Monthly Archives: February 2019

The Vesco Brat Bike Honda CB750 SOHC Rebuild Report

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
28 Feb

Well, the weather has been fighting me this month, worse Month since 1962 for the amount of H2O we have received and again today as we head to the end of February, we have more Rain coming down this week, so I need to try and use my time wisely and get as much done on this machine as I can.  Lets start off with the Triple Tree on this bike, as I wanted to change the Cable Tach and Speedometer and make something more Custom.

So, have a look above and you will see that I have started to make a start on the fabrication on the triple tree, first off I ground off the Original Factory outer tabs that housed the stock gauges, then I hand cut an Aluminum Holder out of a small sheet of Aluminum and made sure that it would be able to fit the stock location tabs that the Ignition switch used to fit into, and it looks great, if you look to the right, I already made a start on the Speedometer Bucket.

Not an easy task this but a block of 6061 T6 Aluminum was chucked up on the Lathe and turned down to the size I need for the Speedometer to sit snug and tight in the housing, also reliever three areas for the set up to really fit snug as a bug with no rattling about.

I wanted to incorporate fins into the casing as the front forks have this look as well as a few other features on the bike to make the whole concept flow and I am quite a big believer in that, I also need to grind a little more on the top triple tree and then smooth and polish to give the whole set up a look of chrome, no easy task too.

 

Now I am happy as its all Polished and the GPS Gauge set up looks really Custom, I machined Three 7/64 locator holes to allow the gauge to Clock right in the Location I wanted and have to say I am super stoked at how this now looks on the polished Triple Tree.

The bike I am creating is a 1974 Model Honda CB750 But I am using a later upper and lower tree to allow me to have the small tab brackets in the center and glad I went this route.

I wanted to create something that is different from the norm and I do enjoy what I call ” Newstalgia “, New parts with a feel of Old, and I believe I have created that with this.

I really like the look, the Gauge is 4 inches and the bucket is 5 ” and a strong solid appearence, I think it blends in well with the style of bike I am building.

So just a final clean up and then I need to pick the lower tree up from the Chrome shop, this should really set the whole top end off on the bike and glad I took the extra mile.

I will Clean up once more and add some polished Handlebar clamps that I make and she will be all ready for when I start to bolt all this together again, so in a week or two I can start to assemble the frame, it is still at the painters but not for long and thats going to be Silver Flake, should be a good contrast to the rest of the bike.

 

Thanks for reading my blog today and hope I have inspired you to get into the Shed, garage or lock up and have a go with your ride?

 

Have a Great weekend everyone

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
22 Feb

Well, the end of the week is here and the weather is surprisingly cold here in Southern California, but this weekend I need to work on parts for the Vesco bike that i an trying to rebuild for a show in March in La for the OG Show, so I am flat out right now but enjoy the challenge.

Hope that you may time to wrench on your machine or even get lucky enough to take it out of the weather is not too bad, but- this time of year, many people are in their Shed, garage, Workshop, tinkering with their 2 wheeled machine and if you need help on parts or even advise, this is why I am here as we are all a big family.  I will also try hard to get you on the road as soon as possible.

I need to get another Master Cylinder for the Brat bike that I am creating and the one you see here on the Revolver Caff I built will be what I need, these work so well and are brand new, affordable and can run up to 2 Rotors too as it has a good size piston in the chamber.

I will be busy all weekend working on revamping parts and polishing parts and maybe some welding too, I get more done on the weekend than I do during the week, I think because I have so many emails and phone calls and texts to reply too and I do that all week.

Have a great weekend everyone, you can order 24-7 on my website and you can email, call or even text me still and I will reply, have fun and hope to see some of your creations soon.

My Hot Rod 4 into 1 Exhaust system for the CB500 and CB550 Honda.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
21 Feb

 

Well, Colder weather but had to continue and get a few things completed as a lot of Rain was on its way here and I worked as fast as i could to get a set of HOT ROD Exhaust system ready to Ceramic Coat as a Customer in Australia is eager to have them on his bike,. I just sent a set to the UK and he is really happy with they way they look and fit, as well as the way they sound.

This exhaust came out well and the Customer wants this one Silver in Ceramic Coating, so this is how it looks when it is coated and fitted to the CB550 Honda Motorcycle.

It bolts up so easy and stand out in the crowd, an aggressive style that shows your Engine off well too, it barks like a scolded dog and lets your engine breathe all through the curve.

Another with a Raw header and a ceramic Turn out and these are very popular for many bike builders, order one today from me and choose weather raw steel, Ceramic Silver, Black, Titanium or Bronze.

 

Worked on rebuilding the Vesco Bike front Forks today

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
20 Feb

Well, pushed hard today as Rain is forecast for later on this afternoon and needed to start and b rebuild the old front forks for the Vesco bike, as they had seen better days over the last 40 years and it is now time to make them stand out in the crowd as I am trying to get this bike done in time for the OG show in march.

