You CAN polish a TURD!!!!!

OK Honda fans

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Here I am at the start of what may turn out to be a long and ardious challenge, but, I have a real snotter here.

This WILL be a LONG write up, as many people have asked questions how I build these bikes and many of you encouter the same problems as I do.

So a photographic build up with give you a good look at what I do to resolve these problematic errors when we rebuild these 500 pounders.

Some may find it long and drawn out, but you can scroll through it.

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I have had alot of great feedback at this Cafe build and I know you will get alot of information out of this and hopefully a laugh or two.?

It is 530 pounds of snot, rust, and total carnadge, that I had to try and at least salvage this poor old K1.

I bought this from a bloke that had about as many braincells as a jar of air.

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The bike ran, but only after I had connected all the burnt out wires on the harness and singed my hand worse than an apprentice fireman with drinking tremours.

She fired up, but then the ignition switch grenaded and all the guts fell out faster than a gutted pig in the Mongolian mountains.

I was not a happy chappy thats for sure.

So, I decided that this was the next candidate for the Cafe treatment.

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OK, I stripped this bike faster than a Chevy parked in L.A. overnight.

I took her down to the bare bones and then had the paint,grim, snot and garbage all bead blasted off.

It was then time for some good old powder coating, as Jack, as A&R Powder Coating in Anaheim (714-630-0709) can powder coat anything, even SPIT.

Whilst that was having a right good pampering, I buggered off and started on other jobs to do with regard to getting this bike into some sort of Cafe.

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The Motor is as grimey as a Victorian Chimney sweeps apprentice, and you'd say,  "Gor Blimey Guv'nor" if you saw how torn up this was on the outside, I have seen cleaner shit houses in Bosnia.

Now is the time to start work on that motor and try and get some of the snot right off it, this thing was stinking the garage up, so I had to do something.

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The inline four was in  a miserable state and as clean as a homeless gusy shopping cart.

I know this is gonna take some time to get into a clean machine, I seen cleaner cats butts with no tongues.

But keep your eye on this Motor as I shall overcome this project, be it with a toothbrush , gallons of Lacquer thinner and 600 rags.

Seeing as the clouds decided to close up and piss down outside (Rare in California) I thought I would spend more time in the garage whilst God too a leak and do some more to this ride.

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I cleaned up the lower triple tree and painted it black, then I added 19 ball bearings to the race, and then I put 18 in the top of the headstock.

Now, here is a tip if you are using ball bearings and grease, don't loose ya temper, don't pick your teeth, and don't  think you can sling these in as easy as laundry in the dryer.

I dropped More balls when first doing these than a rookie Quarterback.

But  a good tip is...Stick ya tongue out, works every time.

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OK, that's the steering sorted,  and she is in,  and is as smooth  as Auntie Mables Bathtub.

Swing arm was greased and tapped back on place and bolted up, as well as One shock absorber,.

I then slung in the powder coated battery box, tool tray and this frame is now ready to go on the deck.

Remember, when lifting a CB750 frame, take a dump before you even contemplate this manouvre.

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I almost had a liver shoot out of my arse as picked this up, and was happy to get her on the axle stands, as ya boxers can only contain so many internal body parts.

To save your frame from getting scratched when moving or anything, I use some old plumbing insulation, its perfect to wrap on the frame and I have built many this way with the paint staying in perfect condition.

Well, the frame was on the floor and I had a few more powder coated parts, so thought I would sling the mainstand on.

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You may not know this, but these springs are awkward to fit and the only way I could do this is by fitting the main stand, then using vice grips and my foot against the frame, pull harder than you would your Sister off a Sailor, and there you go.

I use the mainstand alot when building as it makes it easier to fit the rear wheel and is more stable than axle stands.

After that straining, I had to get a cold spoon from out of the freezer and push my arse grapes back in.

Hate fitting mainstand springs!!!!

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I then went onto getting the old front end apart, as that was as nasty as a  Celery flavoured toothpaste.

