1980 CB650z RC03 Café Racer (ish) project

[M_Hills]

Perfect spot for it!!

[JorgenL]

Busy day at work means tired man in the garage!

At least I managed to fabricate some offset rubber mounts to lower the front of my tank. I want the bike to have a straight line from back to front. Originally the tank is tilted slightly up in the front (at least mine was).

[JorgenL]

Perfect spot for it!!

I've seen a couple of bikes with the ignition in that area and it looks and feels good.
In the bracket on the other side I'll put the choke lever.

Trying to minimize the clutter up front.

[Volker_P]

Great idea that offset tank bushings!

[JorgenL]

Low motivation and too much at work = slow progress.

Last weekend I made a stainless bracket and mounted my Acewell gauge. It sits a bit high, should be flush with the upper tripple tree. Two "tube" spacers between the bracket and tripple tree is in the making.

Got most of the wiring done except the speedo sensor. I'll mount the magnet on the rear sprocket and hide the sensor under the swingarm and I have to extend the cable about 40cm.
I can't see how it would be possible to put the sensor in the front wheel since the distance between the magnet and sensor should be 8mm or less.

[Volker_P]

I can't see how it would be possible to put the sensor in the front wheel since the distance between the magnet and sensor should be 8mm or less.

Maybe a brake disk and caliper solution?

[JorgenL]

Maybe a brake disk and caliper solution?

I've been playing around with the front disk/caliper option for a while and it just doesn't look right and running a wire along the fork leg looks really bad.
I tried using a sleeve around one brake hose and running the sensor wire in it but it looks like crap.

I've even considered attaching the whole thing on the front sprocket hidden under the cover and just play around with the wheel diameter setting in the gauge (adjustable between 10-3999 mm), maybe calibrate it with a gps while driving. But I'm not sure it would work.

[JorgenL]

Allright the top of my fork looks like...well... not good.
I've been lurking around for a good looking top triple tree and just can't see myself forking up $129 plus $50 shipping and $20 tax/toll for this one although it looks soooooo sweet DimeCityCycles billet alu top.

Well, a couple of hours with an angle grinder and a dremel tool I got the speedo attachments off and have eliminated the handle bar mounts.
All that remain is some media blasting to get an even surface before brushing it.

[JorgenL]

A couple of pics of my bike as I rolled it out of the garage and started it up.

[lagronethedestroyer]

Beautiful work, mate

[Volker_P]

Great job and very straight line!
Nevertheless due to this the tank is quite close to the engine, so make sure they won't hit each other.

[JorgenL]

Great job and very straight line!
Nevertheless due to this the tank is quite close to the engine, so make sure they won't hit each other.

Thanks! I'm going slowly on the design to get the feel for it and really have time to take a step back. There's still a ton of things to do and I haven't even started painting and brushing parts.

In the pictures it looks like the tank is almost leaning on the engine but there's actually a 7 mm gap. The new bushings are also a lot stiffer and I made them a little bigger than the originals so the tank doesn't move as much.

[M_Hills]

I am loving what you are doing with your bike!!! I wish that I would have followed a little closer in your footsteps

Instead, mine is sitting as a pile of pieces

[JorgenL]

My main goal with this project was that every modification shouldn't take longer than a few hours. The bike MUST be driveable between each step.

I work with computers and a cardinal rule is that you don't fix problems by altering a lot of parameters at the same time. You might have fixed the problem but you really don't know what setting it was.

Sure it takes a bit longer and sometimes I have to take apart the same parts a couple of times. I can't count how many times I've had to disconnect the brake hoses.

It's so easy (and tempting) to just tare down the bike and do a full custom build with all the ideas that's in my head but I know it will take a loooong time to get it all together and I might loose the big picture in the process.

[Lejaun79]

Looks awesome!
I am looking forward to see more of your bike's photos, as I have pretty much got the same plans for my 1979 CB650z.
At the moment I am sorting out the electronic problems, then onto my mechanical problems, but then the fun starts.
I'm not sure about the pod filters. Someone told me that you will loose performance. Not sure how true that is.
But the rest will be pretty much the same as yours.
Keep up the good work.