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1968 CL450 K0 - light recomission
JamesH:
I purchased this bike back in 2017 and it’s sat at the back of the workshop awaiting its turn.
My next 750 restoration is going to be the CB750P2 Police bike, so whilst the engine for that is being finished up I thought it was about time the CL had its turn.
When I got the bike back in 2017 I serviced it thoroughly and had it MOT’d and then ‘other projects’ got in the way and it was drained of fluids, cylinders fogged and put into hibernation.
The paint set was sent over to Menno with the plan to recommission the bike for the 2018 season.
Here we are in 2021 and it’s now time to sort it..
This is a very early CL (vin is the 67xx range) and was a complete and original (albeit quite cosmetically tired) when it came to me.
So the plan for this was to completely strip and clean, but not over restore or do a full nut and bolt restoration, as this didn’t seem to stack up financially or imho do the bike justice.
I started the strip-down back in August 2021 and stupidly didn’t take that many photos initially, so there are some big gaps in the process…
Here a photo of the bike back in 2017 just prior to its export to the UK..(it’s a Kansas bike originally) .
JamesH:
Start of the strip down.
The bike was damaged in transit by the shipper and the front LH turn signal was knocked, deforming/denting the fork ear (bloody annoying).
Overall though the bike is very very original.
I wasn’t planning to document / share this build, but seeing hows it’s come together in the past few weeks (and given some of the striking similarities to the early 750) I thought I might as well share here.
JamesH:
The anatomy of a CL450 seat.
The original seat on the bike was too nice to restore, so I’ve kept that to one side and managed to source a really solid replacement to restore.
Interesting internal construction…
Also note how the reverse side of the seat pan was unpainted from the factory!! No wonder these had a tendancy to rust out..
JamesH:
Seat pan stripped by hand and rattle-can painted in the garden lol..tournedos out pretty well.
Original red foam was fine but need some reinforcement and ‘padding out’ - used 3mm seat scrim back foam.
Seat cover sourced with correct patterned top and piping.
JamesH:
The original seat next to the budget-refurbished one.
I’m not 100% happy with the finish (the scrim reinforcement / padding is showing through as the seat vinyl is very thin) but it’ll do for now and if it really pisses me off I’ll strip and replace the entire foam later down the line…
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