[melchiro]

Well, I have finally rolled the 650 into the garage.. ... This is what it looked like 3 years ago when I brought it home...

Friday, Stripped it down to the frame to cut, weld, modify and clean up ... I have lots of plans and will share them as I go..



So far...

LOTS of rust to clean up...



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[Clumzi]

Those are some wild crash bars in the rear. Have fun bud

 

[melchiro]

I was in the garage for most of the day.. Worked on the swingarm.. Why ? Because this GL/CX 650 will be ridden with performance in mind.. What kind?? The kind that will be flogged on a race track.. Anyways, in order to have the tires I need for this bike, size 150 or 160 -18, the swingarm had to be modified...



I test fitted an AVON AV56 Storm, 160/60-18 and marked the swingarm at the tires widest point...

Then, I "Scalloped" the swingarm..

Yes indeed, that is the driveshaft.....

Welded plate steel to close it up...

I bet by now, you are wondering, "Hey, I thought the GL650 was a Pro-Link suspension?" Yes, it used to be... I plan on going with dual shocks on my V-Twin.. So, I chopped off all of the support mounts.. I then welded up some bracing to the underside.. Like I said, I'm gonna need this in turn one at Pacific Raceways...

Just need to weld the left side shock mount, clean it up and apply paint ...



More question going through your head?? Like how the hell are you going to put a 160 size tire on these skinny ass rims??? That will be on my next posts.....



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[nikoscx500+ducati]

I was in the garage for most of the day.. Worked on the swingarm.. Why ? Because this GL/CX 650 will be ridden with performance in mind.. What kind?? The kind that will be flogged on a race track.. Anyways, in order to have the tires I need for this bike, size 150 or 160 -18, the swingarm had to be modified...



I test fitted an AVON AV56 Storm, 160/60-18 and marked the swingarm at the tires widest point...

Then, I "Scalloped" the swingarm..

Yes indeed, that is the driveshaft.....

Welded plate steel to close it up...

I bet by now, you are wondering, "Hey, I thought the GL650 was a Pro-Link suspension?" Yes, it used to be... I plan on going with dual shocks on my V-Twin.. So, I chopped off all of the support mounts.. I then welded up some bracing to the underside.. Like I said, I'm gonna need this in turn one at Pacific Raceways...

Just need to weld the left side shock mount, clean it up and apply paint ...



More question going through your head?? Like how the hell are you going to put a 160 size tire on these skinny ass rims??? That will be on my next posts.....



.

hi ihad something like that in my mind about the swingarm because i wanted to put an ohlins shock but i gave up because the summer was near and i didnt have the time,so as for the tire this is the best way to put the 160,the 150x60x17 it can be fit on the swingarm without these cuts,you can use spoke rim 4.50'x17or 18 if you want but the 4.50'is the wider you can fit because of the oppening of the swingarm from the one side to the gear side about the way the distance from the one side to the other is about 120mm i think so if you want to put a 150 or 160 tire you have put it in with out air at all.As for the hub of the rim you can use the hub from gl gooldwing that it has spoke rims,that for now and you have also to find out how and where to put a bracket on the frame for the shock.Here some other ways to put a monoshock on

 

[nikoscx500+ducati]

the swingarm from prolink model it didnt work because the bike has became longer than it was,the above ways can be done plus your way

 

[exploring/carolina]

Very interesting modifications and looking forward to seeing progress

photos & descriptions!

 

[kturner]

Wow Way Cool

 

[melchiro]

Hey Kneeslider, nice job on your CX.. Looks cool. I bet it's fun to ride....



Here's a preview of where my Honda V-Twin is going..... Still lots of cutting, welding, modifying to do... Time to alter the rear part of the frame for the upper shock mounts, tank mount & seat support......

 

[Blindstitch]

Is there any different content on the cb1100f forum? inquiring minds want to know?

 

[timothy_d]

How much space is left before you'd hit the driveshaft?

 

[nikoscx500+ducati]

How much space is left before you'd hit the driveshaft?

my gess is about 10mm,i think it will work

 

[timothy_d]

Wait, what rim are you using with this 160 tire?

 

[melchiro]

I might have maybe 5 to 8 millimeters before the driveshaft touches... Won't know for sure till the motor is in... Rear wheel? I have a plan... I'll post when I get it going...



I did some more cutting and welding... Modified the rear subframe.. I still have to build the upper shock mount.. I also braced the frame for more strength..



Tacked welded around pivot area..

Here you can see how I chopped the rear.... New tank mount & seat support...

New steering stops for the forks...

What forks? Big strong 1982 GL1100 forks with CB900F triple clamps....

More bracing down the top tube..

All welded up, relocated rear seat support..

Front view with body on..

Side view.. I like it..