I am super stoked to have got these done and, as I put these away in the garage, the rain started to fall, so great timing on my behalf and feel pretty accomplished today.

Had to fit New Fork seals, and lucky for me I had a spare New set that I could use for these Machines fork lowers and I always fit with the Numbers facing up on Honda’s.

 

I also use a piece of UPVC tube to act as a drift and tap the seal in bit by bit, its an easy way of fitting seals and many people do this if they do not have a press handy.

I fitted the New Rubber fork Caps onto the top of the Lower fork leg and then slid down my Custom Chrome outer cover over the top of that, just to finish it off a little more Classic.

Now its all dressed up and I am really happy with the end result, these forks now look so different now that they are machines and polished to a Chrome finish.

I love the look and the finish and its the devil in the Detail that I am into and these certainly have a really cool look to them, rather than just stock ones.

I have always machines these fins into the forks so that the whole bike flows from the front to the rear and I get many comments on my fork set ups, which is great to hear from other builders.

Still more to do to the bike but other than adding about 7 ounces of Automatic Transmission Fluid into each tube, but another tick off the long list of things that I must try and complete.

A seriously cool bit of kit for the bike and glad that I took today and spent some time getting these right on the money, they sure look great and finished just in time before the Rain arrived.

So, these will now be bagged up and put away until I start on the rebuild of the frame, the frame is now at the paint shop and getting ready for some serious Metalflake Silver.

 

Time to head inside now but wanted to share how much I have managed to get completed today and hope that you enjoyed what I have created for the Vesco Honda Brat Bike.

 

Vesco Bike, bit more done on parts today.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
17 Feb

Well, the weather has been pretty unkind over here in California, the Rain has been hammering down and as much as 3 inches a day, so that has restricted what I can do in the garage as I need to pull the bikes outside to be able to work in the area.

Rain was due this afternoon, so I went out in the garage and started by pulling the old rear brake hub out and then cleaning it in Vinegar and then lightly polishing it, I then secured the Brake hub to a piece of Old ply wood and then set about drilling a hole display, as I like that old school speed air cooling look and thats what I wanted to do to this hub.

Took quite a while but am happy with the result, I still have to Polish to a chrome finish but got it done just in time as the rain was beginning to fall.

So, I went into the garage and got the old brake Rotor from the Vesco bike and as it had seen better days, I thought I would give it the Old style Swiss Cheese style and drill 185 Holes into the Rotor, thus allowing heat Dissipation and it is also good for dispersing water like rain etc and lastly it is lighter too.

These Rotors are arguably, softer than an Italian Soccer club and drilling using a carbide tip was pretty easy but, it is time consuming drilling 185 Holes, and as you look at the Rotor, it does indeed look as though I have drilled them in a curve, but on closer inspection, you will see they really are a straight line of 3 then 2 holes and fun to drill and, for me its really therapeutic.

I love doing these and over the 19 years, I have drilled over 500 Rotors and they are still on the road today, testament that these really are a great set up for the Honda Four.

There you go, the tough part is, once you have drilled the 185 Holes you then have to counter sink them, Both sides, so thats 370 times, but as I said, to me its therapeutic and do the whole job in 90 minutes and what a great outcome, once I get to this stage, I shall remove the paint and then polish it to a chrome looking finish.

Still loads to do but wanted to share what I had done today, I used to offer these Rotors and may do again but need to collect about 50 of them so I can bang them out in a week etc.

but fun doing all this and hope you are enjoying my blog on the recreation of this old Vesco Honda time machine that I am turning into a Custom Brat bike to the La Custom show in March.

 

 

 

 

I started doing this here 19 years ago today.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
15 Feb

Wow- Time does indeed fly by, on February 15th 2000 I started doing this and 19 years today I am still enjoying what I create and sell to you lovely lot.

Hard to believe that this 140 pound guy from North London, would be living his dream and doing what I always wanted to do, Motorcycles have been my life since a kid, I always look back and think how lucky I am to be doing what I do.

I have lost count of the amount of Motorcycles I have built since 1975, but I have never lost the passion for these 2 wheeled machines and dont think I ever will.

My T100 Triumph Daytona was such a fun bike but- it needed constant servicing, but that was the fun of it, getting to know your Motorcycle and how things work. I used to be a Dispatch Rider in the City of London and also up in Birmingham, riding thousands of miles all over the country and loved it, I worked for many companies delivering things everywhere, and knew there was nothing like being your own Boss and having Motorcycles.

