Cm 400 to Bobber

[Hortons Heroes]

2 steps back and 3 steps forward.

We could only figure that the swing arm was bent as there was no play in the bushings and the measurements were bad. Hot dang do I love throwing bikes into my minivan. Makes having 4 kids seem worth it....something seems wrong about that.


Ben has a great idea so we made a roller pin out of some pipe that was a hair to big to fit down the triple tree mount. Hammered this down then put the choke in above it so it doesn't push down.


Oh look....parts. The swing arm was crazy easy to get out. Cleaned up the swing arm as it looked like it was stored unground for a few years.


Jaques fitted the new swing arm and confirmed that the other one was bent. Took some fitting then we cut the welds on the one side, hammered it down and rewelded it all back together. Ironically the wheel now has a little lean to the right but it looks far better.


The axle now sits a fair bit flater.


We swung past Can Tire to find a keyless gas cap and I was shocked to find two caps that fit. Less than $20 for both. The tank was dry (and loaded with rust, a spare I have lying around) so I gave it the lung pressure test in the store and they sealed tight. The one has a massive handle and is a bit big but the other is super low profile and fits the keyless bike motif.



I am going to put one of these on my cafe as I love the look and only having to carry one key.

All in all, two steps back, three steps forward. Fender is next. I have some cardboard as a seat mockup.

[Qball]

I am pretty sure I have a swing arm for a CB750 kicking around I could throw on the bus for you but it would probably be way to big for the CM400.  Let me know if you need it or if you have yours to a point of close enough.

[Hortons Heroes]

Progress...horrible ugly progress.
Cut an old tach cable and welded the hole shut and then ground it down a bit. I need to clear coat it still so it doesn't rust. Tach cable hole filled subtly now.


What the heck am I supposed to do here? There was a tube than ran from here to the airbox before...I have no airbox now. I assume that just having it open is bad but what does one do with this?


When given the option of hearing the bad or good news first most seem to like to hear the good first. Let's do the same with these photos. My wiring is now hidden under the raised tank! Hooray!

You can see the regulator/rectifier just placed ontop of the battery for now. I am going to make the battery a cover and mount the regulator ontop of the box. There is some wiring hidden between the carb and frame which you can see.


Brake and neutral switch wiring got lengthened (4 wires) and tucked behind the carb. I need to grind more little bits off the frame now, crazy to see is so much cleaner after having the battery and piles of wires hanging there.


A view of what is visible if you get up close and above the tank.


Now for the pic that I am not sure whether to be proud of or ashamed of. Having no idea what I am doing I just simply took all the wiring from the headlight bucket as well as all the rear wiring (fuses, relays, started solenoid) and just crammed it under the raised tank. Lengthened the 7 wires that needed it and now need a longer battery cable as well. From my simple thinking the only thing that really heats up and would do some damage to other wiring was the regulator/rectifier and I plan to mount it above the battery. I was going to clean up the ends and shorten things but it all fit under the tank with a bit of room to spare.

If this is the most dangerous thing you have ever seen or if it's beyond what should be considered usable I am open to suggestions ahahah. I laid it down it layers and strapped it so that it's somewhat compact...somewhat...as compact as a birds nest could be 


next is mounting the rear fender and then making or ordering the seat.

[Hortons Heroes]

Soldered a longer section into the positive lead on the battery to get it out from under the tank, started the battery box and realized the fender will have to sit differently so have to chop out the angle piece we tacked in. Will finish the battery box soon then mount the fender next. Everything still seems to work after hooking up the battery and turning the key....hooray!

[Hortons Heroes]

Definitely function over beauty. I went for the quick fix and just bent a length of bar into a U shape, drilled a hole in the top, cut the head from a bolt and welded it into the hole. The tab that holds the battery in on the short edge is slotted so when loosened it can slide out and give room for the battery to come out. Before it goes into the frame it needs a few tabs put on for the fender to bolt to.


My friend Kyle wanted to learn how to weld so he did some small stuff on the bottom.

[Hortons Heroes]

after being on the road for three weeks I am finally home!

my seat and 3" seat springs have arrived! I didn't have the welder help last night so I didn't get any fender mounting done but still some progress.

Jeff extracted a broken off screw and cleaned up my master cylnder for me. I am missing the O ring for the reservoir and honda says they are discontinued so it's off to cheiftan to find a replacement.


wheels are sandblasted and not clear coated. Much more of a matte look then when I wire brushed the paint off the wheels for the cafe. Should turn out well.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1/p180x540/1622277_10153754939565567_1804011546_n.jpg





Wayne I may go up sunday night and will give you a shout so we can finish up that other engine with torque specs.

[fast1]

  Should work for me, just give me a time. CHEERS.

[Hortons Heroes]

My seat and springs arrived! Seat was around $70 shipped and the springs were $12 shipped



Finally made some progress on the fender and battery box mounting. Got the box welded onto the frame, cut off some bolts to mount the lower part of the fender to and welded them onto the battery box. Tacked in the upper fender mount. We had put it to far forward so I had to cut it off and remount it.


Put some reinforcement inside the fender for where it will mount. Will drill holes and weld a nut onto it for easy removal. 


Have some general ideas for mounting the seat but it's not going to go on like I had hoped.

[Hortons Heroes]

The good news is the seat is almost done mounting....the bad news is that after we fabbed up the bracket to put it on we noticed the bolts on the bottom of the seat aren't centered....dang it.



