Honda Santee Chopper, replacing worn out engine covers

As you may know, I picked up an old Santee framed Honda Chopper in a Local Garage a while back, progress has been slow as I am making parts for it to offer to the Chopper builders that are all around the globe, but i noticed that the engine case covers were looking bad.

The covers had been chromed, and as these are aluminum, the material gets hot and then cold and sweats, causing the chrome to bubble as it can’t expand like aluminum does, so it had bubbled, peeled and then started to corrode the aluminum, so I thought I would try and repurpose some old spare covers I had by polishing them to a chrome finish . As you can see from the photo above, the transmission cover was removed and the old gasket was toast, so luckily I had a New one in my cupboard as well as other parts needed to refurbish this area of the bike.

I removed the stator cover, but it took me a while to get this sorted as that round dark blue plate that is on the starter collar, fell off and hid behind the crank sprocket, took me a bit to fish that puppy out but never lost hope and now it’s time to remove the coil winding and the infield coil that are screwed into the case, I also leant the bike over and placed a blue tarp on the floor, as I did not want to drain the New oil that’s in the bike that I put in when I got the bike running for the first time, I knew I would lose a little bit of oil, so placed a catch tray under the chassis to save any catastrophes that could occur on jobs like this.

Make sure that when you remove any Factory Phillips shaped screws on your Honda- That the screwdrivers are JIS models. ( Japanese Industrial Standard) as regular Phillips screwdrivers will most like round the screw heads off.

What is the difference between JIS and Phillips?
JIS, or Japanese Industry Standard screws are just different enough in shape that Phillips drivers will not fit well and slip/strip them. The difference is in the leading angle of the point of the driver. Phillips bits have a larger angle and therefore don’t bottom out in the JIS screws, causing slippage.
Also, make sure that you use OEM Factory Gaskets, as the aftermarket versions not only fit badly, usually the holes do not all line up and the gasket seems to be inconsistent in thickness, I did learn the hard way, thinking I would save a few bucks on the cheaper brand, only to find I had to take the case all apart and fit OEM ones to stop the leaks.
Glad that I managed to get some time to work on this old girl today, she was left in an old garage in La Mirada for many years, sat on a pile of dirt and then covered with years of hoarding, so I will be happy to have it running and use it for a bit, before I put her up for sale, its a good looking rig now and I am sure when I have the New Stainless exhaust system on, it will find a new home ok.
I have lost count of how many SOHC motorcycles I have built, let alone worked on but in the hundreds for sure and always something different to find on some, I love what I do and continue to offer service for customers all over the world.These inline four Motors are fantastic machines and have given me many miles of smiles once they are tuned right.
Covers are on now on this side of the bike, still got to add a finned cover on the stator and fit another gear shifter as the old one is a horrible welded thing that I do not want to use, then I need to turn the bike around and remove the clutch cover and give that the same treatment.
On closer inspection of the front drive sprocket, I see a couple of issues here, the offset is out a little as the sprocket is wearing against the side of the chain and secondly, the sprocket that is fitted is an earlier version 530 and 77 and 78 Motors had 650 chains, I will fit a 540 but will address the issue here and have a sprocket on the way as I do not want any dramas of the chain breaking and destroying the cases.  Also, Chops have super long chains so need to count the links so that I can buy a custom one to replace this tired version.
The Old girl was looking tired, dirty and in need of a good clean up before any polishing can take place on this part, I always like to vapor hone these, that way the material is super clean and ready for some serious polishing, using some good old Jewelers Rouge.
Time to change the look of this 40 year old girl and turn it into something fresh and clean and to be honest, look like a brand New factory part, now I could refit the part in its OEM look but want to polish the piece to a chrome finish seeing this is a Chopper and not a restoration bike.
Now you can see how different that the Clutch cover looks after a process of vapor cleaning and now this part is ready for another transformation and get it polished up for that Custom styling that is so popular.
I am going to try and vapor many parts before I polish, as it makes everything so much easier to buff with no oil residue or grime in the way when I begin the Polishing stage, I am sure that you agree that this way is way better than the old school way? Now, the stator cover that’s on the bike is chromed and all peeling off, I want to use a spare old Stator cover I have and will vapor hone it to make it clean before trying to polish it.
This  spare old stator cover was just as tired as the other parts on the inline Four, and I am sure that yours looks in the same way too???? This Chopper will not be a show winning machine but a traditional Custom bike that was created back in the day and want to try and show what was in the magazines in the 70’s and 80’s when these were seen all over the place.
There is a bunch of old dings and scratches in the stator cover but many will buff out luckily and then it will have an old Finned cover going on the outside to embellish the engine as I have other finned covers on the bike, also these parts are getting harder to locate and finding some parts in my boxes of old stash came in handy but of course, still needed a lot of work, but the other one on the bike had been chromed and was peeling off and oxidizing badly, so this is the better way to replace it i think?
There is still a ton of stuff to do on the bike but wanted to share this with you today as it’s almost the weekend. Here are a couple of little videos that I took with my phone to show you what I am doing as the weather was raining outside, hope you enjoy?

