THE KID'S CAFÉ - A 16 Year Olds (Now 18) First Rebuild (Project Log CB350 - 1971)

[BabyBiker]

THE KID'S CAFÉ - A 16 Year Olds (Now 18) First Rebuild (Project Log CB350 - 1971)

Long time no see VHT members. This thread will be a continuation of the original on the old website. If you would like to catch up here is the link. So lets get up to date.

The virus has put somewhat of a stall on the project but with college coming up (Hopefully) my parents have threatened (and I think that they're serious this time) to sell everything as is, come September 1st. Now that the bike is running the final steps to completion are more so in the styling category rather than the mechanical aspect that I am used to.
here is the list I have made up

1. Gas tank and seat paint
2. Seat upholstery
3. 2 into 1 Exhaust
4. Custom kickstand
5. Various electrical fixes (Break and rear running light, Gauge lights)
6. DMV registration

To do all this in one month is very daunting but the sound of the countdown on the clock is getting me motivated. Here is my progress on each of those steps.

1. Gas tank and seat paint:
This is the biggest item I've been working on over the last month or so. California has repealed the use of chlorinated paint stripper so using the alternative only takes off one layer at a time. The tank is currently stripped down and all Bondoed up.



I have also come up with a design that a friend’s father will help me with. I will be getting the paints in the coming days.



2. Seat upholstery
This can obviously be done until the seat is painted along with the tank so I am waiting for that to be completed. I have ordered the foam from foambymail.com and it should be arriving soon. Not quite sure yet on how or who I can get to do the leather upholstery but will take any advice you have.

3. 2 into 1 Exhaust
Looking at the welding that I did on my custom kickstand I am definitely not confident in making up my own exhaust. I’ve scrapped the idea unfortunately due to the time crunch and will be purchasing one soon.

4. Custom kickstand
Now that my shop teacher from high school has been getting back in, I have been invited to come in and start learning how to weld. This kickstand has taken about four 4 hour sessions to makeup and everything fit perfectly when finalized. Unfortunately when I was bolting it on and putting it through its motions the welds holding on to the lug ripped right off. A good reminder that I’m not a professional welder. I don’t think I can get the proper penetration I need on the machines we have at school, so I will be probably taking this to a professional. If this doesn’t work I will just give in and buy a center stand.



5. Various electrical fixes (Break and rear running light, Gauge lights)
Currently when the bike is on, the running light on the rear brake strip does not light up. However, it does light up when the ignition key is in the (ignition position). Looking at the wiring diagram this makes complete sense but I don’t know why it would be this way. I also need to wire in the brake light button which I believe will involve drilling a slot in the break perch. Additionally, I need to add lights to the gauges. I have purchased rubber housings for them but need to get the lights themselves. I have read other forms on LEDs, so I will go back to that and purchase those accordingly.

Thanks for reading you guys, and as always any advise or recommendations is greatly appreciated. Stay healthy, stay safe.

 

[LongDistanceRider]

Paint work is 95% prep, 5% paint. You want a good primer coat on the tank but before that you want to sand the tank with 1000 wet/dry to get it as smooth as possible. Shoot it and get a good coverage and sand again lightly. I use 3-4 primer coats. Before the last primer coat I shoot a light coat of black on. Then when lightly sanding I can find any high spots because the black sands away first. If you get islands of grey in the black you know where it's high and actually need more sanding to lower that area some.
Once you're happy with the primer, let it dry in the sun for a day or 2. Before shooting you will want to wipe it down with a lint free towel. I use old T shirts that are freshly washed/dried. Most of the spray paints don't like the paint being wiped with alcohol but that works well to get fine debris out of the paint. Try a test strip painted on something else to see if there's a reaction.
Once you start the color coats you will want to sand between coats to get as fine a finish as you can before the next coat.
You're going to go thru lots of 1000, 1500, 2000 and some 3000 grit paper, stock up.
With the time frame you have buying an exhaust system is the best option.
Don't have any upholstery ideas for you
Weld penetration is difficult and without the proper welder on hand it's impossible. Sounds like you got a handle on that.
Electrical? stock harness or custom?

