.  

On Friday of this week,  Justin will be putting the new gaskets on the engine along with the new allen bolt heads and new points so we can pop that sucker back into the frame and they can begin the rewiring.  After that is done it's pretty much down hill.  I could probably do the gasket portion myself but I don't have the tools to take out the stripped screws on the engine covers so it'll be easier for him to do all that in one go.  I'm hoping a week from today, the new wiring can begin.  That will put me at a completion time frame of about mid-January.  Not a bad way to start the new year…achieving a goal.

  

I will make one more trip over to the garage this Friday after I receive my new headlight so I can put that on, along with the rear taillights and brake light/license plate holder.  The ignition switch will probably end up going back on at that point too.  I'm going to buy a new 12v battery in the meantime and order the linkage for the rear sets.  There are a few other items en route to me right now but they will be slightly delayed due to the Holiday.

Check back soon for more updates!

CAFE RACER/BRAT PROJECT - ODDS & ENDS

ODDS & ENDS

Tonight I got a lot of little things done in order to prep for tomorrow.  The frame will be waiting for me at Justin's Cycles @ 9:00 am, fresh from the powder-coaters, so I am going to take a bunch of parts over to put on so that they can get started on re-wiring the bike next week.  Of course, due to the Holiday, it will most likely get pushed to later in the week, but I want to make sure I'm not the one holding things up.  The engine will hopefully be done as well and ready to put back in the frame.  The new gaskets and allen bolt heads hadn't been done as of Wednesday, but I was told that it'd be getting started first thing Thursday morning.

The clip-ons are loaded with the new gel grips/throttle tube, left control switch, clutch/brake levers and ready to be tightened onto the front forks.  The tach & speedo have been bolted onto the triple tree and that too just needs to be attached to the steering column and tightened to the forks.  I was disappointed to find that the bar end mirrors didn't fit the the clip-ons I purchased even though the posting said they would, I might be able to figure out a way to get them to fit, but ugh.  I picked up a few large washers so I could attach the two front black smoke turn signals to the headlight brackets more securely.  While I was at Pepboys I grabbed a few more Hex bolts as well because I wanted all new ones for the fasteners on the bottom of the forks, where they secure to the front wheel shaft.  

There wasn't any good rust remover for gas tanks there like the kind I bought from Justin's but I did end up bringing home a small bottle of Evapo-Rust to give the inside of the gas tank one last cleaning before I seal it using the RED KOTE from Dime City Cycles.  It didn't work well (the rust remover).  While it did clear some of the rust, as soon as I rinsed the tank with warm water it flash rusted within 30 seconds, making it almost look worse than it did before.  I guess the inside is as clean as I'm going to get it, so as soon as it dries, I'm coating this thing so I can be done with it already.  When I grabbed the mail, I was surprised to find a new cable adjuster nut among the junk.  I bought it on Ebay a week ago to replace the crusty/rusty one I had on the front brake perch.  That only took about 10 seconds to screw on, but it now matches 100% with the one I have on the clutch perch.  I'm still waiting on my new bucket headlamp, rear sprocket, throttle cable and Honda decals.  Most of those should arrive before Christmas…CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S HERE ALREADY.

The bolts and washers that attach the swing arm were really really gross, so I scrubbed the crap out of those so they could pass as worthy of going back on the bike.  The final thing I did was put the rear brake on the rear wheel and fastened it on with a brand new large cotter pin and cleaned bolts.  All I will have to do tomorrow is slide the swing arm into the brackets and tighten them down and it will once again be able to stand on its own, pending the kickstand installation.  I will definitely grab some good pics tomorrow so I can show the progress and we will all have a much better idea of how it is going to look!