CB750 Creation ” The BRATSTER”

Over the years I have built a number of inline Four machines as you may well know, I have always liked these Motorcycles because I used them as a Courier Bike back in the UK, they were Affordable and reliable and lastly they were an awesome Platform to be able to adapt to how you wanted the machine to look.

1

Beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder, but with this bike when I first picked it up, it was in a bad way and needed help, but, trying to change something on a shoe string budget is some times almost impossible, so when I pushed this bike onto the Concrete and saw the potential, well I had to at least give a go eh.?

2

This old Girl was a 1974 CB750 and many many Moons ago it was Created to be a Land Speed Racer, I have a little or know information on if it ran, where it ran or what speeds, it was very poorly made and to be honest, too Bloody dangerous for me to sling my leg over and have a go up on the dry lakes for any record.

6

It had no title and was leaking oil and looking very sorry for itself when I parked this 500 pounder up, but once I had made a Brew, sat back and thought for a bit, I knew I could at least resurrect this CB750K Model in to some sort of head turner.

9

So, with pen and paper in hand I jotted down a few ideas and came up with the idea of building a fun little Brat style Bike that would have a Chunky look and feel but real fun to ride.

7

After a day of Mulling around , I decided that I would get the Motor running first and if that runs I will then go from there as this may take some time as it was not a commission for a build but a cry of help as I bought a few bikes off a buddy who needed space in his Garage, so this would be an on going bike and Not at all a show bike, just a tough Motorcycle that would probably suprise a few motorcycles at the lights as it buggered off into the sun set whilst you are watching it disappear into the distance..

8

The bike had a terrible set of gas tanks made from old alloy Cylinders that were Bolted to some old Nuts that were welded to the frame, there were parts hanging off that shouldn’t even be on there, so I decided that this would be a Brat style and I am going to change oil and plugs, add some coils and Battery and rebuild a set Carbs to see what we have hear, as there are no carburetors on this bike at all. So off I went in search of some carbs, and took an old blocked up set I had as spares apart, cleaned, re-jeted and fitted to the old Dry lakes Bike.

 

Below I have fitted Carbs and a exhaust to see how she runs and it is now tuned and am happy about the sound and crisp response that my 4 into 1 systems make.

My ears were ringing and actually Blew the Sub-woofer out in the workshop because the bass not was so strong, but a minor price to pay to now know this motor runs hard and true.

20e

So, as the rear end of the bike was missing, I thought I would massage one of my rear Hoops I make onto this frame and create a Brat style bike that will be so much fun to ride around on.

20h

An easy job and looks great, so I can later make a Flat seat with New Foam and Diamond stitching to give it that Brat look that is so popular right now over here.

10

The old 16 inch rim had a massive sprocket, I think 170 or 200 teeth, erm, not for the street for sure , else it would wheelie everywhere ha ha, so removed the rims and rebuilt a new set but Polished the Hubs from this bike and laced with stainless spokes.

19

Now that looks a lot better and now ready for the Rubber to go onto the outside, this time I thought I would spare no expense on the tires as they are an important part to make sure these keep you on the tarmac, so opted for a Set Of Cokers Tires and I am going to make a Diamond stitched seat later so wanted tires to match in a way.

20d

I also removed the forks, rebuilt and fitted New upper tubes, as well as Rebuild brake caliper and refurbishing the old rusty brake rotor too.

20a

A lot cleaner that it was when it first limped into my hands and am real happy at the way this is coming along, as I said, no show bike so not removing the motor and painting a frame, this will be a fun bike with a few new parts or refurbished ones at the very least.

112

Above, I repainted the Motor and detailed it with Stainless steel Allen bolts and I wanted wrinkle paint this time to help dissipate the heat when riding.

99

Getting there, Rebuilt Carbs, new boots and a cool Aluminum Airbox made this Motor breath and respond so well, its the devil in the detail or carboration that wins the race.

20ab

Now the job of fitting Headers and so many choices from the styles that I have created for these 500 pounder machines, but the bike is taking shape now and I really like the way it is going.

20aa

The Motor looks great, I also added a cool Oil tank with a Battery Box already inside it, so this will really look trick and can hide some of the electrical in it too and clean the frame up some more.