The forks were in a bad shape and were leaking like an over filled diaper.

I took the old Fender off and there was goo everywhere, it was a GOO-A-RAMA!

I removed the caliper and wheel, The wheel is an old CB750-A, and I will use the aluminum rim and relace it later.

The fork bottoms had the typical snot and gundge on them, as the old clearcoat Honda sprayed on them, end up discoloring faster than Grandma's cheap Blue rinse.These forks are gonna need a rebuild for sure, but I shall also sand these forks and later, try and polish these to a Chrome finish, alot of work, but well worth the outcome.

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Right, it is now the front wheels turn to get the rough treatment.

I had a look at the rim and the aluminum rim was in good shape, but, the spokes were as rusty as Captain Nemo's Toilet door.

There was more chance of cleaning these up, that of  a Macdonalds making money selling burgers in India.

So, the only way I could figure to get the spokes out fast was with the trusty old bolt cutter.

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Once I removed the front disc brake,  and the speedo drive etc,  I got the bolt cutters out and snipped quicker than a Rabi advertising circumcision at 80% off.

They fell over faster than a village being attacked by Gangus Khan.

These were so rusty, I guess the bike was parked by a light pole and the daily dogs just took a piss on the wheel for 20 years.

I have seen less rust in Toyota Celica.

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Anyway, the spokes are out, the hub is out and I shall clean that up and polish the goolies out of it.

The tire needs to be removed and I shall buff the rim up, order new spokes and off we go and have the thingback together in a few days.

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I have tried every inconceivable tool to get spokes out , I tried hacksaw, sawzaw, disc cutter, dremmel, grinder,and anything else that would cut steel, but that all took way too long and noisy as hell.

So good old harbor freight and their $20 Bolt cutters have paid for them selves over and over again.

This is now done and now I am gonna put the freshley polished top triple tree on the frame and then when that fits nice, I shall add the good old trusty 7/8 clubman bars that I sell.

I dig this bars, and have used them for many years and, on many rides.

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I trust these, so many others are welded like poo, or maybe even with poo, some have just a dab of weld that wouldn't hold string.

So, the Clubmans are on and I powder coated the clamps, to add a bit of contrast to the polished aluminum, i know, getting all arty farty on it now eh?

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The rim is now gonna get some serious polishing, as soon as the tire decides to break its own bead and jump off, as aluminum tires are pretty easy to ding whilst removing tires.

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The next step I am taking is to make sure the clubmans fit correctly and the angle is right, as I have these adjusted so they are JUST touching the forktops.

I then went about the task of cleaning the motor up, as you saw in the earlier photo, there was more crap on that Motor than a 2 day diaper.

I spent a good day sorting this out, and whilst the Motor was out of the frame, I removed the valve cover and took all the clear coat off it, then hand sanded and buffed it, so it was as shiney as a new tow hitch.

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Doing all that work is like a bad case of Heammaroids (pain in the arse),  although the outcome later is well worth the hassle as the motor is the center point of the bike and snot is snot which ever angle you look at it, so, remove the snot and there ya go, a decent looking inline four.

Now the tough bit, whats the best way to fit this 230 pound lump if horsepower?

Just hard grunt.

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To be honest the best bet here is to look at what you can do yourself, best to get a mate to help ya as ya plums can only take such a beating lifting 1.5 times ya own bodyweight.

Now, to stop all the frame getting as beat as a kung fu dummy, you need to wrap cardboard around the frame, then duct tape the ghoulies out of it, this will save a whole lot of heartache later, believe me.

Sling the Motor on an upturned milk crate, that way, you have the perfect level for locating the motor into the frame.

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Remember though, this motor will only go in from the Right hand side, just to save you trouble, it WILL NOT fit the other way.

Make sure exhaust spigots or studs are removed too, as that will give you a little space to manouvre this thing, as it will noit take long for this puppy to take the wind right out of your sails after a few seconds.

