Topic: 74 CB750 Navy Style

[Harsh]

I have been working on the body work for the past couple of days and finished it today.  I took notes of where the low spots were when I originally sanded and primed the tank so I wouldn't have to strip all of the primer off.  I re-did a few areas that I did yesterday because I wasn't happy with them.  The more I work with the filler the better I got at applying it.  A pro would still laugh me out of the building, but they can't say sh!t to me in my garage.  I did a little filing to the gas tank.  The edges were really rough from where they rolled and welded them originally.  Smoothed out as much as I dared.  I also found a lot of sediment in the petcock bowl when I removed it.  The screen appears to have done a good job at keeping it out of the carbs, but I can't help but think that some made its way into them   
Not very exciting, but here are a few pics.

[Harsh]

Well it seems like forever since I updated this thread.  Basically all I have accomplished is the complete stripping of the crappy primer from the tank and fender and rough sanding of those parts to get them ready for some epoxy primer.

I finally was able to get the time to fill the hole in the seat pan today.  When I initially drilled it I did so off center.  If I was going to do a solid color it might have been ok, but since I will have a stripe it would stand out like a sore thumb.  I think it turned out fairly well.  I started out by scrubbing down the area with some Dawn, rough sanded it with some P80, then cleaned everything up with a new tack rag.  I taped down some saran wrap on the outside nice and tight then packed the hole with some resin that I had mixed in some chopped glass.  After that I covered the hole with two pieces of woven mat.

All that is left is to let it fully cure, rough up the hole with some P80 then smooth everything out with some body filler.  The wrinkles left by the saran wrap should give the body filler some additional mechanical grip.

[Harsh]

I sent off my rotors to be ground flat and true so hopefully the insane pulsing will be a thing of history.  I called the place that I mentioned earlier in this thread and talked to the guy.  He said that it would cost me right at $100 for each rotor.  So I got in contact with a speedyracer741 and sent them to him to be ground.

Today I mounted the tank and seat pan back on the bike so I could lay out the correct orientation for the brake light hole.  I brought the wife out for a second set of eyes and got it pretty damn near dead center and marked the spot.  To my surprise I was only 5.5mm off to the right when I originally drilled the hole.  I find it hard to believe that little bit makes that big of a visual impact.

I think next week I will drop off the parts to the painter.  SO EXCITED!

[Warthog1959]

Great project going on there. I'm UK based and would like to do the same thing with my rear shocks as yourself, i.e. go up 1 inch from stock to 14 1/4 inches (361mm). Can you confirm this is the length you fitted? Do you still like the ride and did the relationship between the swing arm and the chain change dramatically. How is the steering? Better too sharp, does the front end remain stable. I can see your busy, but if you can spare 10 minutes that information would be very valuable before I phone in my order.

Nice job so far. Simon

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Great project going on there. I'm UK based and would like to do the same thing with my rear shocks as yourself, i.e. go up 1 inch from stock to 14 1/4 inches (361mm). Can you confirm this is the length you fitted? Do you still like the ride and did the relationship between the swing arm and the chain change dramatically. How is the steering? Better too sharp, does the front end remain stable. I can see your busy, but if you can spare 10 minutes that information would be very valuable before I phone in my order.

Nice job so far. Simon

Simon,
You can do this to sharpen steering, but you may want to install a steering damper.

[Harsh]

Great project going on there. I'm UK based and would like to do the same thing with my rear shocks as yourself, i.e. go up 1 inch from stock to 14 1/4 inches (361mm). Can you confirm this is the length you fitted? Do you still like the ride and did the relationship between the swing arm and the chain change dramatically. How is the steering? Better too sharp, does the front end remain stable. I can see your busy, but if you can spare 10 minutes that information would be very valuable before I phone in my order.

Nice job so far. Simon

I did go with the 361mm shocks.  However, I also fitted a GL1000 front end which is longer than the CB750 front end.  Steering is just fine for me and I suspect it would be fine even if I kept the CB front end.  I prefer a bit of a higher rear end in relation to the front.  It allows for a quicker drop in but at a slight sacrifice of high speed straight line stability.  On the street you would probably never notice the difference other than the quicker drop in.  I can't really comment on the swing arm and chain change since I fitted a new chain during the build so I cut the chain to fit.

[Warthog1959]

Thank you 'Fan' I would consider doing this If I got some heads hake although I am hoping that 1" would not make a huge difference. I would have to some rake and trail measurements to ensure I'm not over stepping it.

Harsh,

That is a bit of coincidence, because I have GL1000 front end also. At the moment it is dropped through the yokes 10mm maybe I will have to back it off, but at least there is some room for adjustment.

What I was looking for with the chain and swing arm is whether or not the pivot had risen up with the longer shocks to actually come in contact with the chain. New chain or otherwise I guess you would have discovered it by now.

What sort of clearance do you have between the top of your swing arm pivot and the chain travelling above it?

