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CB750 / Re: Dresda Honda CB750 (Identification needed)
« on: October 09, 2016, 11:43:30 PM »
Some MORE custom wheel Ideas which I think would be very cool, would be to take a Comstar -
Yeah, let's not discount the COMSTAR wheels, not when they can and should be as awesome as I'm about to describe:
Grab a rear wheel from a smaller model with the smaller drum hub, say CB400T or CB250N etc and replace IT'S hub core with something cut out of a modern CBR 5-spoke or 6-spoke hub for a Boomerang type Comstar from say, the XBR500 or thereabouts. You could use BILLET, but it's gonna cost an arm and a leg to remove mass and produce a functional light-weight hub from it - whereas the cast wheels are already 90% there - You've just gotta find one with enough "meat" around the outer hub circumference, at the bases of the cut-down spoke "stumps" if you will. Though at the same time, you're looking for something with a very light construction - best to avoid the versions with hollow spokes as with some of the Suzuki 3-spoke wheels - either way, you're looking for 5-spoke wheels for the early steel-plate and then alloy plate "Reverse" Comstars, and 6-spoke wheels (CBR600F2 perhaps?) for the "Boomerang" wheels and/or the later 6-point wheels from VF1000R, NS400R & NSR250 etc - the thing is, the NS400R rear hubs are already pretty darn light-weight, and can be rebuilt with VF1000R rear rims in 3.50x17" - so too with Boomerang rims which can be found in 3.50x17" (a good upgrade for CB1100F IMHO)
But then of course most of the BAD weight in these Comstar wheels isn't just in the HUB, it's the ridiculously over-built RIM, which is either double-walled in the early cases, or just incredibly thick in the case of the latter era Boomerang and 6-point versions.
But there's an ANSWER!
You'll rebuild the wheel with an Akront "NERVI" type rim. Very hard to find these rims, but some used wheels are out there for relatively "cheap" with 1.85x19", 2.50x18" and 3.00x16" "NERVI" rims on 'em. They're around 50% the weight of an equivalent sized OEM rim from a Comstar wheel (D.I.D. brand) So all put together, this could make for one hell of a set of RACING wheels, yet with the all original looks of the OEM wheels. I'm kicking myself for passing over a 5.75x18" Nervi type NOS rim. I wasn't aware at the time of the new 180/55ZR18 radials. Still a bit too wide for my DOHC build - but that thing would rock on a 2010+ CB1100, a bike which is just BEGGING for a set of vintage Comstar wheels! For my DOHC projects, I'd like a Comstar set to swap out with the wire-spoke wheels I'm building, in sizes of 2.50x18" with 3.50x18" (for my kid's soon starting "featherweight" 750 project which is already a formidable pile of parts) or 3.00x18" with 4.25x18" (for my "Bol Bomber" - which is an '82 Bol D'Or based homage to the '65 CB450K0 Black Bomber, of course.)
I'm also sort-of interested in some type of plug-insert type disc conversion, much like the old kits from pre 1975 vintage bikes, where a great big heavy billet insert stuffs into the old drum hub. Keeping in mind you've still got the Iron drum liner in there, so these wheels probably weigh as much as the drum AND the 'F1 disc hub put TOGETHER....
Blows my mind that "Cycle Exchange" actually still makes and sells that style of kit. Ridiculous. If anybody should be in this disc conversion business at ALL, there should be an on exchange basis WELD-UP service, doing the WELD-UP method - And you'd get business from EVERYWHERE. And a truly enterprising builder could use new material on the spoke flanges rather than scooping up all of the good used drum hubs out there, and that way they could optimize the spoke flange sizes and widths for the best strength AND with that standardization they could have the RIMS all drilled in batch production for some volume discounts - Though drums could still be used for when you've got a vintage period-correct rim to fill out.