Till next time…  

CAFE RACER/BRAT PROJECT - OLD SEAT, NEW SEAT

OLD SEAT, NEW SEAT

Early this morning I received an update from Justin regarding the custom seat I wanted made.  It was a great way to start out my day because it turned out better than I could've imagined.  The seat that came on the bike when I purchased it is in the first picture below.  Even though it was in great shape and had a cool look to it on the bike, I decided to sell it on Ebay.  It ended up going for somewhere around $100 dollars, which is a pretty good deal.  The seat was made using the original 75' CB 360 seat pan, so all the buyer would have to do is attach it to the hinge.  So far, it's the only thing off the original bike that I've sold.  I knew for sure that I'd be replacing that.  There seems to be a plethora of the other parts I won't be needing already on EBAY so I'm just going to hold onto them for now.  Who know's I may need them in a future project.

(OLD)

 The picture below is of the brand new leather custom seat with white stitching.  It has a slight kick on the back as you can see, which will fit nicely on the kick I'm having added to the rear body frame.  I chose a diamond pattern for one because it will match the diamond pattern in the Kenda Tires (also pictured below) and two, you don't see that many bikes out there with a custom diamond stitch.  I wanted to be different.  Overall, this was money well spent.  I can't wait to put it on the final product and actually ride this baby!  

(NEW)

 The only other update I've received from Justin is that the frame is now at the powder-coaters and should be done this week.  They had all the tabs cut off from where the old seat was and the center stand brackets, as well as the old battery box already.  The new battery box was welded on before he dropped it off to be powder-coated so it would all match.  I went with a matte black or satin finish rather than glossy because "matte is where it's at!"  Ha ha.  Seriously, it's kind of the new fad out here on the West Coast. A lot of people are getting their cars painted with a matte finish, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon as well.  I won't be showing off the paint color/design I chose for the gas tank until the project is complete, but I may drop some hints here and there.  Check back soon for more big updates!

CAFE RACER PROJECT - BRAT VS. CAFE RACER

 (A)

 (B)

There was something I discovered recently I wanted to discuss because I'm sure there are others out there reading the material I post that are new to this subject too.  The subject I'm referring to is the difference between a Cafe Racer and a Brat Bike.  In my opinion they aren't so different but to the biking world, they are completely different genres.  I have two pictures above.  One is a Cafe Racer the other is a Brat Bike.  Do you know which is which?  If you said, (A) is the Brat and (B) is the Cafe Racer you are correct.  Both of them appear to be 70's Honda's that have been modified.  Although the differences are slight, they are there.  For example, notice how the bike in picture (A) has no front or rear fender?  That is only one thing that sets the two apart.  The bike in (A) has a larger engine, being that it is a Honda CB 750, which would make it slightly heavier than the CB 250/360 below it.  They both have custom seats made and aftermarket exhaust pipes, but the bike in picture (B) has a fiberglass cafe racer seat pan on the back of the bike.  It give the motorcycle a more aerodynamic look and feel.  Cafe Racers are typically light and less powerful, which makes it less about comfort and more about speed and handling.  Cafe Racers have been common in Italy, France and Europe but originated among the British in the 1960's.  One thing I found interesting was this tidbit on Wikipedia about them: "In 1973, Popular Mechanics said the term Café Racer was originally coined as an insult toward riders pretending to be road racers but instead only parked outside cafés."  I never knew that.  I had heard that they got their names because guys would race from coffee shop to coffee shop on them but never realized they were mocked for it.  

Another thing you will notice about the two pictures above are the differences in gas  tanks, tires and handle bars.  The Brat bike (A) doesn't have knee grips attached to the tank like the cafe racer for grip when carving corners.  Although they are hard to see in picture (B), they are there.  The handlebars are (clip-ons) low and straight on the Cafe Racer and high and bent on the Brat.  Once again, a slight difference but it does affect the way the rider is positioned.  The rider on the cafe may be slightly hunched forward and "tucked-in" while the rider for the brat may sit more vertically in an upright position.  The tires may be the easiest difference to detect.  One has knobby, almost dirt-bike-like tires and the other has smooth, low profile ones.  Again, this will change how the bike handles.  They are both fine for the streets but you could imagine the Brat bike finding a dirt road and feeling right at home, while the cafe racer would be more at ease on a track or a winding stretch of road.