 

[BabyBiker]

Thanks for the reply post LDR. Good explanation on the paintwork too, that clarifies a lot, thank you. My friends father who’s going to help me out with painting has recommended that I go to a finish Masters in town but unfortunately, it is closed down due to COVID. Tomorrow I think I’m going to make the road trip about an hour north and go to one that is open. If I’m correct all I need is primer, paint, clear coat, and Hardener?

Will be taking the kickstand to get welded either today or tomorrow.

The new wiring harness is A stock harness from Sparak Moto. A few terminals had to be customized for my needs but nothing that would change the rear brake lighting issue.

 

[ancientdad]

Looking forward to seeing you wrap this thing up and get to riding it. Can't blame Mom and Dad for having a shelf life on their patience and accommodations... but you're almost there anyway

 

[LongDistanceRider]

If you're doing that tank paint yourself just use light coats repeatedly, too much too fast will give you runs. I hang the tank by the rear so I can walk around it as I spray covering everything.
For clear coating I use Spray Maxx 2K. Gas proof, brake fluid proof, chemical cleaner proof. Nasty stuff to breathe so you have to read the safety data and use a face mask/respirator to do it safely.
Contact Matt on the wiring issues, he's best qualified since it's his harness.

 

[BabyBiker]

Update: 8/11/2020

Today I was actually able to fix some of the electrical issues including integrating the front brake light and fixing the daytime running light in the rear.

ELECTRICAL:

After a quick look over the diagram and what the harness has, there is a brown wire that comes out the front of the harness connecting to the daytime running rear wire. This wire simply needed to be grounded to complete the circuit when the ignition is in the on position. (To clarify by grounding I mean completing the circuit to a negative black wire, not a green ground wire). I crimped a male terminal on the brown wire, plugged it in, and wala that has to be one of the easiest problems I had to fix in this entire project.

I finally got around to installing the front brake light wiring today as well. This involved drilling a hole for the ” button“ in the break perch. Took way more time than I was hoping as it needed some custom adjustments but we now have a functioning front brake light.



PAINTING:

Will be going an hour north to get paint tomorrow. I’m praying that the store doesn’t suddenly close. My friends dad has an airbrush so he will be doing all of the technical work. It looks like I’m back to sanding, having flashbacks to polishing the aluminum engine side cases. Blisters here we come.

Thanks for all of the recommendations and tips you guys.

 

[WideAWAKE]

I used to get a lot of supplies at finish master for my day job.

they were open the first month of COVID (it’s just a guy in the back and 1 at the front desk)

then all of the shipped it said “temporarily closed” gave a number to call. - called it and it just rang and rang.

fast forward a few week and I found another supplier about the same distance in the opposite direction and I call to ask them a few questions. The guy who answer the phone has a very distinct voice, I said “tony??” ... he said “yeah!”. It was the guy I used to deal with at finish masters. - long story short he told me they were millions in debt and used COVID as a way out. Shut it down and had the state pay for it. No bueno.

they are switching to all online but the only thing they actually had going for em was being able to go in and talk to someone behind the counter and their custom mixed products.

you can get spraymax 2k on line. - I prefer the Eastwood 2k clear myself. I think it lays out better. But they both will work.

 

[LongDistanceRider]

98% of your sanding is going to be a light touch with lots and lots of water. All of the paint coats are thin and heavy hands will cut right thru.

 

[BabyBiker]

Update: 8/12/2020

A very interesting note you made there Wideawake. The finish Masters closest to me had shut down and I found out today that they actually took it off of the online list of locations and redirected all of the phone calls to the Fairfield location. Maybe more to it than meets the eye.