26

I wanted to use my Newest design exhaust system, the Side Winder, this breathes like a New Nose and wanted to also Hot Rod it out by wrapping the headers in Titanium Heat wrap, it sure came out well and this will look great perched in front of that inline four engine.

27

Now, that is a lot better and glad that I went this route, I have sold lots of this heat wrap and this is the first time that I have used it and as its Titanium it doesn’t fall apart like that cheap fiberglass stuff thats out there does.

28

On the Arse end of the header I wanted to fit my New Sidewinder tail pipe with the Yoshi style Baffle, and boy does it look great and super stoked that I did go in this direction.

24

Next up I need to make a seat pan to cover the Battery tray and oil tank up and will go simple with some 18 Gage steel and then will add foam and upholster in a Light Tan Naugahyde material with Diamond stitching.

25

Simplicity is the name of the game for this machine and I am now cutting the foam to fit the seat pan that I just made, this is almost there, maybe another half an inch of foam then upholster.

22

I am now happy with the thickness of the Foam and am looking forward to seeing this with a Light Tan seat ontop of the frame, I feel it will be a good contrast. so lets go and see.

53

Way better now, I also added a Blue frame to go with the old 1970’s painted gas tank i found and think its a good combination for this creation, it is a tough machine for sure.

49

The Brat sits well and with the Custom Oil tank that I now offer on the website, it runs well and uncluttered like man I see.

Added some NEW Handle Bar switches to make sure that all works well and stays like that, no faded grey crap like you see on so many on the internet these days.

37

My Custom made license plate frame with Hot Rod stop tail light assembly looks great and another thing I produce and sell on the website.

Tail light tells you when you need to stop too, neat eh?

81

This bike runs hard and strong and was so good to see it back up and running again, after years and years of neglect, if she had a face she would be smiling, that I am certain of.

52

The Bike also has my Own Handlebars that I designed and had mandrel bent and chromed, and gives that bike that Period look of the day, it sits well and rides so comfortably too.

59

A strong machine and this has already been sold to a customer and is now residing in Canada, my fruits of labor paid off and the new owner is super stoked to get this bike from me.

90

My Bulldog Bailey standing guard as I get some snaps, before it heads of to Maple Country.

82

Hope you liked this little resurrection? I sure had fun creating this Motorcycle and Glad somebody is enjoying it right now.

96

Added a Fog light for that European look and something the New owner is going to need up there in Canada, so just another cool touch to show this motorcycle Bratster off a little more.

DSC_0056

A tough little Machine with plenty of swag, and I am sure that it will get many looks in the warmer months.

110

Big transformation and I did more work than I thought I would do and sold it way too cheaply but hey, its all fun at the end of the day and I enjoyed creating this bike.

DSC_0005

If you want a Motorcycle created, or just parts etc, drop me a line carpy@carpyscaferacers.com I am always glad to help or just advise, and you can also call or text me with questions on 714-598-8392 and I will do my very best at helping you with your own creation.

DSC_0030

Thanks for reading my Blog on building this machine , and many others I have created and still continue to.

DSC_0040

 

I fitted 2.5 Analog gauges and also made a Neutral light that is fitted into the steering stem nut, plus New master cylinder, New levers cables and Grips.

DSC_0020

Another thing I did was add my headlight ears that I sell on here as well as the cool headlight with the internal LED Turn Signals, as that cleans the front end up, I fitted my Fork Brace too to stiffen the frnt end as I removed the fender, many dont do this and have floppy forks.

DSC_0049

The heat Wrap I now sell on the website too, in Black or Tan, both look great and clean up your old headers to revamp them, 50 feet is enough for your headers and I used two inch wrap.

DSC_0042

Thanks again and another Build leaves my place and I am now looking at another creation, appreciate all the cool comments whilst i was building this, have a great week.

DSC_0071

 

 

Old bike of Mine.

Hey There Everyone

Well being Throw Back Thursday, here is a little CB750 I created some 7 years ago and still going strong today.

brg73

Fun machine with tons of power and the response was bang on, all I did was ride the heck out of it until such time it was to send to the New owner and that bike was just a blast to ride anywhere.

brg73c

Just thought I would share today, have a great Thursday all as time always seems to go fast.

brg73d

It is hard to write a blog everyday but I try as I know you lot like to see all sorts of things and the emails I receive, ask me to continue to post articles, photos and anything that I like to be honest.

brg73b

Not sure who the Girl is, i think it is a friend of the owner of the BRG73.

cafe Racer motorcycle from CAFE RACER on Vimeo.