1980 cb400 budget cafe project

Well I bought this machine as a non runner for the princely sum of £150



got it started today and started tearing it apart.

Here's my first effort at some form of fab work for the seat unit and side panels which will be in chequer plate. Just need to sort out the hump and battery box along with the wiring. Then I can strip it all down and get it cleaned up proper.

£150 quid is a bargain there mate sound basis for a café racer aswell. you say its a non runner, any idea whats up with her, does the engine turn over ?

Bike is running after some new fuel carb clean and the nuts and barley removed from the airbox! Last tax disc 2005 so pretty impressive that it run smoothly if it's been off the road for 9 years

Some progress with the bike, completely stripped, frame chopped, cleaned and rust treated, painted and all brackets not needed have been removed. Seat unit mocked up ready for fibreglassing. Next up is the swing arm and the forks.

coming along nicely kerzo seat unit looks pretty good shape, is it all ally ? and where've you decided to put the battery?

The seat is the original plastic one botched up with expanding foam and shaped a bit. I'm going to have to think about the battery again now I've decided on this style of seat rather than a standard "hump" one, once I get the fibreglass seat made I'll see it there's any room under the rear end.

a firm called Odyssey make real small battery replacements if your stuck for space, they're tiny bit pricey but they are gel filled so can go in any orientation too.

Some progress getting made on the bike, sorry for the multiple posts, couldn't get it to accept all the pics at once

Last one

comin along nicely. what condition was the swing arm in, I did one similar once and had to re-weld the gusset part... was well rotten

It seemed pretty solid to be honest, however now you've mentioned it I'll be having a damn good look over it.

Finally replaced the headstock bearings today and put the engine in the frame. It's slowly taking shape, still not decided on the battery position yet.

A wee update, exhaust mocked up, battery finally placed ( not the yellow one) air pods fitted and it's up and running again. Seem to have misplaced the choke cable though.

looking good m8. far cry from the rusty frame and old black engine you started with, bet it took a while to polish the cooling fins back to ally. Got a target date/run in mind ? or just .... when its done LOL (I was trying to get mine done in time for the ace café rockers run..... but ... well you know how it is... just when its done    LOL)

Lots of time spent cleaning the engine up! No target date set as yet, it's getting colder in the unheated and no electric supply shed so less time to tinker. Still need to weld up the exhaust and wrap it, finish the seat unit, sort out the front brakes and paint the whole thing..

I've been convinced by my daughter to go for a matt black paint finish and I'm picking up a different set of wheels for it at the end of the month too

Picked up my eBay bargain comstar wheels, with tyres and rear sprocket (0.01p) on Saturday, fitted them and they look good. Welded the exhaust up and wrapped the pipes with black heat wrap, found the choke cable but it's broken, so a new one ordered. The bike isn't running right though, too much air I think.

Had to cover the airpods with cloth to get it running, so another issue I'll have to overcome.

1p wheels    the carbs might need re-jetting because of the air pods to help it run smoother tho. how easy was the wrapping ? never done that myself

The wrapping wasn't to bad a job, a bit tricky as a one man job. A second pair of hands would have helped when tying off the joins.