Always here to help if you get stuck on a project at home.

Well, with all this lock down around the globe, people are getting bored, but- on a good note, people are getting into their long term projects and want to finish it in this time that we all have at the moment, so as of late, I have been running around like a headless chicken . Trying to fill orders, answer emails and texts as well as phone orders and questions, and try and build a bike and design parts, its all going a wee but mad but, I continue to push hard and try and come up with new parts etc.

I am going to be making braided oil Lines for the 77 and 78 CB750 as they are  longer than the other models , so in a few days you can look out for them and maybe help me and pass the word that more products will be coming out of the shop soon.

Once all this pandemic settles down and we are all healthy and back on track with life, I shall shall continue to make parts for Motorcycle and Hot Rods and some other services I may be offering too, so keep checking back on the blogs at least, as I try to be your one stop shop, many follow but I really have a passion for this and I push hard every day in what I do and hope that you like what I am making these days for your machine.

 

I am hoping to be manufacturing more exhaust systems and may delve into a few more Models too, as I seem to be getting quite a few inquiries into other Honda’s and system styles, so there is something I am now looking in to and will of course share any news as and when I am ready to share with you lot.

I love all sorts of machines, this was My Ducati that i should of kept, boy what a fun toy that was to blap around the twisties here in California.

If you need anything, just drop me a line at carpy@carpyscaferacers.com and I will do my hardest to help out or even just advise, thats what I am here for and maybe steer you in the right direction if you get a little of course in your build etc.

The main thing is to have fun, we have all been there at times of the crossroads, just as you think you are making headway, there is always a fork in the road, or an obstacle that you do not think you will be able to get around, so just drop me a line, call or even Text me, and I will be here to try and help you out of your dilemma. 714-598-8392

 

 

 

Motorcycle ‘s built in your garage are still as popular as ever

Well, time seems to fly as of late, been doing a few things and it has been hard to try and blog anything these days, the clock just seems to tick away so many times faster than before, but I thought I might at least start one today and tell you about the old Super Sport I am putting together.

I have had some Hard Bags in my storage for some time, I last fitted some to Jennifer’s Triumph some 5 years ago and they are still holding up well, and as I had this old 500 pounder to play with, I thought I would use these bags and make a Little Dispatch style bike that I had back in the UK as I was a Motorcycle Messenger. Sure i love the cafe bikes, been parts of my life for so long, but- when you need to take a bunch of stuff with you on a journey, what do you do?

So I am making up some brackets to fit to the bike so that I can tale stuff with me, ie to the chrome shop, or powder coaters etc and these bags will undo with a coupe of bolts and the bike is naked again.  love it or hate it, these are part of my life back in the UK and though that I would build a bike that I can blap around on and make it look a little different to the many I see out there these days.

I think that once the Bodywork is all one cohesive color, then these bags may not even be noticed to be honest and am excited to do something that I used to when I lived in Great Britain, you dont see many bikes like this with bags on but its common place if you were a courier and I am going to give it a go, still a long way to go as yet but it is taking shape. So follow me on this little build and we shall see where it takes me.

I grew up with these bikes and even with bags on, you would belt around London, Birmingham or where ever, to get where you needed as fast as possible, it was such a fun yet dangerous job back then and loved every minute of it.

PHOTO BY DAVE GURMAN-https://www.wemoto.com/news/article/1100/motorcycle_couriers_then_and_now

 

 

 

 

 

Adding Bags to the Old 750 SS Honda in the Garage

Been a while, but I thought I would fir some Bags I have had for a long time, onto the 750 Super Sport, as to be quite frank, I never fecking see them and, I had these on many bikes as I was a Disatch Rider, Ie Courier, and the more that I could carry on my bike, the more money that I would earn, as i rode all over the UK and parts of Europe and having unboltable saddle bags were a blessing indeed.

So, I have had these for a while, I did for some to Jenn’s bike and she has had them at least 5 years and uses them all the time, these will take a while to get to fit right and this is my 3rd set of brackets, still not there but its all trial and error and eventually I will get to the stage where I am happy and can tear the brackets down one last time, cut and weld and paint then refit.

Its good to be able to simply bolt these on and go, sometimes you need to carry stuff and these will be just the ticket when I have them completed, I am a long way off as they need to come in about an inch and half tighter but, Rome was not built in a day and these will not be either.

The trick is to make them look factory fit, then also once they are completed how I want them, they will painted to the same color as the rest of the body work and the uniformity will probably make these bags almost disappear once I have the livery that I am happy with.

Right now I think this bike will be a Dark Navy Blue with white Racing stripes and some logo, but thats a while away and also I need to fab a lower bracket to support the bottom of the bag and give it some rigidity as well as allowing for the shocks to still function smoothly with no binding etc.

 

Shame there wasn’t some off the shelf brackets available like Triumph have but I think Once I am completed and happy at the way they fit and function, I may make a few sets and off for sale on this website.

So,for now I have got this far, some will like these on the bike, and others will not.  What I like about this particular set up is, well, you can simply unbolt these and leave the bike in its naked form, but, if you need to go to lets say the Chrome shop to pick some parts up, just bolt these bags to the rear shock mounts and you are ready to go, no need for a bulky back pack etc.  I may add some LED turn signals into the back of these and a brake light to make more functional and keep me from being bumped off in rush hour.

