Ok its decided, Im going to spice her up a bit

[redsoxvw]

OK I have committed to giving the old girl a "New Look". I was contemplating old bobber look, but for the ease of transformation (and to keep some functionality) Ive decided to go the cafe route.

I figure the engine runs flawless, its Got all the work that I would want done to it. ( 836 kit etc.....) So I might as well finish her off with a good look.

Thanks to a lot of guys on here (lots of inspiring work going on in here) It made my decision easy LOL.

I was hoping to spend the warmer days buying all the goodies, and the winter wrenching. Ive got the Mod bug pretty bad now LOL.

Im in the market researching some seats, I prefer the more square look tail piece

But my main goal right now is to get the tires all squared away. Im going spokes with it. I would like to keep some meat in the back, I currently have a 140/90/16 on there now.

I know Im limited with the factory spoke rim, my question is can I buy a wider rim from Buchannon or somewhere and lace it to the GS hub??? That would be great, but Id like to hear from the more seasoned guys on here.......about that........I will be posting a butt load of pics when I commence to wrenching.

Oh yeah heres a quick pic just to put a face in the thread LOL.....I value all the opinions on here, and look forward to a fun project

[Big T]

Rims are available in all sorts of widths

The question is, do you have clearance for the tire you want to use?

[Dave8338]

OK I have committed to giving the old girl a "New Look". I was contemplating old bobber look, but for the ease of transformation (and to keep some functionality) Ive decided to go the cafe route.

I figure the engine runs flawless, its Got all the work that I would want done to it. ( 836 kit etc.....) So I might as well finish her off with a good look.

Thanks to a lot of guys on here (lots of inspiring work going on in here) It made my decision easy LOL.

I was hoping to spend the warmer days buying all the goodies, and the winter wrenching. Ive got the Mod bug pretty bad now LOL.

Im in the market researching some seats, I prefer the more square look tail piece

But my main goal right now is to get the tires all squared away. Im going spokes with it. I would like to keep some meat in the back, I currently have a 140/90/16 on there now.

I know Im limited with the factory spoke rim, my question is can I buy a wider rim from Buchannon or somewhere and lace it to the GS hub??? That would be great, but Id like to hear from the more seasoned guys on here.......about that........I will be posting a butt load of pics when I commence to wrenching.

Oh yeah heres a quick pic just to put a face in the thread LOL.....I value all the opinions on here, and look forward to a fun project

That's the beauty of the spokes. As long as you have a hub, the rim width and diameter are, for the most part, up to you. Your main concern will be the width as you will be limited by the swing arm. Make sure to order your rim with the correct spoke count and lace away.

I myself like the look of a 4x10 40-spoke setup in a 21 inch. You may want to stick 17-19 for a Cafe look.

[redsoxvw]

Rims are available in all sorts of widths

The question is, do you have clearance for the tire you want to use?

I dont want to go obnoxiously big LOL, I would like to go 160 but would be happy keeping the 140 thats on there now......Here are a couple of pics of the clearance I have, The chain side It seems like I have miles of clearance, the brake side is a bit tighter.....Also is the support bar for the caliper notched out for the tire from the factory or is this something the PO did?? You can see the notch in the pic..........

PS.....can anyone guess what the old gem next to the right of my bike is????

[reddirtrider]

I've never seen the brake support notched like that so my guess is the P.O did it. You can do lots of stuff with that support - even throw it away and build another that has a bow in it for clearance.

[Don-lo]

Ps: Kz440 ltd?

[Guest]

How did you get the frame straightened out?

[dirtyfingers]

But my main goal right now is to get the tires all squared away. Im going spokes with it. I would like to keep some meat in the back, I currently have a 140/90/16 on there now.

I know Im limited with the factory spoke rim, my question is can I buy a wider rim from Buchannon or somewhere and lace it to the GS hub??? That would be great, but Id like to hear from the more seasoned guys on here.......about that........I will be posting a butt load of pics when I commence to wrenching.

It can be done. I was lucky enough to find 1 complete rear wheel locally with a custom 3.50x18 rim already on it. But a few of the spokes were busted. After I saw what Buchannans was asking for spokes (not to mention rim$) I found out it used the same length spokes as Harleys with "16 wheels. Much easier to find, cheaper, and even available in different styles, twisted. diamond cut, chrome, stainless, etc.

I liked it so much I had to build a matching front.

[redsoxvw]

reddirtrider,
Thanks for the input, I was pretty sure they weren't notched but its good to hear it from someone else as well......


Don-lo:
Nope.....no KZ440s over here LOL.......I will wait for two more guesses then I will spit it out


chef1366:
I had an old timer frame guy look at it (a couple towns over), He had a mint 81 in his shop to compare with. He said it wasnt as bad as some he had seen, and the weird part that he couldn't believe (after taking measurements) was that the two bends were almost exactly the same. He actually said that Its like someone wanted the frame this way. My reply was "Yeah a parked car wanted it this way" LOL.....

He checked for cracks and other bends etc.......All was good. His advice was to porta power it very slow. Or ride it as is...........

So Im looking for a titled frame of the same vintage and will ride this summer as is..........

I will say this the forks that came off where incredibly bent.....after putting your set on it was night and day difference (Thanks again).....I ended up adding the progressive springs in the forks and a 4'' spacer.....Feels pretty good to me.

dirtyfingers:

Yeah you werent kidding about Buchannons LOL.....Im planning on going a black and gold look, you have any input on getting colored spokes????.....Just curious what size is that tire in the pic you posted????

[sark]

Don-lo:
Nope.....no KZ440s over here LOL.......I will wait for two more guesses then I will spit it out

Yama XS650?

[redsoxvw]

Nope XS650 is too big .......One more chance

[Guest]

Honda Rebel? CM?

[redsoxvw]

You were close Chef......Its a 1974 cb360Ko ( first year cb360....they only made 2 years LOL) with 11k original miles......I have a younger brother who is 16 (we picked this up for him).......The best part is I have a lot of HD riding family members & friends who are dying to put 6spd trannys in there bikes and this stinker came with one from the factory LOL......

[dirtyfingers]

Yeah you werent kidding about Buchannons LOL.....Im planning on going a black and gold look, you have any input on getting colored spokes????.....Just curious what size is that tire in the pic you posted????

160/60/18

There's plenty of colored rims available but, I've never seen colored spokes offered. I assume you would have to get them plated or powder coated.

[redsoxvw]

Ok Im starting to get things rolling.....I have the aluminum swing arm ( thanks AJ)............I have the spoked hub I need ( thanks rover).......Ive been in touch with the guy who is going to make me a bushing for the swingarm coversion..............

Id like to do a 520 chain conversion......So Im looking for guidance in that area right now....( my goal is to try and purchase everything one time and have at it ).......From what Im reading I can get the sprockets from Vortex using an older gsxr750 as the model correct??? Now I will be running a wider tire so will these sprockets have to be offset???

As far as the sprockets go...either smaller front or larger rear will equate to loosing top end and giving more grunt correct???

One more question....about rim width......I am doing spokes so I want to make sure I have enough rim width to go with the tire.....can anyone point me in the direction of where I can read or a chart of what size rim is safe for XXX size tire......i.e...2.15" rim for a 110, 3.5'' rim for a 140 etc........

Sorry for all the questions, you guys have been a great deal of help already and Im learning a ton as I go!!!!!!!...I look forward to posting a gazillion pictures once I have all my parts lined up, Id like to document the whole process....

Thanks in advance