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Stretch abit first, as its easy to do ya back in on this motor.

lift and as fast as you can sit the bike inside the cradle, resting on the inner frame rails, then after abit of a blow out, the rest is easier, stand over the bike and lift the motor and locate in between mounting points.

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There is no real easy way, but what you will need to do is have a floor jack handy to move the motor a bit, so the mounting holes line up.

Also you will have to probably rock it back and up at the front and then you will here a "clunk" and she will be located in position faster than a Butt plug in a plastic arse factory.

With the motor in and a sigh of relief, you can start to put all the bolts in, I use my old ones until I buy new  Stainless Allen heads that I also polish and then fit.

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Once the Motor is in, the rest is real nice to do.

Next thing for me was a Brand spanka of a Wiring harness, $175 of electrical spagetthi, but the old one was as together as a Jigsaw puzzle on a MotorCross bike.

I then took the harness out of the Genuine Honda bag and run it through the frame.

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So nice to have new wiring, I am used to more colored wiring than a robotics testing station, but, the wires I seem to have to deal with never make sense or match colors, ie yellow black taped to blue, then goes to red, what the hell is going on there with some of you electrical wanna be's?

A great idea is to have as much printed information on electrical as possible, as sometimes half the wiring has gone, burnt, buggered, snipped or just plained goosed,.

Then you have no reference points to go by and that becomes a big headache when you have no bloody idea how the last part of the wiring goes.

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OK, some of you may be really clever buggers on this sparky stuff, but the majority of people do not understand ohms law, I know Coles law, thats Diced cabbage in Vinegar.

(THINK ABOUT IT....COLES-LAW)

Anyway, to try and give you some idea of what i do in these dire situations is, go to my cupboard and pull out clymers and Hanes and as many other manuals that have diagrams for the wiring.

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This has saved my ass more times than an attorney for Mr.Jackson.

you can follow the whole schematic easily ,and they give you the correct color sequence, and thats a BIG help believe me.

Nothing worse than guess the wire colors, hooking it all up, hit the starter button and next doors microwave fires up.

OK time for other stuff in between wiring etc.

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I had my old Black fading switches, and they always look as appealing as Rhino's Ball sack sweat Aftershave, so i took the old switches, sanded the anodizing off and then buffed them up, but be careful you dont rip the switch plastics off.

I connected all the relevant wires from the harness to the battery box etc and now needed to work on a few morew other area's, as there was still some snot I did not like.

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For instance, I am certain that YOUR oil lines are torn, wrapped, frayed or just looking in need of something else?

These parts are no longer available from HONDA or anywhere as far as I know, as I have looked for these many times.

So, thought I would make my own.

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Many people have dressed old hoses up by painting them or the old Boot polish trick, but I thought stainless braided hoses would do the trick and also make them a cool item to look at, since the rest of the ride is slicker than a greased up Turkey breast.

Once you have taken your oil tank off, you can get the lines off with a large crescent wrench, but be careful, as even though you think you have all the oil out, there is a baffle in the tank and it will still hold more oil than the goverment does to push up gas prices.

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So, after draining the tank etc, take the lines off, once you get the hoses off, you will notice that the ends are crimped.

I use a dremel and cut the crimpng both side and simply pull the fittings off.

Buy some braided hose from your local race store and take your old snotters with you, that way they can see them and make a good measurement.

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I chose to use their stainless fittings too and they sure look good.

I would not worry about re-crimping as not many shops will do it, and these bikes run between 50-60 pounds per square inch of oil pressre, the fitting the company supply will easily handle that low pressure.

Simply fit you ends, do the clamps up as tight as a Scotmans wallet and then fit to your tank.

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Remember to fit the Back hose first, else it will not fit if you try the front hose.

It certainly dresses up the motor, what do you think?

I really like the way this ride is turning out, and am sure the new owner is gonna be more stoked with this than a steam train's boiler.

I am still continuing to add to this ride and it will have more goodies on it than insiode a kids Christmas stocking.

