My cafe build round II the CX
04-27-2010, 01:39 PM
#91
2nd mouse gets the cheese
SuperBike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 1,697
The exhaust is coming along nicely. I will just be doing a simple under engine can for now.
Also I have decided to put the ignition embedded in the cowl. It was very long and I couldn't find anywhere else. Plus I actually think it is cool back there, but maybe I will be the only one.
Also I have decided to put the ignition embedded in the cowl. It was very long and I couldn't find anywhere else. Plus I actually think it is cool back there, but maybe I will be the only one.
04-27-2010, 09:32 PM
#94
Cigar Officianado
Squid
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Bothell, WA
Posts: 22
04-29-2010, 03:35 PM
#97
2nd mouse gets the cheese
SuperBike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 1,697
So here are some more pics of the exhaust and of the brace. Some things are just tacked in place so don't panic. I need to remove the rear wheel so I can weld up the swing arm. Then paint it. The exhaust is done other then a few dents I will blend out hopefully, I have a feeling the exhaust is love it or hate it, but it is very light and keeps the look of the bike very compact which was the goal with this one for me. After that it is on to the details left undone. Brake lines back on and new fluid. Shock fluid replaced Wiring to finish blinkers to install all little stuff that I probably won't post then first ride yehaw.
04-29-2010, 04:22 PM
#98
Senior Member
MotoGP
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Clemente, CA
Posts: 3,451
The exhaust looks good.
But I guarantee you will need to rejet with those K&Ns. I tried a K&N in my '78 with the stock airbox, and went back to the stock element a week later, because it had a big mid range flat spot. That was with 2 into 1 exhaust that it had when I bought it.. At least the carbs are sitting right there staring at you, unlike on the VTR. Rejetting would take about 10 minutes per carb, including R & R.
But I guarantee you will need to rejet with those K&Ns. I tried a K&N in my '78 with the stock airbox, and went back to the stock element a week later, because it had a big mid range flat spot. That was with 2 into 1 exhaust that it had when I bought it.. At least the carbs are sitting right there staring at you, unlike on the VTR. Rejetting would take about 10 minutes per carb, including R & R.
04-30-2010, 01:23 PM
#100
Junior Member
Squid
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 3
love where you're going with this. i will say that going through all this work it's a shame to see you stick with the stock seat. i liked what you were doing before.
also, that exhaust is very much like what i'd like to do with my cafe cx500 when i get around to it. a few questions if you don't mind.
- what can is that and what are it's measurements?
- how much ground clearance do you have with it?
- could you click a pic from the side at a distance so i can see who the under-engine can looks?
- i've never done headers before... where did you get the piping, what size is it and what is the material?
where are you going to put all your electrical and battery?
really can't wait to see this completed.
also, that exhaust is very much like what i'd like to do with my cafe cx500 when i get around to it. a few questions if you don't mind.
- what can is that and what are it's measurements?
- how much ground clearance do you have with it?
- could you click a pic from the side at a distance so i can see who the under-engine can looks?
- i've never done headers before... where did you get the piping, what size is it and what is the material?
where are you going to put all your electrical and battery?
really can't wait to see this completed.
04-30-2010, 02:20 PM
#101
2nd mouse gets the cheese
SuperBike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 1,697
LOL the stock seat thing was totally a joke just to point out the hilarity in how huge it is.
The can is a resonator found on alot of Audi's. I used the stock headers but changed the directions they point. I also ended up using a few elbow from another exhaust that happened to have the same material as the stock headers. Ground clearance is still good, probably seven inches to the can so plenty still. The size of the additional tubing is 1 1/2 in OD. I am going to put the batteries anywhere where they are almost invisible to the eye. I have a few options here but I will need to fiddle most likely. The electrical bits go under the seat and the R/R goes under the cowl.
The can is a resonator found on alot of Audi's. I used the stock headers but changed the directions they point. I also ended up using a few elbow from another exhaust that happened to have the same material as the stock headers. Ground clearance is still good, probably seven inches to the can so plenty still. The size of the additional tubing is 1 1/2 in OD. I am going to put the batteries anywhere where they are almost invisible to the eye. I have a few options here but I will need to fiddle most likely. The electrical bits go under the seat and the R/R goes under the cowl.