I went up there today to go get my paint but not only came back with basecoat clearcoat and hardeners (I forgot the primers, have to go back up there tomorrow) but an education as well. There is a lot more procedure to this than I originally thought, and I am very glad to have a professional on my side. The system that I am using comes with a data sheet for when and what to do during the prep and spraying process. After going over everything with the guys at FinishMaster‘s I did some more sanding on the bare metal (A thorough job with 220) and used their technique to find lows to fill in with Bondo.

Here is what I came back with from the shop



Just in case anyone is wondering this wasn’t the cheapest route to take (Around $150) but fairly reasonable considering the quality of the stuff. Once I get the primer from the shop tomorrow I’m going to swing by my professional’s place and he will tell me what to do from there.

On a side note the foam for the seat came today
(This was the minimum quantity... I know) there is a quarter in there for reference




Big day tomorrow. I'll update as things progress. Thanks again for reading.

 

[BabyBiker]

Update: 8/18/2020

Not much to report other than the purchase of the exhaust headers and muffler. They are both international products so they might take some time to arrive. I went with the Hindle 2into1 header system and Purpose Built Moto's torpedo muffler (51mm). Hopefully, they sound nice together.

I went back up to the paint shop and spent another $90 to buy primer (w/ respective hardener) and a grey color coat. So that updates the total price of the paint to about $240. Given this knowledge, you may be able to find a shop that can do your design for cheaper. No word still from the painter on when I can come in. I'll catch him up tomorrow.

 

[BabyBiker]

Update: 8/31/2020

Things have been moving together pretty slowly but all at once they’re seeming to wrap up. On my spreadsheet it seems that we have just passed the $6000 mark so that is nice as well. Painting is going slow, as we are only on our second coat of primer, but I’m learning a lot along the way and we’re doing a very detailed job with blocking (sanding primer). Yesterday I sprayed the rear fender guard that I made out of fiberglass with an automotive undercoat. This rubberized it, giving a very nice finish. Honestly very cool stuff and I’ll probably be using it in the future.



Currently I am working on the gauge lights but I am running into some trouble as I have gone through three main fuses. The neutral light (which runs off of a negative black lead) works flawlessly and I am very happy about that, however both main gauge lights when grounded short something out blowing to me and fuse. The main headlight also flickers as well before the fuse blows. I have tried hooking it up to a negative black lead but no power gets there. Any thoughts or suggestions are kindly welcomed.

After breaking the kickstand I reset it and gave it to a professional welding shop near me. They did an excellent job on getting good penetration and after some filing (a lot) I think I have worked out how it is going to be put under tension by the spring (first photo). Luckily I have found out that the guy helping me with the paint also TIG weld so he will be helping me with some final adjustments. I really wish I knew about him earlier on, some of his work is insane.



Still awaiting the arrival of the headers and muffler. They are both foreign products so it might take them a little while to get here. I believe the muffler is in the US now but not sure about the headers.

 

[LongDistanceRider]

Oh, the joys of sanding. In the end though you'll have a good foundation to lay the paint on which makes all the difference in the world.

 

[film495]

check the lighting leads with a volt meter before you plug them in and run lights on them. it is either connected wrong and/or you have a short in the circuit. on my CB350 someone plugged in the stator and low beam headlight wires cross plugged in the headlight bucket, and it caused a bunch of weird issues. the stock wiring is a white wire for the low beam and a white wire with a yellow stripe, so - not hard to mix things up in that little space. I also looked for any frayed connections at the little ends of the wires and found several, just buttoned them up with some of that shrink cover electrical wire stuff, works pretty good.

 

[BabyBiker]

check the lighting leads with a volt meter before you plug them in and run lights on them. it is either connected wrong and/or you have a short in the circuit. on my CB350 someone plugged in the stator and low beam headlight wires cross plugged in the headlight bucket, and it caused a bunch of weird issues. the stock wiring is a white wire for the low beam and a white wire with a yellow stripe, so - not hard to mix things up in that little space. I also looked for any frayed connections at the little ends of the wires and found several, just buttoned them up with some of that shrink cover electrical wire stuff, works pretty good.

