Micah from Melbourne, Australia spent a year at Bible School on the South Pacific island of Venuatu with a $500 CM185 as his sole transport. The two-wheeled flame that had been burning since childhood was reignited and Micah scoured the web looking for his dream machine. Salty Speed Co. and their #2 CB400F build got Micah’s heart racing enough to put in an order, the brief; black brat.
A few weeks later, a not-so-good-looking 1975 CB400F was bought blind and delivered to Salty’s Wollongong HQ on Australia’s East Coast.
Matt from Salty has got Brats dialled in. Nothing over-fancy, just plain slicked-out cool. To get the look this good, obviously a complete strip down was required. The usual rear loop and de-tabbing sorted the frame out whilst a slim battery box was fabricated to hide electricity under the seat. The rear fender is original but shortened and the front came from WM Japan, held by a custom bracket.
Aluminium clip on bars with internal wiring for the Posh switchgear keep the cockpit looking super neat, leaving the Dime City tapered bearing top clamp to show off its machined handsomeness. A DCC mini speedo is all the instrumentation required and the Nissin master cylinder offers a bit more bite to the rebuilt front calliper should the needle get too far round to the East side.
Firestones were one request put in at the beginning of this build, so here they are, wrapped around powder coated rims and hubs with new stainless spokes. The seat base is custom with a wafer of neoprene rubber for comfort and a plain stitched leather cover. A coat of paint has rejuvenated the rear shocks and rebuilt internals for the front end with powdered fork legs adhering to the black theme. Dutchys Motorcycle Spray Painting did these parts and the fuel tank, and no, our own Dutch has not been moonlighting, I don’t think…..
The motor was deemed to be in good health and needing only a thorough service but while out of the frame was given a coat of wrinkle finish black paint. The MAC ceramic coated black 4 into 1 exhaust and pod filters help with acoustics and breathing, with the carbs requiring a rebuild and re-jet to 85 mains for smooth running.
Fed up with chasing wiring faults on forty year old looms, Matt now fits new set-ups from Spark Moto which are simpler and better made than the originals, and completely customisable. A reg/rec from Rick’s Electrics deals with the current and sends DC to the 8 cell Antigravity battery hidden under the seat. The Bates headlight is mounted on a water-jet cut bracket.
There you have it, a recipe for a clean and good looking Brat. I’m not very good at following instructions so if you’re the same get in touch with Matt and order from the menu knowing a side order of cool is on the house.
Follow Salty Speed Co here on their Bike Shed Page or Instagram, Facebook and their Website.
via The Bike Shed
