HondaCB650

Thanks for your patience George, here are the pics of the side covers. Both have been repainted (previous owners) without much prep work. One is blue and the other is black. The black one has a 3/4" crack on the top edge (see closeups, in & out). Both covers have had the center attachment tab replaced with a 3D printed post, both strong and well-fitting. Send me an offer and a mailing address. I figure sending these to the big island will require a sturdy box, guessing 1-2 lbs added shipping weight.

all part of the adventure...kb.

see next post.

The rest of the pictures...

damn, at first i hated it, because of the seatpan, but thatws what you changed! The welding is super nice, especially the angle of the rear loop fitting the frame. love it!

Thanks for commenting Skiwatcher, I was beginning to think this forum was only frequented by volker, sweety, and bots! I also wondered if the readership was mostly into factory correct restorations, because nobody comments on this one. I welcome comments both for and against, it's all part of the adventure. I have refurbished a couple cb750's and a couple '83 goldwings, but this is my first custom job. My goal is a low-buget fun bike, that I built, not bought.

kerryb wrote:Thanks for commenting Skiwatcher, I was beginning to think this forum was only frequented by volker, sweety, and bots! I also wondered if the readership was mostly into factory correct restorations, because nobody comments on this one. I welcome comments both for and against, it's all part of the adventure. I have refurbished a couple cb750's and a couple '83 goldwings, but this is my first custom job. My goal is a low-buget fun bike, that I built, not bought.

Oh I'm watching alright...... , I'm watching in awe as I couldn't do any of the stuff that you can, I wouldn't know where to start! I can't wait to see the finished bike

kerryb wrote:Thanks for commenting Skiwatcher, I was beginning to think this forum was only frequented by volker, sweety, and bots! I also wondered if the readership was mostly into factory correct restorations, because nobody comments on this one. I welcome comments both for and against, it's all part of the adventure. I have refurbished a couple cb750's and a couple '83 goldwings, but this is my first custom job. My goal is a low-buget fun bike, that I built, not bought.

I have been watching both here and on the SOHC4 forum. I am mostly for factory correct restorations, but logically, it is your bike, and you can do what you want to with it. That said, I am enjoying the progress of your build, and am curious to see what you do with it. This forum has never seemed to have a lot of traffic, and it has always seemed to me that most of the SOHC4 community doesn't even think that the CB650 is worth mentioning.

Thanks for chiming in onepieceatatime...it's true the sohc guys seem to value the 650 as a parts donor. There is one guy who made a real hotrod combining a 650 motor and a 550 frame.
Not much progress on the bike this week, I took some time out to try learning to use my HF TIG welder, you know the one... $200 on sale but no foot pedal. After turning a whole lot of perfectly good metal into scrap, there is some progress. Took yesterday to make a foot pedal for it from bicycle brake cable. Works pretty good. I call it the "WOW" pedal, as in "wow!, this actually works". Pics to follow, but don't get your hopes too high, the pedal only cost me $10 to make and I didn't worry about appearance. It has sort of a "red-neck" flavor to it.

I wanted to do a neat job of welding these tabs to the frame for mounting the underseat electrics pan. Seemed like a good job for the tig welder, but wait...I'm not a tig welder, better take some time to learn.
Progress is slow, but there is progress!
And now that I have a foot pedal for on-the -fly adjustments we might see some welding yet!

the "wow" pedal

Front seat brace will be glassed into the fiberglass seat pan. Should allow enough space to hide the electrics and a path for the wire harness to exit the tank area out of sight. 1/2 round "feet" will be lined with neoprene sheet to prevent metal to metal contact.

In my quest to make the seat work right and be easy to install and remove, I'm going to use the original seat mount provision in the frame. A metal tab holding a block of HDPE will fit into the frame pocket the way the original did. This will get glassed into the seat pan with a provision for two bolts holding the back down.

Haven't posted in a while...I have taken a break to refurbish a house. Learned how to lay vinyl plank floor last week and my knees are complaining that I'm on them too much! Hope to be back on bike tasks in a few weeks. I'll be back when there is more bike progress!

kerryb wrote:Haven't posted in a while...I have taken a break to refurbish a house. Learned how to lay vinyl plank floor last week and my knees are complaining that I'm on them too much! Hope to be back on bike tasks in a few weeks. I'll be back when there is more bike progress!

I've been doing the same mate, although I'm not at the vinyl floor stage yet! I've just about finished tiling the bathroom and I'm still plastering at the moment. Good Luck with the refurb, I know exactly what you are going through

kerryb wrote:...I have taken a break to refurbish a house. Learned how to lay vinyl plank floor last week and my knees are complaining that I'm on them too much!

I use skating kneepads for this kind of work.
Often helpful for working on the bike, too. A clear must-have for me!

Volker_P wrote:

kerryb wrote:...I have taken a break to refurbish a house. Learned how to lay vinyl plank floor last week and my knees are complaining that I'm on them too much!

I use skating kneepads for this kind of work.
Often helpful for working on the bike, too. A clear must-have for me!

I broke out the "Hobie" kneepads from my skating days, but now I use a pro pair with plastic cups to kneel in...still isn't helping with the inside stresses! I'm almost done with the floor, and did most of the house without thresholds in the doorways...took some extra time but it looks nice.
I'll be glad to get back on the bike project as I have a HF lift table to preclude kneeling...what a savior! Next up is crown molding over the new kitchen cabinets, what fun...upside down cutting.