Cafe Racer Seat Pad

This morning Zach and I finished making the seat pads for the CB450 project. It was pretty easy overall, and I have enough material to do another set in case I don't like these. I also started to lay down some new fiberglass to the seat cowl (after I cut the back down a bit) to make the room for the rear tail light. I just put one thin layer down, that will be the foundation for the rest of the fiberglass and body work.

Seat Construction

I spent the entire day working on the seat bracket, and rear bodywork, and seat pads. I had the usual trips to Home Depot for metric bolts, got to make 2 or 3 of those each day now. I also picked up some nice material for the seat pads, and can't wait to glue them up tomorrow. The seat pad backs are all cut to size and the mounting screws are glued in and hardening over-night. The plan is to finish up the seat tomorrow, and then figure out how to mount the tail light and what to do with the license plate.

 

CB450 Rearsets

I spent the evening fabricating up my CB450 rearset mounts out of some 1/4" aluminum plate and stainless cap screws. I mounted the mounts onto the existing rear foot peg brackets, and then installed my Loaded Gun rearsets. Hopefully tomorrow I can mock up the rear brake rod, and see if the rear brake light switch is able to be hooked up. I also need to remove the stock rear brake arm (you can still see it in the pic above) by removing the center-stand. That should be fun. The seat frame is complete, but I still need to cut down the seat cowl, it is too long.

In Memoriam: Carroll Shelby

In Memoriam: Carroll Shelby 

 

 

Carroll Shelby has died.

 

The automotive icon whose innovation and influence spanned more than a half-century was 89.

 

Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market and American Car Collector, commented, "Carroll Shelby will be forever remembered as the man who single-handedly took the fight to Ferrari and beat them at their own game on their own race tracks. His spirit, his ingenuity and his ever-present sense of humor will be missed."

 

Shelby's early career as a successful racer, driving for Cadillac, Maserati and Aston Martin, concluded in 1959, the year he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He then turned his vision and drive to building cars.

 

Shelby fitted a Ford V8 into the AC Ace body, and the potent Cobra was born. Its continual refinements and ever more powerful engines were typical of Shelby's relentless pursuit of perfection. Over the years, Shelby worked closely with Dodge and Ford in the development of many performance cars, including the Dodge Viper and the long-running Ford Mustang Shelby line.

 

Shelby will be remembered not just as a racer and technological performance guru, but as a charismatic entrepreneur who was never afraid to risk it all. His by-any-means-necessary approach to innovation continually advanced the industry until his death.

 

Shelby is survived by his three children: Patrick, Michael and Sharon; his sister Anne Shelby Ellison; and his wife Cleo. For more about Shelby's life, click here. Donations to the Carroll Shelby Foundation are encouraged in lieu of flowers.

 

Cafe Racer Pinata

I've been so busy working on the cafe racer, I forgot to blog about it. Let's see, I finally got the new tires installed at the local Honda dealer, and now the bike is back on the ground again. I was calling it my "cafe-racer pinata", because it was hanging from my engine hoist for the past week. The tank has been stripped of paint, and then I got to work on the inside of the tank. I filled it with a box of drywall screws, and shook it up for 10 minutes, then followed it up with a nice acid wash. It was like new inside! Then I coated the inside with the Caswell epoxy tank sealer and let it dry. This stuff is awesome, and I know I will not have any leaks or issues with the tank now.

Today I installed the new chain, although I think I could have left an extra link in there, because it is just a bit short...hopefully it will stretch some. Then I fabricated up the brackets for the new mufflers, and put them on. Oh, I almost forgot about the new gators for the front forks, they look sweet! My seat pan came in, and I'll be working on that soon too.