 

 

 

Weekend is here already, working on a New braided brake line set up, and a Custom Headlight Assembly.

Well, Saturday soon came around, I have been pretty busy as of late at the shop here in La Mirada, it is always a busy time of year as many people need pars for their bikes and I help all that I can to make sure they can complete their Motorcycle in time for some great riding.

Now, I am bringing out many more new products that will be available for you to use on your machines and I do all the prototype work to make sure it not only fits easier, but that it performs better than what you have right now.

The 2 parts I want to feature today are my Custom European headlight, which is a really Custom look and comes with a Stone guard and a Yellow Lens, to get you noticed.

So right now, today I have been working on a Project motorcycle, a CB750 F Super Sport and the stock brake line set up just wasn’t cutting it, so I removed that and used my brand new Braided hose stainless brake line that has Stainless Steel adapters and is so easy to fit to your machine too.

So, above you can see the Braided hose, this is Top Quality all the way, even the Formula One Race cars you see use this brand of hose, so you know these are a great deal.

 

These Braided hoses will fit the CB750K and the CB750f but- this is for removing your front brake switch, I dont like them and remove them from the triple tree and fit a single one piece brake hose, and this will give you 40% more braking and so easy to fit too, but- if you want to have your brake switch, I offer a 2 piece brake line kit on the website, so check that out at your leisure.

I use a straight fitting that simply screws into the caliper, then you use the crush washer I supply, then route the braided line down to the caliper, going behind the lower triple tree and then into the caliper, simply screw the adapter in place, undo the bleeder, fill the reservoir on your mater cylinder and bleed it into a bottle with a clear pipe so you can see the air bubbles exiting the bleeder.

These are such great quality and gives your brake more power but also a more Custom look as well.

You will find this so easy to bleed and the brake will feel way more positive when you grab the lever and thats a good thing.

This literally took me 5 minutes to fit and bleed and now functions so well and gives me more confidence in stopping when i am out on the tarmac next and now available to you lot.

 

The Brake hose is fitted and now I have fitted the Euro style headlight and made a special bracket to house it, this allows you to use the stock location of the lower triple tree bolts, i will chrome the bracket when completed and that too will be available on the website .

The Stone Guard will protect your lens from any stones or projectiles that are sometimes left on the highway or byways when you are riding to an event or a job etc.

Also, the strong Yellow lens, gives it a European style but will grab more attention from drivers but with out blinding them, look how cool this front end is now.

So, I am off to the garage to do a wee bit more but wanted to show you what i got up to today, have fun with your Motorcycle and thanks for checking my Blog and my parts out, I am here to help, call or text 714-598-8392 and I will do my best to get you sorted out.

I love my job and love to promote Custom parts too.

Custom Carburetor Lamp from a SOHC HONDA Four

Well, lots of you may know about the bikes and parts I make for these inline Four Motorcycles, I mean- I have been flogging my guts out over them for 18 years here now in Southern California.

But being a Leo, I enjoy many art and craft things in my life and I have been making Desk lamps for a few years now as a Hobby, I enjoy using broken no usable parts and create unique 110 volt lamps to be used in the Home, Shed, garage or in a shop etc, they make a pretty cool gift too.

 

So many people that have had Motorcycles have always had some broken or non usable parts laying about their Shed, garage or just in a Rubbermaid tub in the back yard, hard to throw away something you paid good money for years ago and even though it is not usable, be it broken, cracked or warped, there is always another life that the particular part can be reused for.

For me, well, I had an old set of broken Carburetors off of a 1974 CB750 Honda, S.O.H.C. model, I would loved to have saved these carbs but the posts inside were broken and the seats where the slide sat. had worn past its use and were no use to anyone on any motorcycle, but, I couldn’t bare to get rid of them and simply toss them away.

So, what I ventured to do with this rack of carbs was first to thoroughly inspect them to see if these were savable, of which they were not- then I wanted to take these all apart and wash them with S-100 to get oil deposits off, then put in the vapor Blasting cabinet and clean everything up, as Vapor honing will bring the aluminum back up to how it was when they first arrived into the Honda factory.

So, I removed all that I could and Vapor Honed the bodies and made sure everything was clean and ready to get transformed into this unique Desk lamp that I had come up with, I have made a few of these now and seem to be a hit, so continue to create these great Lamps for people as they tend to have them made for their Business, a birthday or at Christmas.

I put this together as carefully as I would if it was going to be used on the motorcycle, took me a little while to get the wiring done and had to drill some holes to allow the cable to run from one Carb body to the next.

I Polished the float bowls and the Knurled top rings, as I want the carburetor to pop when you see it and also gives the carb rack a nice contrast when its mounted on the wood base that I shall be making. I used Poplar Timber and cut to shape it, rounded the ends and then sanded and stained to give it that old timey look.

I mounted the carbs using some old Chrome spacers I had in my parts drawers and these seemed to work out just fine for the height of the carbs as I didn’t want them to sit too high up in the air.

You will also notice that just as an embellishment, I fitted a Spark Plug at each corner of the wooden base, to give some Status Quo, of course, it had to be a set out of a CB750 Honda too.

These plugs were pretty sooty and set the base off very well and indeed, as well as a good connection for the carbs as these are Genuine NGK units I have always used on CB750 Honda’s.