I’ve gone through everything I can think of and tested the lighting lead (Brown and white wire) with a reading coming back at 12 V as it should. Could it be some thing due to the fact that I’m not using the stock hi/lo control switches?

It seems strange to me that I get no reading however when I tested using a negative black lead.

Thanks for the help guys, this one is baffling me!!!!

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[66Sprint]

Black wires are switched battery POSITIVE.... NOT NEGATIVE!.....

GREEN wires are the grounds (battery negative returns).....

 

[BabyBiker]

Black wires are switched battery POSITIVE.... NOT NEGATIVE!.....

GREEN wires are the grounds (battery negative returns).....

Ok woah. Looks like I have to get some more education into electrical [emoji23]. Jeez thanks for catching me yet again 66.


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[66Sprint]

Wasn't yelling, just emphasizing.....It would be normal to get a no voltage reading touching both probes to positive sources

 

[BabyBiker]

Wasn't yelling, just emphasizing.....It would be normal to get a no voltage reading touching both probes to positive sources

No, never implied that, I’m just honestly amazed that I’ve gotten away with all this without even knowing some of the basics. [emoji51][emoji38]


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[66Sprint]

You might learn a little electrical if you read the posts in "66 Sprint's Classroom" in the technical stuff forum.......

forumdisplay.php

Guess I should add a "Typical Honda wire color coding guide" as well.....

 

[ancientdad]

Guess I should add a "Typical Honda wire color coding guide" as well.....

That's an excellent next topic.

 

[BabyBiker]

Looked over some of the electrical 66. Thanks for doing those lessons. When I look back at the diagram and then to my custom configuration I can see one possible error. The stock Hi/Lo control switch has a wire completing the circuit for the gauge lights. The new modern Honda control switch that I am using does not have this line (See photo). This would make me believe that the brown/white gauge wire circuit is not being completed however the voltmeter reads 12 V when doing brown/white + ground. I am just not sure where this circuit is being completed (Back to positive).

It seems to me that if the wires are delivering 12V and they are hooked up to a 12V rated LED there should be no problem. I might just go with no gauge back lighting and just have the neutral and turn signal gauge lights.

 

[ancientdad]

^^^BTW, I started to answer you on the ground but stopped because I (incorrectly) remembered you were using an M-unit so I figured all the OEM colors wouldn't apply. Glad I was wrong and you aren't

 

[WideAWAKE]

What happens when you stick incandescent bulbs back in the gauges lights? (If they are stock gauges)

LEDs can be a bit of a pain sometimes.

Do your bulbs light up if you use alligator clips and apply power directly from your battery to the bulbs?

 

[BabyBiker]

What happens when you stick incandescent bulbs back in the gauges lights? (If they are stock gauges)

LEDs can be a bit of a pain sometimes.

Do your bulbs light up if you use alligator clips and apply power directly from your battery to the bulbs?

Unfortunately I don’t have incandescent bulbs, that would’ve been a good test. Using the multimeter I get 12 V and the LEDs I have are rated for 12 V so that is kind the dilemma I am dealing with. Also every time I hook them up it blows the fuse and I’m down to my last one so I can’t really do any more testing, (More will come tomorrow). Both the neutral indicator gauge light and the turn signal indicator gauge light work, so I am currently just running them without the gauge back lighting. For now I have heat shrink closed the wires for the gauge back lights so that they will be well preserved and cause no shorts.

All of these LEDs are from superbrightleds.com so it is a reputable source. Found this website after doing some research on other vintage Honda owners going with LED gauge lighting. I know it’s not like me to “give up“ on some thing like this, I never really have before in this project, but I feel that it’s something so minute (not major) and my time is focused better on other things before I go away to college in 17 days time.


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[BabyBiker]

Update: 9/2/2020

Just a few quick updates on some of the things I’ve been working on the last few days.

Here is the assembled rear under guard coated in permatex undercoat (really good stuff, I can see it holding up well). I have also bent the license plate mount to the correct angle for tire clearance/legality.

