Conversion Completed
Witness the CB in her completed state post-ball-up:
Front to back:
The fairing is a speed-shop special cheapo universal type. Took a little hacking to make it fit, but it closely resembles the old 70s CB fairings which could be special ordered from the factory. The more precise replicas carry a more precise price tag.
The bar is a Bikemaster Clubman from MC Superstore. I purposely turned it down at a rather sharp angle to get good lean-in ergonomics for hard cornering. This produces a forward riding position and requires I stay in shape to ride it, (not a problem; I've been hitting the gym five days a week for a couple years now and am back in fighting trim). It's necessary for aggressively riding this steed, however, as the rigid frame and rear dual damper suspension arrangement result in quite a lot of jitters when you push it down to the pegs. Being able to keep my weight forward and over the down-side settles her and smooths things out nicely.
Bar-end mirrors are Amazon specials. It required more work than I anticipated to fit them, as Honda uses a proprietary anti-vibration system. There is an interior sleeve in each end with a hole in it for the bar-end weights on the stock set-up. I had to extract those sleeves from the original bar -- they are glued in -- and reassemble them in the new bars with an end gap for the mirror plugs. This results in slightly more vibration due to the loss of the bar-end weights, but I nullified most of that with rubber stripping in the tree clamp. Works well, though the mirrors sometimes turn under wind pressure above 100 mph. Ahem.
The muffler, such as it is, is an Auto Zone special. A couple pieces of exhaust pipe, a bolt and hose clamp, a baffle (sawed in half) from J&P Cycles for back-pressure, and a can of high-heat black paint. Has a great sound and the off-throttle back-rumbling is quite impressive. You can keep it quiet by running at low RPMs, but if you drop a gear and rap on it -- oh my. Itz de LOWD. Legal, too. It's already passed state inspection. The only tricky bit is that the stop for the center stand was attached to the original muffler, so I had to take it off that thing and get it properly positioned on the new "assembly." I was going to weld it, but then came to my senses and just bolted it on. Me and an arc welder rarely produce a pretty result.
Side-mount license plate bracket is another Amazon special. It's one of those modular ones with a bracket that can be used in several orientations. I got lucky because it bolted straight into the hole left by the absent bracket for the old muffler. It holds the plate at a 45 degree angle around the vertical, which is perfectly visible from back or side, and the angle keeps it tucked in around the rear damper for a cleaner look, (i.e., it doesn't stick out off the side of the bike). Again, it passed inspection. If they're happy, I'm happy.
The fender, obviously, is a straight chop job. The taillight is a ten-dollar J&P special that just happened to fit the 70s theme very well. I built a custom bracket and attached it to the back of the frame. The rear turn signals are arrowheads, also from J&P, my sole concession to modernity. Cagers tend drive around in a mental fog, presenting an ever-present threat to my existence. Arrows are more specific and unusual, and thus more likely to get their attention.
I decided to leave the seat. I considered a cafe-style racing seat, but I eventually decided it didn't fit the theme. This is more of a 70s rat-bike street brawler than a cafe conversion, and the stock bi-level conveys that better, in my opinion.
What you can't see (hopefully) is the brute force work that went into her. Sledge hammers, pry bars and angle grinders all featured prominently in the process. Every time I got sweaty and pissed off while hacking on it, I told myself "You crashed it, douchenozzle. So quit yer whinin' and fuckin' fix it."
I get lots of attention with this girl. Mostly youngsters, strangely. Occasionally I'll get an older fella at a gas pump look it over, but the kids (<30) go ga-ga over it. Already had two offers for more than the 'Good Condition' Bluebook list, and this is far from a pristine bike. Don't guess I'll ever have a problem selling it if I decide to go that course.
Welp, that project's done. Somewhere out there is a '83 750 Interceptor in need of love with my name on it...
Front to back:
The fairing is a speed-shop special cheapo universal type. Took a little hacking to make it fit, but it closely resembles the old 70s CB fairings which could be special ordered from the factory. The more precise replicas carry a more precise price tag.