See, they look great lit up and give that warm glow and give to a new life now as something else but this is a real head turner and quite the conversation piece where ever it is located.

I also wanted to incorporate these Vintage filament bulbs too and these really set the whole piece of and am stoked the way these have turned out in the end.

So, let me know if I can help you create a unique lamp out of parts, it takes a little while but its so worth it in the end and of course, always good to recycle stuff right?

I have made a few different styles of these Lamps for people over the years and enjoy what I do, I throw myself into the design and love the outcome when it is completed.

Drop me a line if I can be of help to you at carpy@carpyscaferacers.com or drop a dime at 714-598-8392, you can even text me on that number too for that matter.

I make these parts starting with small lamps at $150 then go up as per intricacy.

Thanks for looking at my other creations, it makes my career a fun one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Service today on 1981 DOHC HONDA CB750F

Well the weekend is almost here, people want to sling their leg over their steed and head out on the tarmac and enjoy the Summer weather, so I have had plenty of Service work to do as of late, this morning I had this DOHC Brat turn up needing a little help.

It needs a New exhaust system and something I can help him with later on but right now it just needs the fluids changed, New plugs and Filters, Cables Lubed and chain oiled and set as well as checking tire pressures etc.

These bike is not fun when trying to just remove the spark plugs as the 2 center plugs are sat in low and the Gas tank and sat have to be removed to be able to gain access to that area.

It does to be a task sometimes, as on Custom builds, the stock hangers are not there, it may take a little time to figure out how to take Custom seats off, and in 100 degree heat, you want to do it in a timely fashion as it gets so hot in this part of the State that you sweat buckets simply by walking to the tool box.

Anyway, managed to get the seat and big arsed Gas tank off the bike and place out of the way, now I can get to the plugs with no problems at all and see whats going on if there is anything else showing signs of wear and tear etc.

She is running Rich too and has the incorrect heat range plugs for this model, but no worries as I have the correct spark plugs in stock and the new ones are gapped and set ready to fit back into the cylinder head once more.

I always have used Anti Seize on any spark plug as these can get stuck in the head pretty easy over time and you either end up stripping a thread or snapping a plug trying to get it undone.

The only pain in the ass on this one is that as the bike has an oil cooler, the Oil Filter sits out more and this guy has Exhaust wrap on his headers and if I left the exhaust headers on the bike and attempted to remove the oil filter, oil would drip all over the collector and then the bike would smoke for days, didn’t want that, so the best option was to remove the exhaust system.

As you can see, I had to remove the crush gaskets, something you should do anytime you remove the exhaust, and the ones I removed were after market version and were an utter pig to get out, but after removal I cleaned the ports out and fitted Genuine Honda Copper crush gaskets before I refitted exhaust system after fitting New Oil Filter and O-Rings.

All seems good, I replaced the old oil with Castrol High Mileage 10-40 and have used this Viscosity oil for these bikes for decades.

So everything is back together and took it for a test run, just to make sure oil level was fine and the bike ran good, adjusted chain and lubed etc.

So, another Motorcycle serviced and he is back on the road a very happy chappy, and I am glad to see another Motorcycle on the road once more.

Thanks for watching my Blog today and if I can help you with Service, parts or complete creations, just let me know. carpy@carpyscaferacers.com

I added a video I did with my phone but you will need to turn the sound up as its super quiet for some reason.

Have a Great weekend and hope that you get time to work on your machine.

1978 Honda CB750F Super Sport Snotter- Revamped

Well, here we go with a Customers bike that has been sat outside by a river for about 8 years, the Customers asked if I could help him out and well, you know me, I said OK.

The say that a Picture paints a thousand words, well, this aint no oil painting and there is not enough words in the the English Language that came to mind when they dropped the bike off at my place.

There it was, 500 pounds of old cold, rusty and Muddy Honda, looking to have a new lease of life, some how I think I have scrapped the bottom of the Barrel, then another rolls in, but I am a man of my word and help out I shall indeed.

This was a complete mess, I mean it had been rained on from every corner of the bike, then wind blew the tarp off and rotted everything that was rubber or plastic, then to rub salt in the proverbial wound, it got wet again and covered in mud.

The bike has had a tough hard life, there was Oil everywhere, of which probably saved a lot of the bike from rusting to be honest, but everywhere I looked, this Motorcycle needed help, it was a sad state to see and I knew that I could some how get this running again, the only issue was the poor chap was on a limited budget, and I know how that feels, been there many times.

But there is a point where I must stop and say No, but the Leo in me tells me to have a go and help this bloke out, so, with a shaky handshake and sweat coming off my brow from pushing the thing up the driveway, I sat there and took in the whole sorry life that this inline four must of endured to get into the condition it is now in.

1a

Even the handlebar grips were so thrashed from the elements that half of the grip glues itself to my hand, not even lacquer thinner would remove that tar like substance from my fingers and was marked for life I think, but this is just the start of something that I really should of said, no thanks mate I cannot help you. Story of my life with things I guess but I have always pushed the envelope and this needed a Caterpillar truck to move it. The rear chain was rustier than the Titanic’s Crapper door, I shall be changing this Big 630 chain and sprocket system to a 530 set up.