Some advances on the kickstand as well, as I figured out that I get more of an angle when the kickstand itself is rotated 180°.

Do you guys think the first position might be stronger? Will be welding up a tab for the spring soon.
Here is some of the thinking I did on paper if you would like to try and wrap your heads around it yourself. Basically the two lines are the paths that the mounting point on the kickstand take and the path that the spring has to take. At the points where the lines do not intersect is where the spring must stretch.

Did the last coat of primer today on the tank and rear cowl. We will hopefully be applying The first coats of color tomorrow.

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[LongDistanceRider]

The angle of the second picture is best, 10-15 degrees forward cant. It is the weakest however.
The 1st picture is the strongest since the load is a strait line from contact point to the bolt.

 

[briandel]

Seems like the stand needs to cant forward so you remove the possibility of a bump from the rear causing it to fold up, leaving your bike on its side...

 

[BabyBiker]

Hmm yeah I was weighing both of your guys points. I think the spring is going to be very stiff so I might take the first option. Not sure yet.


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[Yendor]

AS long as the spring you use will be pulling the stand over center towards the front and it is good an stiff you might get away with that.
But I'm not sure there is that much force being applied by the weight of a 350 that might cause a failure in the stand if you use the 2nd pic's position.

 

[BabyBiker]

Update: 9/14/2020

Again, slowly but surely we’re nearing the finish line. I leave for school here in five days so hopefully we can get everything done, excluding the upholstery, and I can return in November for Thanksgiving break to finalize everything. Since last week I have finished up the kickstand with the help of my painter. He welded on a piece to hold the spring and it is now with the powder coaters along with some other miscellaneous parts.

Here is how it looks on the bike (don’t worry I ground down the contact section to match the ground angle). It is surprisingly very stable in this position just as long as you keep the handlebars turned to the left. I need to come up with some system to secure it in the up position, even though it is pretty stable there, I’m thinking some sort of rubber ring that can hold it in place. This is just for precautionary purposes.



The painter and I have gotten on our base coat color, which is not exactly the color I intended it to be, but it has grown on me since. Sort of gives me a 1970s vibe which coincidentally fits. Due to the fires here in Northern California, we can’t paint outside, that is unless you want an ash flake paint job. Luckily my painter has a buddy who has a full size paint booth just a few blocks away from his house. I also lost my subscription to Adobe illustrator so I had to re-do the design by hand. Hopefully it still gets the point across. Later on today we will be spraying on an intermediate clear to separate the base coat from the graphics and decals.



It also seems that the two into one Hindle headers will be arriving today. I was getting worried they would not come before I left for school, as every item that has to be shipped seems to be delayed. Hopefully, I can install them later today and actually tune this beast to make some decent power.
Finally, I blued the exhaust header retainers, as I figured any paint would just disintegrate due to the temperatures. This was a fun process and yielded very good results. I first gave them a two minute soak in the muriatic acid I had left over from cleaning the inside of the gas tank. I also managed to drop my phone in the acid but that’s nothing a little baking soda couldn't fix. Then after neutralizing the retainers themselves, I heated them up with a blow torch till the metal turned a nice hot white, then immediately quenching them in peanut oil.

 

[LongDistanceRider]

Looking good there. Where is school?

 

[BabyBiker]

Looking good there. Where is school?

UC Santa Barbara. Around six hours away from where I live in the Bay Area. I am one of the lucky ones, being on an athletic team, we are actually able to head down to campus. There was a pole done the other day and 83% of people are staying home. They closed down most of the dorms and the ones that are open require that there is only one person per a room. That person still has to pay the full price of the room so people are looking at around $2000 a month for board. Very lucky that me and some freshman on the swim team (people I have never met before) are able to rent a house. Everything is online so I don’t blame the 83%, as they would have to stay in their dorm, which they are paying way too much money for all the while being forced to do school on their computer all day. Not to mention that they’re paying full price tuition too. It will certainly be an interesting story to tell down the road.


