1961 CB72 ProjectAs I was getting the parts organised for my engine build, I came across the tank that I had put away. I picked up the new chrome panels from Prestige last week so it seemed like a good idea to get that job finished. The early panels have a continuous mount for the rubbers like the CL series. Later versions have a slotted mount. I was lucky enough to pick up some early panels with a tank. After a little bit of dent surgery they went off for plating and you cannot see the area that I worked on unless you look on the inside.
The paint finish on the tank was pretty nice but I decided to gently flat the surface with 1200 grit 'wet or dry' used with soapy water, then finished up with rubbing compound. ![]() After that it was pretty simple to out up the panels and get the rubbers and badges on. ![]() I managed to pick up some 'Dream 250' badges from Ray Byrne a while back and they look pretty nice. Great value, too. ![]() G
Last edited by G-Man on Sat Nov 29, 2014 1:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
'60 C77 '60 C72 '62 C72 Dream '63 CL72
'61 CB72 '64 CB77 '65 CB160 '66 Matchless 350 '67 CL77 '67 S90 '77 CB400F Because I wanted this bike to be as close as possible to factory spec, I wanted to use the earlier type of muffler with the plain inlet and 'top hat' bush.
![]() Finding genuine Honda mufflers is hard enough but finding those early ones is pretty much impossible. In the end I ordered a set of stainless-steel reproductions from Overlander in Australia. They made me a set of early Dream mufflers of a similar design but they had a bit of a mental aberration with these and added a nasty split clamp at the inlet. The mufflers are expensive but a good representation of the original. ![]() I don't know what was going on here though, as I sent them a set of pictures of a genuine original to copy. They swore that "they were all like that". Too difficult to send them back, I just had to cut the brackets away. ![]() Not a perfect job but I will try and get that split welded up when I can. At least the bush fits nicely. I'll get it polished after welding. ![]() It's nice to have a few hours to get some work done. G '60 C77 '60 C72 '62 C72 Dream '63 CL72
'61 CB72 '64 CB77 '65 CB160 '66 Matchless 350 '67 CL77 '67 S90 '77 CB400F I need to get another batch of parts off to the chromers to make sure that I have everything to finish this bike next spring. I still had the early rear brake plate that I got fro Gordon Brown so I decided to get all of my wheels sorted out. My bike came with a set of later hubs and I had to get hold of an authentic early set.
I thought I might as well get both sets stripped and cleaned. First up was the early hub which was still spoked to a rather rusty rim. ![]() The spokes look too far gone but I will save the nipples and have them re-plated. After that I stripped the rear wheel that came with the bike spoked to an equally rusty rear rim. Luckily I have been able to get some tidy rims which I have already had re-plated. The brake plates were next. There are dramatic differences between the early and late plates. Most obvious is the position of the torque arm. ![]() Less obvious, and the reason you cannot fit an early brake plate to a late wheel and vice versa is that the later plate is a bigger diameter and has a double flange to fit over the hub liner. ![]() Brake shoes are also different and take different springs. Just for completeness - here are both sets of hubs alongside each other with the matching fronts. The very early front is single -leading shoe and the speedo drives are also different. More pictures when I get everything back together. ![]() I am going to get the hubs and brake plates aqua-blasted and will give them a nice polish once that is done. G '60 C77 '60 C72 '62 C72 Dream '63 CL72
'61 CB72 '64 CB77 '65 CB160 '66 Matchless 350 '67 CL77 '67 S90 '77 CB400F
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