Come to think of it, for those who are considering the 17" Super-Moto style rims, the more common 36-spoke types could be a good match for the CB350F/CB400F 4-bolt rotor type 36-spoke front hubs. Ah, but then I've found MY super-moto sized rims in FORTY spoke, drilled for Harley - they're still out there for relatively cheap on eBay, but when I scored MINE the guy had bought a warehouse full of the things and didn't know what to DO with 'em - and so I scored a 4.25x17" and a 5.00x17" for $39.99ea - At that price I couldn't turn 'em down. And I'll probably try and use 'em ONE of these days, either re-drilled for extra heavy-duty spokes and a regular GL1000 sized hub, for that GL1200 based "DLF" replica, or another shaft conversion I'd like to try would be a V65 Magna/Sabre based homage to the CZ Type 860 - Pretty much anywhere that the swing-arm clearances might prevent me from using my spare Akront 4.25x18" which is the rim I'd really RATHER use in either case - But the pairing of 3.50x16" Super-Akront up front, with a 5.00x17" rear, that's a decent set of wheels. The one cruiser-esque pairing I might try would be the spare AMF-era Harley XLH rear rim in 2.50x18", with the 4.25x17" - which would be an interesting yet subtle improvement on a standard GL1000 rim set of 1.85x19" with 2.50x17" - just a tad shorter up front and a wee bit wider of a more low-profile tire on the rear - but would probably pass for a regular GL1000 no problem - You'd just stand there squinting at it and say to yourself "Why's THIS one look so much better?" - These aforementioned OEM sizes on GL1000, they're the same sizes on the DOHC CB750K, the '78 CB750K, and the CB750A - so I suppose that's another place where you might make such a substitution. I suppose in ANY of these cases, I'd really rather use the 2.50x18" with 3.50x18" Super-Akront. AND/OR the 3.00x16" with 3.50x16" for that matter, which I see as a decent pairing for the smaller SOHC-4 models - I've put 3.00x16" front and rear on the "KZ440LOL" with low-profile Maxi-Scooter tires, 110/70-16 and 140/70-16 - basically scaled-down crotch-rocket tires. IMHO this would be far far preferable to using Super-Moto spec 17" rims on a bike like that, bikes where the fat 17" tires make the rest of the bike look puny and spindly. The net effect is like those same Super-Moto 17" rims on the bigger 750/900 models. I've also got 2.50x16" which could pair well with 3.00x16" rear, but I'm planning to use THAT as a rear wheel on a little Passport scooter, with something like 2.15x16" up front. Odd rim sizes like that were used on smaller TRACK bikes back in the '80s & '90s, stuff like the RS125R or RS250 etc. So too with the skinnier 17" rims, and you can still find odd-ball sizes like 2.15x17" or 2.50x17" - Every now and again you see folks using the "FRONT" rim from Super-Moto pairings, in 3.00x17" or 3.50x17", as a rear wheel for a slightly bigger Bias-Ply than the GL1000/CB750K8 standard, perhaps a 150/70 or 160/60 type of thing - sizes which appeared on later '80s models. So too with the 16" stuff where bikes like the FJ1100 used wider low-profile 16" tires to avoid that Cruiser/Bobber BALLOON tire style. ALL of this stuff is perfectly applicable to the wire-spoke stuff, just so long as they're up to the load-bearing index and speed rating which your BIKE is capable of.
Just sayin' - it can really pay off to "think outside of the box" when choosing rims as well as hubs, for your vintage build.
And even if you're looking for the standard 18" sizes, there are some awesome bargains in 2nd-hand Akront wheels of 2.15x18" & 2.50x18" - if you're willing to accept the 36-hole conical hubs they're laced to, usually coming from the European DIRT bikes of late '70s to early '80s extraction. Often as not, there's not much of a cush in 'em, and/or the drum will be on the same size as the sprocket. But you could rig up a cable-actuated rear brake for it. And if the bike's small enough to run a drum up front as well, I'd really like to see a hub swap on 'em, with the smaller drum from a 2.15x18" wheel stuffed into the 2.50x18", and vice-versa, and leave the sprocket off the front wheel of course. Some of those vintage MX conical drums are made from MAGNESIUM - Either way, it's about the cheapest way to get your hands on a nice Akront rim around a fully built wheel, so IF you can rationalize the HUBS I'd say go for it!
