I forget to add pics of Motorcycles that I have built over the years and some times I kick my self for not posting anything, but today I will overcome my forgetfulness and add some photos of a fun creation I built using parts that I had around the shop.
I wanted to build something that was a cool reference to Cafe Racer styled Motorcycles back in the day but, of course using a later motorcycle but, still early enough to be classes a classic and I started off with a 1971 CB750 Honda four that was just basically a frame, I had a bunch of boxes with parts in them and over time, I started to put a few things together.
I had an old Fiberglass Racing Gas tank that I thought would be just the job, I fitted it to the frame and sat on the bike, immediately crushing my nuts, that’s when the Penny dropped and I thought what an apt name for the bike and thought if I did it in the style of the Norton Logo, this would look pretty Classic.
I chose to go the traditional deep Black Color and then pin line around it in Gold, as that would really give it the 1950’s era British Motorcycle look that went along with Norton, BSA, Triumph and Matchless, as well as the Vincent of course.
Now the Gas tank has a Ton Of clear sprayed on it, I had to test fit it to the frame, as I had powder coated the frame Gloss Black and Built the Motor to an 836cc and wedged her back in the chassis, the bike was looking really good and I was happy about this, but now I had to come up with a Classic styled seat unit for the Nut Basher, so I went the whole hog and built one from scratch.
I tried all sorts of ideas until something clicked, but had to thing of a cool way of mounting a tail light and I wanted to have the light incorporated into the seat hump. I chose to French the rear Led tail light into the cowl, and although it took a full day, it came out really well indeed and was super stoked that I had gone this route on the NutBasher Machine.
It sat on the frame just right and I attached snaps to the sides of the until so I could pull the cover off and get to any documents I need, or remove the seat if I ever needed to quickly, I also made sure there was a ton of clear coat applied just incase I scratched it and could buff it out on final fit etc.
I was super happy with the way the seat unit fitted and the tail light assembly was Classic looking but in fact was an Led stop light that was as bright as Einstein.
I wanted to put a lot of detail into this creation as I knew it would turn many heads where ever it ended up, this Fuel tank held 5.5 Gallons and that made for some great riding, without worrying about running out of squirt, but it sure was bloody heavy once the tank was filled up to the top.
She was a Long and thin Motorcycle that screamed out Nostalgia, it ran hard as nails and breathed really well as it has a hand made 4 into 1 Racing exhaust that was built in less than 3 hours by a Indy Racing mechanic, this would really exit the gases well and have never heard something so mean in all my life.
This was created by a top Indy exhaust builder and designer and he didnt even need the bike to make it, just an upside down engine, it was so cool to see him knock this out.
A sheer work of art and it fitted like a glove too, this was made in Inconel and a one off like this, nobody in the world will have one like this. The material is as I said Inconel that refers to a family of trademarked high strength austenitic nickel-chromium-iron alloys that have exceptional anti-corrosion and heat-resistance properties. … Burns Stainless recommends Inconel 625 alloy for exhaust systems due to its excellent strength, corrosion resistance and fabricability. And it sure stood up to my fire breathing 836 motor no problems at all.
This is such a nice system, shame to coat it Black but I want the bike to have a lot of Black parts on it, so ceramic coated it will get and I am sure it will look great.
This Motorcycle will not just look fast, it will haul so much arse, it will leave people scratching their heads as it goes by, and the roar from the exhaust will stay with them for a lifetime I should think.
Another thing that I do and nobody ever did back then was, make my own gauge faces, I have created many over the years and this Ton Up machine needed a great set of gauge faces to give the top end of the bike some class too. So I went with a Roaring Tiger, Synonymous with the 1950’s Triumphs and colorful to say the least.
These are really easy to apply and give your tired old gauges a brand new lease of life, also very unique and personal to your bike, something that I have been very proud of.
I even repaint the needles and add a longer Red line to the end, so you can clearly see where the needle is pointing at speed, also if you look, I have readjusted the configuration of the gauge faces and they digits start at a different position than the stock factory versions.
Not sure that you will notice but, I also changed the 100 to the word TON, which of course means the magic 100 MPH and a milestone in Café Racers back in the day to reach that Golden triple digit. I also added my own Oil Light warning display of which has a High Beam and Neutral light, just to keep you informed as to what’s going on up top.
The Motor was totally rebuilt, the head was Ported and polished and has an 836 Yoshi kit inside the jugs, this pulled like a steam train and of course, stainless Allen head bolts throughout the whole engine. I also drilled the starter Motor cover and fitted bronze mesh for a cool Look.
Rear Hub got my Custom drilling and Polishing detail, as well as rear brake arm, I sure loved creating this Motorcycle and always enjoy doing my own thing to it.
I machined my own Motor mount to follow the fins of the engine and on ALL motors, I have always run an Alcohol filled Oil Pressure gauge, to give me a true reading of actual engine oil pressure, through the oil galley.
Cerakoted exhaust system looks great against the Silver and Polished Aluminum of the inline four engine, I used Italian rear sets to give this bike a wee bit more aggressive stance when you are sat upon it. I sell many pairs of these and dead easy to fit, they function so well and smooth, I try and use these on the majority of my creations.
All clean and new, this bike ran so well, it was like a new wrist watch to be honest and sure do miss this Beast of a Motorcycle, but enjoyed every minute building it.
Rear sets look pretty darn cool, I drilled and polished the sprocket cover too, for that Racy look and give it a little more Bling, personal choice but I have fun doing that.
The Grips you may find to be from somewhere else, and you would be right, I used Original 1970’s Schwinn Bicycle grips, put them in Boiling water and then pushed them onto the handlebars, they fitted snug as a bug when they cooled down and look great and flow with the piggy back shock reservoir’s.
A tall drink of water for sure, running on 18 inch rims and Bridgestone tires, a Combination I have used many many times, these have great grip in all weather but of course, have a nice Classic tread pattern too.
I have always been a fan of how this bike has sat, she looks ready to race off down the road from any angle, I also made sure that the front fender sat tightly to the tire.
I also removed the fender stays to clean the look up at front and I think that it works well, I hand drilled the front rotor and you can see much polishing of Aluminum was done to give this bike some class.
There really is a lot of detail that you will not notice at first but hope you like what I have done, we are all different and have many styles we like, but I get a lot of emails about this build and thought that it was time that I shared it with you lot.
I should of made a mold of the gas tank as I really liked that shape, even with the Chin Divot at the front of the tank, that goes back to the early TT days and stream lining.
Everything redone, even machines the Oil Filter Housing to give it some fins, a thoroughly pleasing to the eye motorbike that I am quite proud of creating.
Thanks for looking at The Nut Basher, I hope you liked what I have done to this old inline Four Honda and I continue to build and make parts for these 500 pounders.
Thank you for reading about this bike, if I can help you with Parts, Service or just if you are stuck, you can email or text me. carpy@carpyscaferacers.com carpysgarage@aol.com or TEXT 714-598-8392