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The next thing I am going to do is change the mouldy old finned oil filter cover, as you will know, these are at the front of the motor and take the brunt of the snot, crap, and road rubbish it throws at the bike when you are having fun with your 500 pounder.

I have taken the cover off, I then media blasted it, to make sure all the snot was right off it and never to return.

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I then had this pwder coated and this will not break down and come off, this is a great coating and is thicker than a idiot at a math competiton.

This really came out good and I personally like the contrast, compared to the ones you see on the bikes that are just silver.

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I use Genuine HONDA oil filters and O-Rings and slung it all together, and by looking at the photo on the right (click on it and it will be bigger), you will see that this is a real difference.

The next thing I shall do on this ride is probably fit a NEW clutch as I have miked the plates and they are a little thin, so I think I shall order a HD set and when they arrive, sling them in and have this all ready for new Cables etc and go onto another part of the bike.

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Hopefully some of these things I am covering will be what you are doing right now and can either relate to, or get some cool points or photo's to help you on your way to building your Cafe Racer.

I hope this is not too dragged out for you, but I get so many emails from all you guys, and birds too, it is a great way of having a pictorial build up of how things go together.

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Much better than the black and white clymer shot of some guy with sausage fingers with more factory tools than a formula One pit crew.

This build has gone well, but now the harder stuff comes, as I now have to try and work out how to get this bike right for the customer who is going to own this.

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I have a Dunstall style seat that will really make the bike look as aggressive as a Hungry snail at a Leaf growing exposition.

The seat will need to be cut and also get the correct ride height, and I need to make brackets for the fiberglass seat to rest ontop of the frame.

Secondly, I need to see where the gas tank will fit, as I am going to use a Super Sport gas tank instead of a K series that was originally on this tank.

The super Sport gas tank is longer and instantly allows more gas.

I just like the lines of the SS tank, although, I am not a lover of stock F models, as the frames are too long and overall too boxy for the likes of me.

But each to his own, as SS motors are the best to have.

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OK, As you can see the Gas tank is in position and also the seat is rested ontop of the frame, so i can work out how to get some brackets made to sit this seat in the best location.

I useually have a couple of bolts that attach to the frame from the sides of the seat, that way it can't move far.

I have now got a fair idea of how this is going to look, but may have to call the buyer to visit and have a test fit, before I cut the seat base and then make a fixing.

Also, I am going to remove the front fender and have a Dunstall style or Rickman Glass one, that fits to the front fork legs with hose clamps.

I have polished the left side gear shift cover, as it was as gray as a politicains suit, once I cleaned the crap off, I hand sanded it, then buffed it on my harbor freight buffing wheel, and, as you can see, this really does make the bottom end brighter than an "A" student.

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I am trying to show you other things I do  with the the builds ups,  as I have more requests than a free offer of a chat line for over 80's.

So, next is a few bits and bobs I have completed over the weekend.

Here we go with the rear end, the Dunstal style Cafe seat has now been cut and shaped, and, I also have attached the bolts for the seat to be attached to the frame, I am now as happy as a cat with a milk flavoured arse.

I now need to try and work out what rear light to use.

I am using a Lucas style Universal tail light assembly, but, I do not need all of the assembly, and out came good old Mr.Dremel.

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Dremels are great for little and big jobs.

This thing spins so fast it will cut thriugh frozen squirell crap.

I cut the tail section of the light assembly off, so I have a cool tail light housing, then I marked on the seat where the assembly was going to mount, drew the holes with the assembly in place with the good old Sharpie.

Then drilled the bolt holes and then a hole saw for where the electrical assembly fits, and test fitted it, the thing was as snug as grannies foot in a teenagers slipper.

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This was a quick fix and now is all done and ready for paint,  and it shall be High gloss Black with my signature checkers.

I like the Lucas light assembly as it is simular to the period Brit bikes of the day, and easily available all over the place, well, maybe not in Neverland, you can only get sparkly gloves and KY there, so I hear anyway.