Another key piece of kit which somebody should make in batch production, would be for the bolt-up cush and disc spacer on the "Front Hub Trick" wheel. I realize there are some kits out there for YAMAHA front-to-rear wheel conversion, with the flat-track set, 'cause they want ANOTHER skinny 19" wheel on the bike (
) And I suppose that's probably gonna fit the Yamaha front hub which is another 6-bolt pattern, so there COULD be some potential in there. (And hey, if you DO dig the 19" rear wheel thing, I saw a 3.50x19" Akront rim on eBay a while back - ALMOST considered it.... - IMHO rims should either match front & rear, 18/18, 17/17, 16/16 - OR it should be smaller on the FRONT - like a 16/18 set from a VF1000F Interceptor or CBX750F etc, or the 16/17 pairings from later VF1000F-II and CBX750F-II, the VF1000R, etc. On the one hand, it's just plain sportier LOOKING, but it's also about the front end geometry as well - the 19" front rim should be abolished on most/all SOHC-4 and DOHC-4 builds. IMHO. At least, if you're more serious about performance than you are about original appearance?) Surely there's some potential for using that Yamaha kit. I've seen some rear wheels built using a later era Ducati bolt-up cush, from Y2K+ type of thing, where they had a 5-bolt cush element, and this worked with a 5-bolt front hub from a DOHC-4 'K model, or perhaps some other type of hub maybe a Harley rear hub itself, from the appearance of the hub in the photos. But hey there are TONS of different hubs which used a bolt-up cush-drive, from the early Lester & Morris mag wheels -
(((huge potential THERE, IMHO, to use the 3.00x16" REAR wheels as a front wheel, as they've got the smaller hub core once their cush is un-bolted, then dig up a 4.50x18" WELD-UP version of a matching style wheel - good potential for the 7-spoke Morris with Kawasaki rims that copied Morris after using authentic Morris rims on their first few KZ1000's, the Lester 7-spoke with Yamaha rims which copied THEM, and perhaps most interesting the BMW "Snowflake" style rims, with a KIMTAB 3.00x16" up front. Now THAT could look super cool on some type of K100/K75 based Endurance-Racer special, hey?)))
As well as the COMSTAR for that matter - some of the earliest prototype Comstar wheels from the RCB had a bolt-up cush. Many of the Bevel-Twin DUCATI models which had the cast/mag wheels, as well as the Laverda and Guzzi models which had the similarly styled/branded wheels, they ALL used bolt-up cush elements. So if nothing else, there's always a decent supply of OTHER bikes to source a 2nd-hand cush-drive FROM. But then again, it's probably a lot cheaper to get a beat-up old drum hub, or even a bent/cracked/damaged cast/mag wheel, and cut IT'S cush out, sawzall the cast spokes off of it then take THAT hub to the lathe and cut the cush out - OR if you're on a budget of course, do as much with a hacksaw as far as you can possibly get BEFORE taking it to the machine-shop, and perhaps they'll only have to smooth out and level the mating face where it meets with the front hub you're using for a wheel.
PERSONALLY, I'm partial to a drum back there. I'd put the 750 spec drum on the rear end of my DOHC-4 985cc Bol Bomber, but the truth be told the 4.25x18" Akront rims look like crap with the drum hub in 'em. And the 160/60ZR18 sport-touring radial tires seem way out of date for a rear drum. But for the 736cc DOHC I'm planning to build for the kid, I'll throw a drum on THAT bike no question. 'Cause the "Super-Akront" rim in 3.50x18" looks fantastic with the drum in it. So too with the 140/70-18 Pirelli tire that I've got on the Comstar wheel right now - that would look just fine with a drum.
Though I'll be honest, I feel that all of the modern tires look like crap just in and of themselves. What we all NEED are some reproduction RACING tires, of mid to late '70s design, perhaps some AVON stuff? I'd love to see the 160/60ZR18 with the tread patterns of the BRIDGESTONE rubber of the early SOHC and first year Gold-Wing etc.
Then maybe some of these more fantastic restorations, let alone the nut & bolt replicas of the '60s RC-series racers, could look fantastic while sitting still waiting for their rider, and not just while the wheels are spinning and you can't see the tread. It's depressing to see a photo shoot of an RC-181 replica with the same hideous Bridgestone Battlax tires as I've stuck on '80s CB750F's - A bike like that deserves even a set of TIRES that look fantastic. They wouldn't even have to be the best most stickiest tires on the tarmac - we'd all still buy at least the one set per bike, for when it's finished and we wanna shoot our initial "Build Completed" photo series! And that represents a heck of a lot of tires. Not to mention all of the late '70s Racers which are being restored now, the bikes where the 3.00x18" and 3.50x18" rims first made their debut
It's either that, or I'm gonna wind up "pulling a Burt Munro" with a set of lino-print engraving knives on a Bridgestone Battlax tire. Just carve the pattern of sipes that I WANT into the tire.....