In conclusion, I am building a bike that will have elements of both of these bikes because there are things I like from each and things I don't.  My bike engine isn't as powerful as the CB 750 pictured above so it will be fairly light in weight, but I never cared for the back fiberglass piece on the bike very much so I'm forgoing that.  I have both clip on handle bars and the brat style handlebars but haven't decided yet which will make the final cut. The tank on my bike won't have the knee pads or the low profile tires, as I don't plan on taking it to the race track but I do hope to capitalize on performance as much as possible.  I guess I'll have to wait till it's done to decide which genre it fits into better but I rather like the idea of having a cross breed.  It's like having a Labrador-pitbull mix for a dog :)  

CAFE RACER PROJECT - BODYWORK, POWDERCOAT, RE-WIRE & CUSTOM SEAT

BODYWORK, POWDER-COAT, RE-WIRE & CUSTOM SEAT

Today marked a couple big moments for the build.  My quarterly bonus from work finally came through so I was able to fund the remaining (expensive) portions of my project.  It's all down hill from here.  All four things listed above in the heading, I am not able to do myself because of my lack of tools and experience.  If I am going to spend money on these things, I want them done right.  That's why I chose to return to Justin's Cycles in La Habra.  He and his partner, Rocket do great work.  Justin Hassan is the owner and the same guy I bought my original bike from.  Below is a picture of the front of his shop and the one below that is a view inside.  They specialize in Honda's, but can do pretty much anything.    

Justin's Cycles 

651 E Lambert Rd, La Habra, CA 90631 (562) 305-5225

Before I can start putting all these brand new, clean accessories and parts back on the bike, I asked to get the rear frame hoop made custom with an upsweep since I won't be using the stock seat and or putting a rear fender on.  All the tabs for the seat including the hinge, lock and old battery box will be cut off so it's nice and clean before getting powder-coated.  It will look like a completely different frame once I get it back.  I've included a few before pictures below so you can see the tabs I'm talking about and what not.  The center stand brackets are getting lopped off as well because I'm going kickstand only.  It's just unnecessary to have both and putting the bike to rest on a center stand is a lot more work than just using the standard kickstand.

That rusty looking square in the center of the frame below is the old battery box.  The new one will be powder-coated black along with the frame, will be much sturdier and cut from a more durable steel.  It will have a locking bracket with wing nuts on the opposite side so that I won't have to use a plastic tie to keep the battery from sliding forward.  Ultimately, it'll blend in a lot better and will look sleeker while still being accessible should I need to replace a battery in the future.

 

(BEFORE)

The seat I went with will fit closely in line with the frame and will be just thick enough to avoid crushing the shit out of my balls, but not too thick to the point of ugliness.  It is going to be black leather with a white, diamond-stitched pattern on the top.  I chose a diamond pattern for two reasons: 1. It has a vintage bike feel to it. 2.  It matches the diamond pattern on my Kenda tires.  If you go back to that post to look at them you will see what I mean.  I'm hoping this will help bring the bike together aesthetically.   The original CB360 below was a two seater, but this seat will be made for a single rider, meaning it will be shorter and there won't be rear foot pegs on the rear frame.  

 

(BEFORE)

The re-wire portion of the build can't be done until those other things above are complete.  I'm going to take my engine over to Justin's on Saturday to help me get these stripped bolts off and replaced with the allen bolt heads.  We will get it rebuilt with new gaskets at the same time.  Then once the frame is powder coated we will be able to throw the engine in her and they can get the re-wire rolling.  I'm not re-using any of the electrical pieces I took off the old bike.  Don't want the next owner to have to deal with it either (increasing value).  From what I understand, by next Wednesday everything but the powder-coat will be done.  Can't wait to see the results and begin the rebuild process!

I'll post "after" pictures for ya'll next week, so check back!!!