I slung the licence plate on and there you go, a great looking rear end set up for your steed.

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Next step for me is to get the carbs cleaned up and all the jets blown out, and fitted back on the motor, this can be fun as the rubber intakes are about as pliable as a 90 year old gymnast.

I usually soak the old rubber intakes in hot water, these then soften up like drill seargant in love.

So once they have got soft, I push them onto the head and then the carbs onto the intakes, a hand tip here is to use a piece of 2X4 and these can then be used as leverage, not too hard, but enough to push on, if the Carb is being a bigger pain in the arse than colonic Irrigation with Bleach.So, carbs on, I shall take the float bowls off, sand them and then buff them up to a mirror finish.

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The next step after that will be to fit either K&N style pod filters, or velocity stacks.

I do not like the stock air box, stock is boring for me and about as much appeal as Tattooing yourself with Bison piss.

Remember to up jet 2 sizes if you do not use the stock air box, else, when you grab hold of the loud bar, all that will happen is the bike will fall flat on its guts, struggling for gas.

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After struggling for a bit,  I managed to persuade the carbs to go on, if they didn't go on this time, I would be belting it with a rubber mallet.

I don't give a monkeys what restorers say,  a good old belt sometimes quickens the pace of amy build.

You can struggle all day with your specially made tools, but "GET R DONE" in the least amount of time and less elbow work too.

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Next job was to clean up all the exhaust spigots, these parts are always as rough as Mount Everest, so i usually bead blast them and coat them with VHT silver paint.

I also used NEW metric Countersunk Bolts to secure these to the head, they look far better than the old snotty factory ones, and usually the old ones need an impact screwdriver to get them off.

I then turn to the exhaust clamps, or flowers as some people want to call them, I call them sons of sam sometimes as they can jump of, just as you try and bung the exhaust on.

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These were bead blasted and then painted and I bought NEW Stainless steel Allen head bolts for them, may as well do the job right.

The trick now, is to get these flowers on and then grab the exhaust and fit these all in one go.

I have an old Yoshimura header and bead blasted it to get some of the 30 years of crud and road grim off, then painted Flat black like the originals were.

I use a rubber mallet to get these on, as usually you get one shot and then if she doesn't go on straight, all the stuff has to come back off and re-align.

I have done this over 100 times now and only once in a blue moon do these plop in first go, and, today was not a Blue moon.

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Blue Balls maybe, I banged it, pushed it, wacked it, pushed it, levered it, swore at it and even screamed at it and finally after a a few minutes of groaning and sticking the tongue out, she fitted.

Bolts done up and there you go, this Yoshimura is once more back on a old HONDA and it looks pretty goo on right now.

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I have still to make a baffle for it and try to emulate the old Yoshimura sound.

They used to sound like 2 Barritones saying Whomp,Whomp in a glass jar.

There is alot involved in rebuilding any bike to look cool, I see alot of stuff that has a few bits and bobs done, but everyone is different and likes their style of building, and I prefer the ride to look finished, be it new footpegs, or new frame, its gotta look right.

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Cant' have a round door in a squar eframe now, can ya?

OK, the footpegs are on and this is now all coming together, and hopefully it will be nearing its completion in the next couple of weeks.

There's an Old saying. "Rome was not built in a day, but, Santa Ana was.

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Anyway, I still have buckets of things to do to this ride, like, I need to make knee recesses in the gas tank, cut the old filler neck off and fit a cooler style Monza cap.

Then I have to sand the side panels and seat etc, as well as make a fender for the front ,and then when I have a few spare minutes, get this sucker painted super high gloss black that is darker than a Spanish girls love triangle.

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The rear wheel is going to be a 16 inch X 4 Harley, laced to a CB750 HUB.

But, the hub was about as good condition as a gymnast with Leprosy.

I thought that this time I would remove the bearings, and that was a royal pain getting them out I tell ya.

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I shall you how to get them out in a future page on the website ok?

