1972 450CR

Finally found a half decent tank. The knee area is pretty good. I gave up trying to find the right tank with a pristine knee area. I'll get the dings out of the painted area and then send it off for a professional paint, The other tank I'll rattle can in the meantime.

Took this picture with the tank sitting on the bike.

Crap, I rolled the bike around today and felt/heard something rubbing. I discovered the chain rubbing the chain guide. The one that has the two rollers. So I put the bike back on the lift and rotated the wheel and sure enough the chain rubbed the lateral aspect of chain guide. I also discovered the chain was not rolling smoothly and felt very stiff. I double checked the alignment and it was good, Double checked the chain was in fact a 520, checked that the sprockets were proper width and pitch.

Wheel looks centered, I thought when it was laced they may have done the offset wrong but I am not sure how I can check this.

The adventure continues.

Sounds like the chain guide may be offset somehow, even if you had laced the wheel offset, the sprocket runs on the hub so it wouldn't affect chain alignment.

After dwelling on this I came to the same conclusion.

I torqued down the axle nuts to see if that would help but it only caused the braking plate to bind against the hub.

I pulled the wheel off and checked the bearing and spacers. I found the washer on the brake side to be pretty beat up and after measuring it I think if I can find a replacement it should take care of the problem.

It measured 16mm ID 25mm OD and 1.3 mm thick. I do not have a NOS to compare but I think if I can come up with a 2-3 mm thick washer it would fix the problem.

Here is a picture of the washer/spacer.

Just happen to have the rear wheel off the 400, so I got the following info.

Brake side
Bearing washer 1.04 mm thickness.
Spacer inside brake backing plate bushing 21.85 mm length.
Spacer between backing plate and swing arm 6 mm thickness.

Opposite side
Bearing washer 1.04 mm.
Spacer between bearing washer and swing arm 33.83 mm length.

Mine tends to rub the outer side of the guide, but not hard.
1st picture brake side items
2nd picture opposite side spacer

Hope this is of help.
Steve

That helps a lot Steve!
Can you give the dimensions of the brake side spacer.

That is missing on this bike and I didn't catch it on assembly or on the parts diagram.

I think if I can find one or fabricate one then my problem will be solved.

Just a small suggestion if you haven't done this. If you have the wheel installed and the chain on the bike, look at the alignment of the sprockets and make sure the chain is in a straight line. I had this happen in the past where the chain was offset from sprocket to sprocket.

Yes, I'll get the dimensions after work this evening and post them. One note, there should be a square cut o ring in the outer part of your brake backing plate, this o ring/ seal fits into the groove in the spacer that you can see in the picture above. Keeps moisture and dirt out of the backing plate bushing.

Scott, I checked chain alignment and with the bushing and a new washer everything will be fine.

I'll call Vintage Husky to see if John has one.

I received the wheel spacer and washer from John. Installed last night and made a few minor adjustments to the brake plate stay.

Wheel now spins freely and the chain runs true.

Now I can focus on getting the fuel tank straight and painted.

I have one tank that I'll rattle can and one I'll send to John for painting. I have read that John does first rate work and since I have cut no corners on this bike it makes sense to have a proper paint job with the correct graphics.

My next project should be another husky but I haven't picked one out, in the meantime I'll be building another CBX engine while I look around for the next husky.

So I have the measurements for the correct spacer and washer:

Almost done, still need a grenade silencer (apt dwellers not to found of a bike without a silencer) and few misc. bufo bolts and of course get the tank done. I'll be without a work place for a month so she will have to wait for prom night.

Looking great already. Fair warning, the grenade silencers don't quiet them very much, but I'm sure the neighbors will understand .

I found a supertrapp silencer on eBay for reasonable.
It will do for now.

I also found a nice tank in Ebay, made an offer I knew was low but the seller took it anyway!

Next is to send the tank to John for one of his super paint jobs....Finally getting close to the finish line.

Your bike is looking great. I think the Curnutts look good, and far more functional than stock Girlings. I'm curious, instead of buying another tank to refinish why didn't you do the tank that's on the bike now, or not at all, this side looks pretty nice? A compression release may come in handy as well. It'll make starting a lot easier, well at least they do for old guys like me. On Ebay for $30. Nice job on everything.

Thank You Crash! It is coming along.

The tank, yeah the one on the bike looks pretty good for it's age. The tank is original but does have some serious dents in the painted area and a dent in the left knee area. I haven't had any success finding craftsmen willing to remove the dents at least not in any paintless dent removal shop. These old tanks are heavy gauge and do not pop out easily.

I was going to stay with the tank that's on the bike now but I stumbled on a tank that is pristine from a dent/chrome point of view. Unfortunately the paint was stripped. The tank is so nice I couldn't pass it up and once I have it I think it will be worth the money to have John paint it.

I'll keep the original dented tank and put it up. The original tank to this bike was stripped and many dents but I'll rattle can it and use it when I ride the bike. Yep, gonna ride her. I just cant bring myself to put her on a pedestal to look at.

I recieved the tank today and it's near perfect. The only defect is the rear tab; half of it is missing. I made a template and will hunt for some sheet metal and cut one out then wells it in place.

What did you use on the inside of the tank for de rusting?

Sorry for the late reply guys.
I haven't been home.

I balked at the price of chemicals so I went with the old school molasses.
I bought mine at a feed store.

It's slow, took at least a week of sitting.