by "DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
Published 03/01/2017 at 09:39
by "DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
Published 03/01/2017 at 09:39
No Tags
STARS: 15
I picked this bike up about a year ago after getting the itch for a motorcycle again. She’s a 1973 Honda CL450. Originally called the Black Bomber, the CB450 debuted in 1965. It was Honda’s first “big” bike and was able to “do the ton” straight from the factory. The 444cc engine has several unique features for a ‘60s air-cooled twin. The engine has dual overhead cams and torsion bars rather than valve springs. It produced 45-47 hp when new, giving it an impressive power to size ratio for the time. Because of its interesting engine layout, some owners quip that the 450 is when Honda decided to make a Ducati. The engine does require a bit of maintenance but nothing horrible. The CL models are scrambler versions of the CB; they came with a larger front wheel, scrambler style high exhausts, higher handlebars, and a bit different gearing.
This particular model was the cheapest complete classic Honda up for sale on my local Craigslist at the time. The bike had clearly been dropped, explaining its deflated price, and had been given some questionable modifications by the previous owner. The battery had also leaked acid all over the frame, eating away paint. The bike ran poorly and was in need of new rear shocks as well. The previous owner also seemed to be going for some sort of chopper/cafe hybrid as the bike sported forward controls with Euro-style bars and megaphone mufflers. The tank had an urban camouflage paint scheme, which, I think, cheapened its look. It was rough.
Despite these faults, the bike had character. The previous owner had purchased the bike from the original owner’s widow, who had kept the bike in storage since the ‘70s. She had probate papers for the bike, indicating that her husband had passed away not too long after purchasing the bike.
The original owner’s name was Don Rankin. He engraved his name and initials on several of the engine covers. He apparently was in the Air Force, as the forks are still sporting his DOD and Offutt AFB parking passes. One of the reasons I love old machinery is the history involved with them. Knowing someone else loved and cared for something helps breathe some life into these old machines. It gives them character. The bike was a little rougher than I was looking for at the time, but the price was right. It was these little personal touches from the original owner that pushed me over the edge into buying it. She also only had about 8k miles on her. I loaded her in the back of my truck and then began the process of tearing her down.
I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with this bike when I first got her, but I knew what I didn’t want to do. I didn’t want to build a sparkly cafe racer that would look good with a twirly mustache and a Sepia Instagram filter. I am an adherent to the wabi-sabi aesthetic, and find beauty in the imperfect. I wanted to keep her a bit ratty, and retain the street-like charm of the bike. I also wanted to create as simple a bike as I could, as cheaply as I could, using materials readily available to me. This was my first real motorcycle project, and I wanted to experiment with her a bit. I wanted to see what I could get away with using the tools currently available to me. All the work was done in my backyard using hand tools. Some of the parts required a bit of fabrication. I use that term very loosely, as I mostly used an angle grinder for the task. I realize that there are extremely skilled and able fabricators out there who can create amazing things. I am not a fabricator. I am a guy in his backyard with an image in my mind and a general idea of how to achieve it. Despite the lack of formal skills and hardware, I have a working knowledge of mechanics, and a pretty good knack for getting things to work.
Since the battery was leaking acid everywhere, I decided to start there. My goal was to get rid of the battery box and clean up all the electronics. With the goal of frugality in mind, I decided to “build” a capacitor instead of buying a smaller battery. I wired together four 10,000uF capacitors to create one 40,000uF capacitor. Because of its small size, I was able to tuck it behind the horn, thus hiding most of the wiring.
Three kicks is all she needs to charge up and start firing—on warm days she only needs one kick. I then went to my local bike graveyard to find an exhaust and some trim pieces. I was able to find an old, rusty, repaired scrambler exhaust for cheaps. I cut off the rusted muffler, wrapped the repaired portions, and slapped her on. Since I was now running a shorty exhaust with pod filters, I installed some larger jets. The bike is a bit choppy at partial throttle on account of the short exhaust/pod filter/capacitor combo, but she purrs at idle and screams at full tilt.
Next I decided to focus on the foot controls, as the forward controls just weren’t doing it for me. Some fuckery had been done to the kickstand by the previous owner, so, instead of trying to find original hardware, I decided to work with what I had. I dismantled the forward controls and built a DIY rear set with them. I cut down one of the pegs to clear the kickstart and fabbed up a brake lever using the a lever from the forward controls. Unlike some of the kits you can buy, my rear sets still position my feet below my body, rather than stretching me out. It adds a bit of sportiness without reducing my control over the bike.
Finally I tackled the aesthetics of the bike. I wanted to stick to my wabi-sabi theme, but it did need some coherency. I stripped, sanded, and painted a little design on the tank. I didn’t clear coat anything, and sanded the paint a bit to keep it raw looking. My main concern with the paint was to cover up some areas where the previous owner attacked it with an angle grinder. I wanted the tank to continue aging with the bike rather than staying young like an Orange County trophy wife. I also didn’t want the mild steel to turn to dust, so I gave her a rub down with some Mop ‘n Glo (old dirt bike trick). I found a pair of emblems at the junkyard and threw them on as well.