5

 

The tires were torn up, and would hold air for about 2 hours then go as flat as a pancake, my Compressor got plenty of overtime keeping these things up for sure, but the amount of dirt, grime and Spiders nests was just unbelievable. I really have my work cut out here and as everything is knackered, I have to clean stuff before I start replacing parts etc.

2

I was never a fan of the Comstar rims to be honest but this bike has some sentimental value to him and I will do the best that I can, to bring this old bird back up to speed once more.

4

Not only was the seat all torn up, the foam had hardened and was starting to fall apart as soon as I moved anything, and as the Customer wants a Hoop welded to frame and a flat seat set up, this thing can get 86’d into the bin.

7

As you may know, the 77 and 78 Models had these Keyhole carbs, and when they have been left for such a long time, these buggers are so hard to get back to running nicely again, they have an accelerator pump that plays up all the time, the choke is on a cable and up on top of the triple tree and the sun dried the knob, of which it breaks as soon as you touch it, lastly, this bloody things are a royal pain to work on.  Just to change the jest, you have to remove the rack from the bike, as the float bowls do not have clips on like the earlier SOHC models.  So what I do is if these carbs are goosed, I inform the customer they would be way better off if I fitted earlier carbs, as you can change the jest with the carbs still on the bike and, it has a choke lever on the left sode of the carb body and way easy to use.

8

The sprocket cover tells a tale right there, covered in oil and road grime, as well as spiders webs, this is going to be scary when I remove the 2 Phillips screws in a minute, so stand back!!!!!!!!!!!!

22

Holy Moly, just look at this, the bloody sprocket doesn’t even have a securing Bolt and washer on it, there is nothing to keep this sprocket from literally, falling of the drive shaft, now the 77 and 78 sprocket set ups are different, the earlier versions have a little clip with two holes for bolts that sit in the recess in the drive shaft. Where am I going to find a CB750F Bolt and washer ????

23

 

I looked in my parts drawers in the garage and bugger me, will you look at that, still in the sealed packet and, I had even written in sharpie CB750F Sprocket, what were the chances?

25

Think its a fair assumption that this chain is Royaly Fecked, so I shall be glad to cut this 630 version off, but there is so much Oil and grime all over this bike, things are going to be messy for a while.

12

 

There seems to be oil all over this bike, and I mean everywhere, I need to see whats occurring here as thats an insane amount of Oil deposit and the guy said the bike used to run before he parked it, I checked the tach hole in the Valve cover but thats OK, the Valve cover seems OK as well as the  Cylinder head, which I think could be one of the oil lines, but what a mess this is going to make, just to take that apart.

26

That looks like the issue, Oh yeah- I will just put electrical tape around the leaking oil line, that will fix it-Not! So I now have to make a new oil line, but at least I have found out where the majority of excess oil must of been leaking from to get all over the bike like that.

29

All fixed and I cleaned the other hose up and oil tank and I feel a lot better about putting this back on the Super Sport once more and hopefully no more issues in that department.

19

Well, its at this point you think to yourself. “Why am I doing this”?  But its a challenge, the customer is on a low budget and this motorcycle is of sentimental value, so a no brainer but there are so many things wrong and not working on this bike, this will take me some time to get dialed in.

20

Time to remove the carbs and boots and clean the frame up, I shall then fit New intake manifolds from a 1975 CB750K model, rebuild some early Carbs and fit new cables too.

36

I cleaned and painted up the motor with High Temp Wrinkle from PPG I get made up in cans, and that helped big time. I then fitted the earlier intake manifolds and, using a flat edge, made sure that the intakes were all even and flat, this makes fitting carbs back on the bike so much easier than trying to force a rack on when the intakes are off slightly.

37

I have always used New Stainless Steel, Rolled edged Hose clamps, as these will not dig in and cut your hoses with traditional clamps and of course, being stainless, they will not rust or corrode.

41

Well, I pulled an old set of inline four 1975 CB750K Round tops out of my pile and these need to be gone through but when they are completed, and then synchronized, these run like a top.

104

All clean and ready to go straight on the bike and, these will fire right up no worries at all, these are cleaner than a cats arse and will make a huge change in this motorcycles life.

46

These are now all in place and have fitted New Genuine Honda Boot covers over the linkages to keep crap out, many do not do this, but I want these to stand out as they look and function so well, plus you can change main jets is minutes with the carbs still on the motor.

30

I try and use as much of the original parts as I can, but these coils were losing voltage and not repairable, unfortunately these are not cheap to replace, I had no choice but to use Brand New ones but, so glad that I did, these new ones I will be fitting will last many years.

31

All bolted in, this bike will have a new life for sure, but it just goes to show by leaving a bike for 6 years with no cover and let mother nature belt the hell out of it, is not a very good idea at all.

39

The old cables were all torn up anyway, but, on the earlier carbs you must use the earlier cables, but thats a good thing as you know everything is new and will function real nice.

40

New cables going in, now we are starting to make some very good progress, make sure that you use WD40 and lube these cables as they will keep these operating smoothly.

49

The aluminum hangers were oily and needed a bit of a revamp, so I removed these and began to clean them up, think I shall polish these to make a difference on the bike.

50

Now that is way better and I feel a lot better putting something clean back on, this motorcycle will sure look different and for the better.

52

New cables through out, the clutch cable was actually seized up, so a new one was purchased, I always use New adjusters too .