CAFE RACER PROJECT - ACCESSORIES

ACCESSORIES

Here are just a few pictures of accessories I've received so far for the cafe racer/brat bike.

Bar Ends

 Tach & Speedo

Black Smoke Turn Signals

Grips

Gaskets and Headlight Brackets

 Left Hand Control Switch

Rear Sets (Just need to order linkage for them)

CAFE RACER PROJECT - CARBS

CARBS

Out of all the parts on a motorcycle, I'd have to say that my favorite and most interesting part would be the carburetors.  How they control the flow of things is fascinating.  When I took them apart to clean them, I was not as confused as I thought I would be as to how they do what they do.  They just reminded me of tiny vacuum pumps.  I've watched a couple YouTube videos to try and understand the science behind them, which I still can't completely comprehend, but I get the overall gist.

After stripping more black paint (10 cans of paint remover later), I realized that the current set still have some life in them.  I may need to get a carb rebuild kit, but that only costs between $25-40 dollars.  That's far better than spending $300 dollars on those brand new Mikuni VM30mm Carbs.  I'd like to buy those in the future, but will hold off for a while.  There are plenty of items I can use that money for right now in order to get this motorcycle running.  The below is just a before/after shot of my current carbs.

You gotta admit though, those Mikuni carbs are pretty sexy!

Link: http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vintage-cafe-racer-caferacer-bobber-brat-chopper-custom-motorcycle-carburetors-mikuni-30mm-honda-cb350-cb360-cb450-cb500-001-115.html  

CAFE RACER PROJECT - DRUM OR DISC

At some point, I got the idea in my head that I wanted a disc brake in the front.  I realized that this would mean buying a new front wheel, new forks, new front brake lever and all cables, calipers, etc. that go along with it.  I found a pair of new forks at the Long Beach motorcycle swap meet, bought a new front wheel with speedo mechanism/disc brake attached & tracked down a brake caliper to use.  After all the money I spent and time wasted on getting those items, I realized that the front forks I purchased don't fit into the triple-tree on the bike.  The ones I had on it when purchased were 33 mm, these were a 35mm.  Yes, I could try and find 33 mm forks or order a new triple tree, but instead I'm saying to hell with it and keeping the drum brake on the front and back.  It's so much simpler and less costly for me at this point.  I figured it would be cheaper to grab a new pair of front brake shoes and pads on EBAY rather than try and spend more time and money lining up parts for this front disc brake.  The other reason I gave in, was because the front wheel I bought was also going to need to be re-spoked.  The ones that came on the new/used wheel were all rusty and in bad shape.  New spokes run about $110 dollars min.  The front wheel that came on the bike was rattle-canned black, but at this point I was a pro with the paint remover, so I just picked up a bottle of that and went to town.  It polished up real nice.   I'll of course keep all the parts I invested in for my next project because I'm sure I'll need them, but it's been a learning process for me.  I don't feel like I'm compromising the look and feel of what I set out for, but am bummed it didn't work out according to plan.  

I picked out some killer Kenda K761 Dual-Sport tires and took them over with the rims to Motorcycle Wheel Works, Inc in Garden Grove to have them installed.  I also purchased new bearings for the rear wheel and new brake shoes and grooved pads for it as well.  I am running a 120/80 X18 on the rear and a 110/80 X 18 on the front.  Ultimately, I'm happy how they turned out.  Can't wait to get them back on the frame.    

Below is just a picture of the front brake hub with new brake shoes, pads and cotter pins.

New Rear Shoes

The front forks that came on the bike, I wasn't planning on using because of the need for a disc brake but I came back to them after I changed my decision on that.  I stripped off the same black paint that the rest of the bike was covered in to reveal a usable product.  I may re-paint them a different color to match the tank I'm going with because I'm not going to have a front fender, but we shall see.  I may still  do a small front fender with a little splash of color to bring the bike together.  I've seen a lot of pictures of other Cafe Racers and really like even a small custom one up front for looks.  I've got time to make that decision.

