[FezMonki]

Hey everyone, I bought mine summer 2013, and have been driving it up and down ever since, while collecting parts, getting ready for a complete and thorough rebuilt (powder coating frame, complete engine checkup/refresh etc).
I wanted all parts ready, and a second engine rebuilt to new before starting, but the other day I found a very cheap tank + sides that I really liked, and I got weak and tried them on, and snowballed from there.
So this is where I'm at (excuse the mess):

So I plan on getting it all toghether and back on the road, and autumn/winter of 2015 do the total rebuild, so I can also make changed from the current direction in case.

In the photos:
- Turbo valve covers (found em for 30 euro, love the look).
- Custom Stainless mufflers, 40 euro used (look new) and a lovely deep sound, that gets really angry just over 4-5k rpm.
- Front universal fairing off ebay.
- CX C headlight.
- Generic black riser bar.

To put it back on the road I'm going to need CX C gauges, >this< plate holder (builder of that cx lives in my city and will fab one for me), 4 blinkers with integrated stops on the rear, to put on the sides of the plate holder, and a pan to get a mucci-style seat made.

For the rest its just about chopping front mud guard and frame, painting fairing same white as the rest and fixing stuff here and there. Seat either black or leather color (with matching grips in both cases).

Soon after, straight pipes, and find someone to build me brackets to move some pedals forward (I'm quite tall and although I can deal with it, its not the most comfortable after a while).

Passenger pedals going back on, still meant to be a viable 2 person bike.

Any thoughts?

 

[JC]

Straight pipes are bloody loud - I'm trying to find some quieter mufflers for mine which aren't quite straight pipes but aren't far from it. Too loud for me - I like my neighbours Or do you mean dropping the H-box?

That tank looks gorgeous. Looks like you're going to have quite a nice bike at the end of this!

 

[FezMonki]

Straight pipes are bloody loud - I'm trying to find some quieter mufflers for mine which aren't quite straight pipes but aren't far from it. Too loud for me - I like my neighbours Or do you mean dropping the H-box?

That tank looks gorgeous. Looks like you're going to have quite a nice bike at the end of this!

Sorry, I meant dropping the h-box, the low rumble sound of these suits me perfectly, and I'd get my bike permanently removed from my posession in a matter of hours with straight pipes here lol.
Thanks

 

[JC]

Consider Murray's carbs if you're dropping the H-pipe, they're darn nice.

Black or leather seat... light brown leather would go nicely with the red/white, imho! Though wheel colour choice would probably have an impact on that, too. Leaving them as they are or do you have plans to change them?

 

[Farmer_John]

Hey everyone, I bought mine summer 2013, and have been driving it up and down ever since, while collecting parts, getting ready for a complete and thorough rebuilt (powder coating frame, complete engine checkup/refresh etc).
I wanted all parts ready, and a second engine rebuilt to new before starting, but the other day I found a very cheap tank + sides that I really liked, and I got weak and tried them on, and snowballed from there.
So this is where I'm at (excuse the mess):

So I plan on getting it all toghether and back on the road, and autumn/winter of 2015 do the total rebuild, so I can also make changed from the current direction in case.

In the photos:
- Turbo valve covers (found em for 30 euro, love the look).
- Custom Stainless mufflers, 40 euro used (look new) and a lovely deep sound, that gets really angry just over 4-5k rpm.
- Front universal fairing off ebay.
- CX C headlight.
- Generic black riser bar.

To put it back on the road I'm going to need CX C gauges, >this< plate holder (builder of that cx lives in my city and will fab one for me), 4 blinkers with integrated stops on the rear, to put on the sides of the plate holder, and a pan to get a mucci-style seat made.

For the rest its just about chopping front mud guard and frame, painting fairing same white as the rest and fixing stuff here and there. Seat either black or leather color (with matching grips in both cases).

Soon after, straight pipes, and find someone to build me brackets to move some pedals forward (I'm quite tall and although I can deal with it, its not the most comfortable after a while).

Passenger pedals going back on, still meant to be a viable 2 person bike.

Any thoughts?

That plate holder looks awesome and totally fresh and modern!

 

[Motomicah]

Your bike looks amazing! I was contemplating on something similar for my plate holder but wasn't sure how it would look on the CX. That picture has convinced me to go that route 100%. Hope you don't mind me copying the design a bit, but like Farmer John said, it looks awesome and totally fresh!!!

 

[FezMonki]

Consider Murray's carbs if you're dropping the H-pipe, they're darn nice.

Black or leather seat... light brown leather would go nicely with the red/white, imho! Though wheel colour choice would probably have an impact on that, too. Leaving them as they are or do you have plans to change them?

I have my mind on those carbs, but out of the budget at the moment, they will probably end up in the definitive build. This is mostly a style test build.
I also thought leather might look sexy with this metal flaked white, but I have no idea what I'm going to do with the wheels at the moment. Those will also probably be part of the final build, although for now I would either get them repainted the original colors, or use a spare set of non-inverted comstars I have to get them spoked (but I don't know who to send them to, to get them spoked even though I found the kit to mod the hub).

