Messages

@ noriders:
i have to ask, what is the deal with that front wheel/brake on the honda? im very intrigued.   

Front brake background as I understand it....Jap bikes in the 70s that had stainless discs struggled in the wet with brake performance. Italian bikes ran cast iron discs and were much better performing, however, iron discs looked cruddy when rusted up.
So, Honda designers came up with a complex hidden iron disc system, where the disc ran on the outside of the caliper, the caliper sat inside the disc centre so the entire assembly could be wrapped up in what looked like a drum brake cover with two vents that resemble old Brit bike TLS drum brakes.

This worked to some extent, but meant to drop the front wheel out the entire assembly had to be, largely, disassembled...a complete PITA.
I think there was only two models to carry this braking system, the baby CBX550 twin disc and the VT500 single disc.

Haha...yeah. Background as I understand it....Jap bikes in the 70 that had stainless discs struggled in the wet with brake performance. Italian bikes ran cast iron discs and were much better performing, however, iron discs looked cruddy when rusted up.
So, Honda designers came up with a complex hidden iron disc system, where the disc ran on the outside of the caliper, the caliper sat inside the disc centre so the entire assembly could be wrapped up in what looked like a drum brake cover.
This worked to some extent, but meant to drop the front wheel out the entire assembly had to be, largely, disassembled...a complete PITA.

I'd owned the baby CBX550 since 1996, it'd sat in various garages/covers for years, it's be started every 4-5 years, blessed is Mr Honda as it always fired right up with fresh gas and battery.

This model was something of a ground breaker, back in '81 and considered a sports bike in it's day. 572cc (hence the race number) twin cam, 4x carbs, rear air monoshock, front hydro/pneumatic anti dive forks, fuel gauge...etc

So, one day I was sat contemplating the world when the idea struck me to give my baby a lift.....I used the enclosed front brakes as the inspiration to make it look at least 10 years old than it's 1982 birthdate, something like an old Brit bike...

I think I've achieved this to some extent....at meets it always gets fellow bikers rubbing their chins and pointing...haha, I sit back and check them out as they try to figure WTF is this? :)

I'm hoping for the same reaction when the Suzonda hits the road.

Owned over 25 years......stock to not 4-5 years ago.







That's enough of that nonsense.....back to the Suzonda :)

Hey Wade, just jumped on to your build thread....nice work so far...along similar lines to my own Suzonda project in that a classic frame is engine swapped with modernised running gear :) the term 'great minds' echoes in my head.

Re: the tank....let's see it on the frame to scale it.....it all depends on what you're trying to achieve as the end result....a bitsa or replica, like Spoony stated I guess?

Thanx Czakky.....I'm so pleased this is in my garage at home as access is handy.

I hope to make regular updates from now on as I feel this islation situation will drag on a for a good few weeks yet.

We're hunkered down here, Oxfordshire UK and getting through each day.....just had my daily stroll exercise and shop in one.

I'm hoping for a metal delivery within a day or so, that'll see me getting on with the lower engine mounts and brake torque arm.

Think I'll look at the rear brake mount bracket and lever next....  ;D

Image just for something to look at...

Despite the virus situation and me feeling under the weather (not the virus) an update:

Andy, my neighbour, delivered on the engine rebuild...a briliant job that I knew he'd do.

One or two issues when we split the case down
1) GT and SB cranks are not the same. The GT has a tacho so requires a crank mounted gear cog.....this means the GT crank is aprox 12mm longer on the drive spigot end. A momentary set back until we realised the rebuilt SB crank I had will still fit the GT case...phew. I wasn't going to run a tacho  so didn't need the gear cog.
2) The kickstart mechanism on the GT engine wasn't fitted correctly so it would never have worked - fixed that.
3) The starter centrifugal mechanism was missing a good few parts - a new kit was ordered and installed.

Apart from those all was well, new pistons & rings, centre honed barrel, new clutch plates (there was an extra disc inside) and new case seals saw everything stitched up nicely.
We even span it up on the starter and it turned over a treat.





After a layoff I'm back in the saddle so to speak and having a go at finishing loose end jobs with an aim to have the engine mounted and rear end completed.

To that end I've carved out a pair of front upper engine mounts from 3mm alloy (soon to be 3mm steel)....came out OK given I used a hand held 1mm cutting disc angle grinder, my new pillar drill and bench belt sander.



I've ordered 100x50x3mm steel box section to fashion the lower front engine mounts I have an idea for, hope my idea works out?

I also cut a 37mm long rear axle spacer to finally tighten up the rear axle, the split pin hole lines up with the castle nut now so all good.



With the axle bolted up and can now focus on the caliper torque arm. I've chosen to use M10 threading with a rose joint on the swingarm mount and a simple U section to fix at the caliper mount end. The threading will be sleeved in steel tube with lock nuts of course.

Once I have the engine mounted securely I can then concentrate on the exhaust and the modified spigot I have to form.

Much more to do but this is a positive step after a short lay off.

Thanks for checking in :)

Engine build update:

It's been apart, found a couple of issues....kickstart mechanism wasn't installed correctly by previous builder and centrifugal mechanism in the starter clutch as missing parts.
A new kit cured the starter issue and a quick resiting of the kickstarter sorted the problem. I doubt I'd have spotted the kickstart problem....so kudos to Andy.



