Some Assembly Required

I figured it was time to post some garage updates. Things have not slowed down and the garage continues to be just as active as it has always been. So busy that it is hard to put down the tools in order to update the blog. Well today is the day that I was able to upload a pile-o-pics to show what kind of work has been taking place on the 1965 Honda CB160 rebuild.

The last update showed that the bike finally got torn down and the fabricating continued to take place. Eventually it got to the point where I had to direct my attention to the bodywork and painting. Both things that I do not have a high level of confidence in performing. However I have no choice. My goal is to prove to myself that a decent bike can be built all within the confines of my 4 garage walls. So I trek on and tackle the aspects that require a certain amount of learning on my part.

I finally was able to paint all the components. I spent an entire weekend setting up my collapsible paint booth and spraying everything that required paint. It was a huge step that I completed and which also got me 1 step closer to the reassembly phase.

So I have posted the pictures and provided captions to help show what I have been up to over the past couple of months. Things continue to move along and progress is smooth. Enjoy the show.

The lower triple initially had the steering lock tumbler mount cast into it. My original plan was to keep the steering lock however the tumbler was to far gone to save therefore I opted to remove all evidence that it ever existed. I cut and ground the casting off on in the center of the triple. In order to mount my aftermarket steering stabilizer I needs to mill a flat surface on the triple for the stablizer bushing to mount flush on. My mill chuck was to big to get the job done so I used the drill press to clean up the surface.

The stabilizer mounting threads were stripped out so I ended up performing a thread repair. Years ago I got onto Time-Sert kits and have fallen in love with them. I will never go back to a Helicoil again.

In a previous posting I outlined how I was going to use a GPS based speedo signal. Part of the reason for doing so was to eliminate the front speedo drive cable. With no cable I no longer need the speedo drive which mounts onto the front axle. Since the drive also acts as a spacer I needed to machine a new spaacer to take its place. I could have made a fairly plain, yet functional, drive fairly quickly however I wanted to give the new component some good looks. I opted to machine a rounded, concave, cosmetic groove into it using my rotary table and my mill.

A pile of shredded aluminum was what I was left with once I was content with the groove depth.

The remainder of the adapter was finished up on the lathe.

On the left is the original speedo drive and on the right is the freshly machined spacer intended for taking the drives place. Still needs powder coating.

Back in the sixties Honda built there bikes using a JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) thread pitch for all of their bolts. Some of the thread pitches were different then what eventually became an industry standard years later. The 5mm bolt is one of the threads that changed. Since I updated many of the fasteners on the bike I opted to update the thread pitches as well. I installed a couple of industry standard 5mm Time-Serts in the throttle housing so that I could now use readily available SS socket head bolts.

So with much of the fabrication work completed it was time to shift my focus to paint. The frame mods had all been done and therefore it was time to start the paint prep work. As much as I like to keep all my work “in-house” I opted to send the frame out for blasting. The simple fact is that I could not fit the frame in my blast cabinet and I was not about to blast it outside as the mess is not worth it. The company that performed the blasting did a great job.

Bodywork is not one of my strong points however it was not going to happen on its own so I just sucked it up and did it. Once I got into it the progress clipped along at a good pace. The aftermarket fiberglass components purchased from Glass From The Past were in good shape. There were some minor pinholes that required touch up using glazing putty.

I had forgotten to trim the fender mounting holes prior to tearing the bike down. I was forced to temporarily rebuild the front end in order to trim the fender up to ensure it would be centered on the front wheel.

Here are all the components (minus the frame) that are going to recieve the paint. All ready to go into the paint booth.

I am shooting 2 colors. Some of the components will be getting sprayed with Hot Rod flat black and the tank and seat pan will get some color put on them.

With the primer coat applied I was able to confirm the fibergalss parts were in very good shape.

I had missed a few pinholes on the seat pan during my initial prep. Since the pan is such a huge player in the look of the bike I opted to touch things up and respray the primer before it went in for the base coat.

Here is the frame and front fender hanging in the paint booth with a fresh coat of flat black applied. No runs!

The retro brown color was mixed up and the tank and seat pan were about to come alive.

The brown sprayed on great. Each component got three coats of top coat. The plan is not to apply a clear coat as the vintage/retro look is what I am going for.

The lighting in the paint booth is great for painting but not so good for photography. At least you can see the results of the sprayed tank.

I am very happy with the seat cowl, it looks like glass.

After a weekend of work I was able to get all my components painted. Here are all the flat black components. I will post more on the colored parts later.

With the painting complete I still had to make a few more powder coating runs. Here is yet another pile of components getting coated.

I opted to powder coat the swing arm instead of painting it. Powder coating is so much more durable. I was intially concerned that my flat black powder coat may be a slightly different shade then the Hot Rod flat black sprayed onto the frame. It turns out the colors are incredibly close to the point were you can’t see a difference.

Some parts fogged with powder prior to baking.

Here is one pile of completed poweder coated parts.

With 90% of the refinishing complete there was nothing left to do but reassemble. The steering head recieved all new, OEM Honda, inner/outer races and ball bearings.

The rear wheel recieved a new 38 tooth aluminum sprocket from Sprocket Specialists.

Swing arm installed.

Rear sets installed.

Rear wheel and rear suspension in.

Finally got the bike to stand on one leg.

Front end is installed and now the bike waits for the engine (sitting on the bench). I had previously fabricated a different kick stand which bolts to the lower engine case therefore the bike won’t have a “third leg” until the engine is in.

With the help of a couple of friends we were able to slide the engine in place creating no damage in the process.

So here it is, progress keeps going. I continue to go full steam ahead. I will try and not wait so long to get the next installment of the 65Revive project posted. Stay tuned.