Cb 500 Four -72

Hi all, new member from Sweden. :cheersmate:
Recently bought a CB500 -72 to make a chopper. The build had already been started by some PO but never finished and there's a lot of half-ass job on it.:asshat:
However the style of it is quite cool I think.

PO has welded new rear shock mounts underneath the swingarm to lower it and added longer front fork legs and wider steering head/stem.

As i bought it:
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Didn't like the width and length of the fork so I've sourced original stems and fork legs to make it lower and narrower. Have yet to recieve them.
Moved the for legs up a bit to find out roughly what it will look like with original fork length.

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Proceeded to remove engine and drop the seat section. There's a looooot of bondo on this thing so sometime in the near future will be to have it blasted.

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Planning on going 60's style with flake and stuff :cool:

Those are really great motors and it looks like a very nice start to a build.......

Frame is at the blaster right now. My new rear fender arrived and I also bought a gas tank from an old moped. I like the look of it but might be a little on the small side. Only holds a little more than a gallon...
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Slowly moving forward. Frame is back from the blaster. Decided to ditch the tank in previous post for the one that came with the bike or perhaps something else. Still thinking it's to small also, only holding about 1.3 gallons.
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Also how the hell do I turn the pics around?

I open them in Windows Image Viewer, use the rotate buttons at the bottom, and when you close the pic it remains in that position.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by confab

I open them in Windows Image Viewer, use the rotate buttons at the bottom, and when you close the pic it remains in that position.

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Yeah The pics are the correct way in my image viewer but not when I upload them. Will try rotting them a full 360 degrees next time

Made some progress yesterday. Mocking things up to make brackets for the rear fender.
Also planning on making a seat for my lady so it will need another tube or bar across the fender. Used a hose to illustrate what I'm going for.
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Well some progress actually has been made as of late. Found another gas tank from a REX motorcycle, made a seat pan which will cover most electronics. A glass owl which will be cast into a taillight. Bits and pieces falling together. 1/2" sissy has been started.
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Looking good!

Best lines I have seen on a CB swing arm build" Man, you need to post a vid when you fire that thing up

Thanks for the kind words! Really pleased so far myself. I'll be sure to keep this thread better updated.

Sissy bar coming along. Whole frame is done welded also which is a relief. I can start working on bondo/molding soon.
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Looks good. I like the sissy bar...looking fwd to more progress!

Its seems like this build is going well, I can't wait to see how it will turn out.

Frame and swingarm primed. Doing the tank and fender this weekend.
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Alright, so the tins are epoxy primed also and I've started molding. Color suggestions for this little feller? Leaning towards Porsche Wimbledon green or maybe cream white kind of similar to the epoxy.
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Molding done. At least I think I'll settle here. Epoxy primed it once again. Can't decide whether to go solid cream white or sea foam green, or try my hand at flakes..
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With your handle I would think a dark green flake.
Dusty

Color has been decided, 1955 Chevy Neptune Green. Waiting for it right now.

In the meantime I've been fixing minor things, making gaskets etc. Also dropping of the seat pan at the upholsterer this week.
Painted the engine and also bought me a Marchal 662 headlight. Will require som modifications for the bulbs but I dig it.
Shallow so that it will sit tight against the forks and it has a nice tit on it.:killerjob:
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Slow progress, am I the only one who is excited with this build?

Yeah wish I could be in the garage everyday I'm living in an apartment and has a 30 minute drive to my dads garage. So it mostly becomes a weekend thing. I suspect my miss won't be to pleased if I run off to the garage every day of the week..

Welded my clutch cover which had a hole in it and also two cracks by one of the mounting holes.
Came out decent I think, my first time welding aluminium in 7 years so I'm quite pleased.
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...And finally laid down the paint! Stoked right now. Went with Alfa Romeo Verde Caraibi since the paint guy could
not find the mixing formula for the chevy color.
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Paint is cured and the engine snuck back into position
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Bike is coming out great. I have a Honda 750 that was a similar color so I love this color you went with!

Thanks! Small things happening. Finishing up my sissy so that I can have it chromed.
Decided to ditch the owl-rearlight for now, found an old Triumph light that I will use first, I think it will ease up the inspection. Will eventually cast the owl anyway.
Drew an engine mount that I've hade laser cut in stainless. Looking for white/black braided ignition cable stock but having trouble finding it. Colored ones I find everywhere but not the white/black.
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That sissy bar kicks ass.

Coming along nicely.

And I agree with Cyclefreak about the sissy bar.

Attached my rear wheel and chain and little did I know that my rear wheel is from a 750. Main reason I attached it was because I wanted to check clearance between chain and fender, which is about 5 mm (1/5"). Thought that i looked way beefy for a 500 but I was thinking that the big tyre was fooling me. Compared photos and it is a 750 wheel.
Looks like I will be needing an offset front sprocket. They're just so damn expensive, but I have new original sprocket and an old one, perhaps I can make it work with a bit of lathe- and welding magic.
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I can wait to see the outcome of this build. The progress looks nice.

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

Anyways I was wrong about my rear wheel. It is a 500 wheel. Attached it ti the bike today and the sprockets lined up. Took of the rear sprocket and measured it so now I've confirmed it to be from a 500. Feels good to be wrong!

Rest of the day I spent making a headlight bracket.
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Everything is so tasteful and clean on this bike. Making me want to go out and start my own CB build!

Love it! Keep up the great work!

Thanks!

Slow progress today. Put in a new seal beam in my headlight bucket. Looks much more slick than the old one.
Also put on a new rear sprocket and chain + brake shoes. Painted my lower triple in silver but no pics of it.
Old
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New
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Built a polishing machine this weekend. Gotta say I really enjoy it! Polished the forks and rear brake drum/shield so far.
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I like that headlight bracket. Nice piece of craftsmanship.

It's down on the ground!
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It's going slow, but it's going. Small stuff happening. Front brake caliper, polished the front brake cylinder, started some wiring..
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