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[HerrDeacon]

Love the blue you are going with. I wanted to go with something like that as well but couldn't find anything close in a rattle can. Can't wait to see it all completed and together.

 

[LongDistanceRider]

UCSB is a good school, spent a week there one night.

 

[WideAWAKE]

Herr - Most places that sell auto motive paint can also mix any custom color and put it in an aerosol can for you.

 

[BabyBiker]

My painter also showed me these. You can get refillable CO2 canisters too.

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[RockReef]

UCSB is a good school, spent a week there one night.

Bahaha[emoji1303]


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[RockReef]

Interested to read your impressions of the new 2into1 exhaust. I googled it and the design looks nice. Primary pipes may be a bit long for stock bore but definitely following along as I’m in the (sloooow) process of making my own.


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[BabyBiker]

Now I know what you're all thinking, it's been two years and that is enough time to call a thread legally dead, but I'd like to change your mind. Over the last 24 months I've been working off and on as school allows me to whenever I return home, along with the remote help of my parents taking items into professionals (and hounding on me to keep the ball rolling). I need to apologize for the lack of documentation, however, in the coming days I will be crafting an extremely long final post of the newly completed 1971 "kids café" CB350. A lot of major steps have obviously been worked on and finalized since my last post of painting the gas tank, so I will have dedicated parts to the post going into detail on each component. I will also focus on some of the roadblocks I ran into along the way and how I was able to (believe it or not) solve them without the amazing help of the forum. Hopefully people can look to these if they are running into similar issues as I did.

Yesterday after completing some control cable adjustments I pumped up the tires and took the bike out for it's first proper test ride. She performed virtually flawlessly after a few adjustments and even broke a few of my neighbors necks as I flew by. I can't express to you guys the sense of excitement and joy I felt cruising around well above the speed limit in my little neighborhood. I was definitely a bit rusty at writing but flying by in fourth gear at 5000 RPM give me one of the biggest senses of accomplishment I have ever felt in my life.

I plan on taking the bike out somewhere scenic tomorrow night to get some proper photos and have already been scouting out some spots. Wish me luck not getting caught with registration from '95.

I really couldn't have done any of this without this forums help and need to give thanks to many of you individually.

More to come within the week.

-Corban

 

[LongDistanceRider]

Nice to see you're still with us and the bike is completed. Yeah, it's been a couple of days since your last post but that's cool.

 

[ancientdad]

Good to see you back Corban, and really good to hear the bike has come together. Thanks for the kind words about VHT

 

[Richard Pitman]

Pleased to see this thread returning, always interesting to read.

Apologies for the pedantry, but in the context it was used it's poll, not pole, and brake, not break. Might help if you need to write a job application, for example.

 

[RockReef]

Pleased to see this thread returning, always interesting to read.

Apologies for the pedantry, but in the context it was used it's poll, not pole, and brake, not break. Might help if you need to write a job application, for example.

Dis Amurica, we don’t know how to spell.


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[Maraakate]

Pleased to see this thread returning, always interesting to read.

Apologies for the pedantry, but in the context it was used it's poll, not pole, and brake, not break. Might help if you need to write a job application, for example.

I will chime in with some pedantry, that painter really needs to invest in a 3M cartridge filter mask. Unless he enjoys isocyanates. I worked with too many people that were too cool to wear them or couldn't be bothered. Now some of them are popping benadryl every single day just to get out of bed. You can get away with it if you're spraying like once or twice here and there (like a hobbyist, such as yourself), but a professional in a booth should never do this. It's really no joke, especially with clear coat systems which are heavy on isocyanates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isocyanate#Health_and_safety

Besides this, nice thread and cool bike. You must be thrilled it's finally all together!

 

[BabyBiker]

Vintage Honda Twins Forum, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to the completed and fully operational Kid’s Cafe Racer. A fully restored and retrofitted 1971 Honda CB350 K3 Twin.

