The Inspiration

Wrenchmonkees are a fantastic bunch of 'Denmarkians' based in Copenhagen.  They specialise in 'Brat Style' custom rebuilds of fantastic motorcycles such as Norton's, Triumph's, Kawasaki's and of course CeeBee's!
Shameless plug: http://www.wrenchmonkees.com/

I first fell in love with this bike below.  Exactly what I want!

 It has all the details that I want.  Flat seat, wide motorcross style handle bars, minimal instruments, shortened rear end, and pod filters on the carbs.  These guys really know how to make a sleek looking Brat/tracker style bike. 

 Some of their better bikes, hide the battery from the triangle part of the frame, so as to make it completely open.  There are some tricks like, using tiny lithium ion batteries etc, but, that means major work to the electrics, and, probably bump starting the bike, as the batteries only have enough juice for the instruments etc. I dont' want that.  Simple and not too much of a diversion fromt the stock electrics is for me.  I also love the electric leg.  Vintage motorcrosser's can keep the kick starter and bump starting!

 No doubt, to get through a roadworthy, I'll have to have some sort of longer rear fender, but you have to love the details they get away with over in the land of cheese and icecream!

There are many copy cat custom shops out there, but as far as I know, Wrenchmonkees 'pioneered' the Brat style as you see it here.  I love it.  So thanks WM for the inspiration.

The Sodablaster

What to do with all the painted and or extremely grungy parts that I want to resurrect?  Blast them!  How? I don't have a sandblaster, and, mostly I think they are too harsh anyway, so, a quick google and youtube search, exposes me to Sodablasting.

You can make you own.  Its easy, and really cheap.  Mine cost me $12 all up with 4 boxes of ammunition (baking soda).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UEGXwLUH24
And for a demonstration of its uber-ness -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd8yqFJkn6A

I built it and went through 4 boxes of ammo.  Result? You get covered in white soda, and it does a pretty dam good job cleaning up alloy parts that had scale and gunge on it. Fantastic.  I wanted to strip the paint off my fork lowers, the engine etc. The poor lil' sodablaster, couldn't touch it.  In fairness, it does actually work, just very slowly, and you would need about 20cubic meters of soda to finish the job.  Fantastic for cleaning up small parts etc.  Though, I'll stick to my wire brush and elbow grease.

Myth... 1/2 BUSTED!

The Grind

First things first.  Lose the centre stand and the side panel tags.  No problems... a quick hit with the grinder, and she'll come up a treat.  WRONG!  Try around 4 hours of grinding and hand filing - not all in one hit as is true to my form though.  15 mins here, 15 mins there, 5 mins before I jump into the car for work.

Ugh.  Hand filing is the pits. But comes up a treat. 

Next problem.  Welding new bits on.  I have access to a MIG and an ARC welder, but the owner, unfortunately can weld, but not good enough for the CB.  And me? Never welded in my life.  Does soldering speaker wires count?

A call to my friendly local crash repair/ frame straightener/ custom workshop, reveals somewhere between $440 and $800 should get me what I want done to the frame. 


The idea?  Satin black epoxy paint, a hoop welded to the subframe, tags for a rear fender and 'inner guard', and maybe a little stiffening here and there.  The rear end of the bike should end up looking like the CRD (Cafe Racer Dreams) bike below. 

The Strip

This is my first ever rebuild project.   So, taking to my new pride and joy, with white knuckled brute strength and shiney new ring spanners, I was definately a little aprehensive at first.  I decided on a plan, and set my self small goals, and proceeded to remove some wiring and whatnot for the lights etc, after pulling the hideous 35kg seat and luggage rack off.

It started to come apart very quickly.  Nothing like a car.  I thought to myself that it could easily be pulled down in a matter of hours. And, low and behold, time split over a week and a bit, it was pulled down in a matter of hours.

The thing that suprised me the most, was just how agricultural everything is, and, heavy.  Terrible hand done welds, mis-aligned frame pipework, tractor running board style footpegs weighing in at a metric ton!   The engine had me in histerics, just basking in its shoddily painted, over sized heft.   I, of course, with no means of making things easy, or, even an extra pair of hands, bumbled along pulling bolts out till that "ooh, I've pulled a few too many bolts out now..." moment swiftly followed by the "shoot, looks like the engine is coming out!" so, I wedged an old computer subwoofer, (the only thing with in leg reach whilst arms were stretching laden with the engine's mass) under the engine, and proceeded to do my best to give myself a hernia.  That engine, must weigh well over 100kg.  Just incredible.