I removed the bearings etc and now have a plain hub, but, it was still grubby and needed a re-vamp.

So, I took the hubs to my local Machine shop, and they removed the fins from the hub center, as well as clean off the faces etc.

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I now have a sharp looking hub with a dull finish.

Then it came to good old fashioned buffing.

I had to rub this down with 600 and then use jewelers rouge and sopa and buffed this to a mirror finish.

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Must of gone through 3 pairs of gloves, as these puppies get hotter than a a low budget porn movie.

Have a look at the pics and you will see that these truely are a cool set up and will look great in the rim.

I also did the exact same treatment to the front hub, as I want this unifom etc.

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The Customer has asked to have the rims powder coated Black, so, with the polished hubs and spokes, this set of wheels should really be more effective than electric shocks on the balls of pedophiles.

One thing that is a royal pain in the butt, and that is getting those damn bearing retainers out.

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Look at the retainer ring, and you will see the cut away for a T section wrench, but, the retainer has 3 peened dots around it.

What you have to do is DRILL through them peenes about halfway through the retainer, and it will then come undone.

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I have destroyed about half a dozen of these by trying to muscle the thing undone and no way would it budge.

Once thats out, you remove the bearing via a press and then you are ready to clean up the hub and bung in the new bearings.

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The new retainer cuts its thread easily and you should have no worries putting the new one in, HONDA still sell these and the bearings, but, found a local bearing shop who had the same bearings for a 1/3 of the price.

The rims are now powder coated and are Blacker than a monekys armpit, these should look great on the bike when it is spoked.

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I ordered the spokes through a great company local to me called wheel works, they can handle anything in the Motorcycle wheel business and my spokes should be here mid week, it will then be time to spoke these puppiues up and be ready for new rubber.

So, whilst I am waiting for that I am now concentrating on the body work and front brake.

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The front caliper was more beaten up than a 3 egg ommlette and needing more help than an old lady crossing the road.

Taking the calipers off the bracket can be harder than painting underwater sometimes, as the allen headed studs tend to corrode inside the htreads and prove to be tighter than a swollen door.

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Sometimes I have to turn to such drastic measures as the good old butane torch, and heat the thing up.

That usually does the trick.

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Then, the other main problem is taking the piston out, as 85% of the ones I have worked on have been as stuck as an elephant in Brea' tar pitts.

Here's a couple of tricks that have helped me out.

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Call it a miserable bugger, and if it doesn't come out your gonna piss on its mamma's tomatoes.

Or, Turn the caliper away from you, cover the brake pad with a towel or rag, and take the bleed nipple and hose off, then sling 150 pounds of H2O down it's neck with ya compressor and air nozzle.

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This usualy brings the piston out at about 90 MPH amd makes more mess than a bunch of old ladies at a thrift store sale.

If your Master cylinder is a good one and doesn't leak like a bad fitting diaper, then you should be able to pump the piston out.

Although, alot of the time this is not the case and then I have to resort to the air treatment or a better way is to buy a grease nipple and pack the caliper out with a grease gun and this will pusg the piston out, as the grease has no where else to go, another gooey mess afterwards, but once cleaned up the caliper will be ready to clean up and replace the "o" ring.

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That Oring can be a little bit tricky to get out and in, I always sling some break fluid on the new one to make it swell abit and then bung it ion the recess, make sure you clean the reces and the inside of the caliper, I use a scotchbrite pad or 1000 wet and dry, not too sourse or the piston will leak.

I powder coated the Caliper, as it seems inert to break fluid, if ya paint it with spray paint, alot of DOT3 fluid will eat the paint like a fat lady does hamburgers.

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Now I have powder coated this and attached new o-ring etc, I buffed the piston as it has a couple of putss, then put back together, using new EBC brake pads from Honda and new bleed nipple, as well as new hoses and lines etc.

It now looks as sharp as a tack.

As you can see, this make the front end look great, as I see so many calipers looking as sad a bingo loser.