I do sometimes miss that job as I got to see so many places, in the UK and in Europe but, the Danger was outrageous at times but that is why the money was so good, as we took big risks in what we do, and in all weathers, some Rain, some crazy winds and plenty of Snow and Ice. A major decision that I made moving here was because the weather was so nice and no more cold Knees and hand riding Motorcycles.

50 pounds lighter and more hair LOL- Loved that old bike too, it was a 1953 Sunbeam S7, I sure loved that bike and it looked along the lines of a Harley but was British.

I was self taught in Mechanics and loved taking snotty parts and transforming them into something very cool and different and I was hooked from day 1.

I hit the ground running in 2000 here in Southern California and built a well known Motorcycle out of the CB750 Honda Four, many people used to stop me in the street and ask.

“What is that bike” And I would reply its a Cafe bike, I got ask so many times that I painted on the tank the word  Cafe  in Old English, with Gold Model paint, using a modeling paint brush, then I guess I got noticed all over the place and started getting magazine coverage.

Roll on to modern times and I am still creating affordable parts to complete builds and want to than you all for being my Customers and look forward to speaking to you soon.

There is never a day thats the same for me in this industry and i love that aspect, there are always things to make, draw, build or repair and as long as there are second hand motorcycles out there, then I am good.

Where do I see this industry going? Well of course I have now seen the electric designs and although they look cool, they have no sound, I dont think I would like a dead quet machine, I like the roar of an internal combustion engine, I also believe in loud pipes save lives as if a pedestrian steps out in the street and an electric Motorcycle is belting along-Well theres a catastrophic accident waiting to happen.

I have manufactured thousands of exhaust systems for these old bikes and am gearing up to design more affordable styles and all made here right in California not oversea’s where the majority of systems are made by people not even into Motorcycles.

So, thank you, from the Bottom of my heart for ALL your support, you are helping my continue to live my dream and I hope I can help you, even if its just problem solving over the phone,

Thanks for reading my little Blog, right now I am building a Brat style Custom motorcycle and hope to get it completed for the OG show here in LA, but the weather is against us right now but we shall plug on. I love All motorcycles and glad that you enjoy what I do.

 

Thanks again for 19 years, the 20th year anniversary will have to be a bike created I think to celebrate an awesome milestone in business here.

Until next time, have a super weekend ahead of you and hope to hear from you soon.

CHEERS!

The rebuild of the Vesco Brat Bike for a show

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
14 Feb

Well tomorrow will be 19 years since I have been doing this stuff here and I am super stoked to revamp the old Vesco bike I created a few weeks ago, but this time I want to trick the frame out before Custom painting it in metal Flake, so here is my Blog as to where I am at with this old 500 pounder Honda Four Machine.

The frame has over 40 years of paint, scratches and holes in it, so need to weld up the holes and of course the new quick release tubes on the frame and get this ready to strip to bare metal, a long Process but I will stick with it, unfortunately we have a few days heavy rain, so I am restricted with what i can do until it warms up.

Made sure that I protected the Bearing races as these are for New Tapered Roller Bearings for smoother steering, the poor old frame was pretty beat up and will need a lot of TLC but I shall get there for sure.

A lot of re-welding needed to be completed and then it was time to start to clean this frame up, this will look so cool in Metalflake paint.

The quick release kit is all welded in and this will be so much easier to fit the motor and to get to to service etc at a later date and am glad that I went this route.

That’s a lot better and now time to get all the paint off of the chassis to see what I have and then can begin to get this to a better standard and looking more Custom too. Video below is just using my Iphone, so not good quality, but you get the idea of what I am doing though.

So, plenty more to do but, as the clouds keep opening, I have to stop what ever I am doing, we had 3 inches of rain today, not good for a bead blasted chassis but I wont give up at all.

Look at the chassis now, way better and now can see where I have to work on and get this bang on, this is almost ready for sealer, then primer, then bondo welds over, then base coat, then flake, then clear coat, so a super long way to go.

The frame rails came out well and am happy at the end result, makes it so much easier to get to the Cylinder head now if I need to work on the top end at a later date.

With over Four decades of paint and stuff plastered all over this frame, this is now so refreshing to see and the skeleton is all set to have some cool plastic surgery.

Now then, I really am stoked to have gone in this direction, I mean, the bike would of gone to the Junk yard and lost for ever, so at least i saved it from there, its not a restoration and not a super rare year either, I really wanted to make this machine stand out from many of the others as it belonged to the Vesco family who are world known for racing and getting world records etc. I am super stoked I decided to make the side of the frame removable and, having steel tubes inside the hollow tubes, makes this frame more stronger than stock.

This will be a cool look, many people will not even notice the Custom fabrication of this inline four but thats OK with me.

So, a little more grinding and then ready for applying sealer and then paint, its all systems go from now on.

Few more little repairs but this will sure look Custm once all the paint and flake grabs the metal and I hope you are enjoying the journey this machine is taking with me?