Well I picked up this '77 CB750F last Thursday. The gentlman from whom it was purchased claimed that he rode it a few times after purchasing it a year ago and it sat in his shed since then. He aparently purchased it as part of a lot of three CB750's, and from the looks of things this was the parts bike.
I didn't look it over particularly well when I checked it out before purchasing it; I knew the motor wasn't locked up and that it seemed to have decent compression based on my kickstart test. That was enough for me.
Once I got it home and started looking over it more carefully I found all sorts of little problems. So my dream of bringing it home, putting a fresh battery in it, and cranking it right up were dashed. All the better I suppose because now it gets a teardown and refresh.
Here is the picture from the craigslist listing that caught my eye to begin with:
And what it looked like after getting it home, taking the seat off, and unbolting the rear fender:
And am hour of so later:
And then it sat for a couple days till I had time off work again. I suppose I might have gotten a bit carried away:
A few things that make me wonder about the previous owners care for this bike:
-The triple trees weren't actually clamped down on the forks... the bolts literally looked like they had been turned in a few turns by hand and then left there.
-Rear brake linkage was more of a decoration (a poor one at that) than a functional part.
-Rear of the frame was hacked off with no effort made to control moisture entering the frame.
-Carbs stick open when opened fully. Hodgepodge of different screws used in reassembly after apparent cleaning:
-Weld bead bump stops. Apparently needed because the tank was raised by tacking a threaded rod onto the top of the frame.
-Case broken on top rear mount. No apparent effort to weld or adhere broken part; just reassembled like nothing was wrong.
-Engine case and valve cover rattle-can-painted Red and Yellow.... REALLY?
Anyway, enough of the horror story. Believe me, I was just getting started.
The plan is:
- Get inside the motor and strike gold. I.E. open it up and find it only needs a re-ring, valve lap, valve seals. cam chain, tentioner, head studs, and gaskets. Wish me luck on that.
- Remove everything non-essential on the frame, strip it, bake it, weld a u-bend onto the back where it was hacked off, and powder-coat it red.
- Port head.... by myself.
- Rebuild carbs.
- Fresh wheel bearings, tires, stearing head bearings, swingarm bushings, fork springs, emulators, fork seals.
- Pick up Dyna 2000 ignition and build a fresh harness for the rest of the bike from scratch.
- Delete oil tank, replace with large front-mount oil cooler of substantial volume.
- Fabricate SS 4-2-1 exhaust that joins cyl 1-2 and 3-4 almost immediately and then joins secondaries just before muffler.
- Fabricate seat.
- Reassemble, ride.
Things I am daydreaming about, as I have a tendency to do, but need to research more-
-Microsquirt engine managment (so obviously intake manifold, TB's ect...)
-Alternator swap.
-Custom battery... yes I mean fabricate a smaller, lighter, disguised battery.
-Custom triple trees and modern USD forks.
-Single disc front brake, single disc rear; both plumbed to the brake lever; proportioning valve.
-Custom front and rear sets.
Updates forthcoming.
