Cornandp : the 650 cam has higher lift and more duration and makes a lot more power and you can buy them for a few bucks from salvage yards, this plus CB750 carbs and you have a significant power increase ( I also have 550 barrels with the maximum over bore Honda pistons, a CNC valve job, a skimmed cylinder head, ported cylinder head ( I did the porting), undercut transmission gears, heavy duty clutch and springs, electronic ignition, and high output coils). Anyone who wants tuning and setup info just email or PM me.

Nuhawk: all those machines are mine (cars also). JIM

Thanks Jim, I will keep all this in mind when I get to engine performance mods.

any exhaust recommendations, I am keeping the stock headers, should I go 4 into 1, or should I stick with 4 into 2? Also after that I need to choose between low mount, high mount, under engine or under tail. Any opinions would be helpful as I am having trouble deciding.

The problen is finding a good 4 into 1: they are not made anymore :mad: except for MAC which works OK but not as good a the OEM four pipe system I am running (which works better than you would think). First choice Yoshimura (out of production) 2nd Kaz Yoshima (out of production) 3rd Kerker (out of Production). Start you EBAY / Craigs search now.

I will probably build my own pipes though... so any tips on that?

I am trying to build this bike on a total budget, less then a grand total, including the amount paid for the bike, tires chain battery, misc seals etc. I guess if I found a really cheap set of pipes then I might swing for them. But I have the ability to build them too.

So I started on my rear cowl, planished hammered out to this shape I will smooth it some with the english wheel.

Attachment 28668
Attachment 28669
Attachment 28670

that cowl is sweet bro, you gots talent thats fo sho!

Well I decided to modify the stock tank for now. I may still build an aluminum tank later, but for now I will just modify the stocker. I can always sell it later anyways. So here is a few shot of the process. This will take a little while but should be pretty cool when done.

Attachment 28659
then I cut that section out
Attachment 28660
then hammered a piece of steel to fit in there like this.
Attachment 28661
Attachment 28662

You are on a role! I had a link with many other links for Honda CB500/550 stuff and the sight is now gone. I was going to send it to you and reference some 4 into 1 pics which you could use as a guide; pipe length is important and I think you could get close using the photos of exhaust on bike as a guide. I will keep looking.

Yes please, any info would be great.

Finished the knee cut outs, next will be clip on reliefs in the tank.
http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/w...tcafe011-1.jpg
Attachment 28658

nice!

Aww yeah...

So I started the seat pan, I still need to attach it to the bike, the I will make a contoured foam seat and I may possibly make the cover as well although I may farm that out so it will look better.

Attachment 28634
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amazing progress... looks tight.

Project LED tail light
 

thanks for the complements everyone.

Alright so the gears are turning and since I can't seem to find a tail light I like I am going to fabricate an LED tail light from some scrapped parts off of wrecked cars.

Here you see a LED circuit board. I like this one because of its simplicity. There are two independent loops accounting for 4 wires -+ very easy. The plastic housing it is on is ugly and will not work in the tail as there is no way to evenly distribute the leds. I remove the circuit and the LED board from the plastic and am left with photo 2.
Attachment 28623
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I will then take some extra LEDS I ripped from another tail light.
Attachment 28625
Then I will mount them to the other board for twice the LEDS. :D

After all this I will mount it to a formed piece of plexiglass and will then have to either find a red plastic or cut red plastic from a wrecked light for a cover. More to come later.

Cheers

What it looks like with all the LEDS

Attachment 28622

So ill meet you in Pendelton? :) Looks awesome man! Keep it up!!!!

Thanks, what day?

The day you want to take that cafe bike for a LOOOONG ride!

Done, I will let you know when... January ok? LOL

I saw this thread when it first started and it didn't interest me at the time and haven't been back. All I have to say now is, DAYUM! What you're doing to this bike is awesome and I think it's turning out very nice. I can't wait to see what else you come up with for it. Very well done!!!
________
Vaporizers

Well glad to be making it interesting. Its more than just handle bars :D. So I finished the guts of the LED tail light, I have a few tricks under my sleave I will unveil later. I will also post a few pics of my progress tomorrow.

I am going to use a Nicole metal hydride battery from a cordless drill as my battery. It weighs maybe 2 pounds and will allow me to bypass having a full size battery, but it will be kick only.

sorry, the Nicole metal hydride battery cracked me up. I hope there is a good story to this like it was a girlfriend from high school that still sends you nudes or something like that. Or maybe you misspelled nickel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel

Anywho, not razzing you on the misspell, just the capitalizing and chicks name.

LOL, I guess I shouldn't post before bed, yes I meant nickel.

Wow, when it's time to build mechanical stuff, I'm there, but I wish I could make them as good looking as you do. Awesome job on the tank, welding is easy, but making something beautiful out of sheet metal like this is a few level above, keep posting, me enjoy much !!

yeah sheet metal work is a lost art, or quickly becoming lost. I wish I could find some one who was a master to show me the way to become a sheet metal Jedi.

So I sold off nearly the whole lot of parts I pulled off of the bike for $140 so now my project is puting back some of what it will cost me for tires and a chain, plus a few small parts I am sure I will need here and there.

I like the idea of painting the bike pearl white, with a silver stripe down the middle, black frame and minimal chrome. Black rims with silver spokes and hub. That's the thought for now anyways. I will post up more pics real soon. I finished the tail light cut out and am coming very close to have the cowl done. Thanks for following everyone I enjoy writing about my build but I don't think I would if I didn't know people wanted to see so thanks for helping me stay motivated.

Cheers

Oh don't you dare stop posting...;) I'll come over there personally and kick yer butt... :) Need my fix...

We wanna see all right...

Heres my 72 cb500 I used to have. wish I had kept it. need to see if the guy still has it I might try to buy it back.
Attachment 28612