This project started almost 5 years ago when I was a sixteen-year-old sophomore in High School originally thinking it would be a fun project to do over the course of the summer. At least this is how I sold the idea to my parents. After creating a slideshow presentation, I expressed to my folks that this was a great opportunity for me to learn and make some money to fund my further education on the side, they reluctantly agreed. This would prove to be true, although I did not truly know the extent of what I had just committed to.

In my past experience, I had been successful In repairing bicycles and other mechanical items of the sort but the only other experience I had as advanced as a motorcycle was bleeding the brake lines on a 1987 KTM 350 twin-stroke Enduro that I flipped the summer before.

I found my bike in a Craigslist ad, stripped down to the frame, abandoned by the previous owner. It came with all (most) of its original parts and even a donor engine that I would later pick parts from. It seems like a decent deal at $450. The price you see is the price you pay right? Wrong.

Over the next few weeks, not knowing which direction to go and what would be most friendly to my budget, I decided to start asking the forum pros some questions myself. This proved to be so much more efficient when previously trying to find people on here who came before me with similar issues. Initially, after showing my progress I felt somewhat deterred after some members showed me the real scope of what my project needed to be, however, many members embraced and encouraged me to stick out through the process. I can remember along the way trying to get out of the project at multiple points possibly selling it as is however the forum Network that was provided here on vintage Honda twins kept me going. Almost like, as Tom (ancientdad) puts it, I had something to prove to all of my newfound “uncles.”

The learning curve was steep but our collective determination was larger and progress came at a fast pace. I definitely overshot my original contract with my parents by a few years but at least got the bike out of my bedroom before leaving for college. I really owe a huge thank you to my parents for pushing me along and putting up with living in what seemed to be an auto shop for a year or two. Not to mention not getting too mad when finding out that I was baking on paint to engine parts in our kitchen oven. Mom, I swear I’ll find a way to get those oil stains out of the carpet somehow. These two years in college where I worked on the project remotely were very slow, leaving the bike to fall on the back burner with all of the new responsibilities I quickly acquired. However, again I owe it to my parents for pushing me along to achieve the goals I had originally set.

On my first recent trip back home this summer all that was left to do primarily was to shorten some of the control cables by soldering on new brass nipples (definitely another learning curve) and final carburetor tuning. After these final adjustments, I was able to go for the bike's first real ride, in what I’m guessing based on the registration sticker, 27 years, and let me say “It RIPPPPSSSS”. A lot of looks from cars and pedestrians I passed by and even a few peace signs from fellow bikers. I think my cheeks started to hurt from how much I was smiling.

Now to break some bad news. My original agreement with my parents was that this project would have the purpose of education and profit so that I can pay for my college tuition. Two years in and it looks to be the case that even though I wanted to avoid selling the bike at all costs I am going to need the money in order to stay in school. It hurts me to do this to not only myself but all of the members who have followed this build from the beginning. However, I know for certain that this will not be my last restoration/build. If I can go to college and get a job where I can earn money to finance new builds then I’ll be able to make them even better by learning from these past experiences we’ve shared throughout the last five years. I will be putting the bike up for sale on the Internet before I return next week to go back to school so hopefully, I’ll be able to take her out for another couple of rides before it’s time to say goodbye. I would at least like to make a video for you all to see the bike in action.

So here are some things that you guys missed while I was absent from the forum which I think really brought the whole build together nicely and sets it apart from the average build.

First off the paint was finished up with my design by a family friend who is well known for his pinstriping. We included some vintage Honda wing stickers on the tank as well as the original safety sticker on the top. Brad Sarganis, the painter, did an absolutely amazing job, airbrushing in some shadows to the stripes, and even including some white and gold pinstriping before the final clear coating. He did this all for me for free out of the goodness of his heart (I do still owe him a car wash on his 4runner).