In order to clean up the license plate, I picked up some random fender at the junkyard. I cut it down and mounted it under the seat. I tore apart the side mount bracket and turned it into a rear mount bracket using a sledge hammer. In keeping with the minimalist nature of the bike, I installed some drag bars and removed all the hand controls save the brake and clutch levers. I relocated the kill switch to the top of the headlight, and installed a headlight switch on the back of the headlight. The turn signals were busted when I purchased the bike, so I did away with them as a part of the cleaning up process. Some riders will hate me for this, but I don’t care as long they don’t drive into the back of me. I use hand signals, and figure if people don’t see the big ass LED light lit up and hear the scream of my downshifting exhaust, then they probably aren’t going to notice the little orange lights blinking. I realize it is dangerous, but so are motorcycles, cigars, alcohol, and firearms.
The bike is pretty much where I want it right now. None of my projects are ever finished, but she is at a point where I feel comfortable just maintaining her for a while. She’s definitely not as complete or well thought out as lots of the custom bikes I drool over, but I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished so far.
I’ve used this project as a means of both keeping my mind occupied and to teach my daughters about motorcycles and engineering/mechanics in general. In both those regards it has been a great success. They have both been very interested in the project, and love to help me out with tasks. Now this project has cooled off (for now) I’m looking to do something fun with a domestic bike.
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"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle)
03/01/2017 at 09:44, STARS: 2
the removal of the battery box REALLY opened up the frame and made hte bike appear smaller and lighter. lowering the bars also made a MASSIVE change to the appearance.
I really like it. well done.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 09:50, STARS: 1
Thanks! I have a large scale which I need to roll everything on to just to see how much weight I cut. I love how the frames look on old Hondas. I was tempted to do some frame cutting just to clean it up more, but the 450s aren’t all that common, and they use a nice tubular frame rather than a stamped frame found on the more common 350. I didn’t want to really screw with the engineering of the bike too much, as that’s one of the things that draws me to old Honda bikes.
"Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney" (braddelaparker)
03/01/2017 at 09:51, STARS: 2
Lord alive, what a fantastic idea wiring up that capacitor in place of a battery is. That could have saved me a lot of heartache back when I used a Trail 90 as daily transportation in college.
Love the build, thanks for sharing!
"fintail" (fintail)
03/01/2017 at 09:51, STARS: 2
Looks cool, vintage but not in-your-face hipster, no handlebar mustache and murse needed.
My dad had a CB450 when they were introduced (long before I was born, I came later in life):
Good luck with it and stay safe, it’s getting to the point in my area where I don’t want to go on the street at all.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/01/2017 at 09:52, STARS: 1
Gib to Xyl0! Gib bike right meow!
(I love it).
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
03/01/2017 at 09:57, STARS: 2
I love the paint on the tank, but I think you need some more teal accents on the bike to really tie it all together.
"S65" (granthp)
03/01/2017 at 10:04, STARS: 2
You’ve just given me a great idea, I could build my fixie bike like this.
"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer)
03/01/2017 at 10:11, STARS: 1
It looks so awesome, way better than some of the too perfect hipster cafe racers. I really like how raw it looks, great job!
"Tekamul" (tekamulburner)
03/01/2017 at 10:12, STARS: 1
That looks great! I love the open air after the battery box delete. And those grips are a great ‘no fucks to give’ look.
I’ve got a 450 nighthawk that needs some love. I’ll stare at these pics a while to maybe motivate myself a bit.
"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
03/01/2017 at 10:19, STARS: 0
Cool story, and an awesome project, I really like the way it turned out. I’ve mentioned before I’m doing something similar with my XJ, simplified wiring, cleaner look, but not pristine. I’m nearly finished, for the season at least, so I might make a similar post soon.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:31, STARS: 1
Yeah, I look forward to seeing your finished bike!
"Pearson Hurst" (phurst)
03/01/2017 at 10:35, STARS: 1
That turned out GREAT! I really, really dig the look! I kinda wish I had considered tinkering with the look of my CB125, and may still yet, but I would ride the shit out of what you have made. Thumbs way up.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:35, STARS: 2
What an awesome picture. Beautiful bike. Another little anti-hipster detail about the bike is the HD branded passenger pegs it’s sporting. The previous owner had them on there, so I repurposed them. I do wear a sparkly helmet that my daughters picked out, but definitely no murse.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:38, STARS: 0
Thanks! I’ve seen people make some cool scramblers out of Nighthawks. Check out Pipeburn for some really great inspiration pics. The “no fucks given” look was exactly what I was going for with those Biltwell grips.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:47, STARS: 0
Thanks! A lot of dirtbikes use capacitors, and there are premade ones you can buy that were popular back in the day. I know how capacitors work so I figured I could just solder up my own. They’ll only work on bikes with a permanently polarized generator. I wrapped the package in a copper wire and mounted it at the front of the bike to help keep cool. I rode the bike all summer in Phoenix with no issues, so heat doesn’t seem to be an issue.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:48, STARS: 0
Thanks! If your CB125 is cherry I’d leave it. Find something wrecked or neglected. There was a mint CB125 in my area, but I passed on it because I wouldn’t want to tear it apart.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:48, STARS: 1
Thanks!
