CB desert sled

What type of rod are you using and at what amperage?

1/16" 6013 @ 50A It's somewhere between perfect and a little bit hot for butt welds, but is a disaster for fillets. It seems to be right on the edge of burning thorough, but still won't stick in the root. It just goes to one side or the other. For thicker metal I'd just crank the heat up, but that doesn't seem to be an option here. I'll try messing around with the rod angle and arc length on some scrap. See how it goes.

Hmm... 6013 sounds like a good choice for the job... I'm far away from being an expert, but for some fiddling around, on scrap, I'd give 1/16" 7014 or 7018AC rod a try and see how you like those, the big downside being, they're both very sensitive to moisture, so keep them in a sealed container.

So in the time-honored tradition, I'm blaming the tool.

I went and bought an inverter based DC welder. A Lincoln 130. It doesn't have the power of the buzz box, but it's also 1/10th the weight. I'll probably stick with the big welder for anything over 1/4", but there shouldn't be any of that on this bike.

I made a couple of short beads with it and it seems to work a lot better than the AC one. It'll take some practice to get right, then I can add a TIG torch and have to figure it out all over again.

Sorry, no pics of mine. I left my camera at the shop. Here's the CL picture, don't know how long it will stay up.

Ooooh! Nice!

That should come in handy.... very handy!
There's nothing that warms my heart quicker then the bacon-like sizzle of DC stick welding...mmm bacon...

After last night am about 80% completed on the dedicated 20 amp circuit for the little wire feed welder. Pulled 50' of 10/2 wire last night, mounted the outlet box (as well as the 220 box and receptacle for the bigger welders). Bought almost everything needed from the local Habitat for Humanity retail store, and all for about $5.00 (except the wire), love surplus shopping!

Team Green Coats got a day of work in. First up was to try out the new welder. Alex hadn't ever welded before, so it was time to burn some rods.




I had ordered some parts to convert my mill to a lathe. It was a 'factory' conversion, and still needs some improvement- like a good tool post. I tried to turn some thick tube to make some inserts for stretching the frame, but the part wouldn't stay centered in the chuck- that setup really needs a tailstock. The other parts I was hoping to turn with this setup should be less demanding, but we'll see.





Then more grinding on the clutch cover. It finally fits properly over the primary gear, but has a little hole in it where I ground through in one point. Oh well, first project in line for an Al welder.




On to the transmission, where a slot needed to be cut in the shaft to lubricate the 5th gear properly. Precision Dremel work. The zipty guide/protector was Alex's idea, it worked perfectly.




Last project of the day was to mount the electronic ignition. It's made for a 500/550/750, so had to be modified to fit the 650 crank. The crank was drilled to accept the locating pin. No pics, that was a hairy operation. The new rotor was also drilled to work with the 650 bolt. New drill bits + good aluminum + drill press = easy.



Now that the rotor is on the crank, it doesn't want to come off. It's a nice tight press fit.



It was a pretty long day, but we all had a good time. Someone didn't want it to end.

(Larry, on the right, is supposed to go home with Alex in the Landy. Danny, on the left, isn't)

Don't do it? Sorry, not sure I understand why you're messing around with sticks when you could just burn it in with that MIG welder and be done with it.

Agreed. Finished the dedicated 20 amp power supply for the 110 mig, so now it should have enough ooomph to weld properly. This was completed last night after Luke, Alex & Larry were already gone, hopefully they will get a chance to try it out today and report back.

For part of the day. We had to kick them out while using the welder, so he had a helper to sniff things and pee on things and sniff things and rassle and sniff things.

Danny started frantically begging for my new drill bit; it took a while for me to realize that it was because it came in a ziploc bag, just like bacon strips.

Because I've done so little work with a mig that it would probably just make a mess. Hopefully that will change.

Haha, but MIG welding is what you do when you don't know what you're doing, and even when you do know what you're doing it's still the right kind of welding for this kind of work.

G'day Luke and crew

Enjoying your build, bringing back a lot of great memories.

I found a set of Husky Ohlins were perfect for my build.

I extended the swing arm 100mm and they lined up perfectly



A couple if it finished and on its first ride





sorry for the hi-jack

Pezz, that is frickin awesome. Really appreciate you down under guys, you don't screw around,you just get the job done!

Now that is just plain inspiring. Thanks for posting them!


Regarding the shocks, that looks like a good option. I've been chasing my tail on these for a while and need to just pick something.

The swing arm mod and location of the bottom rear shock mount kept the stress line near the rear axel, your swingarm is similar to mine, I added 100mm round tube and then braced it.

It is very stable to ride and with the long wheelbase easy to ride in the soft stuff. like the 6 speed gearbox and with the 460 yoshi kit its surprisingly tourqey

i have built my bike so it is easily reversable to a stock CB400/4 but doubt that will ever happen

It'd be a shame to do that to such a nice bike.

Pezz thanks for posting your awesome bike! Where can I send you an outta sight racing sticker so you can slap it on it?? lol