CB750 cafe racer build

[jonbuoy]

Its easy to see why these big old bruisers were so heavy I weighed a few things for no other reason than I'm a bit of a closet geek and was wondering if all my brackets would affect the weight:

Horn 750g
Rear mudguard hanger 600g
Rear brake lever 500g
Pillion pegs 400g (200g each)
Riders footpeg 1240g (620g each)
Rear light frame 1200g
Centre stand 3000g
Rear light and bracket 1100g
Indicators 1600g (400g each!!!)

None of the above bits are going back on, weighing up the new bits I will be loosing around 8KG's of weight. Staggering.

[jonbuoy]

Shes a roller now - my elderly neighbours looked relieved to find out It was a bike and not a P lab I was working on in the wee hours. I'm fairly happy with the left hand side - as it is. I'm not liking the oil tank on the right hand side. Also the side stand is too short - I've bent it as far as I can but still needs another inch or so to get the right lean angle - I've read that others have the same gripe.

I had to toe the seat in a bit at the front to match the tank exactly, glassed in some ally brackets for the rear of the seat. Next it will go to trimit for the vinyl treatments

[Eurodave]

Lookin farkin good bud!! , nice stance!!

[jonbuoy]

Cheers Dave.

[xwhatsit]

My word that is very shiny for something dating from 1977

Looks great -- the tank/seat line looks excellent, they really define the bike. Congrats, wish I had your skills.

[TS99]

Nice lines coming up... good work JB

PS that centre stand is a brick shithouse 3kg? WTF

[jimbo]

lookin nice mate.seat n tank work real well,lookin forward to the next instalment

[psyguy]

some serious fabrication there, jonbuoy!
she should look sweet once powdercoated

by the way, imo, just for the neat looks, i think i'd go for the countersunk screws rather than the rivets on the battery holder (if you can be bothered?!)

cheers

[jonbuoy]

Thanks guys, Yup I agree the rivets don't look as nice as countersunks I will change them. He he the side stand is a temporary fix.... not sure what to do about it, I will either get this one extended or find or make a new one. Bloody odd that its so short.

[psyguy]

Thanks guys, Yup I agree the rivets don't look as nice as countersunks I will change them. He he the side stand is a temporary fix.... not sure what to do about it, I will either get this one extended or find or make a new one. Bloody odd that its so short.

yeah, i'll need to do that on my gs side stand, too.
whenever i use it i worry the bike'll fall over...
oher than extending it, i think (possibly) the stand bracket and/or the stand itself can be bent inwards a little ?!

[Bonez]

Nice lines coming up... good work JB

PS that centre stand is a brick shithouse 3kg? WTF

Weight is low, they're designed to handle a 200kg bike, and they come in handy when servicing time comes around. But you knew that already ah?

[yod]

yeah, i'll need to do that on my gs side stand, too.
whenever i use it i worry the bike'll fall over...
oher than extending it, i think (possibly) the stand bracket and/or the stand itself can be bent inwards a little ?!

yeah what is it with GS's ?? a mate of mine had a '80 GSthou about 15 years ago and it was practically at 45 degrees on the side stand...was a pig to pick up again!

[yod]

this thread is great mate....looking forward to the next interesting post

can't wait to see the finished beast!

good on ya

[Kickaha]

Another link for you if you don't already have it
http://www.satanicmechanic.org/

nice list of frame builers who made stuff for them on it, nice Dunstall model in the March Classic Motorcyle Mechanics as well

[jonbuoy]

Been polishing and wet sanding my fingers off. I thought if I got a buffing wheel and more abrasive cutting stuff I could skip the wet and dry or a least some stages of it. Going from dull ally I can go straight to the wheel, but the forks and calipers were all rough cast under the paint. I had to go from 80(!) to 120 then tried the buffer - no good still too many deep scratches. So in the end it went from 80-120-400-800 buffer. Still some small areas that my chinese "dremel" needs to get into yet.

I'm please with the front headlight/instrument layout - I'm going to stick with analogue gauges and get some new faces from the states. Also managed to find a longer NOS sidestand in the states - along with the headlight visor and a tapered steering head bearing kit and an early K ignition switch.

Seat was covered by Rider Seats in Tauranga - nice job. It must have been tricky to cover - the fibreglass seat was not completely symetrical. It lines up with the tank nicely and should be comfy for a few hundred k's.

The wet sanding and buffing has been draining my enthusiasm - I keep having to put bits together to keep me going. Working with a pile of bits isn't the same as working with a bike. Its starting to look good. Toying with the idea of a 50's stlye fish tail silencer. Its a kind of confused 70's 60's 50's mix cafe racer - I'm just picking the bits I like from different eras.

Still need to do something about the oil tank its fugly and has a nasty cheapo plastic cap.