Japan Meets Britain
Lee just called me, and the tank is done! All buffed, side panels on, cap installed. He said it looks like a factory job, so of course I'm excited to see this!
The newly-chromed push button latch will be here tomorrow, and the whole shebang is going to John tomorrow for final assembly and check-up. See you at Mid-Ohio! Vince
Just saw your little piece in Classic Bike with the mention of Brian Crichton. I bought a late CL72 motor off him earlier this year. I've known him for some time and he gave me a tour of his bike collection when I went to see him. I used to write for Classic Mechanics magazine so our paths have crossed many times. A really nice bloke. That tank looks really sweet. It will look better now that it's buffed but I was pleased to see that the finish from the gun was not a lot better than I achieve as a long-term amateur. The tank in the attached picture is one I have just finished for my CB160 project which will be mildly modded with a 5 -speed gearbox (CB175) and revcounter off a CB125K3 with CB175 cam and revcounter drive. Keep the pictures flowing... 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 G-Man,
We used to use a 175 tacho drive on a couple of 160's and threw them all away. Mechanical tachos are even more inaccurate than gut feel. LOL :-) We now use an electronic tacho from almost any two stroke twin or four stroke 4 with wasted spark. Lighter, more accurate and saves HP too. I used an RGV on one, RF900 four on another and ZR on a third. Wiring is simple and they work with points or a dyna.
Here it is in all its hybrid glory! I was able to temporarily fit the tank on the bike before I put the old one back on the bike to ride it to John. He now has everything, and hopefully should be all buttoned up by Monday. The gas cap latch should be here later today from Ronnie Brown (there is not presently a latch on the tank).
It still needs some wiping down to really bring out the shine, but overall I'm really pleased!         The artiste -- Lee Hulteng!
Last edited by Vince Lupo on Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Very, very nice! It really does look like it was meant to look like that all along. I think the next time you update the bike you should go for a kinda metallic graphite colour for the black bits.....
Teazer Thanks for the advice, I realize there are better ways. I just want to make my 160 'look' stock with some 'just for fun' mods. Might even be a 175 or 200 when I've finished. It won't out-drag R1s but I'd like it to be 'interesting'. 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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