We had to use Wellseal on the generator case as no new gasket is available by all accounts?

As I'm going for efficient, but not overly polished, functional competition look I'll probably not paint the side cases. I've painted the primary sprocket case in the steel paint I use...but not done a 100% job, more of a quick blow over as it was rough.

What oil delivery feed lines should/could I use? I'll try my usual dealer, but anyone got a suggestion?

Thanks for checking in.

Quick update: Stuff's been happening, albeit slowly, but surely.

My bike building engineer of a neighbour, Andy has agreed to rebuild the GT200 engine...it's been a while since he got inside a 2stroke so he's intrigued.

I have an SB200 crank that I had rebuilt with new seal n bearings, ready to slot back in the SB case....however, since acquiring the GT200 lump I thought tio drop in the refurbed crank into the GT case...5x speed and electric start so why not?

Hmmm...got the engine split and pulled the GT crank only to discover the two are not the same....the GT crank is about 12mm longer on one side, the drive spigot as to accommodate the tacho gear, hence the extra length...but the SB doesn't have a tacho so no room on the drive spigot for the gear....rather than spend another £250 we've opted to use the SB crank and forego the tacho...I hadn't planned to run one anyway. Details....it's all in the details.

I'm hoping a newly rebuilt engine will spur me on to work on it again....life really is getting in the way...plus add in a hefty slice of 'can't be arsed' and I'm hoping to recover some enthusiasm. :)

Thank for checking in.

A day of good n bad news.....good news: My bike building neighbour, Andy, has popped round to check out the GT200 engine and agreed to help me rebuild it with my refurbished crank. Alls I got to do it clean the lump and get it to him next weekend....whoohoo 

Bad news: The supposed Honda CD175 headlight bowl and surround didn't fit the CD175 headlight pod I have......schoolboy error, I fitted a H4 bowl to the surround....and then found it didn't fit!! Gahh!!

The replacement upgraded Koito H4 bowl looked great, compared to the Stanley original.



...just a shame it didn't fit...bugger :(

I've gone for Valvoline 15W synthetic fork oil on the NSR125 JC22 forks....mainly because the bike can wear the Valvoline decal as the colours suit the overall intended paint job :)
Not a scientific choice but I did go for the heavier 15w grade.....fork oil is fork oil ain't it?

true. many ways to approach it, should be good. 

Well, it may appear slow but things are working out....a recent visit to a biker swap meet turned up quite a few goodies including an offcut of exhaust pipe that just might work.



The curves can be cut correctly to provide the curve I need....just need to find an oversized pipe to act as the flange retainer....felling this could work out.

In other news I have selected a pair of rear shocks at 400mm (15.3/4") long with the correct top and bottom eye dimensions to suit eh Honda frame 16mm and Suzuki swingarm 10mm.....I had thought the top mounting posts would need extending but they appear to fit nicely.





Also found a halogen H4 headlight bowl that could be made to fit the CD175 rim and housing....more on that.

Another option on a rear brake lever could work too.....



...and, this rightside starter/run/kill switch for £2 ($3) fits snugly and cleaned up nice. Works well with the Domino throttle too.



I plan to sit the fibreglass seat unit on rubber bobbins (exhaust style) fitted into Rivnuts in the subframe and bolted through to I have a rubber mounted seat......the unit needed setting up about 3/4" so these bobbins will work I reckon. Need something to support the rear of the seat unit now.
Two M10 rose joints will help form the rear brake torque bar, a bit of relieving, some threaded bar and they should be good to go?
Alloy bar/plate is for forward upper engine mount and various mounts like the rear brake master.



So, I have a way forward in quite a few areas....got to get the engine rebuilt asap.

Thanks for checking in.

Nice finds, I like the shape of that taillight
Wade

Yeah, not seen one ever before, I liked the smiley face, so haggled a £10 ($13) bargain and just might use it as it's a bit different and a bit retro ;) Spotted at least two others at the meet....figure that out 

This is starting to look very cool indeed  8)

Thank you. Is it my serpentine exhaust you're liking?

Snagged a good few bargains at Kempton Pk Bine Jumble (Swap meet for our American friends) so still on course, just slow progress.

Here's my stash


Alloy for brackets/mounts
New 400mm shocks with correct eye/eye dimensions. I know they're not the best but they'll do for now.




Funky rear light which may be used
Rubber bobbins to rubber mount the seat unit
Rose joints for the rear brake brace
Rightside starter/run/kill switch - nice n slim



Alternative brake lever
41.5mm Exhaust off cut with the correct bends for the collet extenders



Various other items which all amount to a very good day out.

A small but significant update....my neighbour, a prolific and experience bike builder/restorer/owner has agreed to build the GT200 lump in January with me helping. The best of both worlds as I really wasn't looking forward to doing it myself....now at least I can say I had my hands in it. 

I shall now refine/finish the engine mounts in readiness, amongst other jobs. The engine rebuild is a major part (obvs) and I can rest easy knowing it'll be in good hands.

Think I might get on with the frame clean up now as well.