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Have a look at the rims that I had powder coated, they are going to look really cool with polished hubs.

Now, the Gas tank.

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I used another ss tank but this time instead of the knee inserts being cut and welded, these were done with the good old hammer and banged, bashed, hit, smacked, booted, bifed and smacked, right into shape, then a platic hammer to smoth out, and finally some boat resin to smooth and shape and then some primer.

Adding to these cool lines, the original gas flap was pulled off and flung as far away from my garage as possible, the neck area was welded up and a new aluminum Cafe Race gas cap was fitted.

And boy does this look sweet.

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I fitted the tank and am well pleased with this and had to sit on the ride to check on the knee inserts, it really is a good shape and looks as old school as a Low rider in Santa Ana.

I like the way the tank flows and I am sure you will dig the lines of this.

I have still to finish this tank by pouring sealer in the beast and then I know this will not leak.

So many old gas tanks have weak seams and soon as you put new gas in the thing, it will weep like a recent widow and you will have a hard time stopping it.

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So I make sure I pour tank sealer in all my tanks, just for some insurance really, remember, these tanks are 30 years old.

The bike now has that Cafe stance and I am going to be working on the body work to get it all prepped for a few coats of good old Black paint.

The customer wants my checker style and I love doing that and am looking forwar to this ride soon to be on the tarmac.

Once the rims are laced and new Rubber fitted, I shall bung on new sporckets and chain etc and sort out any loose ends.

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This Cafe is nearing completion and has been a great build up.

I have also sorted all the electrical out, I also had my neighbour John help me with the rear lights etc and the turn signals are brighter than eainstein.

I used tiny turn signals as in California you have to have them, but most people do not notice the turn signals on my Cafe's, until I turn them on.

I have a few more things to do to this ride, like get a master cylinder and polish the balls out of it, then I need to fit one of my headlight visors and paint this Black.

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The Brake rotor in a stock formation is not appealing on a Cafe, it's a bit like having a set of furry dice in a Ferrari.

So, I marked the rotor out and with a carbon tip, I drilled the whole rotor with a series of 3 sets of 1/4 inch holes, of which I slamed a countersink in it and will resurface the whole thing, then, this will not only look Racey as a TT bike, but, it will help cooling the front rotor under hard braking.

Whilst working on the braking system, I thought I would bead blast the brake rod and then powder coat the whole thing, to blend in with the frame, and its now Blacker than a cows arse.

This Bike will now start to come together real quick, and it sure is gonna look wild with a set of Black rims and polished hubs.

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OK, have a look at the next set of photo's, and you will see that this Cafe Racer project is nearing completion.

The rims look superb on the bike and make it a very dark amd mysterious machine indeed.

F

From all corners,  this Cafe looks tougher than Army boots.

Have a look at the machine and you will dig the stance of this bike.

I went a different way this time, but powder coating a rear sprocket Black and then I fitted a set of Zinc plated Metric nuts, and these offset the color scheme well.

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Still a few more things to do, but the photo's show that the tank, seat and fenders etc are not there, thats because they are about to be painted gloss Black and I shall then add pinstriping and some decals.

Then back to having a clear coat over it.

Thats when the Cafe will really take effect and shows its own amongst others when it cruises the streets of Pasadena.

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I have still to bleed the fron brakes and get that dialled in, then I get the tank to be mounted and seat when it is gloss Black.

the side panels should be painted by the middle of the week.

I shall pinstripe them and then I shall get everything clearcoated.

Have a close look at the thumbnails.

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You can see all sorts of detail that i have not mentioned.

I get many emails from people saying they dig the photo's, as it helps them in their builds when they get stuck.

As you know, none of this stuff is in a clymer or Hanes manual.

I am gonna Miss this baby when it leaves the shop, as it is a real gem and gonna be a blast to ride thats for certain.

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Well, the gas tank, fenders and seat now have a good thick coat of Black paint on them.

