I picked up an 87 Honda 600F last month as a new project for the winter. At first I thought about going the crazy Icarus winged tail to the sun route that seems kinda popular lately. Here is my concept drawing:



Eventually I scrapped that idea went with something a bit more subdued.



When I started designing the tail I just tossed a piece of cardboard over the back and drew something out with a marker but I think you can see some influence from the 80s to early 90s superbikes as well the 70s Honda cafe racers.









I still have a lot of work to do on the bike but I figured I would start a thread to post my progress.

 

Here is a little picture timeline of what I've done so far.
The begining


The tail before modifications


Tail cut up a bit with a circular saw


Cardboad mock up of tail


Remade the tail out of aluminum flashing using the cardboard as a template


A few layers of fiberglass on the tail, headlight mock up, new rear tire and a primered swing arm


Getting an idea of what the tail light is going to look like relative to everything else


Headlight up close


Tail light

 

Thanks for posting up all the pics & progress. Great stuff!

 

right on man, thats going to be a nice looking bike after you're done. are you planning on shaping or trimming down the tail a bit more? either way, its going to look a million times better than it did. keep going, i'm gonna be watching! i like the tail light, the round light is really going to set it off as a cafe

 

I'm about to start dialing in the lines a bit more with body filler but the shape is basically set. I plan on painting the frame, tank, and tail satin black with a gloss stripe down the middle. And I also started sketching up a number plate decal that is based off the hurricane symbol.


With the stripe and the number it should break up the planes of the tail enough so it doesn't look too bulky. I polished up the rear sets and put on a new pair of pegs that I got in the mail today. They are just some cheap aluminum ones but they look pretty good on the polished bracket. I'll try to get some picks tomorrow of them and the other treats I got in the mail today.

 

that's going to look killer. are you going to change the rims (going spokes) or updating the forks and suspension too?

 

I was not planing on changing the rims or the forks/suspension. Were you suggesting making changes to the forks and suspension for performance or to bring them back to more of a retro look?

Here are a few pics of recent changes.
Polished bracket and new peg

New black brake lever

I picked up a used F2 clutch perch and repainted it and added a matching black clutch lever

Here is the sketch for the number plate decal I was thinking about putting on the sides. It is based off the hurricane symbol and the Cyrillic version of "F1" "Ф1"


I'd love some feedback on the decal as well as any suggestions on the exhaust. I took off the passenger pegs and would like to mount an exhaust with out them. I'm more interested in economy and appearance over performance but I also don't want the bike to run like ****. These were two exhausts that I was considering but I still need to check to see if the outside diameters of the header pipes are the same over the years.
GP Style Exhaust Honda CBR 600 F2 F3 91-98 EX319 | eBay

99-00 CBR 600 F4 Moto GP EXHAUST Shorty Slip On Pipe | eBay

 

I realized after posting that last post that somehow I managed to flip tips of the symbol in a way that contradicts the wind movement of the hurricane. I'm definitely going to redo that part.

 

o i meant, USD forks so you have modern suspension and radial brakes.

04 05 HONDA CBR 1000RR SUSPENSION FRONT FORKS TRIPLE | eBay

something like that would really set it off, and then a modern swingarm - like one from a 1000rr

CBR1000RR CBR 1000RR Polished Swingarm Swing Arm 04/07 | eBay

it'll look beefy, handle modern, and be sweet. its just an idea, it depends really on how much money you want to throw at the bike.

however, for the exhaust, i had the second one you listed on my f3, and if it were me, i'd get the first one you listed. not that the second one is crap, but its made to fit a huge list of bikes, and it doesn't fit any of the great, it just sort of fits them okay, and it'll come loose every once in a while

 

Where/what is that headlight from? I`ve been dying to search something like that for my Cagiva Freccia Cafè racer-project but ended up with noot... That would look effing awesome in my project also. I`ve also planned to build the rear end somewhat similiar to yours, with the slight exeption that I`ll propably be doing mine off fiberglass. I planned my colour scheme to be something like pure white frame/rims and toothpaste-like blue tins...

Sorry for the stupid question, but what is aluminium flashing? rammed into a language barrier there...