I skidded it to a safe place on a piece of carpet and sat, sore, exhausted from my 10mins of hard labour, with arm pump and a throbbing sensation in my lower back.  I pondered.  Looking back and forth from my 2010 Gixxer, to the CB's air cooled heart that sat in front of me.  The Gixxer's 750 donk, is about 2/3 the width, 2/3 the height, 1/2 the weight, and, yes.... over TWICE the horse power!

Got to love technology.

Now what?  The thinking begins.  Who, What, When, Where, and How, am I going to attack this frame, and how am I going to design the new rear fender etc....

The Beginning

Before I strip, a few pics are a must.  The ol' CeeBee is certainly an ugly beast in OEM trim.  Urgh.  Funny how styles have changed and evolved :)  How streamlined, light and sporty are the 'sports bikes' now!?

Pretty much complete, and mostly standard, save for a 'sports 4 into 1 exhaust', some non OEM replacement parts and a god aweful repair paint job and matching sticker applied graphics to the tank, she stands, a picture of sporting history in all its weighty glory.

The Find

 So I knew what I wanted.  I just had to find it.  After trolling the internet, 'Just Bikes', the classifieds etc, for some time, I found the perfect bike.  1 owner from new.  Been sitting in a shed in country Victoria for the last 2 years.  Sadly, the old guy that owned it, passed away a couple of years ago, and his '79 sat, tyres deflated, with a tarp over it, in the 'good shed'. He also had a '77 SOHC, that someone else was looking at to purchase, the exact same weekend, that I enquired about the '79.!  Small world!

Anyways, what more could I want.  No rust to speak of, was running up until, the ol' fella passed.  It was complete, mostly original, and cheap.  SOLD!  So apart from a few dodgey photos used to advertise it, I bought it sight unseen.

So yeah, it has 81,000kms on it, but here's hoping, she is ok.  Looks not bad!

 What now?  Get it to QLD!  Do the ring around, and found a local Brisbane motorcycle transport company called 'Bikes Only'.  Thanks to guys, they brought it up in a jiffy, and I picked it up on Friday afternoon.  I was so excited... D could hardly keep me from jumping up and down.  Below, a pic of CeeBee loaded bound for home. :)

The Idea

Last September, I sat, moping one sunny weekend, with nothing to do. D says to me, "Lets go get you a motorbike".  It had been 5 years since my last bike.  Reluctantly, arm twisted, and forced into the car, I went to the nearest Suzuki dealer, to umm... 'look at bikes'.  Swung a leg over the new 2010 Gixxer 750, in a 'brown' livery.  I call it Coke coloured.  Took a 600 for a squirt round the block, came back with an almighty grin on my face.  That, combined with the fact that the 750 came in the colour of my favourite drink, D said, ".... now get in there and see the finance man mista!" (or something along those lines.... ) And the rest, until a few months ago is, as they say history.  I love my wife.

The Gixxer is a fantastic bike.  I love it.  However, there's something missing.  Is it too good?  Too smooth? Too powerful? Not powerfull enough? Too bone shaking? Not Italian?  I couldn't put my finger on it, but, I found myself pondering a change.  To a new bike, something with 'character'.  I bounced back and forth, from turning the Gixxer into a streetfighter, to a new Aprilia Tuono V4R, to a ....  Needless to say, D grew a little tired of my flibberty jibbert thoughts.  As always, she had a light bulb moment.  "...You need to keep the Gixxer as is, and get a project bike".

HA!  Hallelujah! Thats it!  So... the quest for a project began.  It needed to be tough.  It needed to be 'cool'.  also needed to be uber cheap, and have readily obtainable parts.  And lastly, needed to be desireable on the market.

Long story short. The choice was simple.  An early Honda CB750.   The quintessential 'Worlds first Superbike'. Inline 4.  Decent horsepower (half that of the Gixxer!) Reliable.  Awesome.  Butt ugly.  Everyone seems to do the SOHC models, up to 1979.  A very common Cafe Racer custom platform.  Common, yes.  Goodlooking?  HELL NO!. Ugh.  However...1979 brought a new breed.  The DOHC models.  The bike itself, still butt ugly, but the engine, to me, looks amazing.  Much 'tougher' than the SOHC, and, more horsepower! Done!  I know what I want.

The quest. To do a custom 'Brat style' or 'Tracker' style rebuild.  Ground up.  Bring on the bike - the first of the DOHC's.  A 1979 Honda CB750KZ.