Yeah, well - ANYWAY - I'd really like to see whether the bike in this thread was ever completed.
-Sigh.
Yeah, let's not discount the COMSTAR wheels, not when they can and should be as awesome as I'm about to describe:
Grab a rear wheel from a smaller model with the smaller drum hub, say CB400T or CB250N etc and replace IT'S hub core with something cut out of a modern CBR 5-spoke or 6-spoke hub for a Boomerang type Comstar from say, the XBR500 or thereabouts. You could use BILLET, but it's gonna cost an arm and a leg to remove mass and produce a functional light-weight hub from it - whereas the cast wheels are already 90% there - You've just gotta find one with enough "meat" around the outer hub circumference, at the bases of the cut-down spoke "stumps" if you will. Though at the same time, you're looking for something with a very light construction - best to avoid the versions with hollow spokes as with some of the Suzuki 3-spoke wheels - either way, you're looking for 5-spoke wheels for the early steel-plate and then alloy plate "Reverse" Comstars, and 6-spoke wheels (CBR600F2 perhaps?) for the "Boomerang" wheels and/or the later 6-point wheels from VF1000R, NS400R & NSR250 etc - the thing is, the NS400R rear hubs are already pretty darn light-weight, and can be rebuilt with VF1000R rear rims in 3.50x17" - so too with Boomerang rims which can be found in 3.50x17" (a good upgrade for CB1100F IMHO)
But then of course most of the BAD weight in these Comstar wheels isn't just in the HUB, it's the ridiculously over-built RIM, which is either double-walled in the early cases, or just incredibly thick in the case of the latter era Boomerang and 6-point versions.
But there's an ANSWER!
You'll rebuild the wheel with an Akront "NERVI" type rim. Very hard to find these rims, but some used wheels are out there for relatively "cheap" with 1.85x19", 2.50x18" and 3.00x16" "NERVI" rims on 'em. They're around 50% the weight of an equivalent sized OEM rim from a Comstar wheel (D.I.D. brand) So all put together, this could make for one hell of a set of RACING wheels, yet with the all original looks of the OEM wheels. I'm kicking myself for passing over a 5.75x18" Nervi type NOS rim. I wasn't aware at the time of the new 180/55ZR18 radials. Still a bit too wide for my DOHC build - but that thing would rock on a 2010+ CB1100, a bike which is just BEGGING for a set of vintage Comstar wheels! For my DOHC projects, I'd like a Comstar set to swap out with the wire-spoke wheels I'm building, in sizes of 2.50x18" with 3.50x18" (for my kid's soon starting "featherweight" 750 project which is already a formidable pile of parts) or 3.00x18" with 4.25x18" (for my "Bol Bomber" - which is an '82 Bol D'Or based homage to the '65 CB450K0 Black Bomber, of course.)
I'm also sort-of interested in some type of plug-insert type disc conversion, much like the old kits from pre 1975 vintage bikes, where a great big heavy billet insert stuffs into the old drum hub. Keeping in mind you've still got the Iron drum liner in there, so these wheels probably weigh as much as the drum AND the 'F1 disc hub put TOGETHER....
Blows my mind that "Cycle Exchange" actually still makes and sells that style of kit. Ridiculous. If anybody should be in this disc conversion business at ALL, there should be an on exchange basis WELD-UP service, doing the WELD-UP method - And you'd get business from EVERYWHERE. And a truly enterprising builder could use new material on the spoke flanges rather than scooping up all of the good used drum hubs out there, and that way they could optimize the spoke flange sizes and widths for the best strength AND with that standardization they could have the RIMS all drilled in batch production for some volume discounts - Though drums could still be used for when you've got a vintage period-correct rim to fill out.