Next up I had the upholstery done professionally while I was away by a local automotive upholstery company, Franzini Brothers. In my eyes, they did an excellent job working with me and finding what would be the most comfortable but also stylish as well. They had the great idea of including an additional buttress on the end of the seat cowl to aid the rider when in a squatted-down racing position so it would not be as jarring on the rider's tailbone. Maybe this could be used for comfort with two writers but honestly, I wouldn’t plan on having two people mount this bike.

Lastly, a local automotive shop helped me weld some mounting hardware for the exhaust so that the shifting pegs would still work but still give a nice line to the bike.

There are countless items that I did to the bike, too many to mention, but here are some of the highlights that make it special, as it is to me.

Engine:

• Full Top and Bottom Engine Rebuild
  
• 1 mm Oversized Bore and Pistons
  
• Full New Stainless Steel Socket-Head Hardware
  
• Polished Head Fins and Engine Paint

Body:

• Jet Black Powdercoating by MPC (http://gompc.com/)
  
• Stainless Steel Wheel Spokes and Nipples from Central Wheel Components in the UK
  
• Custom Fiberglass Rear Cowl
  
• Custom Paint by B-RAD Customs (http://b-radcustoms.com)
  
• Custom Seat Upholstery from Franzini Brothers (franzinibros.com)
  
• Tachometer and Speedometer Rebuilt with New Vinyl Cut Faces
  
• Full New Stainless Steel Socket-Head Hardware

Suspension:

• Rear Resiviour Shocks
  
• New Chrome Fork Stanchions
  
• Front Chromed OEM Fork Assembly

Exhaust:

• Ripple Rock Racers 2into1 Header
  
• Custom Mounting Fabrication
  
• Purpose Built Moto Single Torpedo Muffler

Electrics:

• Ricks Motorsport Electrics Stater, Lithium-ion Compatible reg/rect, and Rotor with Neodymium Magnets
  
• Custom Battery Box (it’s open source and you can find the file here for bending the sheet metal)
  
• Shorai LFZ14A2-BS12 (14ah)
  
• Motodemic from LED Headlight
  
• Motogadget m-Blaze pin LED Turn Signals and Front Headlight Brackets
  
• Custom Rear Frame Hoop with Built-in LED Tail Light.

This project could not have been completed without The vintage Honda twins forum and its family-like community. I need to thank some members here individually for their time and investment in helping me which include but are not limited to: Tom (ancientdad), Richard Pitman, Jim O’Brien (longDistanceRider), 66Sprint, RockReef, Yendor, WideAWAKE, and the-chauffeur. I hope that one day I can pass on the knowledge and investment to someone in need as you did for me. Hopefully, I can get a ride video recorded for you guys before I head back down to Santa Barbara.

Moving forward as I said above, the bike will, unfortunately, have to be put up for sale. However, before that happens I am going to submit it to BikeEXIF which is a magazine website that highlights Café Racer builds. Mine might not be up to their world-class standard but I’m going to run it on the premise of if a 16-year-old can do it then you can too. I’ve been encouraged by Tom to stick around on the forum checking in every now and again which I will be doing. Maybe I can chime in on a thread or two as well.

RIDE ON,
-BabyBiker

 

[Domscustom]

Came out great, good luck with everything


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LongDistanceRider]

Words don't quite do justice to the results of all your hard work. Excellent job there.
Might consider Bring A Trailer for the sale, they seem to pull the largest sales $$$$ and they're a bit picky on the product but that's not a worry for you.
https://bringatrailer.com/

 

[ancientdad]

A fabulous finish for the bike Corban, you've done great work and your perseverance paid off. Quite the accomplishment for someone who had so little experience prior, and kudos to your parents for their patience and help along the way. Though it sucks to hear you have to sell it as per the agreement with your parents, the bike should command top dollar.

 

[Richard Pitman]

Gorgeous paintwork, devastating for you to have to sell the bike after all that. No other way of raising the finance ?

 

[AstroMike]

That thing looks stunning! Really love the paint and graphics, I think that's the best theme I've seen for a build like this. Good luck with your studies, school can be tough but it definitely pays off in the end. Kudos to you for doing what has to be done to get the education you want.