1981 CB650C Cafe Racer Project

Please post your bike pics here

Moderators: Volker_P, tidd650

VII
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:47 pm

Re: 1981 CB650C Cafe Racer Project

Postby VII » Mon May 21, 2012 1:51 pm

gojoego wrote:Dumb question, but that number plate did you just cut it out of some sheet tin? How did it mount up? It looks great!


It's just sheet metal as you suspected. It is sort of wedged between the tank and rearsets and stayed in place perfectly. If I do another build where I need to keep the sidecovers, I'll do the same but instead will weld tabs or use clamps that will allow me to mount the number plate within the frame, instead of on top of it.

I miss the XS400 that I did the numberplates on. It was my first bike and a great learning experience. It took a beating and just kept on ticking; it was dumped twice, slid 15ft when I hit some loose gravel and was hit by a car. The picture shown was taken a couple days after I was hit by the car.


Anamagous - Let's see some pics of your progress. You should post your own build to keep us updated.

VII
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:47 pm

Re: 1981 CB650C Cafe Racer Project

Postby VII » Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:35 pm

I have been away from this project for a while. I had been working on my Midget and bought and sold a couple vehicles since my last post.

I haven't done a whole lot since but here's some shots of what I did accomplish:



-Ground down the handlebar mounts as well as took a little off the lower part of the upper tripple so the tank wouldn't touch. A little filler, sanding and some satin and it looks pretty sharp. Could still use some more sanding but it's fine for now.
-Also cleaned up and painted the lower tripple.

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-Removed the front forks and tripple trees for paint and refresh.
-Started to fill in/sand the tank a little.
-Removed the generator cover to see if I could diagnose a non charging issue.

*Owning a smart car sure does offer a lot of room to work on projects in the garage.
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-A little cleanup. Still haven't ran it to see if it helps or not. I'll run actual tests later; questions of which will be posted in the technical section, not the show it off.

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-Brake calipers getting a little action.

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Other work:
-Headlight bucket has been painted oil rubbed bronze.
-Front wheel lip is currently being given a good buffing.
-New fork seals
-"Massaged" the ignition lock a little lower. Since I lowered the ignition switch about an inch, the handlebar lock wouldn't make contact with the metal meant to keep the handlebars from moving. A gentle nudge of the metal on the frame neck with the rubber mallet and it should work just fine now.

Newenglandah
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:34 am

Re: 1981 CB650C Cafe Racer Project

Postby Newenglandah » Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:42 am

Hey Man, I've read through your replies but not finding the answer to what Suk tank you used? I'm sitting on a cb650 that runs fine but the scrap yard doesn't even want the tank.

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Volker_P
Posts: 5508
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:53 am
Location: southern Germany

Re: 1981 CB650C Cafe Racer Project

Postby Volker_P » Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:15 pm

Welcome here! :D

He mentioned it already on the first page:
VII wrote:....
The tank is from an early 80s GS450. I had used it on my old xs400 as shown below. It works well on just about any frame. I cannablized several parts from this bike for the cb build.

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Cosky's great (free) online manual: http://cosky0.tripod.com

forum links to common technical issues

If you really like this site and you would not like to see it vanish soon, have a look there: Urgent: Future of HondaCB650.com Forum

VII
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:47 pm

Re: 1981 CB650C Cafe Racer Project

Postby VII » Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:37 pm

Looks like senior P beat me to it.

zeech
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 3:20 am

Re: 1981 CB650C Cafe Racer Project

Postby zeech » Tue Jul 15, 2014 6:03 pm

What did you do to "straighten" the first 6-8" of the seat tubing? It angles all the way from the gas tank downwards, but it only looks like you replaced the rear section. Did you bend the front part of the frame up so it was level, then welded on the new tubing?


VII wrote:A few pics:

My "workshop" is a little messy at the moment. Just enough room to pull one of our cars in. The other half of the garage has a couple other bikes, one of my cars and other junk.
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Here you can see the new top tubes. Used 7/8 piping with a tube cut down to fit perfectly inside both tubes to strengthen everything up. It all still needs to be welded and some final grinding/prep done.
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Here's the seat pan that will be under the fiberglass seat and spot welded to the frame tubes. The wiring will run through the hole at the front.
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Seat pan, with the modified rear fender cut to meet the seat pan. Also shown is the KZ frame loop almost ready to be welded to the rear of the frame.
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VII
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:47 pm

Re: 1981 CB650C Cafe Racer Project

Postby VII » Sun Jul 20, 2014 2:29 am

zeech wrote:What did you do to "straighten" the first 6-8" of the seat tubing? It angles all the way from the gas tank downwards, but it only looks like you replaced the rear section. Did you bend the front part of the frame up so it was level, then welded on the new tubing?


I made a shallow cut under each tube at the front to allow the tubes to be bent up easier. I then heated each tube at the cut and bent them up one at a time constantly measuring to make sure they were even. I then welded the shallow cuts closed.

I have seriously neglected this project. It has been stalled for a very long time while I worked on many other projects and adjusted to many life changes. After moving soon I hope to find renewed energy to continue working on it.


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