early 80's style cb1100f signal conversion...hard?

misterprofessionality

misterprofessionality

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Been looking at getting a set of authentic signals like so:

https://www.ebay.com/i/263818152743?chn=ps

and I'm wondering, is there anything super difficult about this? in my mind it's just, buy a new signal harness, buy the signals, splice the signals onto the spare harness, and plug in. do they bolt on significantly differently from the OEM signals? has anybody ever tried this? I think it'll bring me a step closer to that "F" style i'm chasing bit by bit.
 
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well then, not to create an echo chamber here, but i guess by the lack of interest/response here i'm really in uncharted territory. Here's what my solo research has uncovered so far:

The front and rear signal stalks do not have the same mounting setup as the '14 CB1100 Std. by any stretch. even the wire connectors are different. The good news is that the wiring setup runs from the signal to the harness, and isn't a permanent part of the harness, meaning i would not need to buy a spare harness. However, I would have to get ahold of some spare connectors and splice them onto the 80's signals in order to connect them at all. This is quickly becoming the kind of thing that makes me very nervous.

That said, I've found a couple of reasonable alternatives right here: Amazon.com and here: Amazon.com. They're not "authentic" in the real sense, but they are heavily evocative of the time period. These signals are called "short stalk" and apparently "not DOT approved." but the signal stalk on the CB11 mounts on a rubber bumper which effectively makes it longer. I can only assume that this cancels out the issue of them being too short. The bolt seems to be roughly the same, as does the wiring connection. I think there's a strong chance that these could work, except that I'm worried about the price being so low. It seems like i'm buying something outrageously cheap and totally not a quality product. Does anybody have any input on "speedmetal" as a brand?

edit: there's also this one : https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Indica...-Left-Honda-CB-1100-1981-to-1983/112061475438 which appears to be an aftermarket replacement for the authentic signals from the 80's. I have basically no information about the electrical connections what type of bulb it uses, or anything else, so I've posted a question.
 
I think these are the best out of what you showed by far- Amazon.com

BUT-- it will take a very purposeful design of the rest of the bike to pull that off.

What else do you have in mind?
 
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i like those all right from the front, but the authentic ones were flatter on the back. i'm probably being too picky.

what do I have in mind? hoo boy....lots of pipe dreams probably, but at least I have a direction. Let me start by saying I don't have the know-how, money, or tools to actually make it really super accurate. I'm going to take what's available to me, and try to make the best aesthetic choices to give my CB a look that is unmistakable evocative of the style.

Already have a tail cowl/seat that is reminiscent of the period. it's not exact, as there are some marked differences, but it's a really good starting point.

Some particulars that I am certain are attainable: black rectangle signals as discussed, Square headlamp/cowl with hard lines (not the curvy round chicdesign ones a lot of people use), 17" aluminum wheels (the original bol d'or had 17" in the back and 18" in the front, but i'm not sure what the benefit of that would be...), raise the rear a bit and lower the front a bit ( the old bikes were a bit more aggressively stanced than the modern CB11), swap out to more of a "Racing" style exhaust-- cat free-- i'm leaning toward titanium, change the side covers to the '14 DLX covers which more closely resemble the old "F" style side covers, and of course Black long stem rectangle mirrors (potentially cb1100F originals)

some particulars i think will cost too much, or be too drastic to do, or just not worth doing at all: have the tank, side covers, and tail cowl repainted to resemble the smooth flowing paint job on the old F bikes, perhaps with more subtle colors, have an F style front fender fabricated or an original retooled to fit the mounting positions on my modern CB11, and replace some engine covering bits to more accurately match the silver/black color scheme of the original engines from '83.

Some intentional inaccuracies: i'm not going to change the tach/gauges because they're shaped the same and I don't want to give up the modern tech. many of the old Bol D'ors had black 4-2 exhausts, and i'm not so interested in that. It seems like quite a lot of them were also fitted with 4-1 racing exhausts too, so I decided to go with that since it's more attainable and just not black. Obviously, my CB11 is never going to see the kind of horsepower the originals had, but if I follow the sages who've come before me, I might be able to make some improvements.

That's all I've got in my brain for now. I'm not an expert on these bikes, just responding to what i see and read as it comes to me.
 
TLDR

Sorry, I am heading out to the garage to install my new ECU- so how about you post a bike of whatever bike you want to style after and we can all throw out ideas once we bounce it around in our heads.

:)
 
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PowerDubs_imp said:
TLDR

Sorry, I am heading out to the garage to install my new ECU- so how about you post a bike of whatever bike you want to style after and we can all throw out ideas once we bounce it around in our heads.

