Hello everyone. I am new here but will be checking in frequently. I have been wanting to build / modify a bike with a bobber as an end result. I started out with a Suzuki gs400 that I got for $40 off of Kijiji. It was missing a ton of components and was going to be alot of work. Then I stumbled across a Honda cb650 for $100 on kijiji. I'm sure you can image what happened next. Well if your imagination is that poor, I bought the bike. And that is why I am here now.

The bike starts first shot, runs well etc. The problems are as follows:

Slips in second gear (haven't tried, just told by previous owner)
valves need work, there is quite a rattle in there
need tires
one rear indicator is not working
left mirror is missing
and the big one, i need to sort out ownership

Most of this list is easy to take care of. I intended on tearing the engine / transmission down regarless while I have it out to paint the frame. The rest are pretty well trivial, just a bit of time and money. The big worry is the ownership. The guy that it is registered to lives thousands of kilometers away now. That may be a challenge, but I have until spring to work it out. I also have a blog to plot the progress of the project and it can be found here http://www.jwbobber.blogspot.com. Either way here is a couple of pics of her.




Cheers,

Meatface

Nice bike Meatface.

I believe 1983 CB650 were DOHCs and not SOHCs. I am sure somebody will correct me here if I am wrong. If it is a DOHC I don't know how much the information here on the forum will help you because most of it over here is about SOHC.

But best of luck nevertheless.

Yes thats a dohc. Nice looking too. I wouldnt cut it up but to each his own.

Welcome here!
Running, nice bike for $100. Not that bad!
Slipping gear might be a problem of clutch does not like that oil type. I am not really sure if the DOHC has hydraulic tappets, but then noisy valves might be also related to oil. But start with checking cam chain tension (possibly also hydraulic).

Thanks Volker_P. I'm sure your advice will come in quite handy. My big problem right now is getting the big into the basement. I tried last night to bring it in through the side basement door but I couldn't make the turn. All I had for help to was my fiancée and she is 5' and 100 lbs soaking wet. Don't get me wrong I always appreciate her help, but with her size she was terrified that I was going to get hurt because she didn't feel that she could handle the bike if something went wrong. Now the fall weather is fast approaching so I need to get something done with it quick. I think I will take some measurements and see if I can get it in the front door. If so I will park it in the dining room and strip it down. Moving the parts downstairs as they come off of course.

Cheers,

Meatface

One question: what are you going to do?

Worth to think about that before you have three or four bikes next. Now you have two projects to tear apart and put together again. And during that still no running bike. Are you planning to give up the Suzuki? I don't think that two projects in parallel make sense for a beginner (an experienced guy would not buy that Suzuki as a basis but would ask for some money to take the bike as you also found out meanwhile ) and that one of them will be complete next spring that way. It could be helpful if you had somebody with some experience in your neighborhood for discussion and advice. I think the Suzuki asks for a second bike to make one from two.
I see no need to tear that CB apart as it won't get better by that. Clutch and valve issues (if not just oil related) may probably be solved with the engine in the frame. Quite dangerous to quickly tear apart a bike you don't know and then try to get it together from the boxes some months later. If do that anyway, take lots of pictures before and during that. Could turn out very helpful.
BTW, I never saw a real DOHC, so I am sorry I can't help that much like for a SOHC here. Unfortunately there are few DOHC guys here until now.
For the color, one may play around with photoshop or gimp (similar, free software) to get an impression how it would look like.

In your place, I would keep the CB as a ride and play around with the Suzuki a bit to get an idea and some practice, then get something else as a real project. Or start with the CB if you can stand the time without it then.

Volker,

Your advice and wise words are well received. At this point my intent with the suzuki is to mothball it until a later date. I realize the CB is a good functional bike as is but I am looking for a bobber. Unfortunately for all you CB fans out there it is probably criminal knowing what my intent is with this bike. But here is my train of thought. It only cost $100. If I make a major disaster out of it, I have only lost $100. If I ride it as is but still have the itch to bobber a bike I may have to spend 5 or 10 times that to get a complete bike to work with. It's kind of a one of a kind deal. I got very lucky to bet the bike for so little.

The other thing is that I am very mechanically inclined. I always do my own mechanical repairs on my vehicles. I do not shy away from anything mechanical. I remember once changing the head gasket on my little dodge shadow on the shoulder of the highway. When I was much younger my father was given a honda 350. It came to him in boxes. He had no prior knowledge of motorcycles, but he also is mechanically inclined. With weeks he was riding the motorcycle up the street. This may be my first bike project but I have a good solid background.

And of course I have a good plan. I have purchased the online manual from cyclepedia for this model of bike. I will be labeling everything and separating things in boxes. It will not come apart in a big heap of nuts and bolts on the floor. I intend to take great care dismantling this bike. And of course there will be plenty of pictures.

Cheers,

Meatface

All right, so I understand your main item is the bobber project, not riding a bike. A bit difficult to understand for me.
If you don't already have one, get a small enough torque wrench that works accurately for ~10Nm and ~40Nm engine bolts. These threads are very susceptible compared to car engines.
Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.