How to build a cool set of forks for your CB500-CB550 or CB750 Honda SOHC Motorcycle.

I get so many emails asking about certain things that I create on the bikes and parts that I build here at my place, so- I thought I would do a little Blog on my Custom Fork service that I have been doing for many years and shipping these set ups all over the Globe. So below is what they start off like, just a bog stock set of worn out, tired, telescopic front forks.

These came off a bike that was parked up many years ago and the Customer purchased the complete bike for a decent price and wanted to take the machine apart and create his own cool Custom ride, he wanted my fork service and this is a Blog on what I did.

Looks like Dogs or cats or something Hairy had been crawling across this bike for some time, also if you look, you can see the tubes are toast as there are many pits in the tubing and hard chroming these days has got so expensive to do.

The Caliper will need to be completely torn apart and I will Blog that a little later on, this is not an uncommon thing to have sent to me to fix and rebuild and hope you enjoy this little journey of what I did to get these set of forks into a really Custom looking piece.

The main goal is to take everything off, then clean up on the outside and then once happy with that, the fun begins in the transformation of these fork tubes.

There is an array of parts that I need to rebuild these and as you can see I have everything for this to fix and get the guy a really nice set up for his Motorcycle. If you look, you can see I machined the lower Fork Stanchions and put grooves in the legs for a great Custom Finished set.

Above, you can see I am about to fit brand new Honda Fork seals to the stanchions and what I personally use is some Home Depot PVC pipe that fits perfectly over the fork tube and allows me to use the tube as a Press to get the seal to slide into the recess inside the fork and not damage the rubber of the seal.

I sat the forks on a small pad and then used my Rubber Mallet and gently tapped the pvc tubing until you feel the seal come to an abrupt stop, that means its into its seating and no more tapping required.

Once the seal is in, I plop the snap ring into its place using some circlip pliers, this holds everything in snuggly and no scratches on the fork tube. You can buy these at Harbor freight Cheap.

I use Brand New genuine Honda Dampener Bolts and crush washers, I like using the real deal and not the Chinese crap that’s out there, and this will have longevity compared to China’s inferior quality.

I also fit Brand New OEM Rubber Fork Dust Caps and to really give it that Custom touch, I fit Chromed steel Dust Covers to finish off the polished Finned Lower Stanchion.

See what I mean?  It really does complete the front fork in dressing the part to show you this is no run of the mill ride, it has attention to detail.

I finish the lowers off by Polishing the clamps and adding stainless Lock washers and stainless flanged nuts, this is a great look and easy to get a wrench on to remove the front wheel at anytime.

I cleaned up the dampeners and spring and set a pre load using 4 stainless washers, an old Motorcycling Racing trick, I also do not ever use standard fork oil, I do like the old guys did and use ATF and that’s so much cheaper to purchase too.

How do I know how much to put in forks? As many of the years of the CB750 have different lengths of lower stanchions, so the volume of fluid changes.

As you can see, I have the Factory specs for the Honda CB750s right at hand and actually sell a book with all the settings in , so I can easily look up year and model to get the capacity required.

Bang on the money and now this is all ready to button up and get the forks completed for the Customer.

See, they sure do look Custom now and am happy with the way these look and the preload is right on the money too, I also use Brand new fork Caps to give the top to bottom New Parts finished look.

So there you go, a Custom rebuilt set of forks that I offer and boy do they look sharp, not cheap but add the parts up yourself, and you will see this is a good deal.

I sure hope that you liked this little Blog, thank you for following me and purchasing my parts, its my passion and Career.

The Nickle Pickle CB550 Brat Bike

Many people ask me if I have a favorite build, and to be honest- They are All my Favorites and I cannot really separate one from all the creations that I have completed over the years, as they all make me smile when I see them, many of them I have not seen for 10-15 years and then it will pop up on the internet with a New owner and the bike still looks as cool as it did, the day it rolled out of my workshop.

So, the bike you see here is a great looking tough machine, this is called the ” Nickle Pickle ” it sure is a head turning machine and many have been created in this style since it hit the tarmac a number of years ago.

The 550 is a nice compact bike right from the factory but it has so much more potential in other guises, and this one as you see here is now quite Muscular and sits very well upon the driveway.

This Baby inline Four is nothing to be scoffed at to be honest, as it handles like a dream, believe it or not, the trail and rake have been changed but the geometry is now so good, I can ride this around the block with no hands if I so chose to and it would track perfectly. I know that this build may not be your Cup of Tea, but not everyone drinks Tea and hope that you can find something cool on my wqebsite that may get you out of your chair and into the shed, garage or shop and start to turn a wrench on your own 2 wheeled steed.

A tough little Rice Burner and fires up first Kick every time, as the Motor is rebuilt and runs hard all day, carbs are completely rebuilt, synchronized and flow really smoothly. The throttle response is snappy indeed and a pure joy to actually ride- I was super impressed with the whole feel to this Brat style machine that has become quite popular globally now, so this was something that I often look back on with a huge smile.

The 4 into 1 Yoshi style exhaust system is of course one of mine and it has plenty of power, all through the curve, it barks very well in deed and has a nice over run crackle that I love so much, it fits tight into the Cylinder head and does not require a stabilizer bracket on the muffler, the lines are clean and the flow of my system follows the bikes chassis so well, it almost disappears.

I took all the paint off the stock tank, the tank was pretty clean and not dented, so I removed the paint with some good old Jasco stripper, I used the best part of a gallon to get 40 years of old paint and grime off the thing, then once that was done I washed it with lacquer thinner, then acetone and then set about hand sanding the tank with a sponge and some wet n dry. it took many hours, but as you can see, the tank does indeed look like it was Nickle plated.  The steel came up really good when I buffed it ands then it was clear coated over to keep that Old School look.

 

I sell so many of these 4 into 1 systems, over 1500 units so far and still going strongly all over the globe, I also offer Cerakote Ceramic Coating in Black, Silver, Burnt Bronze and a Titanium Color for everybody’s tastes etc. But I also offer a Stainless Steel version, not cheap as materials have jumped up over the years but a good look too.

Yes, I did use the Firestone tires and they held up pretty good all around where we are and in town etc, But, I will tell you on California Freeways, they will track on any of the lines in the road, I guess the price that you have to pay for coolness. Personally, I prefer the Coker Diamond treaded tires but its all what ever you like and can budget for.

The “Open” frame look is a cool style and a minimalistic approach paid off I believe,, yes, if I had more time there would be a few other cool touches I would of added but money restraints can always crop up and I think this came out really well for the cash that was invested.

Yes, I do sell the Rims you see on this bike but I powder coated these black and they are 2 rear rims, spoked to rebuilt hubs, rims are 2.15X18 and 40 spoke and really look the part.

 

Had a Visit from a Buddy on his 1946 Flathead.

Always cool when friends stop by to say hello, especially when they are aboard a 1946 Harley Davidson WL45 Flathead Motorcycle, I love these machines and they are such an iconic Motorcycle.

Fires right up and plugs along quite happily around where we live, perfect winding countryside roads for this machine to Blap around.

Dan has the Bags for them and maybe next time I see him, they may be on board and I can take a few photos, but even as a naked bobber, this really is the bees knees.

Hot Rods and Bobbers were a big deal after WW2 and to see my Roadster and this WL45 sat together is really such an iconic photograph of the era I so much love.

Great to see ya and chin wag for a while, safe trip my friend.