Pictures at last:


Misc. stuff removed from frame.




Seat Brackets welded on and top inner fender/electronic tray fabbed. I know my welds suck but they are going to be hidden so I have that going for me.


A quick mock-up of the seat with gas tank. I think i am going to increase the sloping up of the seat "hump" so that i can mount a led brake light underneath the seat and people still be able to see it.


The engine getting ready to be pulled apart for clean up and a little powder coating


The resident vintage Honda guru jimmy giving me a hand masking the engine parts for powder coating. This man has forgotten more stuff about these hondas than i will ever learn. He's the one who does all the engine and transmission rebuilds.


Lastly, my cylinders powder coated black and then the fins polished. I like the look a lot but might change it to match my overall vision of the bike.


More to come....

Great pictures, Rich! Thank you!

If you ever want to get rid of your painted engine, just let me know and we can swap!

I consider you very lucky to have been raised in that environment!

Well just got the engine back together and I think it looks great! It's amazying what a little powder coating and polishing can do to make an engine look this nice.





Still waiting on the funds to order the rearsets....


Oh and Tomfarr(reading through the thread so far)... didn't mean to ignore your question about the front forks. The forks do have seals in them that may need to be replace but unless they are leaking they are probably good. My forks are in real good shape as well as the seals inside of them. I'm going to strip the factory clear coat and polish them.

I got both rims polished and the rims sandblasted. Next is to powder coat the spokes black and the rims the same color my tank and seat will be (a nice vintage red similar to the stock tank color). It's getting nice out and I'm getting excited about riding it.

it looks great, Rich! I'm jealous!

Just got my Motobits rearsets in yesterday! They are really nice, high quality. So i am going to fab some mounts for them and weld them on the frame then the frame should be ready for blasting and powder coating.

My wheels should be re-laced by the end of the week.

More pictures to come!

Ok have a little bit of an update, just got my wheels laced back up and am really happy with the results. I powder coated the rims red and the spokes black. Then i polished the center hubs and the spoke nipples. I think it looks pretty cool.



Then i decided that i didn't want to reuse the stock battery box. I found a nice sealed lead acid battery that is small enough to lay on its side under the seat with a little tray I made.





The battery is only a 5 Ahr 12v battery rather than the 9 Ahr stock battery but i think is should work just fine. I also have the rearset brackets made and i just need to weld those and the battery tray in then the frame is ready to be powder coated.

It is looking great, Rich. I really like the silver frame (final coat?), and the wheels look superb!

I think I would feel better having a "dry" battery (AGM) lying on it's side than a sealed battery with acid inside. Your beautiful paint!

The frame has not been coated at all. Its still the factory paint with bare steel welded to it. I just got the rearset mounts welded on so its finally getting blasted this thursday and powdercoated friday.

I messed up, it is a AGM style battery, so leaking shouldn't be a problem.

Just signed up to this forum, and I'm really digging this build...I posted an intro thread earlier about re-taking possesion of my very first streetbike, a CB350, and also a CB450...Ben trying to decide whether to build the 350 as close to factory as I can, or a cafe build-up...I had made up my mind to to the factory stock, until seeing this project coming together..Looking really great so far...That shot of the engine all done is incredible!!...

BTW...Both you guys are right in my neck of the woods...I'm just outside of Laporte Indiana...

I was looking at the polish job on your fins and it beats mine hands down-how was it done?

cb200, it was done on a polishing wheel. It took a long time to do but i think the results where worth it.

Here are a few pictures of my progress.

Just got my new tires mounted:


And just pulled the frame out of the oven:


Next I am going to pull apart the front forks, powder coat them and rebuild as well as the rear shocks. Then i should have everything except a few misc parts powder coated. Hopefully I can start building the bike then.