57

The points cover looked like it had been in a bad way for a long time , but- it wasnt too banged up to be honest, so, using my special Formula High grade restoration Polish, I jumped into action as I love polishing old stuff, it took me about 90 minutes but it was well worth it and looks as good as new now.

58

Now that is a lot better and used New stainless Allen head bolts to give this Points cover a New lease of life, it sure looks great on the motor now.

59

The Clutch cover was in the same shape as the Points cover, so, back to the polisher, some more secret sauce and a polishing mop and then I will refit to the engine.

60

Now this looks a whole lot better once polished to a super high luster I used Allen head bolts which are all New, as is the clutch cable too, so a smooth clutch at long last.

44

Look how bad the muffler is, its had bad gas welding, then an old screw held this together, sort of, I will keep the stock header and will make a new up-swept tail pipe for this bike.

47

Getting to it with a piece of 2.5 tubing, as I want this to look cool and sound pretty strong too, this will be a fun part of the process on the Super Sport Bike.

63

There is the tail pipe, complete with a Removable baffle, this is way better than what was on there, the old muffler even had a mouse nest in it, so glad to change this set up.

64

Next up, the Customer wants a flat frame with a hoop, so what I am going to do is cut the rear frame horns off about the middle of where the old cross brace is.

66

I have cut the frame rails off to where the customer wanted, this will then have my frame inserts put in and I will cut one of my special frame hoops to fit to the bike and give it a new look.

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Now- I use a de-burrer to remove any inner tubing, I want to make sure that the inside is hollow and smooth so the inserts will slide in tightly, that way there will be no issues.

68

The inserts are in and they are really snug, I go in about an inch and half both sides, it is double walled on this part of the frame, so the hogging out does take a while and may annoy your neighbors if you have to use an air compressor and a die grinder to open this up.

69

As you can see, I have laid the hoop on top of the frame, this way I can figure out how much I want the hoop to be placed at, I then mark the hoop by the end of the chassis, as this is where it will butt up against so you can then weld it.

70

 

Once you make the cut, you simply cut the other side, take any burrs off the inside and then you are ready to attach this to your bikes frame and this will change the look of you machine right away.

72

As you can see, I fit the hoop into the inserts and then I simply just tap the end of the hoop with a Rubber mallet, until the ends are almost touching the frame, as I want just a tiny gap to allow for good penetration of the Mig welder to secure this to the frame.

So the little Video above shows you how I first attach the hoop to the frame, I then mig weld the ends all around and you can drill into the frame and insert and spot weld there too if you want a more secure weld too.

78

I have Mig welded this in place and am happy with the end result, next up is I have to make a seat base for this, you do see some on the market already made but many times you want to make the length of your frame to your dimension, so- I always make mine for each frame and its pretty easy.

83

Use what you have around you to make a template, I had a packing box handy, so traced the outline of the frame and cut it out, a little trim and I am ready to now make a seat base.

84

I may have gone a little over the top on thickness as this is 18 gauge but I had a sheet in the garage and may as well use it, its strong as Hercules but obviously the down fall is its harder to cut and shape, but this will work fine and be a great sturdy base for the seat I am going to make.

85

There you go, its done, now to check on the frame, grind any adjustments that need doing and drill some holes for the bolts to be able to fix to the frame, as I shall upholster over the bolts so the studs are the only thing sticking out underneath.

86

There you go, I am happy with that now, simply need to use high density memory foam and choose the material and stitching and that will be upholstered and look so different.

96

Still a long way to go on this Super Sport but- It is finally taking shape and looking way better than it did when it was dragged into my place looking very sorry for itself.

88

The Gauges were shot, one of the needle drives was not working and I wanted to clean this area up quite a bit, so came to the conclusion that this can look a lot better with all this clutter removed and different bars fitted too, as well as removing the upper triple tree and polishing it to a chrome like luster.

89

The stock fork ears have to go and the turn signal housing as they were rusted out and looked pretty ugly, customer wanted a Brat style bike and these tend to be removed, I shall also add one of my custom headlights that have internal LED turn signals inside the light, so there is nothing protruding.

91

Removed the handle bars and gauges, as well as the ignition switch as the plastic connector and dried and crumbled up, due to being sat out in the California Sun for 8 years.

92

Now, that is a lot better, as you can see, I removed the old paint from the triple tree and polished it, I also removed the stock fork ears and fitted some Custom alloy versions in Black.

93

New ignition switch also added as the stock one was worn out and now all new once more and of course, functioning too.

94

Had to make up a new pig tail for the lights as the old harness had dried out, but this will work great and, reduce the amount of wiring thats inside the headlight.

99

As ypu can see, what a transformation, my LED turn signal headlight set up is the way to go, Halogen bulb and the LED signals actually do light up Amber, a neat custom touch.

100

Starting to get some where, still have to foam and upholster seat, as well as pulling front wheel out and fitting new tire and sorting the brakes out and these are all seized up.

105

I removed the rear wheel, I need to clean all this up and thought that i would take a photo and, below I have done a quick video on my phone, to show you how I undo stubborn nuts or bolts when they have been on many years and have seized up and you cant for the life of you get them undone with just your wrench.

I try and show videos where I can, as many of you ask me on the phone everyday, so thats why I do things like this and hope that it helps some of you out that may be out in the sticks and nowhere to ask.

