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GB400 Café Racer Project


Duke Blackwood

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This is my 1986 Honda GB400 Café Racer project bike.

The GB is an ideal candidate for a Café Racer because it has the styling right from the factory. My GB features the distinctive raised leather bubble tail seat, kick-start, spoked 18” wheels, large individual headlight and two into one exhaust. The bike is riddled with character, from the megaphone style muffler to the dry sump and wire braided oil lines; all tacked onto the simple air cooled single cylinder engine.

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As it stands however my bike is a bit rough, and a lot illegal…

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So the plan is to get it cleaned up and road legal before transforming it into the penultimate, un-compromising Café Racer.

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As everyone knows, no bike project is ever ‘finished’. I’ve decided however to put a timeframe on the bulk of my modifications: the bike has to be ready by February next year in time for the ‘Bikes, Blues & Hot Cars’ show in New Plymouth. This event will serve as the showdown between my GB and my brother, anglia4s’ CB650. He has had a major head start, so expect to see developments rolling out of the Blackwood shed in the near future.

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I’m in the process of making a plan for my first Café racer build. This IS an appeal to the members of Oldschool, what are your thoughts…

I want to do something that’s quite traditional, but with improved performance. I’m not interested in making too many compromises for ride-ability or practicality and I’m not too worried about chopping up an original bike. The 400 isn’t that collectible anyway and if me making it the way I like saves it from the wreckers than that’s got to be a good outcome. So…

Confident future Mods:

- Underbelly exhaust (Header wrapped, like the one picture below)

- Aftermarket Seat Cowl (Purchased)

- Pod Filter (like the one picture below)

- New rear shocks

- Rear mudguard removed

- Engine painted black

- Original seat, tank and bars

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Desired Mods:

- An XR600 engine transplant (To give it more mumbo, although I am concerned about having to kick-start a 600 single… I’m a useless kick-starterer)

- Fatter rubber…?

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Discussable Mods:

- Paint scheme

- Modern sport bike front end (Way down the track)

- Dash cluster/headlight

- Front mudguard?

- Remove side panels?

At this stage I’m tossing up between three paint options:

Ron Burgundy – A dark, sparkly, burgundy tank and cowl, with the rest black.

Red & Black – Left side black, right side red, separated by an off centre chequered stripe down the tank and cowl. The right side of the tank and cowl would have a racing number.

Carbon Copy – A dark carbon fibre fluid coating on the tank, cowl and headlight, with gold stripes around the edges mimicking that new Norton Commando pictured above.

http://www.fluidcoatings.co.nz/

I’m really keen to hear any suggestions for alternative styling themes, Mods or colours.

Of course before touching any of this I need to restore the original tired components…

- Electric starter repair

- Sort out the wiring so that indicating right doesn’t result in every single light on the bike blinking

- Make the brakes work, seriously, they don’t work

- New battery

- New Rubber

That should see it rocking and rolling, legally.

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wow, cool bike man!! if it were me I would just take off the bulky indicators etc fit small led ones. remove rear mud guard and chrome grab handles. fit a way smaller front guard. Matt black everything incl wheels and olive drab the tank and other blue bits.

just my opinion, keep in mind that iv never owned anything this cool

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So I spent some time in the shed this avo with the goal of making the front brakes and starter motor work...

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One rooted screw in the master cylinder slowed me down, but I pressed on and bled the brakes... onlt to find that they still suck. The disk wont pass a VIN anyway so I'm up for a new one, pads too.

From there I turned my attention to this

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Which came out of here... what a fiddly nightmare.

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The starter is different to the one detailed in my manual (GB500) so that was no use.

The brushes and continuity looked good so I didn't know what else to check.

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The whole operation was overseen by this guy

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But he lost interest...

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So I rang Anglia4 who told me to test it in the vice with a jump starter pack.

Sparks.

It failed the test. So now i'm out for parts and in the mean time the bike looks like this.

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This page has had over 100 views but only one reply from someone who isn't related?

Don't be shy, tell me what you think, sooner or later I'll have to paint this thing!

