CL450 Scrambler Progress

Late last Spring, I bought a 1972 Honda CL450 Scrambler off craigslist in Boise. It was my main project this Summer, and I was able to get a decent amount (for me) of work done on it. The top pictures show it the day I bought it, though they don't show the dent on the top of the tank very well, nor the rough condition of the tires. The first thing I did was put new skids on it, which greatly improved the ride and the look of the bike. Next, a problematic fuel issue was solved with help from my buddy Steve (for whom the drawing in the last post was done) in the form of a twin carb rebuild and petcock kit. Now that the bike was relatively reliable and roadworthy, I moved onto cosmetic issues. I had pulled the dent out pretty well earlier in the Summer, but now needed to complete the body work with some Bondo to smooth things out. I was up in the air about leaving the tank badges on until nearly the moment that they were removed and their holes filled, but I'm happy that I did it. I went to my pal Shaky for help with the body work (meaning he just did it for me while I stood in the garage eating popsicles). Then, after many test panels and much debate, the Green-on-Flake-on-Pearl paint scheme seen in progress in the final photos was decided upon for expedience and style. I was hoping to replicate some of the candy on pearl fades associated with 60's show bikes, and simply couldn't exclude metalflake in some capacity or another. Shaky's expertise was again brought in for running the $15 Harbor Freight paint gun, and the tank was set on the ingenious stand of my design seen 6th from the bottom photo. For the flake, Shaky recommended we try a very primitive technique perfected by the likes of Ed Roth in the olden days of Kustom Painting. Normally, one mixes metalflake in with a clear coat and shoots it through a large capacity gun onto the tank, car, nazi helmet, whatever. For our experiment in Neanderthal painting, however, a coat of normal clear was shot onto the tank by Shaky, after which he held the tank up on its side while I delicately sprinkled the metalflake into the wet clear. Done over several layers, the method actually worked quite well, but I would never want to flake anything larger than an MC tank this way.  Sorry for the blurry/odd contrast photos, but they were taken quickly for documentary purposes, and with little time to fine tune. I have NOS 60's handlebars anxious to be installed, but must wait until I can find the necessary extended cables to do so. Hopefully photo updates will be posted before Thanksgiving. Engine rebuild and bore to come this winter!