Curves And Flats Are Where It's At

As my self imposed deadline of the end of July quickly approaches, most of the fabrication work has been done.  The tank and seat have been made and mounted to the bike.  We are currently working on the mounts for the rearset foot pegs.  The last item will be a license plate bracket and then the rest of the work is mine.  I am going to have lots of cleaning, sanding and painting to do over the next month.

I've decided not to show the whole bike until I'm done, but here are some teaser shots of the tank, seat and the new mount for the tank and seat.  Oh, and the electronics tray under the seat hump.

What the buck?

So my welder and I didn't have the same vision when it came to the tank, so he asked me to make him a wooden buck for him to form the tank on.  I designed what I wanted with the CAD software I use at work and then used that to make templates to cut and shape the wood.  It took a little while, but at least the tank and seat will look exactly how I want them.  I will be dropping them off today so he can start working on them.

The Design

Making the Buck
My dad glued up some pine boards and then we cut out the general shape (using templates from my CAD model) using a really big band saw.  I then used a large file and a sander to get it to the final shape.  I made cardboard templates to help be get the corner radii right and keep things consistent.

The Finished Product

The final tank won't have a pointed front because it will be cut out for the frame tunnel.  Also, the seat will be trimmed to match the profile of the tank where they meet.  The flat part of the seat buck is actually a little long so we can trim it to fit.

Here is the lonely engine waiting for a bike to call home

and the three tanks that didn't make the cut

Less Talk More Action

Now that the progress is out of my hands and into someone else's, things are actually happening. Got a new bracket for the coils and condenser fabbed up. Modified the gauge bracket so the ignition switch could be mounted up top. Now the tank and the seat are getting made. I had originally planned on modifying a CB750F tank, but after we realized the tunnel wouldn't fit down on the 450 frame, we decided to take the plunge and just make a new tank from scratch. (I think my welder just wanted to try his hand at making a tank). So, here are some pics of the progress.

Tanks A Lot

I got another tank. So now I have three. I'm hoping this is the one. It is a 1978 cb750f tank that I paid too much for and was apparantly sitting out in a salvage yard because the front corners are almost rusted through. Luckily that is on the bottom and can be fixed and hidden. So I stuck it on the bike to see how it looks. It is BIG! I think it is twice the size of the original, but I like it. It was obviously not made for this frame, so a couple modifications will need to be done like modifying the rear attachment bracket so it sits down over the frame rails and is level. I'm also going to get some knee dents cut in and one other trick detail that will stay a surprise. My next step is to finish up the back wheel so I can get the bike over to the welder and we can get the tank positioned properly.

Nixon's Noel

So Christmas was good to me, or rather I should say Nixon. I got a bunch of parts including new clipons (handlebars), a small sealed battery that will go under the seat and some other parts that I am keeping as a surprise for her unveiling (whenever that is). I also got some other stuff sanded and ready for paint. I got the rear brake panel done as well as the new headlight. I am still working on the back wheel. I'm also still looking for cb750f tank (come on ebay!). To see how it would look, I printed out a full size picture of one and taped it too the bike. I think it looks more like what I want than the cb350f tank.