Oops I did it again!! Home Wrecker build

[barelycompetent]

Picking it up next Wednesday for 400.  I know Im going to need to rebuild the carbs, and check all of the gaskets and seals, but I should be able to get it running with out to much effort.  Im thinking a quick "cafe" flip and hopefully sell it for a nice little profit!


http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/3825559846.html

[LukeM]

Newark is about 15-20 miles east of I-270, which is Columbus's outerbelt freeway.

I hope you enjoy your purchase.  Might be a fun to get going.
Luke M

[barelycompetent]

Thanks Luke, its gonna be about a 2.5hr drive for me one way to get it, but hey for 400 bucks I cant pass up the opportunity to play with another project!  I think the 1st order of business will be to drain the gas out, pull the carbs, ultrasonically clean them and rebuild them, new plugs and see if she runs.  Im looking forward to getting my hands dirty on this one lol.

[shinyribs]

A buddy of mine's girlfriend has one of these with a sidecar rig on it. Me and him took it for a ride one day. I'm 220 lbs and he's 270. It pulled us all around town surprisingly well!

Neat bike for sure,have fun with it bud.

[TOOLS1]

"I'm 220 lbs and he's 270"
Did you reverse the numbers?
TOOLS

[barelycompetent]

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it and having some fun with it!  The plan is to get it running, cafe it and flip it for a nice profit!  Then again it may be so much fun I might end up keeping it!  This will be my build thread and I'm thinking for the name I'm going with "home wrecker". Cause it's going to be a surprise when the wife comes home and sees it on the lift, Surprise!!!!  Sometimes it's easier to beg for forgiveness then to ask for permission!

[barelycompetent]

Well the new build is home, I call her the "Home Wrecker", the wife didnt know about it lol, but she is cool with it now!  So here is where I am at so far, she turns over and starts but doesnt stay running.  She needs a complete going threw of the carbs, which I am in the process of now, and then today they get an ultrasonic bath!  

So here is where the magic happens on my work bench!


This is the bike, a 1981 Honda CM400C, she is dirty, and ugly and definitely needs some loving but she will clean up nicely!  

First things first, I finally wrestled the carbs off, man that stock air box is a pain!!!  While removing them the carb boots literally fell apart in my hands! Im no genius but me thinks that might have been part of the problem, so its off to the dealership to see if I can find new boots, if not I have to order them and wait, doesnt matter though, the carbs are still being cleaned as the next pic will show.!


Man these things are dirty!! Surprisingly the jets were pretty clean and open, but I still cleaned them out and blew compressed air threw them, and again they are going in the ultrasonic cleaner today!

More to come, but thats where Im at now, first order of business is to get her up and running, and then let the tear down begin lol!

[jcarroll]

Hahaha! Don't know how I missed this one. Newark is where I live!

[shinyribs]

TOOLS1 wrote

"I'm 220 lbs and he's 270"

I wish I was a svelte as you
TOOLS

Fixed it for ya there bud

 Sorry Barely. I had to step in and defend my honor. Carry on ....

[barelycompetent]

Jcarrol it was a 5hr round trip for me, but the price was right lol!  Shiny, defend away man its all cool!  Im halfway home on the carbs, one has been completely cleaned in chem dip, rinsed and dried off ready for reassemble, while the other carb is prepped and ready to go in the dip!

[seestheday]

I've heard that those CM400's can be hard to cafe well because the frame has some loopy bends in it.

Not saying it isn't possible, but regular flat cafe seats don't work well without significant frame modifications.

I was recently considering a cm400 for my 2nd bike project, and ruled out the cafe for this reason.  There is a huge thread over on DTT about what people have done with them though (http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=26184.0).

If you're looking to turn a quick profit though, a chopper or just getting it running really well might be a better option.  That is what I'm considering.  A well running bike where I am can sell for $2K, and adding cafe parts to it wouldn't increase the value much.

Do what you want of course .

[barelycompetent]

Yeah that frame is goofy on this bike.  I have some ideas for it but nothing solid right now.  My first order of business is just to get it up and running lol, then clean her up as best as I can and go from there.  Its kind of nice to not feel any pressure to get it built and running, cause I already have two other bikes I can ride, so this one I can take my time on!  I do love the loop on the rear of the bike, but the flat rear section will be tricky if I do cafe it.

[barelycompetent]

Well after a few weeks waiting on my parts, the carbs are all back together, new boots and o rings, and new bowl gaskets.  Put the carbs back on today, poured some gas in the tank, and bang she fired right up!  Ran surprisingly very well for having sat in a semi running state for almost two years!  I was really surprised she fired up as quickly as she did, she ran great, took her around the block a few times, shifts well, idles well, runs well, and then my petcock took a poop on me, sprung a leak and poured the remainder of the tank of gas all over the ground, wasnt much gas though lol.  So a new petcock is on order, and after all said and done I am in this bike for a whopping 550 dollars!  I cleaned her and washed her up after I got her fired up and running, so now comes the fun part.  I have decided not to cafe this bike, instead I am going to bobber it!  Now that she is running Im going to start cleaning up some of the rust on the fenders, and exhaust, and clean up the engine a bit, but not to much, gotta have that somewhat crusty look in my opinion.  Im gonna take the mufflers off, and possibly remove the cross over pipe  as well, dont really want to have to rejet the carbs though.  Wrap the exhaust with pipe wrap, chop off several inches of the subframe, weld on a solo seat, and start trimming the fenders, then its a set of kickback drag bars, and my bobber should be done!  More pics to come as soon as I get started on the clean up!  Just happy she is a good runner lol!

[barelycompetent]

Well back to work on the home wrecker.  All of my parts are in, just need to get to work lol.  So I removed the inner fender and rear fender, along with brake light and turns signals, then cut off a fair amount of the sub frame, no going back now!


Now the old bars are off, and the new ones are on for positional reference, still need to attach the controls!

Next order of business is to get all of the controls back on, and adjust all of the cables, after that Im converting two of the front turn signals into brake lights, and using amber LED accent pods for the turn signals.  Also going to trim down the front fender, and trim down and remount the rear fender.  Also have to weld on the bracket for the solo seat, and mount the springs, then its all up to the waiting for the new petcock to get here so I can put the tank back on and put her back on the road!  Sounds so easy till you get into lol, something always comes up!

[barelycompetent]

Shes coming along nicely I think.  I sandblasted the tank and rattle can painted everything.  Wrapped the pipes and hung them all up to dry.  Just need to mount and wire my turn signals, brake lights and headlight bucket(when it gets here lol), and drill and mount my seat pan.  Its all coming together, but my starter just took a dump on me, so I have to sort that out now lol.

[shinyribs]

I like the green!

[TOOLS1]

Actually went out yesterday. Had to mail off CDA's carbs, and a money order to Lucky, so I killed three birds with one stone.
TOOLS  

[barelycompetent]

Thanks Tools, that the last thing I need to have her all road ready again!  Got her finished up and running again today, probably need to rejet since I eliminated the crossover pipe, and just welded on some six inch tips to the headers, but she is running!  All I need now are the remount the headlight bucket, mount the turn signals front and back, and the brake light and she is all done!  What do you all think?  Shiny, I like the green as well, hunter green, with the side covers really comes together well if you ask me!

[barelycompetent]

Tools my headlight bucket showed up today, thank you very much!  I can make that work!  I just wanted to make sure on your address before I mailed payment, I cant really read the zip code, is it 64138, or 64128?  Let me know and I will mail payment to you!  Thanks again!

[TOOLS1]

Glad you can use it. I was going to fix it for my buddy, but he dropped $50.00 on a new one. 64138 Sorry about the hand writing.
TOOLS