Hell yeah, this is slowly getting better everytime I work on the bike, the Customer came and visited and loves the way the machine is now looking, but I tell ya, it has even tested my patience on more than one occasion, just take a step back and do something else, but- as you can see, I have now upholstered the seat, and did it in the Nostalgic Diamond stitch and added silver trim to break the seat up.

I kicked the front a little to try and hide the arch in the stock gas tank, usually I weld up that area, but this customer is on a budget so this was a good way of over coming this issue, I used High Density memory foam and I tell ya, it is super comfortable.

The seat will be Bolted down so it sits nice and tight onto the frame, I still have to smooth the chassis and paint Gloss Black, but also as you will notice, I have fitted an LED strip at the back, this will function as a Running and Stop light in Bright RED.

The Turn Signals are Chrome and LED too, so this will be sure to get a drivers attention and inform them as to what they are doing ahead of them.

The New 2.5 Gauges that I sell on my website were just the thing needed to tidy the top of this machine up, I vapor blasted the master cylinder but its beyond repair, so shall be fitting a New version tomorrow.

The old 630 was totally rusted and, falling apart, so opted to change this set up for a 530 chain and sprockets, this was so messy, I was glad to change all this and have it look at least a little cleaner, thats why I prefer to usually strip the bike to the frame and do it right, but sometimes that is just not in the Customers budget, so do the best I can for them.

Looks so much better and I am glad I went this route, plus the Customer was over the moon with the look, so a double whammy there. Now onto the Exhaust system.

 

As you can see above, the exhaust is so so but underneath its a mess, the rear muffler was so badly welded, they needed to fit a screw into it to keep them together, so i thought that it was time to set up the good old Heat wrap, I like that Hot Rod look and so does the Customer.

There you go, all wrapped and ready to go back on the Motorcycle, remember to replace your Copper crush Gaskets too when you re-fit an exhaust system.

Looks so much neater now and I like the way that the Honda is slowly taking shape, I mean, a few weeks ago this was in a terrible state from all angles, so right now I am quite stoked.

Right, now onto the rear brake Caliper, as it is seized up beyond belief, what I normally do is remove the caliper and stick a towel in a bucket and simply put an airline into the caliper and leave the bleeder in, that usually pushes the piston out pretty fast, hence having a bucket as there is 150 PSI from the airline going into that small cavity.  But this time the Piston refused to exit, so that tells me there is a small rust ring around the piston.So what I do in this situation is go back to old school ways of getting things resolved.

So, now I have the piston out, using an old set of handlebars and a master cylinder to bleed it out, I can now get onto rebuilding the caliper, the O-Ring seal usually gets nasty and this one had too, but the Piston was rusted in and lucky for me I had a New Piston and rebuild kit at the ready. Below, Old and New, always replaces seals, especially in Brakes.

I use a pick to pull the Seal out, and then I was glad I had a New piston as the original one I removed from the Caliper Body was seized in and pitted up quite badly.

So, before I fit the Piston, I need to clean up the old caliper, as it has a lot of Oxidization in the body, as the carcass is a cast aluminum, so what I do is use a Rubber wheel to clean the body up, I sell these kits on the website, whats coo is that it does not hurt the caliper at all , although it will remove the oxidization pretty easily.

This is what I do t clean the body up, been doing this over 18 years here and always makes the brakes work really well and smoothly, I sell the kit on my website.

So, thats now clean, all blown out with an airline, a little brake fluid in the Caliper body to make sure all is smooth, Seal is in and Piston slides right inside nicely.

So, all rebuilt and ready to fit back onto the Super Sport, Bleed through and hopefully we shall have a brake now as before- this was seized solid from years of inactivity and parked outside for 8 years.

The rear brake is now a success and functions very well on the pedal, a lot of work but worth it in the end, as this brake caliper was seized up solid, am happy now.

I also didn’t like the strip light set up that I fitted to the frame, so removed that and fitted an LED stop – tail light and fitted the License plate to it and looks so much better I think.

I removed the Red LED turn signals as they were not functioning bright enough, so replaced them with some Classic Alloy 12 volt Bulb versions and tested, worked really well.

The front fender was a mess, but I wanted to still use as the front end needs bracing, so I though what I would do was cut it down and remove 11 inches off each end to make wheel look bigger.

 

I then elongated the mounting holes in the brace, that way the fender will hug the tire, not touch it , but give that appearance that it was.

The Customer will paint it Black when he gets the Gas tank and side covers painted, but this sits nice and tight and stiffens the front forks up and stops crap flying in your face.

Next up is to clean the rear frame up and paint it Black, tidy the wiring, fill the gas tank, add new fuel line and see how this bike runs.

OK, I have managed to do all that and can now take this for a shake down run around the Block, the petcock bloody leaks, so have ordered a new one and will change that when it arrives.

Did a good run around the block and wanted to make sure that all is well, I knew that the headers would smoke for a few rides until they have cured, so no worries there, but the top end of this old Super Sport is rattly as hell and all adjusted, these can stay like that for a long time and thats how it is going to stay for a while.

OK, so now the Customer changed his mind about a few things, so I have changed the rear tail light and made a License plate mount to sit off the bottom of the shock and used a Ford Model A LED rear Tail light.

