60's Honda CL 160 Rebuild as Racer

[akathisia]

unbelievably fantastic job you are doing on this bike.

 

[twitchmonitor]

Thanks akathisia

Did some more work toward getting the engine back together. Cleaned the original case bolts since the rust is light and only on the surface of bolts which aren't seeing any real loading. Then I broke a transmission circlip wtf) so I won't be done as soon as I hoped.

Getting the cases back together is proving difficult. It seems like I can do it if I stack all the parts in the top and stick on the bottom instead of the other way around.

And I mocked up the rear end and am pretty pleased with it. Now to make it in aluminum.

 

[ThumperX]

subscribed

 

[twitchmonitor]

Rain?
It hasn't rained in weeks.... your washer must just be leaking!

Is it raining now?

The back room is completely submerged and in the 10 minutes it took me to clear the tools and parts from the floor and raise everything on pieces of wood or whatever I could find, so was the laundry room. And it's still coming down, hard. I just hope not too much stuff gets FUBAR.

 

[auntiebling]

Is it raining now?

The back room is completely submerged and in the 10 minutes it took me to clear the tools and parts from the floor and raise everything on pieces of wood or whatever I could find, so was the laundry room. And it's still coming down, hard. I just hope not too much stuff gets FUBAR.

i've been following this all along, sadly my first thing to add of any merrit is to warn you about the Pacific Pounding

The next storm arrives in California Wednesday morning and that one looks a little stronger than today's storm.

wed might be a good place to do some machining

 

[twitchmonitor]

my first thing to add of any merrit is to warn you about the Pacific Pounding

At first that sounded like something inappropriate

Happy Hornet has volunteered to give me some pallets so that should help somewhat. Because I can build an ark out of them.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Great project...

Past memories flood in... with fondness I do remember the Honda 160...

 

[twitchmonitor]

School is back in session so my progress may slow a little. But only a little.

Finished the mudguard but ran out of rivets so no pics 'till it's actually done.

Front brake line arrived today.

Cut 2.5 inches off each end of the clubman bars. They now measure 24" across, much more manageable. I may trim them further but I'm going to wait until I have the bike running so I can get a feel for them.

Picked up a very small battery, sold for a small Yamaha dirt bike - still designing a decent mounting scheme.

And my head studs came in, so my head went from looking as toothless as Herbert the pervert...

 

[twitchmonitor]

...to as toothy as Pat Healy.

 

[twitchmonitor]

Finally got the breather on the tank Now I can call it a night.

 

[Howellerman]

Thanks akathisia

Getting the cases back together is proving difficult. It seems like I can do it if I stack all the parts in the top and stick on the bottom instead of the other way around.

Heya Twitch,

I think this is the normal modus operandi for Honda - while I can't personally vouch for the 160 (great bike, remember it well from my school years), my 500 Four and friends 750 were assembled upside down.

 

[twitchmonitor]

I did some things that weren't photo worthy so I won't even bother mentioning them. No pic, it didn't happen, right?

Here are the photo worthy bits.

The CR125 (and other displacement variations) was Honda's stock racer. As such they had no need for mirror mounts, for example. I though I might be a nice touch if I make my perches a little more CRish. Hey, it's free

I didn't get a "before" photo of mine, but here's a pic of a stock perch from Ebay (shown with lever). And here are the ones I did today (pair, no levers). I may even fill in the mirror hole if I have time. See the pic of what I believe is an original CR perch below.

It took quite a bit of work, actually. First roughing the shape with the mill, then belt sanding, filing, and hand sanding from 80 to 1500 grit. If it wasn't for the Colbert Report I probably would never get out of the basement.

I also hit the tank with a thin coat of primer just to help see where it needed work. I do like the overall look.

 

[killfile]

WOW. Those perches look great, I had to reread your post twice to understand exactly what you had done. For a second I thought you had bought them like that!

That reminds me that somewhere in my pile downstairs I have a set of 60's Gilera-ish clip ons that have the perch built into the clipon. Terrible design idea in many ways, but a very cheap way for the perch to be made. I might dig them out later and post up a pic or two.

 

[twitchmonitor]

WOW. Those perches look great, I had to reread your post twice to understand exactly what you had done. For a second I thought you had bought them like that!

That reminds me that somewhere in my pile downstairs I have a set of 60's Gilera-ish clip ons that have the perch built into the clipon. Terrible design idea in many ways, but a very cheap way for the perch to be made. I might dig them out later and post up a pic or two.

I reread my post and realized it was a little confusing. Damn Bondo, JB Weld and paint fumes got to me again.

I would love to see pics!

 

[twitchmonitor]

I've also decided to try my hand at metal spinning to make some velocity stacks. Cool process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP_gq1ahrmk

I just have to figure out how to get a screen in there...

 

[firstbuell]

hey David,

the CL's tank profile is much improved by ditching the kneepads - good eye

I discovered a Honda Collection Hall foto of the earliest twin [250cc] National cinder track racers, circa Soichiro-san's hugely significant Isle of Man visit -
this is a less red/more silver scheme, yet that era's design ethos is nonetheless present - mebbe it'll inspire yer own paint scheme -
foto awaits yer next FC trip, along with B&W shots of my own CB160/450 + 3 or 4 '60s CL/CB160 mag reviews

fianally, I promised to exhaust my archive of the early-60s production racers for your viewing pleasure - 2 or 3 shots are already posted in this very thread,
plus a few others on BARF @ Jokerio's arty fun "Hondas - completely toasted!" thread - here's the proddy bike residue:

 

[twitchmonitor]

Another cool addition to the build:

I just received this part in the mail. It's a tachometer drive from a CB175. I'll mount it to my head, which will allow me to also mount - you guessed it - a tach.

Of course I need to take a lot of metal off this part. Here's also a pic to give a general idea of what it will look like when I'm done with it.

 

[firstbuell]

hey David,

congrats on the acquisition - is your sure-wish-I'd-had-1-of-those new part from a sloper or a vertical 175?

wait - why must the metal be removed? what keeps it from bolting right up?

 

[twitchmonitor]

hey David,

congrats on the acquisition - is your sure-wish-I'd-had-1-of-those new part from a sloper or a vertical 175?

wait - why must the metal be removed? what keeps it from bolting right up?

Actually I'm not sure which it's from...would that part differ between the two?

It can bolt right up...but don't you think it looks better the other way?

I mean, uh, weight saving.

edit: on second though maybe I'll leave it be. It has a certain charm to it as-is.

 

[Stormdragon]

I've also decided to try my hand at metal spinning to make some velocity stacks. Cool process.

I got a set of 4 stacks on Ebay a couple years ago for the whopping sum of $25 as I recall. (Took a bit of wading through Harley stuff.) I know you're into doing as much as possible, as cheaply as possible, but I thought I'd toss that out there as a possible time saver.