Black Bomber with extended forks... looking for insights.

Steve from WI

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I just bought a 1967 CB450 Black Bomber. The forks have been extended and I would like to return them to factory length. I think a rebuild would be in order anyway. I am not sure what was done to extent them. To me the rest of the fork components like like factory parts but I don't really have any experience working on these old Hondas. I wonder if I can just disassemble, shorten the tubes and rebuild or if I need to source original tubes ? I could tell more after taking them apart but I would rather have a plan so it is not sitting apart while I look for parts. Any insights on this would be greatly appreciated450forks.jpegCB450left.jpeg.
 
The first thing to do is identify the part number to the fork tubes from your model, if you didn't read this yet now would be the time (it's part of your Welcome Package).

Tips for identifying and locating parts

Lots of people new to the vintage Honda motorcycle world are unfamiliar with how to identify the parts they need and where to look for them. The question is often asked: "Where can I find a (part name)?" The first step to finding any part for any of our favorite Hondas is to properly identify...
www.vintagehondatwins.com www.vintagehondatwins.com

Following those steps, you get this part number for the tubes that originally came in your front forks.

51401-283-020

From this source

www.cmsnl.com

PIPE FRONT FORK for Honda - order at CMSNL

✓ Get the PIPE FRONT FORK ✓ Manufacturer Part Number: 51401-283-020 ✓ Quality part
www.cmsnl.com www.cmsnl.com

Then you search the internet for that part number, or cross-compatible parts if possible. I checked the earliest CL450 listing shown in Franks's Forks and the part number for '69 to '72 CL450 tubes is different (and that listing is not completely correct, the actual '72 CL450 is the K5 with the clamp-style top bridge so it wouldn't work). Upper fork tubes from a Bomber are pretty unique, they only show fitting a Bomber basically.

Fitting models​

Other models that this item fits to.

A search of the part number for eBay listings shows nothing at the moment. A call to Frank's Forks might get you better information, they've been around a very long time.

 
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Your choice, obviously, but it might be better for continuity to keep all posts related to your project in the project thread. I am pretty confident your project thread will receive sufficient attention.

As AD is suggesting, a little parts research to start will likely help and he's already provided some good links.
 
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Reactions: J-T
Thank you for the input.
stl360+450 said:
Your choice, obviously, but it might be better for continuity to keep all posts related to your project in the project thread. I am pretty confident your project thread will receive sufficient attention.

As AD is suggesting, a little parts research to start will likely help and he's already provided some good links.
Click to expand...
Will do
 
ancientdad said:
The first thing to do is identify the part number to the fork tubes from your model, if you didn't read this yet now would be the time (it's part of your Welcome Package).

Tips for identifying and locating parts

Lots of people new to the vintage Honda motorcycle world are unfamiliar with how to identify the parts they need and where to look for them. The question is often asked: "Where can I find a (part name)?" The first step to finding any part for any of our favorite Hondas is to properly identify...
www.vintagehondatwins.com www.vintagehondatwins.com

Following those steps, you get this part number for the tubes that originally came in your front forks.

51401-283-020

From this source

www.cmsnl.com

PIPE FRONT FORK for Honda - order at CMSNL

✓ Get the PIPE FRONT FORK ✓ Manufacturer Part Number: 51401-283-020 ✓ Quality part
www.cmsnl.com www.cmsnl.com

Then you search the internet for that part number, or cross-compatible parts if possible. I checked the earliest CL450 listing shown in Franks's Forks and the part number for '69 to '72 CL450 tubes is different (and that listing is not completely correct, the actual '72 CL450 is the K5 with the clamp-style top bridge so it wouldn't work). Upper fork tubes from a Bomber are pretty unique, they only show fitting a Bomber basically.

Fitting models​

Other models that this item fits to.

A search of the part number for eBay listings shows nothing at the moment. A call to Frank's Forks might get you better information, they've been around a very long time.

Click to expand...
Thank You
 
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