That plate holder looks awesome and totally fresh and modern!

Thanks, and I think adding "ears" bent towards the wheel with a hole to screw the blinkers with integrated stops to ( >these< ) It'll look rad.

Your bike looks amazing! I was contemplating on something similar for my plate holder but wasn't sure how it would look on the CX. That picture has convinced me to go that route 100%. Hope you don't mind me copying the design a bit, but like Farmer John said, it looks awesome and totally fresh!!!

Of course I don't, after all I'm copying it (even worse, I'm getting the original maker to make me one) myself haha. If you want one from him as well, it can be done but it's a bit pricey (130 euro) powder coated black and all. I'm sure you can find someone to fabricate it (or fabricate it yourself) much cheaper though. My main problem in making it myself is that I can't tell what that black clamp is (it must be something of common use but I don't remember where I saw it before). If you know what it is, I could also go to my friend blacksmith and have him make it for me cheaper probs haha.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Motomicah]

Of course I don't, after all I'm copying it (even worse, I'm getting the original maker to make me one) myself haha. If you want one from him as well, it can be done but it's a bit pricey (130 euro) powder coated black and all. I'm sure you can find someone to fabricate it (or fabricate it yourself) much cheaper though. My main problem in making it myself is that I can't tell what that black clamp is (it must be something of common use but I don't remember where I saw it before). If you know what it is, I could also go to my friend blacksmith and have him make it for me cheaper probs haha.

I think I will try and fabricate something myself....just because I am so cheap lol, but that isn't that bad of a price really for powder coating too. If you mean the black part at the bottom that attaches to the axle nut, I am not sure what it is either, but when I try and make mine I am thinking that I will cut a groove out to fit into the little pockets on the final drive. That way it will stop the whole thing from rotating down accidentally. Now.....I just need to "borrow" a big chunk of aluminum from school to get started hahaha.....

 

[FezMonki]

I think I will try and fabricate something myself....just because I am so cheap lol, but that isn't that bad of a price really for powder coating too. If you mean the black part at the bottom that attaches to the axle nut, I am not sure what it is either, but when I try and make mine I am thinking that I will cut a groove out to fit into the little pockets on the final drive. That way it will stop the whole thing from rotating down accidentally. Now.....I just need to "borrow" a big chunk of aluminum from school to get started hahaha.....

The grooving/pocketing is exactly what I had in mind as well (especially because they get really anal about non original plate holder inclination here, like to the exact degree, and drive around with goniometers to measure it). I'm actually not entire sure the one in the photo isn't set up the same way.
If I could pin down the origin of that clamp, I could probably put it toghether after playing with a tube bender a bit, but unfortunately I'm not manual enough to pull it out of raw alluminium

So I'll just pay him or my blacksmith and keep at the electronics so I can say its not just a plug and play build some day haha.

 

[Motomicah]

The grooving/pocketing is exactly what I had in mind as well (especially because they get really anal about non original plate holder inclination here, like to the exact degree, and drive around with goniometers to measure it). I'm actually not entire sure the one in the photo isn't set up the same way.
If I could pin down the origin of that clamp, I could probably put it toghether after playing with a tube bender a bit, but unfortunately I'm not manual enough to pull it out of raw alluminium

So I'll just pay him or my blacksmith and keep at the electronics so I can say its not just a plug and play build some day haha.

lol yeah in that case I wouldn't trust my work to look original so I'd get a professional to do it too haha. Luckily Canada is a bit less strict when it comes to those things. As long as it doesn't affect the safety of yourself or others they're usually okay with it. Oh yeah, and as long as it's legal I was just reading up on our laws as I was curious if the tail light had to be a certain height off the ground, but couldn't find anything so that's good. As long as you have a running light and break light that's all that matters.

I was looking at the final drive and found that the bottom shock mount might be able to be used as a second support point. This would mean you wouldn't need to mill out those pockets so it should be easier to machine. I think I might actually go that route instead just because it seems like less work lol.

Keep up the great work though, I can't wait to see what else you come up with!!!

 

[FezMonki]

lol yeah in that case I wouldn't trust my work to look original so I'd get a professional to do it too haha. Luckily Canada is a bit less strict when it comes to those things. As long as it doesn't affect the safety of yourself or others they're usually okay with it. Oh yeah, and as long as it's legal I was just reading up on our laws as I was curious if the tail light had to be a certain height off the ground, but couldn't find anything so that's good. As long as you have a running light and break light that's all that matters.

I was looking at the final drive and found that the bottom shock mount might be able to be used as a second support point. This would mean you wouldn't need to mill out those pockets so it should be easier to machine. I think I might actually go that route instead just because it seems like less work lol.

Keep up the great work though, I can't wait to see what else you come up with!!!

That's actually a great idea! I had been eyeing the oil cap (replace with a cap with a hook on it) but it was clearly a bad idea, don't wanna go messing with that cap. But the shock mount would be perfectly suitable. If I go the diy route I will definitely take that into consideration.