The Bike now runs, all the gears work, Turn Signals function as does the rear Brake light and Running light, I have put a lot of time into getting this thing running again.

Virtually a different Motorcycle now, it runs well, albeit the top end rattles like some old nails in a can but they will go on like that for a long time and the customer can do that later, it pulls hard to be honest and the exhaust of mine is just Killer sounding.

I am not going to paint it, I sealed the gas tank but he can paint it as the Customer is on a budget, so when he takes it next week, he can get a painter to do their thing to her.

So there you go, pretty much done, this bike had not run in 8 years, all the brakes were seized and needed so much cleaning before I could even work on it, it is amazing it runs to be honest.

The Customer can add mirrors if he so wishes, thats just cosmetics, but at least I got this to run and drive, many would of given up and, I wouldnt of blamed them, but I continued and won through.

I am going to play with My Hot Rod thats in the back ground and look forward to this leaving my garage during the week, thanks for watching this build, hope you liked what I have done?

The California Motorcycle show at Santa Anita

Well, Cinco De Mayo is upon us, where many people are still sleeping, we were up finishing packing the Van up with 2 Motorcycles and our Vendor Booth, we then headed out to Santa Anita Race track, where we set about unloading the van, Jennifer sorted the vendor booth out whilst I puffed and panted , walking the Motorcycles into the park, as you well know, Horses are not happy with Thundering loud megaphones and Million Dollar horses at that, so we had to walk everything into the Race Track area.

I Registered my Harlequin Honda and maneuvered that beast into the infield, where upon I parked it and spent the next hour, sweating my gonads off, trying to clean the dust off that had accumulated from our garage since the last show we were at. Not an easy task as the needle on the Thermometer was at 97 degree’s, I was melting.

But, once all set up, I went and sat in our Vendor Booth with Jennifer and tried to stay out of the heat, and the Eazy Up helped big time on this Kentucky Derby day event and was happy that we had some sort of cover over us.

Many people arrived all dressed up to the Nines in their Horsey attire, a big deal here and everybody seemed to enjoy the Motorcycles that was on Display at the event.

I spoke to many Customers of mine as they made sure to come and at least say hello, we sold our Moto Caps and Vintage Grips, whilst Jenn was selling her Moto Scented Wax melts, that seem really popular.

Plenty of cool Motorcycles on Display at the event and it was nice to see so many different styles of machines turn up on this Hot Day in May. Loved the Tracker.

Jay La Rossa had his Triumph Tracker there, and it looked pretty tough I tell ya.I hung out with him for a while, always great to chew the fat with like minded bike builders.I loved the Step side with the Two Trumpys in the back, these were top class built Custom Motorcycle, with the paint flowing from the trucks roof to one of the bikes was a neat touch.

Just have a look at some of the detail on these bikes, I loved them both and hope to see more of these on the road, I never see them ridden though these days.

BSA was well represented and would of taken any of these Classic steeds, from the Tracker at the front and the DB at the back, all bloody awesome to see.

The traditional 750 Commando is such a timeless taste of Real Ton up machines from back in the day. Always great to stop for a second and take it all in at these events.

I loved these Trench diggers, rode a few as a teenager and they scared the hell out of me, in a good way, love the twin shocker Dirt bikes, my era to be honest.

The good old CB750 SOHC unit has been put into everything you can imaging, this is a buddies of mine and a lot of work gone into creating the 750 Scrambler.

I dont think many people will appreciate the time and effort to get this old 530 Pound machine to look like it can handle the whoops and Burms of California’s MX tracks.

 

The good old 400 4 Super Sport Honda, its been Cafed and Raced for so many years, that people really forget how fast and fun they are to ride.  A great Powerhouse !

I would sure love to sling my leg over this AHRMA machine, reminds me of the old JPS Bikes of the day when British tracks had these and (Forgive the pun) were the Dominator.

A great Racing bike that is built so well and I am certain would holds it own and more on the race track, love the stainless exhaust headers and short reverse cone megaphones.

New meets old, a colorful array of machines and background to be honest, other than the heat, this was a really great looking part of the Race Track as its part of the infield.

I would really love to own this Honda Flat tracker, I bet its fun getting in the corners on the track and would have a blast on it and its nice to see its still being used.

Like I said, there was plenty to see for everyone, many different era’s of Motorcycles were on Display on the infield and around the race track, making it an eye candy store of the 2 wheeled variety and I was admiring them all.

This Honda Scrambler was cleaner than any cats arse, it was a super machine, nothing I didnt like about it, just gaze your peepers on this Classic machine from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Baking was not the word, it was so bloody hot I was hoping a bunch of Horses would belt by to cause a little air flow and cool us down, Summer came early here for sure.

Love seeing the old Honda’s as these were more available back home in the UK in the 1970’s when we were kids and for about 25 Quid you could pick one of these up, pull the mudguards off and headlight and go and blast along the Forrest fire roads, such fun back then and great to see them still around today.

The worldwide distributor of Hodakas was PABATCO, for Pacific Basin Trading Company. Its headquarters were in the rural town of Athena Oregon.  PABATCO designed and engineered a majority of the motorcycles, and Hodaka in Japan was responsible for the engine and manufacture and assembly. Pabatco was owned by Shell Oil Company from 1965 to 1978. The name Hodaka comes from a mountain near the factory and means “To grow taller”.