Come to think of it, for those who are considering the 17" Super-Moto style rims, the more common 36-spoke types could be a good match for the CB350F/CB400F 4-bolt rotor type 36-spoke front hubs. Ah, but then I've found MY super-moto sized rims in FORTY spoke, drilled for Harley - they're still out there for relatively cheap on eBay, but when I scored MINE the guy had bought a warehouse full of the things and didn't know what to DO with 'em - and so I scored a 4.25x17" and a 5.00x17" for $39.99ea - At that price I couldn't turn 'em down. And I'll probably try and use 'em ONE of these days, either re-drilled for extra heavy-duty spokes and a regular GL1000 sized hub, for that GL1200 based "DLF" replica, or another shaft conversion I'd like to try would be a V65 Magna/Sabre based homage to the CZ Type 860 - Pretty much anywhere that the swing-arm clearances might prevent me from using my spare Akront 4.25x18" which is the rim I'd really RATHER use in either case - But the pairing of 3.50x16" Super-Akront up front, with a 5.00x17" rear, that's a decent set of wheels. The one cruiser-esque pairing I might try would be the spare AMF-era Harley XLH rear rim in 2.50x18", with the 4.25x17" - which would be an interesting yet subtle improvement on a standard GL1000 rim set of 1.85x19" with 2.50x17" - just a tad shorter up front and a wee bit wider of a more low-profile tire on the rear - but would probably pass for a regular GL1000 no problem - You'd just stand there squinting at it and say to yourself "Why's THIS one look so much better?" - These aforementioned OEM sizes on GL1000, they're the same sizes on the DOHC CB750K, the '78 CB750K, and the CB750A - so I suppose that's another place where you might make such a substitution. I suppose in ANY of these cases, I'd really rather use the 2.50x18" with 3.50x18" Super-Akront. AND/OR the 3.00x16" with 3.50x16" for that matter, which I see as a decent pairing for the smaller SOHC-4 models - I've put 3.00x16" front and rear on the "KZ440LOL" with low-profile Maxi-Scooter tires, 110/70-16 and 140/70-16 - basically scaled-down crotch-rocket tires. IMHO this would be far far preferable to using Super-Moto spec 17" rims on a bike like that, bikes where the fat 17" tires make the rest of the bike look puny and spindly. The net effect is like those same Super-Moto 17" rims on the bigger 750/900 models. I've also got 2.50x16" which could pair well with 3.00x16" rear, but I'm planning to use THAT as a rear wheel on a little Passport scooter, with something like 2.15x16" up front. Odd rim sizes like that were used on smaller TRACK bikes back in the '80s & '90s, stuff like the RS125R or RS250 etc. So too with the skinnier 17" rims, and you can still find odd-ball sizes like 2.15x17" or 2.50x17" - Every now and again you see folks using the "FRONT" rim from Super-Moto pairings, in 3.00x17" or 3.50x17", as a rear wheel for a slightly bigger Bias-Ply than the GL1000/CB750K8 standard, perhaps a 150/70 or 160/60 type of thing - sizes which appeared on later '80s models. So too with the 16" stuff where bikes like the FJ1100 used wider low-profile 16" tires to avoid that Cruiser/Bobber BALLOON tire style. ALL of this stuff is perfectly applicable to the wire-spoke stuff, just so long as they're up to the load-bearing index and speed rating which your BIKE is capable of.
Just sayin' - it can really pay off to "think outside of the box" when choosing rims as well as hubs, for your vintage build.
And even if you're looking for the standard 18" sizes, there are some awesome bargains in 2nd-hand Akront wheels of 2.15x18" & 2.50x18" - if you're willing to accept the 36-hole conical hubs they're laced to, usually coming from the European DIRT bikes of late '70s to early '80s extraction. Often as not, there's not much of a cush in 'em, and/or the drum will be on the same size as the sprocket. But you could rig up a cable-actuated rear brake for it. And if the bike's small enough to run a drum up front as well, I'd really like to see a hub swap on 'em, with the smaller drum from a 2.15x18" wheel stuffed into the 2.50x18", and vice-versa, and leave the sprocket off the front wheel of course. Some of those vintage MX conical drums are made from MAGNESIUM - Either way, it's about the cheapest way to get your hands on a nice Akront rim around a fully built wheel, so IF you can rationalize the HUBS I'd say go for it!
