Looks sharp. A lot easier to convert a Nighthawk to café racer than a Rebel.

 

:thumb: :thumb:

Good job. Welcome change from the flat black bobber infestation. Where did the battery wind up?

 

really like it, good work

 

Looks good .But no battery ???????:surrender:

 

The battery and all the electrical bits are inside the seat.

 

I figured that was going to be the answer. Clever.

 

Looks good, I like!

 

it looks great, now u should do the single shock conversion on it where u mount a CBR shock under the seat, add some flat sheet metal side plates to reduce wind drag (and put a race number on them) and do the kick start conversion (from a cm200) on there and itd be perfect!

 

I like this thing a lot. I kind of wish I hard started with a Nighthawk for my scrambler style build. Off to Craigslist.

 

I enlarged the three pics with the new mufflers and can see the fatal flaw many Rebel owners fall for: no mounts on the mufflers, which yield future broken exhaust studs on the head.

 

FWIW I went back and looked again just now and see the brackets hiding behind the peg mount.

Disregard.

 

But... what about the air filter?

 

Not sure what information you are looking for
Looks like there is a pod filter on it.

 

I guess that is the air filter. It just seemed small (smaller than the ones I am using on my Nighthawk), so I thought it was just an intake pipe.

 

That looks like a great café racer, could you post a picture of the battery relocation? That open air triangle in the middle really accents the whole bike.

 

Unfortunately I don't have a pic handy. The battery is just secured under the seat... with that said the battery is not standard, its a tiny Ballistic Battery that's about 4"x4"x2", it only weighs 1.5lbs and can be mounted in any direction since its non-liquid.

 

Nice work, looks really cool. Does the Nighthawk have a side stand AND center stand? Is that how all Nighthawks are? If yes, does the center stand also fit the Rebel body ? (without cut & weld necessary?)

Thanks! Tom

 

My 91 nighthawk came with a side stand only. There are OEM center stands made for them, so I would think it was an optional/upgrade item on hawks. I can't answer on whether it would fit a rebel.

 

Chef - In The pics posted by PNBELL of his cafe conversion inside the garage, it looks like he has a center stand, that's why I asked. In outside pics only a side stand. Does anyone know for sure if that center stand will fit a Rebel body without serious retrofit? Thx! Tom

 

The Rebel Frame has no provision for a center stand. The mount bracket would have to be added.

 

Thx Duckster.

Too bad Honda didn't consider that option in their Rebel line. It would sure make lots of maintenance chores easier to have that stability built in instead of jack stand or actual jack to get er up in the air, eh?

Tom

 

Securing the battery

Beautiful bike. I really like your work on this. What did you figure out for ways to secure the battery? Did you suspend it on some sort of custom frame between the bike frame bars? I am doing something similar with my nighthawk but do not have your level of fabrication expertise. I want to do this part right to protect the battery, so I would appreciate any help.

 

For anyone interested, here is what I did for my battery rather than putting it up in the seat: I built a wire mesh inside fender similar to Pnbell's (but probably thicker). Taking out the battery box leaves a screw hole on the right side of the frame by the wire front fender (Pnbell cut it off in the later pictures). I put a p clamp on the left side opposite the fixed screw hole and bent the sides of the stock battery support bracket to attach to these two supports. This couched the battery between the wire fender and the bracket. I also purchased a small lithium battery to reduce the weight on the wire mesh.

The only major problem I see is that battery acid leaks could damage the drive chain.

 

Get a Yuasa AGM battery and there will be no leaks. You can mount it upside down if you want.

 

So I just picked up a 91 red 250 night hawk. Do you mind if I ask you some question on some of the things you done. I would like to do a lot of similar mods that you have done. I also live in the D.C. Area.

 

Welcome to forum n enjoy your ride :thumb:

 

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback. Sorry I haven't checked back in a while, busy summer.

This bike is still very much a project, I did actually cover the seatpads in vinyl since i last posted.

I'm happy with the result, basically everything I have done on this bike is my first experience... so its all about learning.

I'd like to actually redo the seat, and modify the gas tank to make the bike better, but these things take time I don't seem to have lately... haha

But either way the bike is really fun to ride, especially in the city, and people on the street seem to like it. Until next time, Cheers!

 

Nice work. :thumb:

 

I have been considering this build too. How hard would it be to mold the seat to the tank. I've never worked with fiberglass before but have no problem with metal fab and welding.

 

Shouldn't be hard to mold seat to tank contour ..
you should leave a slight gap imo as it is a point of likely flex, I don't see attaching the two as practical..

Can of Denatured Alcohol to cleanup uncured or slight amounts will thin and slow resin curing..
Cured resin releases easy from Parchment Paper or water soluble products like PVA Release which can be brushed or sprayed on surfaces you don't want resin to stick to..
chopsticks for stir sticks grab a hand full next time at one of those szechuan type eateries.. Also grab some un-loaded $ gift cards as they make stiff scrapers/spreaders that the resin will shatter off of once cured allowing reuse..
3 or 5 ounce bathroom paper cups what i used for mixing small batches as you add layers

I like working with glass and resin except for the itch..
preparation is key as you only have 15 to 30 minutes working time

always been enamored by those who can form sheet metal, shrink or stretch it at will..