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 Though it appear to be another one of my drunken brainstorms turned money-sucking project, this is actually a practical solution to a serious problem. Problem is, I can't ride due to a badly hammered foot/ I'm crutch-bound for a couple more months, so I figured this would get me riding. I picked up the CB750K6 locally, stripped off the extra-large chrome lighting, and gave it a proper black suede & pins rat rod paint job. The pimp gold wheels came off my other CB750 when it got modern 17" running gear. Sure the rims would look better black, but I had these hanging around and I was in a hurry. I'll powdercoat them over the winter, I swear. The car is a stock Velorex 700, Not my first choice, but it was available when I needed it. More pics: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
 The latest project (The "Before" Pic") - one mild-mannered SV650 ready to be turned into the SuperMoto From Hell. I'm going add some real suspension (say 8" of travel in each corner), some Dunlop 616's, an RM250 rear subframe, seat, & fender, moto bars, etc. When I'm done I should have an 80HP motard -or- a pile of unrideable junk. As my Dad used to say when I'd describe one of my half-assed ideas: "we'll see"....
The "After" Pic, sort of - this is the general concept of what I plan on ending up with, with the addition of a modern USD front end and 17" motard wheels. Coolio.....  Yeah, it built it, and yeah, it works. I just wanted to take the moto to the trailhead. Ride to Ride, as it were. The only downside is cops just can't seem to leave me alone....  1993 Honda XR650L Dual Sport Project (SOLD) OK, it's offical. I have a problem, well, actually couple of problems with big Honda XR's. I can't own just one, and I can't leave them alone once I get one in the garage.... Pics & Project Update The 1970 Honda CB750/836cc Never Ending Project a.k.a. The Red Rocket has been in my garage since the summer of 1976 when at the ripe age of 17 I bought what I figured was the Baddest Honda in Town.  I was all set to buy a new KZ900
when this bike became available. It had a
full-on 836cc Action Fours/PowRoll big-bore motor and had been built by
local Honda guru and as-of-yet-still-unconvicted large livestock molester Tom "Turbo" Carlson. Carlson worked for my employer at the time,
Hector's Cycle Sales, and got his rep by building the sickest
Jap fours and Honda thumpers in the greater Jamestown, NY area. I understand he's become a motor geek of national
reputation in quad racing circles.As much as I hate to admit it (even 30 years later), I bought that particular bike because it had "TC" stamped on the cases. I hope Carlson hasn't figured out how to use a computer. If he reads this I'll never hear the end of it.
Anyway, besides that monster motor, the only
mods the bike had were a Kerker 4/1 pipe and updated bodywork from a CB750K4. So that's Rev 1.0 - how this nearly 30
year project started. It's currently at Rev 5.0 and counting....
Click Here for pics of Rev 1.0 - Rev 5.0
The Land Yacht - 1967 Airstream Overlander restration project & future Baja Beach Cottage. Scenes from Laguna Seca - The AMA/World Superbike Weekend: The world's fastest 50cc bikes: Pic 1 | Pic 2 | Pic 3 The new Nortons (SWEET): Pic 1 | Pic 2 Nicky Hayden's MotoGP ride: Pic 1 | Pic 2 Representing Hector's Sales, Inc: Pic 1 | Pic 2 The XR650RR StreetFighter project is pretty much done. Here's an update as of June 3, 2004: The mod list:
The XR is a mongrel, but man, does it work.
Front End Swap Details:
The question I get asked most often is why not F2/F3 forks? Well, the Hawk forks are pretty much identical to F2 forks, but only have a caliper mount on one side. Since I was planning on only using a single 320mm rotor anyway, the Hawk forks were fine (and usually cheaper than F2's). F2 or f3 forks would work fine also.
The light bar is a garage fabbed part with a pair of 4" 55w H3 driving lights hanging on it. the flyscreen is a standard Maier flat number plate trimmed to fit around the lights and bend into a more aero shape by forming it around a 1/8"x1"x8" aluminum bar. I also added the wiring box as a way of cleaning up the spagetti and as a place to hold the idiot lights. I'll also mount the bicycle speedo to the top of the box.
Rear Wheel: The F2 uses a 20mm axle while the XR has a 17mm setup. I figured it would be easier to adapt the F2 wheel to the XR axle & swingarm. All it took was a trip to NAPA where a little perusing the bearing catalog produced a bearing with the same OD as the F2 unit, but with a 17mm ID. Too easy - check it out here. After paying NAPA $27 each for the bearings I found them on mcmaster.com for $9 each. Damn those retail bastards! Oh well, too late now.
With the right bearings and a couple of custom axle spacers the XR rear caliper & disc mount bolt right up to the F2 wheel. Both bike use a 220mm rear rotor - what a break.
The drive side was a little more complicated. Basically, the cush drive needs to be about 13mm narrower than stock. My local machine shop did the trick on the end lathe. Ufortunatety you end up losing the outside wheel bearing whose sole purpose is to catch the left axle spacer on one side and hold the cush drive in the wheel on the other. Without the bearing to hold it on the wheel, you have to permanetly weld the cush to the hub. You also have to make a low-profile rear sproket assembly, as the stock studs will hit the swingarm. I had the sprocket mount holes countersunk, and had the hub tapped out for 1/2"-20 flat head allen screws, since 12mm-1.25 flatheads are impossible to find. So far the chain line is good with a 150 rear (a 160 hits sidewall to chain) and everything seems OK.
Cosmetics: I added the new XR600R side covers. This involved relocating the battery to the airbox & switching to a UNI pod air filter. I also added a Clarke 4.1 gallon tand (now I can go more than 60 miles without thinking about where the next gas station is) & some custom N-Style moto graphics and am pretty happy with the result. All that's left is stripping it and getting the frame powdercoated red - likely a winter 04/05 project
I also dumped the old SuperTrapp for a ProCircuit T4 pipe. Sounds good. Looks great.
At this point the project status is "Done" & that puts me that much closer to the very real possibility of a revoked license. So far, so good.
RECENT PICS: >The SuperMorons loose on Skyline | SuperMorons 2 | SuperMorons 3 | Left side - new XR600R side panels | Front shot with new Clarke tank & custom N-Style graphics | Right Side | ProCircuit T4 Pipe | Rear shot
Need more XR butchery? See my buddy Andy's XR650L project pics here: www.smokingtoaster.com.
Pics of the new track bike: side |
swingarm | CBR600F3 front end | pipe | pipe view 2 | tail | pipe view 3 |
pipe view 4
CB750K1 Pics: That's Better! | Clean & complete CB750K1 |
The horror! (Blame the previous owner) | Hooker Header 1 | Hooker Header 2 | Side View | Chrome, baby!
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Getting the F2 triples onto the XR frame was interesting. The XR's top steering head bearing was OK, but the bottom required a bearing with a larger ID & no available tapered bearing would work. I ended up finding an industrial thrust bearing with the right dimensions. It's not as burly as a good tapered bearing, but it works OK.
