60's Honda CL 160 Rebuild as Racer

twitchmonitor · Nov 28, 2009

I picked up a CL160 with just under 9K miles on the odometer and more rust than you can shake a stick at. I'm rebuilding it and converting it into a vintage racer. There's a growing community of 160 racers in the Northwest. If you're interested you can find out more at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/F-160/.

I've been photographing the project so I thought I'd post my progress here. I'm also on a tight budget so anything I can do myself, I'm doing myself. And no frills. That being said I'm aiming to finish with a pretty nice bike. Here are some pics of how it looked when I got it (about 2 weeks ago) and a pic of what it might end up looking like.

The bike turned over and ran when I bought it, albeit with a sizable fuel leak from one of the carbs. The engine is in good shape inside. My biggest problem is corrosion. Nuts, bolts, rims, sprockets, etc. I've spent hours cleaning, blasting, sanding, grinding, wire wheeling, etc.

Edit: and my "workspace" is the few square feet I've cleared out in the corner of my building's shared laundry room.

I'm nearing the point when I'm ready to put it all back together, but by "nearing" I mean maybe a few weeks. Hopefully. :teeth

twitchmonitor · Nov 28, 2009

pics.

McGrude · Nov 28, 2009

Oh my. That is a lot of rust. Looks like you've got some bent spokes too on the rear wheel.

When you are all done it should be a fun little bike. Good luck with your project.

twitchmonitor · Nov 28, 2009

Phase 1: disassemly

The bike came apart fairly easily. I relied heavily on Liquid Wrench, Easy Out, rubber mallet, heat and impact driver. This sufficed for all but a few pieces. The forks proved the trickiest. The seals were so age hardened that I had to pull the forks apart with a hydraulic engine hoist AND apply a propane flame for a few minutes.

You can see the terrible rusting on the inside of the rims (especially the one at the bottom of the photo) and the general state of grime and filth. I had to clean the road grime off the bottom of the oil pan with a flathead screwdriver. The carb pictured on the right has already been cleaned, the left one hasn't.

Zerox · Nov 28, 2009

Have fun with your project. I remember a swarm of those 160's came down and raced AFM Thunderhill in 2003.

kevin 714 · Nov 28, 2009

easy out ftw! good luck. guna go cafe racer?? or full dustbin fairing?

twitchmonitor · Nov 28, 2009

McGrude said:
Oh my. That is a lot of rust. Looks like you've got some bent spokes too on the rear wheel.

When you are all done it should be a fun little bike. Good luck with your project.

Ah yes! Some bent and some broken (see pic). I've just finished unlacing the wheels and wire wheeling the rust from the inside of the hoops. I'm currently trying to figure out how to either remove the chrome of at least get rid of the rust that is beginning to show through it.

twitchmonitor · Nov 28, 2009

kevin 714 said:
easy out ftw! good luck. guna go cafe racer?? or full dustbin fairing?

As much as I'd love to go with a full fairing it's just not in the budget at this time.

louemc · Nov 28, 2009

Seeing that and the words tight budget have discombumumerated critical opperating brain cells. I'm struggling to hit he reply button, I may passout, but here goes.

twitchmonitor · Nov 28, 2009

So far I haven't been foiled by a stripped thread or broken fastener but one of the header stud holes was stripped when I got it. Helicoil to the rescue. This pic is after I sandblasted the head. The forks have some serious pitting so I'm picking up a clean set from a local guy tomorrow. And check out the bottom of the petcock. It's actually chunky/crystalized.

twitchmonitor · Nov 28, 2009

louemc said:
Seeing that and the words tight budget have discombumumerated critical opperating brain cells. I'm struggling to hit he reply button, I may passout, but here goes.

Hey, I like a challenge. :twofinger

The bike cost a few hundred, and my conservative estimate is that I'll be able to complete the bike for under 1K (that's including the purchase price). I've got access to a machine shop as well, so that's a big help. Mostly the bike needs TLC, and luckily that's, um, priceless. Which is to say it doesn't cost anything.

twitchmonitor · Nov 28, 2009

Here are some rearset designs I'm working on, utilizing the Ducati 916 heelguards I have lying around. I'll waterjet cut these and machine in the few features.

McGrude · Nov 28, 2009

Ya I think you can pull it off. It looks like the bike is all there, you'll just need to replace some little bits, such as spokes, gaskets, tires, brake shoes, some fasteners, fluids, ... hmm.... It seems like a lot of stuff but $800 should cover it assuming you don't go overboard with replacing parts that are otherwise serviceable.

maxandgrinch · Nov 28, 2009

A real chrome shop can de-chrome the chrome, so you can polish and whatever, then they can re-chrome it.

twitchmonitor · Nov 29, 2009

Things are starting to clean up. I also just picked up some new (to me, anyway) CB160 forks in great condition today.

twitchmonitor · Nov 29, 2009

Ground off the unnecessary tabs, battery box, centerstand bits and such.

jrace · Nov 29, 2009

Sometimes, the barn finds are the best. This is a CB160 I gave some love back in '02 for MotoJava...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ro2/sets/72157622779783299/

-jim

Karbon · Nov 30, 2009

twitchmonitor said:
Here are some rearset designs I'm working on, utilizing the Ducati 916 heelguards I have lying around. I'll waterjet cut these and machine in the few features.

budgetwise, how bout buying some modern OEM rearsets and machine up some adapter/mounting plates?

jrace · Nov 30, 2009

Karbon said:
budgetwise, how bout buying some modern OEM rearsets and machine up some adapter/mounting plates?

Talk to the OMRRA and WMRRA guys. They have a vast contingent of CB160 racers up there....

-jim

Sidewalk · Nov 30, 2009

There has been talk of one of the 160 organizations racing with M1GP, I looked into it before I found out about mini racing.

60's Honda CL 160 Rebuild as Racer

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