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:51, STARS: 0
Thanks! I was thinking the same thing about the teal. I was going to get teal grips, but I thought it would be too much teal close together and I loved the natural rubber look. I think I’m going to paint the passenger pegs teal, as they’re chrome right now and I feel having a matching accent on the rear third of the bike would look perfect. I might paint the rear brake control arm too, which would create a little non symmetrical teal streak through the back.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:53, STARS: 1
Once I get the transmission in my GMC, I’m going to do a bike build. I need to start riding again and I have a friend who knows a lot about bikes. I might do something to match the moto. Or I’ll lose focus and end up buying another motorcycle...
"Pearson Hurst" (phurst)
03/01/2017 at 10:53, STARS: 0
Not mint, but not bad, either.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:53, STARS: 0
Thanks!
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
03/01/2017 at 10:58, STARS: 1
Yeah, that’d work. You got plenty of blank engine that’s the same color as your tank.
Like in the back ground of Honda here
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 10:59, STARS: 0
That bike is in pretty nice shape. I would make put a little sleeker bars on it, and maybe clean up the taillight a bit. A set of Euro style bars or something low but swept back would really change the aesthetics while still keeping it pretty stock.
"Pearson Hurst" (phurst)
03/01/2017 at 11:04, STARS: 0
Hmm, I dig the euro bars idea. The taillight is aftermarket and I hate it, but I’m not sure what my options are, especially being a 6V system.
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
03/01/2017 at 11:05, STARS: 2
Now kicking myself for not grabbing a CL350 when I shouldn’t have... damn.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 11:17, STARS: 0
Yeah, I was thinking about doing a little design on the engine covers. Something subtle. My wife is an artist and can free hand some really cool stuff, but she refuses to touch my projects. I’m trying to get her to paint a helmet for me. Here’s her hand that she did while laying in bed last night.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 11:18, STARS: 0
There was a cheap Cl350 on my local CL a few months ago. I almost bought it but I wanted to finish this first.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 11:24, STARS: 1
These guys have lots of cool lighting options. You’d probably have to work some resistor magic on the wiring to get them to work with a 6v system though. You could get a housing then build your own LED taillight. There are a few write ups out there on it.
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
03/01/2017 at 11:28, STARS: 0
Why would she refuse to touch your projects?
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 11:37, STARS: 0
She’s afraid she’ll screw something up. I can be OCD with projects sometimes, but I’ve been trying to relieve myself of that with this project and my truck. I’ve told her there’s really nothing she can screw up on it, and if it doesn’t look perfect it just adds to the character of the bike.
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
03/01/2017 at 11:57, STARS: 2
The truck doesn’t look like an ocd project haha.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 12:32, STARS: 1
The truck and the Corvair I had were my first go at just letting the aesthetics be non OCD.
"fintail" (fintail)
03/01/2017 at 14:21, STARS: 0
I wonder how long it will take for hipsterllenial types to get into H-D - it has to happen sometime, maybe as they age and grow into middle aged bodies. But that’ll keep them away for now.
I can excuse the helmet :) , something like that has to be period correct for the bike.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/01/2017 at 14:40, STARS: 0
I don’t see HDs ever getting cheap, so it might be a while. Old Hondas only got pricey once cafe bikes became popular again. Harleys, even the crappy ones, have always held their value. I think my next project is just going to be a super shitty HD chopper. I’m using this guy’s bike from a Hunter S. Thompson interview as my inspiration.
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"fintail" (fintail)
03/01/2017 at 15:56, STARS: 2
I see generic old bikes turned into hipster cafe wannabes sitting in a local “art gallery”, which seems kind of sad in a way, as they will likely never see the road again. I suppose even a crappy old Harley is 5K at least, where a common old Japanese bike can be 1/10th that, so you have more room to play.
I’v never been able to get into ape hangers, but the forks/light setup on that bike definitely has a look from a specific point in time.
"Linkdon" (linkdon)
06/11/2017 at 20:03, STARS: 3
Absolutely awesome story. My dad passed away January 6th 2017. This was his bike before his 5 kids were born. He loved it so much my mom says he parked it in the house next to the bed because he didn’t trust the parking on the Air Force Base at the time. My family really appreciates the memories and the bike looks incredible! Donald Rankin II