Another key piece of kit which somebody should make in batch production, would be for the bolt-up cush and disc spacer on the "Front Hub Trick" wheel. I realize there are some kits out there for YAMAHA front-to-rear wheel conversion, with the flat-track set, 'cause they want ANOTHER skinny 19" wheel on the bike (
) And I suppose that's probably gonna fit the Yamaha front hub which is another 6-bolt pattern, so there COULD be some potential in there. (And hey, if you DO dig the 19" rear wheel thing, I saw a 3.50x19" Akront rim on eBay a while back - ALMOST considered it.... - IMHO rims should either match front & rear, 18/18, 17/17, 16/16 - OR it should be smaller on the FRONT - like a 16/18 set from a VF1000F Interceptor or CBX750F etc, or the 16/17 pairings from later VF1000F-II and CBX750F-II, the VF1000R, etc. On the one hand, it's just plain sportier LOOKING, but it's also about the front end geometry as well - the 19" front rim should be abolished on most/all SOHC-4 and DOHC-4 builds. IMHO. At least, if you're more serious about performance than you are about original appearance?) Surely there's some potential for using that Yamaha kit. I've seen some rear wheels built using a later era Ducati bolt-up cush, from Y2K+ type of thing, where they had a 5-bolt cush element, and this worked with a 5-bolt front hub from a DOHC-4 'K model, or perhaps some other type of hub maybe a Harley rear hub itself, from the appearance of the hub in the photos. But hey there are TONS of different hubs which used a bolt-up cush-drive, from the early Lester & Morris mag wheels -(((huge potential THERE, IMHO, to use the 3.00x16" REAR wheels as a front wheel, as they've got the smaller hub core once their cush is un-bolted, then dig up a 4.50x18" WELD-UP version of a matching style wheel - good potential for the 7-spoke Morris with Kawasaki rims that copied Morris after using authentic Morris rims on their first few KZ1000's, the Lester 7-spoke with Yamaha rims which copied THEM, and perhaps most interesting the BMW "Snowflake" style rims, with a KIMTAB 3.00x16" up front. Now THAT could look super cool on some type of K100/K75 based Endurance-Racer special, hey?)))
As well as the COMSTAR for that matter - some of the earliest prototype Comstar wheels from the RCB had a bolt-up cush. Many of the Bevel-Twin DUCATI models which had the cast/mag wheels, as well as the Laverda and Guzzi models which had the similarly styled/branded wheels, they ALL used bolt-up cush elements. So if nothing else, there's always a decent supply of OTHER bikes to source a 2nd-hand cush-drive FROM. But then again, it's probably a lot cheaper to get a beat-up old drum hub, or even a bent/cracked/damaged cast/mag wheel, and cut IT'S cush out, sawzall the cast spokes off of it then take THAT hub to the lathe and cut the cush out - OR if you're on a budget of course, do as much with a hacksaw as far as you can possibly get BEFORE taking it to the machine-shop, and perhaps they'll only have to smooth out and level the mating face where it meets with the front hub you're using for a wheel.
PERSONALLY, I'm partial to a drum back there. I'd put the 750 spec drum on the rear end of my DOHC-4 985cc Bol Bomber, but the truth be told the 4.25x18" Akront rims look like crap with the drum hub in 'em. And the 160/60ZR18 sport-touring radial tires seem way out of date for a rear drum. But for the 736cc DOHC I'm planning to build for the kid, I'll throw a drum on THAT bike no question. 'Cause the "Super-Akront" rim in 3.50x18" looks fantastic with the drum in it. So too with the 140/70-18 Pirelli tire that I've got on the Comstar wheel right now - that would look just fine with a drum.
Though I'll be honest, I feel that all of the modern tires look like crap just in and of themselves. What we all NEED are some reproduction RACING tires, of mid to late '70s design, perhaps some AVON stuff? I'd love to see the 160/60ZR18 with the tread patterns of the BRIDGESTONE rubber of the early SOHC and first year Gold-Wing etc.
Then maybe some of these more fantastic restorations, let alone the nut & bolt replicas of the '60s RC-series racers, could look fantastic while sitting still waiting for their rider, and not just while the wheels are spinning and you can't see the tread. It's depressing to see a photo shoot of an RC-181 replica with the same hideous Bridgestone Battlax tires as I've stuck on '80s CB750F's - A bike like that deserves even a set of TIRES that look fantastic. They wouldn't even have to be the best most stickiest tires on the tarmac - we'd all still buy at least the one set per bike, for when it's finished and we wanna shoot our initial "Build Completed" photo series! And that represents a heck of a lot of tires. Not to mention all of the late '70s Racers which are being restored now, the bikes where the 3.00x18" and 3.50x18" rims first made their debut
It's either that, or I'm gonna wind up "pulling a Burt Munro" with a set of lino-print engraving knives on a Bridgestone Battlax tire. Just carve the pattern of sipes that I WANT into the tire.....
Yeah, well - ANYWAY - I'd really like to see whether the bike in this thread was ever completed.
-Sigh.