I have owned 6 of these over the years, anybody could learn to ride on the 175, and it was a superb platform for many styles of bike, loved seeing this example and being used too.

Different combination, the sohc cb750 and a Panel wagon, both very cool. Not sure who owned either buy glad it was there to be seen.

This won best of show, it was nice but still missing parts but each to their own and a nice motorcycle none the less.

Shinya bought along his CB750 with much Custom Body work that was all hand formed, Loved the front end and I believe a grimeca front brake too.

Another great Custom build that took many hours of massaging of alloy to get it the way it is, the more you look, the more detail you will notice from front forks to exhaust.

So much work going into this, removing One cylinder isn’t easy and this is one awesome Custom and love the whole concept.

Seems that Honda were really out in force on Saturday and I loved it all, one of the girls was riding this, great job.

 

Killer build, I dont usually like Green but this bike popped and a really nice BSA to be shown at Santa Anita, just looks so right.

A plethora of bikes and styles, and was glad to be a part of it on the weekend, it seemed to attract many people and raise a few eyebrows too, all great Motorcycles.

OMG thats all I can say with this Stable of Beeza’s, just awesome Historic value, real Ton Up machines.

Dustin Kott builds some bad ass machines, it was nice of him to purchase one of our Moto caps we sell and Jennifer designed.

Biltwell were there and Bill had his Harley Desert racer on show, fresh from doing thousands of miles in some pretty rough parts of the desert and, it survived.

My mates from Moto Chop were there, we are all like a big family when it comes to Motorcycles and custom created things, cool people.

British Customs were there too, showing what they do and manufacture, it had many cool vendors and we were all glad we had Eazy Ups as the weather was so hot all day long.

Thanks for coming by and saying hello, we had a fun time and hope to see you again at another show, I strive to help you in your quest for parts, service or advice, this is my Passion and my life, thanks for supporting me, it means a lot.

 

 

HONDA 1978 CB750F SUPER SPORT $4300

Here we are with quite an original machine here, not too many times do you get a one owner bike and he has had this Donkeys years and, works for HONDA still.

This is a 1978 CB750F Super Sport SOHC Model, the last of the Single Over Head cams and the most desirable engines as it had a slightly different cylinder head configuration and the valve had a better angle.

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This has been serviced by Honda in all its 31,000 miles and has a strong recently installed 836cc kit into her, just to make sure she has a little more power if you need to get out of trouble in todays crazy roads etc.

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This is a great bike and all together, it is a genuine 31K on the clock and has all the original parts still on it, the accessories are useful too, like the rear luggage rack, as thats handy for bags and stuff when commuting, as well as a front screen to stop the buffeting and the bugs, what a deal eh?

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Located in Orange County area this is a great bike the pulls like a steam train and idles lovely, due to the fact of having the earlier carbs fitted, of which I do this conversion on many Super Sports.

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A very cool bike with the Original Comstar rims, this bike runs and handles so well you will love it, very strong and smooth and getting harder to locate these days.

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I think it is way under priced to be perfectly honest with you but its what the Customer wants, so- a great deal for someone for sure.

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A lot of machine for the money, thanks for looking, you can email me at carpy@carpyscaferacers.com or drop a Dime or text at 714-598-8392, thanks again for looking.

Rice Boiler

 

FOR SALE 1976 CB750F $3500

Here we are with a 1976 Honda CB750 F Super Sport that has been turned into a cool Classic style Cafe Racer, the price is determined by the fact that it is not a new build and it does have a few scratches here and there etc and, it does jump out of 2nd gear, hence the price, But still a great deal as I rode it today and what a blast.

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Still Hauls hard through the rest of the gears and I am still adding a few things to this as I try and get the bike looking how I would want it.

Although I do have a Customer visiting me on Thursday to look at it and take it for a spin.

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This has had a lot of work done by me over the last year and it has the SS Gas tank that I hammered the knee inserts into, then cut the old gas cap flap out and welded that flat, then added a stainless Steel 2 Inch Monza style Flip Top Gas Cap.

It has one of My Rocket seat bases on thats covered with soft upholstery and is damn comfortable for sure.

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Now, I have fitted some Original 1975 Marzochhi Race shocks, these are a rare find anyway but i wanted that ride height and now she sits well and straight and the shocks soak up the bumps as you power around the roads etc.

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This has Clubman bars with a set of GT grips with shorty rectangle Mirrors,.

The gauges work but are stock but sat on my custom Gauge panel that’s polished alloy and sets the top end out from the rest.

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The front forks are polished and also have braided hoses throughout, you will also notice that Both Rotors are drilled for that old school look.

New battery keeps the thing alive and has a good 630 chain and sprocket set up to handle the torque of the inline four motor.

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19 inch front wheel and wide 18 inch rear are powder coated black with Stainless spokes and painted hubs, give this bike a tough look indeed.

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Today I cut and bobbed an old front fender and fitted to the bike and man it hugs nice and tight over that 110X90X19 front tire.

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It fires right up and idles and is a fun machine, as I said- No show bike but a great looking ride that you wont be afraid to leave out anywhere.

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So-have a look and see what you think, its a cool machine for sure. Call – 714-598-8392 for more info….

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$3500 with Clear title and registered with New Tags.