05-02-2010, 07:16 PM
#102
2nd mouse gets the cheese
SuperBike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 1,697
I must have scared everyone away...
Ok guys I am sorry, I cut up another classic...you can come out and harass me for how horrible this thing is turning out.
Truth, in an age of complexity I find myself searching for the meaning behind mechanical life. Everywhere I look there are mechanical things so complex mechanics now are trained to work on only one car brand sometimes even being an expert of only one model. Why, in our ability to create things can we not engineer within it simplicity? I don't know myself for sure but money is definitely behind this issue and that is what angers me. This is why I find myself tirelessly working on old things, grease always left there between my callused fingerprints. I try to wash them spotless but the black never really breaks free. After a few weeks of not wrenching they are clean again as new skin has replaced the old. I see it as my reminder I have been away too long. My red box of tools calls me, the dust forming on its lid as an outrage to my absence. With the completion of my cb project I found myself feeling empty. There was nothing for my mind to wander to. No crazy ideas I could bring to life. Just fantasies of future projects, the allure of the unknown, maybe in part my personal purgatory. A place where things could be, and at the same time not be. The untried and the unsolvable it haunts me and the only answer to it is to pursue it to go for my dreams. My dreams are of iron and steel and my hands know how to form them, somehow my hands know what to do all I have to do is listen to them. It would be a sin for me not to use my hands, a crime to the one who imparted this trade to me. There will be more, there has to be now I am beyond the point of turning back and it inspires me.
Don't get too caught up in my ramblings
.
Ok guys I am sorry, I cut up another classic...you can come out and harass me for how horrible this thing is turning out.
Truth, in an age of complexity I find myself searching for the meaning behind mechanical life. Everywhere I look there are mechanical things so complex mechanics now are trained to work on only one car brand sometimes even being an expert of only one model. Why, in our ability to create things can we not engineer within it simplicity? I don't know myself for sure but money is definitely behind this issue and that is what angers me. This is why I find myself tirelessly working on old things, grease always left there between my callused fingerprints. I try to wash them spotless but the black never really breaks free. After a few weeks of not wrenching they are clean again as new skin has replaced the old. I see it as my reminder I have been away too long. My red box of tools calls me, the dust forming on its lid as an outrage to my absence. With the completion of my cb project I found myself feeling empty. There was nothing for my mind to wander to. No crazy ideas I could bring to life. Just fantasies of future projects, the allure of the unknown, maybe in part my personal purgatory. A place where things could be, and at the same time not be. The untried and the unsolvable it haunts me and the only answer to it is to pursue it to go for my dreams. My dreams are of iron and steel and my hands know how to form them, somehow my hands know what to do all I have to do is listen to them. It would be a sin for me not to use my hands, a crime to the one who imparted this trade to me. There will be more, there has to be now I am beyond the point of turning back and it inspires me.
Don't get too caught up in my ramblings
.
05-02-2010, 07:36 PM
#103
Senior Member
Superstock
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Woodland Hills, CA
Posts: 421
Oh that poor, poor CX. So unfortunate 
I'm not referring to your project... I talking about the stock one that will one day find itself parked next to your beautiful creation and long for what it could be.
I'm not referring to your project... I talking about the stock one that will one day find itself parked next to your beautiful creation and long for what it could be.
05-03-2010, 05:01 PM
#108
Senior Member
Back Marker
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 139
Hanging out for each day's progress.
I totally relate to your 'ramblings' about a simpler mechanical life. I often wonder about the state of the latest bike offerings in 20 years or so - sensors everywhere with connections that will inevitably break down with corrosion and the absolute nightmare of finding the rogue connection.
I was out on a ride yesterday with a guy on his latest GSXR1000 and he was having fits about not being able to blip on downshifts to lower gears - it farts just like ours sometimes do. He has taken it to the dealer and they plug it in, announce that there is nothing coming up with an error message, therefore there is nothing wrong it is him!