The paint has been sanded with 1000 grit and I shall apply pinstipe on this tank and then when that is done, the decals will be fitted and then the whole lot can be clear coated.

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I also neded to fit the checkers too and add Gold pin lines down them.

the whole things trans forms the bike no end and hopefully by the end of this week I shall have all the shiney stuff back on and the bike will be almost ready for Homer to ride home.

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Wow!!!!!!!!!!!  Now there's a transformation.

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Here she is with loads of clear coat on the tank, seat and side panels.

Homer decided to keep this dark and as plain as possible.

I added the Ace cafe decals to the Gas tank and think we hit the nail right on the noggin.

This is a great look and the gas cap looks like it was factory.

It is a quick flip style I have used a couple of times and really dig the look.

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I have still to make sure the seat fits right and will cover it tomorrow with black  material like the Vincent bike.

The BLACK rims kick some serious ass and thats an understatement for sure.

I am really stoked how this is looking.

I also added the rear lucas race style light and this adds to the Nostalgic look, and gotta say, this really does make the rear of the Cafe look BRITISH.

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I also done some cool stuff I forgot to add on here.

The master cylinder was that black anodized look that had faded over the years and resembles the color of cow piss that came from a Blackcurrent eating bovine.

So, I bead blasted the thing, then sanded it with wet and dry, and then buffed it on my 8 inch buffer that i have on the bench in the garage.

Much to the annoyance of my next door neighbour, as it vibrated so much against her wall, she had crap falling off her shelving in her bedroom.

But it totally changed the master cylinders appearence and gave the bike a more Classic look.

The stock ones look as attractive as Green fuzzy Bermuda surf shorts.

Back to the paint and body work.

Oh yeah, this is the dogs wobbly bits.

Nearly done with this now, just a few more odds and sods to tidy, like secure the SS tank on the K1 frame, make the seat fit, wire the rear lights and turn signal up and then add pod filters to the carbs and a headlight visor to the light rim.

I also added a shorter braided steel brake hose frome the master cylinder to the triple tree and it looks great.

So, this is now approaching its final guise, and should not be too long now until you will see a photo of me riding this.

This is a typical Cafe Racer of my style that looks as though time has gone back and gas was 50 cents a gallon.

The Black rims make the ride look lower too and I am glad that I had powder coated them.

The drilled disc looks cool and for the first time, I bled brakes using synthetic brake fluid, as its safe against paint etc.

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Well, as you can see, this is getting really close now.

I am trying to hook everything up and finalize all the little knick knacks and patty wacks that have to be tied up etc.

Just need to hook the wiring up at the rear, so all the tail lights and turn signals work etc.

Still have secure the gas tank at the rear by making some brackets.

Order a petcock and add fuel lines.

Then I just polish her up a bit more and she will be all ready for Homer to come and pick up and have fun with it.

This was a real snotty bike when I dragged it home, and even I cannot believe this is the same bike I started with.

Always nice to see the end result and compare with the crap it used to be.

I added the visor and also I have fitted Pod filters, the bike may need to be jetted a bit with them on, but we shall see when i take her for a test run.

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Will add the chain today and get alot all tied up and tomorrow fire it up and see how she is after all this time.

The Yoshi style pipe sounds really nice and a deep Bark to it when you flip the throttle.

I am totally stoked at the outcome of this Black Road Rocket and hope you enjoyed the long article and write up along the way.

Kinda shows what goes into these machines.

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So. after 10 weeks and 99 photo's on this build up, The Black Road Rocket is finally ready for the road.

I have had a real fun time with this Cafe and This morning, I delivered the  bike to Homer, and he took it for its first ride in Pasadena.

He was as stoked as a boilers fire.

Thanks for reading this, as I thought the pics would help you lot out for information etc and hope some of you have been inspired to build one, or to get me to put a Classic Cafe togethere and have more fun than a year pass at Disney.

Now to build my Own ONE.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PEACE & GREASE

C A R P Y