The bar is a Bikemaster Clubman from MC Superstore. I purposely turned it down at a rather sharp angle to get good lean-in ergonomics for hard cornering. This produces a forward riding position and requires I stay in shape to ride it, (not a problem; I've been hitting the gym five days a week for a couple years now and am back in fighting trim). It's necessary for aggressively riding this steed, however, as the rigid frame and rear dual damper suspension arrangement result in quite a lot of jitters when you push it down to the pegs. Being able to keep my weight forward and over the down-side settles her and smooths things out nicely.
Bar-end mirrors are Amazon specials. It required more work than I anticipated to fit them, as Honda uses a proprietary anti-vibration system. There is an interior sleeve in each end with a hole in it for the bar-end weights on the stock set-up. I had to extract those sleeves from the original bar -- they are glued in -- and reassemble them in the new bars with an end gap for the mirror plugs. This results in slightly more vibration due to the loss of the bar-end weights, but I nullified most of that with rubber stripping in the tree clamp. Works well, though the mirrors sometimes turn under wind pressure above 100 mph. Ahem.
The muffler, such as it is, is an Auto Zone special. A couple pieces of exhaust pipe, a bolt and hose clamp, a baffle (sawed in half) from J&P Cycles for back-pressure, and a can of high-heat black paint. Has a great sound and the off-throttle back-rumbling is quite impressive. You can keep it quiet by running at low RPMs, but if you drop a gear and rap on it -- oh my. Itz de LOWD. Legal, too. It's already passed state inspection. The only tricky bit is that the stop for the center stand was attached to the original muffler, so I had to take it off that thing and get it properly positioned on the new "assembly." I was going to weld it, but then came to my senses and just bolted it on. Me and an arc welder rarely produce a pretty result.
Side-mount license plate bracket is another Amazon special. It's one of those modular ones with a bracket that can be used in several orientations. I got lucky because it bolted straight into the hole left by the absent bracket for the old muffler. It holds the plate at a 45 degree angle around the vertical, which is perfectly visible from back or side, and the angle keeps it tucked in around the rear damper for a cleaner look, (i.e., it doesn't stick out off the side of the bike). Again, it passed inspection. If they're happy, I'm happy.
The fender, obviously, is a straight chop job. The taillight is a ten-dollar J&P special that just happened to fit the 70s theme very well. I built a custom bracket and attached it to the back of the frame. The rear turn signals are arrowheads, also from J&P, my sole concession to modernity. Cagers tend drive around in a mental fog, presenting an ever-present threat to my existence. Arrows are more specific and unusual, and thus more likely to get their attention.
I decided to leave the seat. I considered a cafe-style racing seat, but I eventually decided it didn't fit the theme. This is more of a 70s rat-bike street brawler than a cafe conversion, and the stock bi-level conveys that better, in my opinion.
What you can't see (hopefully) is the brute force work that went into her. Sledge hammers, pry bars and angle grinders all featured prominently in the process. Every time I got sweaty and pissed off while hacking on it, I told myself "You crashed it, douchenozzle. So quit yer whinin' and fuckin' fix it."
I get lots of attention with this girl. Mostly youngsters, strangely. Occasionally I'll get an older fella at a gas pump look it over, but the kids (<30) go ga-ga over it. Already had two offers for more than the 'Good Condition' Bluebook list, and this is far from a pristine bike. Don't guess I'll ever have a problem selling it if I decide to go that course.
Welp, that project's done. Somewhere out there is a '83 750 Interceptor in need of love with my name on it...
posted by Jar(egg)head at 17:10
3 Comments:
You should have posted a post-crash "Before" picture so we could see the corpse before you began your extensive necromancy. :)
More pixs, that's a gorgeous bike! Love the auto zone muffler, you could prob sell those to hipsters on Craig's list for $400.
-JW
Very nice.
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