Right now, I'm just doing research and ordering any parts I'm going to need either off of EBAY or the Dime City Cycles website.  Essentially, I'm killing time until I can save up enough money to have four major things done:

1.  Powdercoat the frame

2.  New custom seat made

3.  Re-wiring of all electrical 

4.  Painting of gas tank

CAFE RACER PROJECT - CLEANING PARTS

Cleaning Parts

For the next several weeks following the unbuild, I spent the majority of my time removing all the black paint that was on 95% of the bike.  It was not an easy task.  Whoever owned the bike before me literally rattle-canned (spray painted) almost every piece.  I took a lot of before and after pictures, but I'm only going to include the after pictures below…just looking at what they looked like before gives me anxiety.  The all-black engine was one of the first things I cleaned up along with the shock absorbers.  All the grooves in the engine and inability to take it apart due to stripped screws made it one long drawn out process.  However, I'm extremely happy with the final product.  It looked brand new underneath, with the exception of some blotches on the aluminum.  Once I get the stripped screws removed I am planning on having the covers re-chromed and the engine rebuilt with all new gaskets and allen bolt heads.  Any phillips head screws will be removed and never put near it again.  They strip way too easily and considering how often these need to be taken off for maintenance I'm not interested in reliving this "drilling out" process ever again.  I can't wait to hear it purr once it's all said and done!

The exhaust pipes were actually wrapped in a creamy colored fiberglass material, which I took off to reveal the all chrome look.  Even though it looked better without the fiberglass wrap on it, I decided to buy some 500 degree tested paint and paint the pipes black and keep the shorty ends chrome.  I'm still not 100% sure that I want to put these on the bike because I've been playing around with the idea of getting a 2-into-1 system for the rebuild, but even if I use these old ones, I know they'll still look a lot better than they did before.  Worst case scenario, I sell these on Ebay and make a couple bucks to put towards the new ones.  What I'll most likely do is wait to see how they look on the bike once I'm putting everything back together.  If they don't fit the look and feel I'm going for I'll opt for the new ones.  Ultimately, I've gone from trying to make this an "affordable" bike build, to a "fuck-it, I want the expensive shit" build.

Below is just a glimpse into all the cleaned or newly purchased parts I have laying on the floor of my apartment until their time comes to be brought back to life.  There are still several things that need to be purchased but I'm just buying a couple items a week so I can still pay all my bills on time.  This has definitely turned into a much bigger investment than I had originally planned but I can't even begin to explain the amount of knowledge I've gained in just two short months.  It's like night and day.  I actually understand a lot of the elements of a motorcycle now, and better yet I know the names for the parts.  One of the smartest things I've been doing is keeping track of any and all expenditures for this project on an excel sheet.  Everything from the cost of parts, to the fee's at the DMV to have it registered.  That way, if I should decide to sell the bike down the line, I'll be able to price it out more accurately.  Considering it's my first build, I may never part with it…who knows?

One of my first major disappointments was the tank that came with the bike (NOT the one below).  After I stripped all the black paint from it I discovered that it had several large dents and had been patched prior to my purchase.  Had I known this before I bought it, I could've driven the price down more because it's not cheap to find a replacement in decent shape for cheap and pay to have it painted.  At any rate, I found a similar tank online, got it for a pretty good price and it had already been cleaned and ready for paint.  I just had to do some work on removing the rust on the inside of it, in order to prep for the RED KOTE tank sealant I'm going to be applying.  This will really make it look like new inside.  Once the interior is ready to go, I'll pick a color and design.  I've been torn on this but think I've got it down to the top three.  Decisions, decisions.