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Mean plans, I was looking at a GB500 awhile back, they make a good base, but I think I would rather a twin.

Def need to either remove the front guard, or fit a smaller one without the yuck girder bits.

Loose indicators, and tidy the rear end up.

Keen to see progress

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Toucan: I'd rather a twin too, for more character and more power, but so far I haven't even spent $1,000 and you can't argue with that! Smaller indicators are on the way but i'm still not sure about that guard... some people like the girders, theyre rustic.

Kirk: Thanks, i'll bet you have nice hair too, but i'm not painting my bike grey haha

Rookie: Lowering and Clip ons are a definite maybe, but as for rearsets I have had a brainwave. I have two seat pans, the one pictured but also a nasty thick flat one. I will have the flat one re-upholostered thinner with Banded leather strips, keeping the passenger footpegs, and that way I only need to do two bolts and I can take my partner :)

(This is not a compromise, she doesn't even like the bike haha)

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I'm a fan of these, I had one as a teenager and used to burn around the local backroads on it, all rebel/unlicensed spec. It too, was a lot illegal but I guess it didn't matter.

Always wanted to jam an early Yamaha RD twin into one of the frames, they have those nice curved cases and barrel that I think would look so good. Then again, that could be idiocy.

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i like your pony tail and i think you should paint it mazda rx8 grey

agree about pony tail only.

put some decent bars on it ( clip on's? is that what the short ones that bolt to forks are called?) and don't refit that horrible bad end mirror.

also trim front guard and remove girder. leave starter off- sweet weight reduction.

and take off EVERYTHING not necessary for one person to ride it.

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leave starter off- sweet weight reduction.

I don't think it needs the starter either. It really is bloody easy to start, just need to work on your technique!

Always looks more badass going to leave the pub when you kick start your bike (although not if you stand there for ages beating up your shins)

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  • 1 month later...

So, I haven't been keeping this thread up to date, but I have been quietly beavering away at the bike and saving for parts.

The first major hurdle is getting it vinned, so I'm ticking off the list of small jobs before making my modifications.

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That is the drive gear and behind it you can see a new wire running to the Neutral indicator light. It is perilously close to the gear, which makes it pretty obvious what happened to the original wiring. Sorting this out took bloody ages, but now all my dash lights work, including the four backlighting lamps which had all blown.

The rogue indicator behaviour turned out to be due to the fact that the bike actually has running lights housed inside the giant amber indicators. So with new lamps these functioned ligitimately also.

I have aquired a Mikuni Flatslide carburretor which I have reconditioned, ready to install after vinning, along with a new plug and air filter.

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Here we have a brand new rear drive sprocket, brand new aftermarket brake disc ($300 worth!) and some awful cheap handgrips which I will not be using.

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The rear hub looks to be just within it's maximum runout tollerance so that's good. It has new shoes waiting to be installed.

It's always the little jobs that prove to be big hold ups and the obscure clutch lever mounting screw which my bike is missing proves to be no exception. It will take three weeks to arrive from Japan.

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Other jobs before vinning include a new rear tyre (Standard size Metzeller $180), new battery and maybe fixing the speedo.

That's assuming I don't need to fix the electric starter. I've tried another second hand starter which works in the vice but not in the bike so I don't know what the problem is.

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Desired Mods:

- An XR600 engine transplant (To give it more mumbo, although I am concerned about having to kick-start a 600 single… I’m a useless kick-starterer)

Do it. They are not that bad at all, once you get used to them and the manliness to onlookers is worth 20bhp easy. Mind you, my PE400 could kick back like a bitch and more than once I was hopping round the garage forecourt swearing into my (crash) helmet.

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Agree with the man points for kick starting!

I don't think the 4 strokes would back-fire quite like the big 2's! Our dad used to have a CR500 and nearly broke his foot trying to start it in gum-boots, he only made that mistake once!

The carb cleaned up nice steve. And I just noticed that your exhaust is really similar to the ones I got at the swapmeet.

Man I hope they are loud /they probably aren't :(

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