I was trying to post an image but the file is too large on my ipad, is it possible to compress the image on this thing or do I have to put some coal on my desk top

[Harsh]

I don't remember my exact measurement, but I have my front end dropped a bit further down than you do and have no ill handling effects.  My chain glides on the rubber swingarm protector pretty much like it did before.  I haven't noticed a deeper groove.

[Warthog1959]

Ah, a rubber swing arm protector, I don't have one of those. Perhaps I should hunt one down. Thanks Harsh, I don't know why they call you that, your alright.

[Harsh]

I got my rotors back and they look fantastic.  If they work as good as they look I will be in business.  I also got in contact with theplace I got my brake light from (Factory Five Racing) to see about getting a replacement chrome trim ring for it since mine fell off on its maiden voyage.  They couldn't open a package and just remove the ring so they made me a pretty good deal.  The sold me a new one at their cost which was significantly cheaper than buying a complete new one.

I am meeting with the painter on Thursday to finialize everything.

[Harsh]

Dropped my parts off with the painter last night.

[RAFster122s]

Congrats, in a few weeks they should be done and then you will be able to enjoy them on your bike...

[Harsh]

I did a trial run applying the water slide decals I am going to use.  I figured my air tank would be a good canvas to use.  I started with a clear backed paper and a white backed paper.  Printers don't print white so they use the white of the paper to render that color, but I needed to see how it would turn out each way.  If the clear worked it would dramatically reduce the time I would have to spend to trim out the pictures so that their background doesn't show.

As you can see below the clear backing absolutely will not work.  If you look closely you can make out the edge of the water slide.  So I will now have to spend a lot of time trimming out just the parts I want.  On the bright side applying them was a lot easier than I anticipated.  Although I know going into it that since I will have to trim a lot of the background out it will leave small fragile pieces that could easily tear or get distorted when applying.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Looks like you will have to break out the ole exacto knife

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Finally something went right.  Today I drove up to Slingshot Cycles and had a set of custom lines made.  Shaun was very accommodating and it was nice to meet another member.

Nothing super special about brake lines, but here is a pic non the less.  I followed the pattern of my Triumph.  A single line from the master cylinder to the right caliper then a jumper over to the left caliper.  I still need to route the lines through the grommets, but I still have some work to do on the fender.

Harsh,

Are you running a stock GL1000 fender?  I'm trying to figure out a smaller solution to the LARGE GL1000 fender with the flared lip.  I'd like to adapt my CB750 fender if possible, but the mounting points are different.  Any suggestions??

[Harsh]

I am running a stck GL1000 fender.  I cut down the whale tail to match the shape on the front.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I am running a stck GL1000 fender.  I cut down the whale tail to match the shape on the front.

Would you mind posting some more detailed pictures showing how you bobbed the fender -- especially showing the finished edge of the shortened side of the fender.  I'm trying to get some ideas, if I decide to install a fender.  I'd love to use my painted CB750 fender but it has different mounting points and welding a new bracket will destroy the paint.  Therefore, it looks like I will need to start from scratch if I decide to install a fender onto my new GL1000 front end.

[Harsh]

All of my parts are at the painters right now.  However, when I get them back I will get some pics for you.

Since you are using the fork brace the fender would simply be to keep the engine cleaner and not provide any support.  You could easily get away with making a simple aluminum bracket to mate the CB fender to the GL forks.  There would be no welding or drilling the CB fender at all.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

All of my parts are at the painters right now.  However, when I get them back I will get some pics for you.

Since you are using the fork brace the fender would simply be to keep the engine cleaner and not provide any support.  You could easily get away with making a simple aluminum bracket to mate the CB fender to the GL forks.  There would be no welding or drilling the CB fender at all.

Correct.  My Telefix brace and the Dime City Upper Triple Claim will provide the bracing.  I'd rather have a fender to keep the motor, etc. more sanitary from road dirt and debris.

The problem is that the existing bracket for the CB750 fender has an extra bracket (with no corresponding mounting point on the bottom of the fork leg) and the main mounting brackets are different from the GL1000 mounting points, as well.  I cannot eliminate the front (chrome) bracket or swap the center GL1000 bracket onto my painted CB750 fender without messing up the paint and/or leaving holes.

[Harsh]

I picked up the side panels from the painter today.

Sanded with 1000 grit before water slide application



After

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nice. That took some quality time with an exacto knife.

[Bankerdanny]

Very cool! Love old style pinups.

[Harsh]

So I got some new grips.  All I thought I was going to have to do is cut a hole in the end so that the bar end mirrors could go in.  However, it looks like I am going to have to do some cutting as well.  Not sure why the throttle side was so short, but is certainly is.  I am not sure how to go about cutting them to fit properly.  I want a nice sharp, straight cut.

[RAFster122s]

The gel grips in the middle are nice, curious about the short throttle side.
David

[MOONDOGNYC]

I put mine in a vise with an old set of 7/8 bars. Slid the grip on and whacked it with a rubber mallet.  2 whacks did it. Nice smooth hole in the end of the grip. I used wd-40 to remove it and soapy water to clean and install it again.