JynxFE2lilblkheart's blog: "The cm400 Project"

Alright, I know it's been a while since I posted anything. Unfortunately my Windoze comp blew it's ram in an electrical storm, so I haven't been on Fubar as much as I would have liked. At any rate, here's an update of what's been going on with the CM400T Project. If any one has really taken a look at this bike, you'll notice alot of duck tape and electrical tape. I'm trying to phase that out as quickly as possible. One of the spots if you take a good look at the first few pictures of the bike that you'll notice the electrical tape is on the left handle bar, where the clutch handle is. This is from where the previous owner wrecked it, and ended up breaking the clutch handle. I was riding to work a few weeks ago when I noticed the handle was feeling a little strange, so when I got off of work, I immediately went down to Queen City Motorcycle Salvage to find some replacement handles. Those went on real easy, and now this little bike has great clutch control. Other things you may or may not have noticed were the HUGE dents in the front of the gas tank. I got a little time, took the gas tank off, sanded it down to the metal, Bondo'd it, primered it, and painted it a glossy black. My next target will most likely be replacing the handlebars. Here's a few pics, before and after :)

Notice The Large Dent Above? Now check out below!

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Now of course, the paintjob isn't done yet. I need to wait for the paint to harden (about 30 days in good weather) then give it a good wetsand to remove any imperfections, then polish that, then clearcoat it, wait another 30 days, wetsand that and polish it again. At that point, it should be finished. :)

Lmao.  So, after all these years, I finally had to do my first motorcycle tire change.  It may not sound like much to have to do, but I actually had to go all the way through it, as in even removing the tire from the rim, but we'll get there later.  So, as I had mentioned in my last writing (A Little Downtime), my rear tire on my motorcycle was not holding air.  I took a little time, got my tools, sat down, and had at it.  I got the tire off the motorcycle no problems, and had planned on calling around to have someone change the tire.  After about seven calls, including calls to the local Honda dealer, I found no one who was willing to change the tire, though many of them had new motorcycles or at least new rims and tires they wanted to sell me, which they couldn't put on.....  I hate small towns sometimes, but I hate salespeople more.  So I said screw it, and took a look on YouTube.  There were alot of different videos available, and alot of them were just going way too hard.  It doesn't take that much to take a tire off a rim, and then I found THIS GENIUS. Just too easy. I kicked myself for not thinking of it, went and followed his instructions for the removal of the tire from the rim, and learned something new. A few things actually. My damned tires have tubes in them! I also learned that the reason the rear tire wasn't holding air is that the tube had blown out. I thought about patching the tube, but after a good look, it just seemed to me that the tube was probably as old as the bike, and opted to get a replacement. Now comes the song and dance of where to find a tube locally. I called the Honda dealer, and they didn't know if they had one or not, and asked if they could call me back. I gave them my number. Then I took a trip out to the Polaris dealer. They had it, and they knew it. I like that in a place. So I bought a replacement tube from the Polaris dealer, and went about changing the tire. The old tire might have lasted a bit longer, but I decided since I already had a replacement tire and the work was already done, it was time to switch them out. Everything went smooth, and I reinstalled the tire on the bike, and have been riding the ever loving hell out it since.

Alright. So I had a little down time today, which was nice. I decided to use it to do a couple things to the bike, get a better look at things, and I'm glad I took a better look. My rear tire has got to be replaced. No if's ands or buts about it. I have a replacement for it already though (cause I rock like that). I also just didn't like the way the fender on the front looked, so off with it! Then I got to thinking about the Tachometer, and why it wasn't working. After investigation, I discovered the cable was broke, so again, off with it and it's missing brother the speedometer! It was starting to come together, or come apart nicely, lol. The other day I was cruising around, just for fun, enjoying the sun. Sumbeach almost sideswiped me, so I got to thinking, how can I make myself more noticable? Then it hit me. Make it louder. How to do that? Mufflers. Lose them. Done. I uploaded a few more pics, so you all can see where we stand, and I uploaded a vid to youtube so you can all hear the difference. You can check that out HERE. For now, my main concern is getting that rear tire mounted onto the rim, and unfortunately, I don't have the tools for that. I do have a place that'll put it on the rim for me though, so that's tomorrow morning's agenda. Enjoy the pics :)

Alright!  All the waiting finally paid off!  Gotta tell you, with the way things we're looking, I didn't think it would be happening today.  I lucked out however, found some cheap insurance ($6 a month!)  and was able to seal the deal!  So now comes the best part....  The customization!  I've already been looking around at various tanks, rims, handlebars, grips, and seat covers, and anyone who really knows me knows they'll see a couple things that just scream my name on this bike when we get there.  The paint isn't bad at all, but I'm not for sure about the shade of red.  I've actually been thinking about going black with the tank, and recovering the seat in red leather, as well as having whatever rims end up on this bike being powdercoated red.  The handle bars are comfortable enough so far, but still thinking about changing them with some black Z bars.  Handles like a dream though.  Gets up to speed quick, real quick!  I cruised around for a couple hours after getting it.  I mean, it's been 10 years since I've been on one!  Didn't miss a beat, though.  I missed the freedom of it.  Starts first time, every time!  Oh, and you know those terrible gas prices?  Yeah, less than $5 to fill up right now.  Alright, so here's a few pics, as is, before I get started on this little project.  If anyone's got any ideas, I'd love to hear them. :)

Lol.  Alright, so I came across a motorcycle on the cheap, a honda cm400t.  Yes, it's not a Harley.  But the ideas I have for this bike just can't be done to a Harley.  You don't pay 12,000 bucks for a bike just to chop it, right? Right.  So I've been taking a look at some other cm400 projects out there, and I'm putting together an idea of what's going to happen to this bike.  As soon as I get it over here, I'll get some pics together.  It's pretty stock, looking at it.  Fires up every time though, and it isn't ugly, but it can definitely be better.  Still thinking color schemes, likely to go with black and red.  Switching out the exhaust with some coctail shakers, maybe.  I haven't decided on the tank yet, whether I'm going to stick with it, swap it out, or just bondo it to give it a different look.  Same with the fenders...  Have to get'em off and take a look at it.  Handle bars are going for sure, same with the stock grips.  Came across a couple accessories that'll make this little bike stand out some, it's just a matter of time.  So until I get the pics, I'll let things rattle around in this head of mine, and see where she ends up.