I totally relate to your 'ramblings' about a simpler mechanical life. I often wonder about the state of the latest bike offerings in 20 years or so - sensors everywhere with connections that will inevitably break down with corrosion and the absolute nightmare of finding the rogue connection.
I was out on a ride yesterday with a guy on his latest GSXR1000 and he was having fits about not being able to blip on downshifts to lower gears - it farts just like ours sometimes do. He has taken it to the dealer and they plug it in, announce that there is nothing coming up with an error message, therefore there is nothing wrong it is him!
05-03-2010, 05:20 PM
#109
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Skurup, Sweden
Posts: 6,109
A guy I used to know (now dead) once said in a moment of clarity...
"I like my complicated things simple and my simple things complicated..."
He was talking about bikes and women...
Which was which he didn't specify... If you figure it out let me know...
"I like my complicated things simple and my simple things complicated..."
He was talking about bikes and women...
Which was which he didn't specify... If you figure it out let me know...
05-03-2010, 06:01 PM
#110
2nd mouse gets the cheese
SuperBike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 1,697
I think alot of it for me is I like being able to understand the entire system and how it works as a unit. The latest and greatest has things I don't fully understand nor could I even tell you all the sensors what they are and how they change things. I don't like the unknown. It just seems complicated for the sake of being complicated. Even if someone could argue the benefits of all the gadgetry I want to know why there isn't an LCD display in the engine bay that tells me what the cars codes are or even what the problem is. Why should you have to have a $3000 tool to do that. The car computer already knows. See complicated to be complicated. We are not making our lives any easier. Take this for example my 65 vw bus probably has 500k miles and I still am driving it. When something breaks I go to the import parts guys by my part which usually cost half of what I expect an hour later my bus is rolling down the road again. So with new cars it breaks you tow it to a mechanic, the mechanic calls you and says such an such a part is bad it costs said huge amount then quotes you said obscene amount of hours. When you hear the amount you immediately cant breath, but what can you do you need your car. Its a scam, me and my bus are giving it to the man every day, after all freedom is independence and I think that is what I am doing.
So today I did a very fast bodywork job on the tank and cowl and hit them with some flat black paint. I will let my sister get her newbie niggles out on cheap paint. Then after summer she can figure out what color she wants and I will have my painter do it right. No grumbling people it goes stealth for now. I can make a statement with it later.
So today I did a very fast bodywork job on the tank and cowl and hit them with some flat black paint. I will let my sister get her newbie niggles out on cheap paint. Then after summer she can figure out what color she wants and I will have my painter do it right. No grumbling people it goes stealth for now. I can make a statement with it later.
05-03-2010, 07:40 PM
#111
Senior Member
MotoGP
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Clemente, CA
Posts: 3,451
corn, I like the looks of the upper shock mount/linkage. it looks like you've shaved off a good 70+ pounds. Stock was around 500 pounds, if I recall. Any idea what it'll weigh when completed?
05-03-2010, 09:01 PM
#113
2nd mouse gets the cheese
SuperBike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 1,697
Hopefully I will find out in a week or two. I am waiting for large jets, I need to get my batteries and wire them in. I also need to tidy some wiring in the front. Then a seat cover.
05-06-2010, 04:15 PM
#119
Senior Member
SuperBike
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 1,051
05-06-2010, 04:27 PM
#120
2nd mouse gets the cheese
SuperBike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 1,697
Long story, ever have something go wrong then in the process of trying to fix it it just gets worse. Yeah I was having one of those. I am replacing my exhaust studs since 3 of the 4 sheered on removal so I needed to remove the last stud that was still in the head, so I heated the head and had sprayed some lube in there, and I start removing the stud only to have it sheer right on the head. Ok no big deal I can use an easy out. So I drill it out put the easy out in it, and snap the easy out breaks buried deep in the head. You can't drill it because it is harder then the bit. So anyways I ended up having to grind the edge of the mount until I could get the old stud and easy out out of the head so I laid the bike on its side on a tire and thats that. Then I welded new material on the head, now I need to drill a new hole and tap it to be done. So like 3 steps back.
Oh and the radiator has a hole in it too
Oh and the radiator has a hole in it too