Still lots to do.. I'll have more time around Thanksgiving, 5 days off from work...



.

 

[melchiro]

I figured out my upper shock mounts ... Cut, welded plate steel & a bolt for the shock..

That is Not the wheel for this project.. Using to hold the bike up..

 

[melchiro]

I finally finish my GL1100 fork upgrades.. New fork seals, wiper boots, cleaning out the internals and fresh Bel-Ray 10 weight fork oil.. I also modified the damper rod and springs in order for a more taut & firmer suspension to handle my riding style...



First was to cut three inches off the progressively wound coils of the main spring ... I replaced this with a copper pipe, 2.5 inches long. Washers between springs add .25 inches. If I need more preload, I'll replace with a longer pipe.. This will result with a "stiffer" springs ..

Bottom fork leg is stock...

The damper rod modification, due to stiffer springs, I welded up one of the two rebound holes to increase the rebound dampening. This way, I can stay with light fork oil and not increase the compression..

Put it all together, fill the fork tubes with oil, amount of oil was with no springs inside, upper tube fully collapsed, oil was 127mm from the top of the tube.. Still need to paint the lowers a semi-gloss black..

This worked very well for me on my 1982 CB750F street bike.. Plus, no air pressure is needed...



I still need to weld on more "tabs" onto the frame. Fairing mounts, rear-set mounts, side cover mounts etc... I'll have time around the Christmas holidays.



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[melchiro]

Hope everyone had a great Christmas...



Some progress to report... Cleaned the fork lowers, thought I would paint black but after scrubbing with a scuff pad, the satin aluminum finish looked great. So I clear coated it..



I cleaned and painted the front 18" Comstar...

Brakes.. I am not fond of the stock solid steel, smallish 276mm rotors.. So I scored off Ebay, a set of 1995 - 1997 CBR600-F3, 296mm floating rotors... these years came with the 58mm center holes, same as the Comstar. This is important to "Center" the rotor on the rim..

Now these have six holes.. Yeah, so I brazed them up in order to "re-drill" new 5-bolt hole pattern for the Comstar. Used aluminum welding rods made for propane torch. Good stuff... YouTube it..

Mounted up onto the Comstar..

Now here is where I had to research.. How will the calipers clear the larger rotor?? Simple, did you know that the 81 - 82 Honda Pro-Link CBX came with the ventilated 296mm rotors??? So I purchased a set of caliper mounts and presto.. Fits.. I also have these on my CB750-F, with EBC F3 rotors...



CBX on the caliper, stock on the right.. Kick the calipers out 10mm...

Comparison vs stock rotor.. These are on my CB750-F & the same GL1100 forks..

Front end completed & centered on the rotor..

I hope to have a rolling chassis soon..



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[Blindstitch]

Looks nice.

 

[melchiro]

This is how I had to modify the CX500 rear-end... There are differences that had to be addressed, first being the axle size.. CX500 has 15mm axle , GL650 has 17mm . .. I bored out the receiving end of the differential just enough to fit the 17mm axle through.. The differential spacer/collar I had to make.. GL650 (left), will NOT fit.. CX500 (right) ... I cut a piece of 7/8" handlebar to the right length, (center), ground down one end and bored it out enough to slide over the axle...

I am doing all this work in order to mount an 18" Comstar wheel with disc brake .. .. How is this possible??



First, I obtained a GL1100 rear wheel... The size is 17" x 2.5"..

In order to fit this wheel, I had to "relieve-grind" down an inner step inside the CX500 hub....

Then I obtained a CB900F rear wheel and took both apart...

Using the GL1100 hub, the CB900F spokes and rim, bolted everything back together ... Presto, 18" x 2.5" Comstar..

.

 

[melchiro]

Well, 2.5" wide won't fit a 160 size tire, so I sent the wheel to KOSMAN SPECIALTIES, to have it widened, 4.25"...

Install new bearings, mount the tire, some touch up paint & I'll have a rolling chassis soon....



.

 

[50gary]

Looks very nice. I talked with Kosman once before on a Yamaha project, they are not cheap on their prices so I didn't do the wheel widening. Did you have to send them two wheels? I have a 2.50 x 18 rim I'm trying to get to fit to the original pattern Comstar spokes thus far it's a no go. I do have my rear disc brake conversion done and it's very nice, modern and lighter than the drum set up. l used a 2002/04 R1 caliper and bracket, an SV 1000 rotor and my design and build rotor carrier. It's not all that difficult to do once you have it figured out, pretty too. Once you have the disc brake you can remove the cross tube and the two brackets that go under the frame to carry the drum brake foot lever mechanism and then relocate the side stand. I also made a new side stand, This save a lot of dead weight and leaves more room for the two into one exhaust. Super clean look, less is more.

Cheers, 50gary