:)
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lol! that might really require its own thread. I'm not the best, or even passable, with a wrench, so i'm really trying to take these little upgrades one at a time. the signals are what i'm trying to work up a plan for at the moment. Primarily, how to make sure i don't buy something that's physically impossible to bolt onto my bike. :rofl:

some photos that strongly represent the aesthetic i'm going for:
the black one I know is a highly customized bike, and not representative of the Original CB1100F, but i posted it because i'm absolutely in love with the color scheme.
 
That’s really easy- a mouse click away, have your credit card ready.

ff15bcffff2500b29a1388c8d1d067f5.png



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not so easy as you think! the dimensions of the modern CB are quite different from those old ones, i've discovered. I can't just bolt on original parts, but I can get myself closer and closer over time. honestly, the headlight, signals, mirrors, and suspension adjustments are 60% of the battle, now that I have the tail. The headlight, I imagine, will be the absolute worst one.
 
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PowerDubs_imp said:
https://www.samurider.com/?p=27986


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If you want the naked look, somebody on this forum already did it, I just don’t know their name.


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i'm actually well aware of that look, but it's unfortunately not quite right. wrong tank, way wrong tail, definitely the wrong fairing. however, here's a silver lining, and i'll thank you whole heartedly for this one: those signals are PERFECT!!! I was aware of this kit, but it just never occurred to me to look at the turn signals. i bet they install easier than the ones i've been looking at too. Just sent Mr. T an email asking for more details on Doremi Signal kit that goes with that.
P.S.: i'll give you this too, the brake light is actually much closer to the shape of the old F's, but I think i like mine well enough not to go through the trouble of trying to make it work.
 
I’m waiting for someone to do a true nighthawk tribute.

If you want a square headlight / cowl combo, grab a ZRX setup and repaint.


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PowerDubs_imp said:
I’m waiting for someone to do a true nighthawk tribute.

If you want a square headlight / cowl combo, grab a ZRX setup and repaint.


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Click to expand...
Me too!

The 1985 Nighthawk 750S (I believe the US got a 700 due to tariffs) was my favorite bike as a teenager in the '80s, I wanted one bad.

If a kit comes out to replicate that bike I will buy one regardless (almost) of price.
 
Thread starter
PowerDubs_imp said:
I’m waiting for someone to do a true nighthawk tribute.

If you want a square headlight / cowl combo, grab a ZRX setup and repaint.


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Click to expand...
that's funny you should say that, because there's really a very fine line between the looks of the 85 nighthawk and the looks of the 83 "F". I'm not even able to articulate what the difference is but I do see one (not just talking about paint jobs obviously).

thanks for the tip on the kawa lamp. it does look strikingly similar. I was going to have to repaint the cowl no matter what I did, so that seems really reasonable.

update: the Doremi Type-R conversion kit signals cannot be bolted onto the standard cb1100 signal mounting positions in the front, so i may have to drop that Idea. i'm not about to go trying to fabricate custom mounting for signals.
 
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that is tempting, but i'm not in any position to buy a second bike, not for at least 4 years or so. If something like that is available at that time it's going to be on my short short list.
 
My riding buddy rides the 84 750s red/black. He was pretty jealous when I got into a new CB1100. One night we swapped bikes for a bit, I was very impressed. It even had a Gear indicator! (mine is a 2013) .
The shaft drive and self adjusting valves all you really have to do is check the brakes tires and oil and you're laughing.
 
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so, my signals arrived. they seem to be surprisingly good quality, and I like the look and size of them for the aesthetic I had in mind. Here's the issue though: I have no idea how i'm going to connect them. The front signals connect somewhere inside the headlight bucket, so I don't think that's going to be problem, but the wires that connect the rear signals are really long, a bit over 3 feet, and the wires that came attached to these signals are very short, less than 12 inches. furthermore, i've seen the connectors from the rear signals, and they're completely different (seen in images below).

So, what's going on here? these signals came as a set of four, which I assumed meant 2 front and 2 rear. is there a particular signal with a longer wire I should have bought for the rear?

Am I supposed to be splicing this somehow? if so, where might i come about a spare wire like the one used to connect my existing signals? it doesn't seem to have a separate part number (part schematic also pictured below).

Anybody ever dealt with this before?
 
Wire strippers, speaker wire, electrical tape. Done.

If you like the look, you can go back later with solder & heat shrink if you want to be fancy.


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josh,

thanks for that. I didn't know what kind of wire to use, it's good to know that speaker wire does the trick. The question i don't have an answer for is where to get a connector like the one used to connect the OEM signals to the wire harness. I don't want to cut up the one I have, so as to preserve my original signals in storage. Is it a common part I could buy anywhere? Does it have a specific name?
 
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