At the moment my remaining motorcycle budget is nil (I throw most of my money at an indie car game I'm developing) so I'll stick with cheaper details, like getting my idiot lights project together, cutting my front fender and possibly restoring to new your gauges (changed my mind ) if I can find someone local to cut me new glass circles on the cheap. By the way, do you remember if they open easily? Like screws, or a pain in the ass like cb ones that had to be slowly, slowly pried open and never went back together like before?

In a couple weeks/a month I'll hopefully proceed to plate holder and frame cutting/seat.

 

[chaetophile]

You might be able to find glass domes intended for clockfaces, or even buy up old broken clocks to get the glass domes. I'd consider plastic domes, though, for safety.

 

[Motomicah]

That's actually a great idea! I had been eyeing the oil cap (replace with a cap with a hook on it) but it was clearly a bad idea, don't wanna go messing with that cap. But the shock mount would be perfectly suitable. If I go the diy route I will definitely take that into consideration.

At the moment my remaining motorcycle budget is nil (I throw most of my money at an indie car game I'm developing) so I'll stick with cheaper details, like getting my idiot lights project together, cutting my front fender and possibly restoring to new your gauges (changed my mind ) if I can find someone local to cut me new glass circles on the cheap. By the way, do you remember if they open easily? Like screws, or a pain in the ass like cb ones that had to be slowly, slowly pried open and never went back together like before?

In a couple weeks/a month I'll hopefully proceed to plate holder and frame cutting/seat.

Yeah I thought about that too, but since the threads for the cap are aluminum for a reason I figured I wouldn't be able to put much torque on it and I'd be afraid it would wiggle loose. But yeah, hopefully the shock mount will work.

LOL, same thing happened with my entire bike. I was like "I just want a bike to ride" and then it became "what can I spend money on making something else for it" haha.
There is a metal band that runs around the gauge but can be pried off or cut. See this thread for more info http://cx500forum.com/forum/cx-customization-modifications/2500-can-gauges-disassembled.html. Sounds like a bit of a pain, but you could always get a new band made too.

 

[FezMonki]

Hey, I haven't got much done over the winter, mostly been slowly (too slowly) restoring a tacho Motomicah sent me. I was almost done until instead of "putting my hands in my ass" as we would say around here, I decided to take out the lights in favor of installing a neopixel led ring since I don't like how leds look like when installed aftermarket, this ring will be able to emulate the natural green, with a 50.000 hour lifespan, roughly 3 mil kms in the dark, but I'll elaborate more when I'm done with gauge build pics. I also chopped the rear and will be getting the very end tips resoldered onto the stumps for a more legal look.

But, the mod that might interest someone, is a fabrication from scratch that I drew up in AutoCAD and had my blacksmith cut out of inox for me. Basically, I want to keep only the tacho, and move the rpm's to my idiot bar setup in the future. I found one online ( » Honda CX500 Cafe Racer Parts for Sale) but a) its kind of expensive, b) I don't like it and c) it requires relocating the key switch, that I like just where it is.

So I give you, my gauge mount:

Before I get it powder coated black, I'm thinking about getting a hole drilled to thread the choke into and secure it with its own plastic nut against the mount.

 

[Motomicah]

Glad to see you back again! That bracket looks nice. I've always admired the look of a single gauge on a bike.

 

[FezMonki]

Glad to see you back again! That bracket looks nice. I've always admired the look of a single gauge on a bike.

Thanks. What do you think about the choke hole? The problem is the irreversible nature of it lol. My blacksmith friend made it for free, but like most free things it takes months to get them made, and he was grumpy through the whole process.

Next step is getting my tips soldered back on (the threaded bar is just to make sure they get soldered on straight, at the same angle):

Right after if I manage to hold his attention, I want him to solder a thick flat inox bar across the frame, with two close holes drilled through. The seatpan will have two nuts soldered on the upper side corresponding to the holes. This way not only I add some sturdiness to the frame (I think?), I can thread two screws across the mudguard from the bottom, through the bar, and into the seat. This way I lock both mudguard and seat into place without any visible screws from the outside. I would then find an additional spot to lock the mudguard with another screw, probably near the slot the stock plastic mudguard locks into, so it does not wobble. Illustrated:

Is this a sound idea?

Edit: Dammit why does everything look 10 times dirtier in photos.

 

[chocolatelvis]

Good luck on your build!
In regards to getting your rims done, check out MotoSynthesis: Home of the Comstar Spoke Conversion Rings: Converting the Comstar to Spokes

 

[Motomicah]

I would get all the gauges and stuff mounted and looking how you want it to, then if you're still trying to find a place for the choke and it looks okay, you can drill the hole then. I would hold off as long as possible just to make sure you don't mess up that nice bracket.

 

[lucky]

it may just be me but it looks like your front tire is on backwards but build looks good keep it up

 

[FezMonki]

it may just be me but it looks like your front tire is on backwards but build looks good keep it up

Oh it is, I just threw it on with the bolt to move it around the garage And thanks.