As you can see it's a little to the right....like a lot...


Going to bolt the springs to the seat pan and then just use spring guides to keep the bottoms on so I can access the bottom of the seat easily. The front of the seat hinges on the bolt that holds the tank on, if I blow a fuse or have any electrical issues I need to be able to get under the tank fairly fast.


4 hours of work and we got this done. Fender has the nuts welded into it and just needs paint and electrical


things are coming together, we may add 1-2" of tube under the spring guides to raise the seat up even more.

[Hortons Heroes]

Seat it on!

Widened the holes that the seat is mounted in to try and get it centered a bit better. Still not perfect but I am Ok with the fit.
Got the spring guides welded in and the springs bolted to the bottom of the seat. I bounced really hard with my feet off the ground and I don't come close to bottoming out the seat.


View from the rear now with a straighter seat.


Next up is exhaust, then onto the carbs. I may get started on the rear lights while I wait for parts.

[Hortons Heroes]

exhaust tips from Canadian Tire...a little shameful to put on such cheap tips but I am that cheap.
I am in a similar problems as Dennis for what to do with baffling. I was planning on buying 3 inch long baffles and putting them in the header but I totally forgot that the header is double walled and that the baffles wont fit in there. I can try and get something super short and stick it in the tip....I am at a loss.



Drilled the hole for the taillight wiring and welded in pieces of a pipe to guide the loom and wires.


Cut little angled pieces and tacked them onto the end of the hardtail. These penny lights from Princess Auto fit in perfectly. Just a slit in the side for the wiring to poke out.


You can see the signals on the pipes. Going to go with red on the back. Much to my shop friends advice I mounted the plate and tail light central on the fender hoping that the plate will work a little as mud gaurd when I ride to camp.


My friend Kyle Sampson (radio DJ for the River and the Drive) has been helping over the winter. Here he is on it to show a 6 footer doesn`t look to huge on it. This bike may just fit me yet.


More parts on!

[Hortons Heroes]

This is more for the reference of the club but here are the baffles you can get at cycle north. The little guys were 9.50 for 2 with taxes in. I should be installing these into my tips soon!

[Hortons Heroes]

Got the baffles welded in. These 4 1/2" one fit perfectly in the tips that I bought. I didn't put any wrap in so they should be MIGHTY loud compared to my cafe


The front wiring is basically done. Got the loom on the runs. I have the oil pressure light hooked up wrong but I think I have figured it out now. The little switch is to engage the killswitch (is as stupid as it sounds). I have no keyed ignition on this bike. I have a hidden switch where I basically cut the wires to the ignition and then figured out which needed to go on what side to make the switch work. The left overs were the wires that engage the killswitch. I hooked these wires up to the switch by the speedometer so that there is one more step to turn the bike on and maybe keep someone from taking off with it.


The wiring runs are all good in the rear and everything passed the test last night. I gave way to much excess wire but it won't take long to cut them all down so things clean up nice. You can see the hole in the fender where the tailight wiring comes out. I have some fancy zipties that will keep the signal wires out of the way of the sprocket and other moving parts.


a little closer everyday, I need to
-cut off random stuff off the frame
-make front signal mounts off of the mirror mounts
-cut and weld the bar end mirrors
-mount the rectifier/regulator thing above the battery somehow
-epoxy on the dice to pull the choke cable
-weld on the exhaust tips and then paint it all flat black
-paint the frame and exposed metal
-paint the rear fender
-put together the front brake
-finish the headlight mount
-mount pods and jet carbs (HELP ME FAST1)
-and a zillion other things.....

[Hortons Heroes]

Tips are welded on. Tried to find a spot to brace them so that they weren't just hanging off the engine. Welded them (not pretty right now) to the foot pegs. Mounting them ins't to bad and they are rock solid. I may burn through some boots with everything so close to the pegs but aren't bobbers supposed have awesome features like that?



Regulator mount is welded on and I will bolt it on once I repaint parts of the frame.


I cleaned up the rear wiring and it's almost ready for paint.
I need to run the bike with the new exhaust on to make sure it's what I want then I will clean it up and paint it flat black
I just got my jet kit in so I can try and get it started sometime soon.

Front turn signals are simple and but I think they should do the job well. If they are awefuly I only have about $5 into them and can redo them anytime. Cut a pipe and put a slot in for the wiring. Going to weld it onto a bolt and stick it into where the mirrors mounted.

They are going to stay open in the rear so I can see if the signal is actually left on or not.

[Hortons Heroes]

These pics won't look to different from others but good to note the little things that got done.

bent and ground down the headlight mounting brackets so that the light fits between them evenly and not can be adjusted for angle.


I welded the parts together for the front signal lights and they turned out OK. this pic has the left signal on. The two mounts for the mirrors that these are mounting into are not the same height which I found really odd. They arn't even but it shouldnt be noticable as they are not on at the same time and are quite small


Here is what it will look like to me when I am riding it. My plan was to leave the back on the pipe mount open so that I could still see if they are illuminated. It seems to have worked, that should catch my attention if I leave it on.


The profile of the bike is basically done. I need to get it started and make sure the exhuast is good. Then take if off and paint it. I need to strip things down on the frame and take the rear fender off as well to start the paintinng of both of those parts.