Still workin on the wiring.

I took off the gauges and am searching for a quarter fairing. I'll put the speedo back on when I have the fairing. Gotta make sure it fits. Also have to fab a mount for it. I promise I'll get pics of that process. This is where it stand as of Feb 12 2011. Started in August 2010. So I think I'm on schedule. I figured 8-10 months with distractions and obstacles. Me being easily distracted and poor makes the project kind of jerky. Notice my other projects in these pics? ATV, GoPed, sewing machine, RV furnace, lawn furniture, insulate the garage... that's just in this pic. You should see my basement and the shop at work. What a spaz I can be, according to some "friends".

Got the seat back.

Much better in black! Carl and Jeff do great work. Again with the missed pic opportunity. I made a set of clubman handlebars out of an old OE set. Very sexy! You can just tell in this pic. Also forgot to get pics of making the mufflerbrackets that I made from pices I cut off the bike originally. Locking gascap, fuel petcock are being repaired.

Tail piece and seat are finally done. WTF is with the seat though?

The seat looks great, but the color... no way too much blue and not the right blue. So back it goes to the shop. It's taken about 3 months to get this. So I'm kind of leery about parting with it again. Ive got the clutch handle tied down cause the plates stuck from sitting so long. I don't want to take the clutch apart but it's not a terrible job if Ihave to. It's winter so I may wait til spring for a clutch job. Parts are expensive and hard to find for this model. Probably why some many guys build Hondas.

Surprise! It's blue!

The paint is frome the new retro Mustangs, I really like it! I have the mufflers rehung without the kickup. I couldn't get around the pegs, swingarm and shocks. I'll try it on the next bike. Still waiting on the tail piece that goes behind the seat. Also waiting on the seat. I cut the stock seat pan down to match the shorter frame. Again I forgot to get pics of that. It was one of the more interesting but slower parts of the project. Ilearned a ton about welding thin sheetmetal on that piece. Right now its at my buddies place getting covered.

First attempt at making my own handle bars.

I've already completely rebuilt the brake calipers, and master cylinders. What a mess but probably the most important thing to do. You must NOT cut corners on the brakes. And upgrade the lines to braided. It's definitely worth it. The bar is a dragbar type, flat with a little bend. Also I forgot to show the steering bearing replacement. Didn't get pics but its easy and important. I'm starting to make the wiring harness here as well. I've got new clutch and throttle cables on the way. I hear the paint is almost done. 

New chain and sprockets and a cool sportster muffler with a kick.

Also, different shocks and rear signals. the OE sigs are just nasty and not in a good way. I went with a smaller rear sprocket for more topend speed. This is never going to threaten the new bikes but I'll be riding on the freeway some. Also a new rear tire. Tank has been cleaned out and is now at the painters along with the side covers. He is going to surprise me with the color. Hope its cool. 

Front fender as it should be

With the fender cutdown, fork gaiters and a new tire, also you should always get the forks resealed and flushed out and refilled when dealing with an older bike. Gaiters are more for a look than anything else.  I installed the tire myself. I'll eventually take it to a bike shop for balancing unless I can find out how to do it myself.

Front fender

Thats just plain ugly

Rear fender cut down

Not too bad.

Big fenders are not cool.

I was going to leave them off completely, but I need some protection against dirt and road debris.

Cutting down the rear fender

It's alive... kind of.

This is the makeshift fuel supply. Wow, I'm a lousy photographer. But a decent mechanic. It runs! Wish I had a video to put in here. I smoked myself out of the garage for an hour. Had to redo the carbs cause a float had a pinhole in it and sank, flooding out the right side.

Skip ahead a little...

Ok, so I also skipped the parts where I put stuff back together. I have cut off the back of the frame and the passenger peg mounts. Installed the engine, wheels, forks, gauges, some lights. All this so I can figure out how to get rid of or change them. The gas tank is full of rust so it's getting an acid bath. the carbs have to come back off to be rebuilt. And the wiring harness is mouse food, so I will remake it from scratch. Thats not as hard as you might think. Setting carb float height, drop, and synchronize/balancing is MUCH harder. I found some huge like new Harley mufflers to use during test runs. At this moment I'm rigging up a temporary fuel supply. I have the basic electrical jury rigged for testing purposes.

Add one indestructible engine...

2 cylinder, 750cc, points ignition, making 55hp when new. This one runs so I'm not going to rebuild it. Live on the edge, right?

First step...start cuttin!

Your basic frame. I skipped all the disassembly. Suffice to say it was a long, tedious, dirty job. Now to cut off the parts that I dont need.

Starting my cafe racer project. Late summer 2010.

I traded an old van that was going to the junk yard for this wreck.