CAFE RACER PROJECT - UNBUILD DAY 1 & 2

Unbuild Day 1: 

Taking apart the entire bike didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.  Even though I had a limited amount of tools (and space), I was able to make due with what I had.  Considering I'd never done this before I was proud of myself for getting the whole thing disassembled in 12-15 hours.  In the service manual I bought it listed a bunch of special Honda Tools that I was supposed to buy, but I won't be buying anything until I know for sure it will be something I'll need.  The socket wrench and phillips screwdriver were used most commonly along with the allen wrench key.  There were several screws that were giving me a hard time because they had some rust and I didn't have enough leverage with the wrench handle I was using, but I kept at them and eventually I won.  I did spray a couple of them with that W-D40 liquid wrench but I'm pretty certain it did NOTHING at all...    

I started at the back of the bike by first removing the seat, then the exhaust pipes, the rear taillight assembly and license plate holder followed by the rear turn signals.  The rear frame hoop came out pretty easily and it won't be going back on the bike because I am going to have a new custom rear end made to fit the seat I want.  That won't happen until it's time to send the frame to be powder coated.  Lot's to do before I get to that point...

Once I removed as much as I could from the rear of the bike, I moved to the front forks.  I took off the throttle sleeve and cables,  front brake lever/cable, clutch lever/cable, tachometer, headlight, turn signal assembly and then the handlebars.  I didn't want to get into taking off the wheels on the first day because I was exhausted by this point.  The gas tank was another item I wanted to wait until I had an extra hand for because it wasn't completely drained and I'd need someone to hold a pan under it as I removed the petcock.  It was nearly 3 or 4 am by the time I reached this point, so I called it a night.

Unbuild Day 2:

Before my girlfriend headed to work I had her assist with holding the drop bucket underneath the gas tank as I removed it.  There was a lot more gasoline inside it then I thought.  After it was good and dry, I took it out to the patio to air out a bit since the apartment was now fumed up.  Once the tank was removed it made it a lot easier to get to the wiring harness and figure out how everything is connected electrically.  Even though I knew I would be having a brand new custom wire harness made, I still labeled all the cables so I could get a feel for it.  Although this did take some time to wrap each wire with some masking tape and label it, my understanding did improve.  

I decided to pull the front wheel off frankly because it was an easy step and one that would need to happen eventually.  It actually made it easier to get to the brackets on the front of the engine so I could get that removed next.  However, if I could do it again, I'd leave the front wheel on till the engine is off completely.  I used my tool box to support the front of the bike, otherwise it would have fallen forward.  To my dismay there were a lot of stripped bolts on the engine, but luckily I still got the chain guard off so I could access the sprocket and rear drive chain.  Once the chain and all brackets were unbolted to what held the engine in place, I pulled it out.  After watching some other tutorials on YouTube, I learned that one side of the frame is slightly more open and accessible to slip the engine out of.  I made sure to take it out on the right side, and sure it enough that baby came right out with no problem.  As far as the stripped bolts on the engine casing go, I'm going to have to have them removed professionally with a drill because they are really stripped.  I tried buying an impact tool and hammering in better grooves, but was unsuccessful.  It would've been nice if that tool worked because I spent around $40 dollars on it.  Oh well, it's still nice to have around.

By the end of Day 2, I'd gotten the bike down to the bare bones with the exception of the front forks and the triple tree.  I didn't have a socket big enough to pull the main steering nut off so I left it alone so I wouldn't scratch it up with a wrench.  The back wheel came off pretty quickly along with the shocks but the back brake springs did give me a little bit of a hassle.  In the picture below, on the bottom right-hand side you can see some of the zip-lock baggies that I used to seal up and label any bolts or small pieces so that I could easily locate them again when it came time for reassembly.  I would suggest doing this if you plan to do a similar project.  There are just too many bolts, nuts and screws to keep track of.  Organization and cleanliness are two valuable assets to have in a project like this.

Now that the bike had been completely disassembled I could take an inventory of the parts that I'd need to replace, ones I could sell and the ones I'd be able to reuse.  Some of these decisions couldn't be made until I'd cleaned them or removed the paint.  There were quite a few things on my wish list, but I was having the time of my life, so it didn't bother me much.  If I was going to build a bike I could stand behind, I wanted to make sure it was the best job possible.  

Before Pictures - 1975 Honda CB 360