Topic: 78 CB750F "Modular-ish" cafe build?

[madScientist]

All the connectors looked good and solid. The plugs were a little over gapped it looks like. I put fresh D8EA plugs gapped to .028 in it. I'm replacing the Pamco wires with Accell 7mm wires that I had laying around. Probably give it a test out tomorrow.

[madScientist]

This looks like it might have been a result of an ID10T error on my part. After replacing the wires everything seemed great. I sync'd the carbs which weren't that far off. Then I turned the fuel off to let the fuel work it's way through the lines so I didn't have a lot of spillage.

Then I noticed it. A couple minutes after killing the fuel #4 cylinder went out. i went to troubleshooting the ignition thinking there had to be enough fuel in the system to keep everything running fine. Everything checked out...then #1 died...then I couldn't keep it running. Opening the petcock everything was great again...I had a fuel flow problem between the tank and the carbs.

I was never happy with how I had my lines run in the first place. I have a glass filter in it that caused a high spot. After mounting everything back together I noticed I had no fuel in the filter. Even after starting it there was no fuel. So I have re-run my lines moving the filter to right on top of the carbs. Minimal high spots and fuel flow looks awesome now. The filter is full whereas before it was 1/4 full.

I'll take it for a run in a little while but I believe I've fixed the problem. We'll see.

[sethdhawkins]

On my 34's, I have line off of the petcock, to a 90 degree filter, to a "T", to two equal length lines that attach to the supply inlets. Sometimes , when the bike is left on the side stand, or the fuel level becomes low in the tank, the carbs will do funny things. Hope it's a simple fix.

[madScientist]

I'm going to call this fixed. I took it out yesterday for some 7-8k rpm runs and couldn't get it to sputter.

The glass bowl in the filter is much fuller than it was with the original configuration. I'm keeping an eye on the AF to make sure the configuration is still proper and wasn't reading off.  It seems to stay consistent 13.1...I'm leary about dropping the needles down though until I have more data.

Come to think of it I should have realized this was a fuel problem sooner...when the cylinder would drop the AF would skyrocket to 18+ indicating a lean condition. Gah...so much oversight.

[sethdhawkins]

Glad it was an easy fix! On my bike the #4 carb is the first to go dry, and the accelerator pump nozzle in that carb throat is the first to stop squirting. Hope you get to put some miles on now, Chase.

[brandEn]

Fuel line routing is a major pita and I am always tinkering with mine

[madScientist]

So after a couple 120mph runs I didn't really like how the steering felt. It felt kind of "loose" to me. So I decided it was time for a steering dampener. I ordered a NHK 130mm from FFTP with a 35mm clamp (fork) and a 32mm (downtube) hoping there would be enough angle / extension to clear the oil cooler and the engine.

There isn't.

After about 2 hours or so of trying to find the "perfect angle" to get the darn thing to clear both I said 'f it' and made about a 1.5" extension that bolted to the downtube clamp that finally allowed for the dampener to clear it.

Aesthetically I hate the way that bracket looks. So, likely this weekend, I'm going to try and fashion up another bracket out a 1 1/4" exhaust clamp. In my minds eye it looks better than this hodge podge that I have going on now.

Sorry for the blurry / dark photo...my camera flash elected to stop working:

[sethdhawkins]

Ah, the joys I thought I was the only one aggravated by steering damper placement!

[madScientist]

Have any advice? I think I have a solid plan but damn this has been an irritating endeavor...

[sethdhawkins]

I wish that I did. On mine, I welded a tab to the frame and mounted the stabilizer to it and the lower triple (drill and tap) with my stock-ish frontend. When I went to the gixxer frontend, I had to flip the stabilizer and run a clamp like yours. I would never have been able to fit a stabilizer, while running a cooler like you have, thus the round cooler I sourced from pro-one.
(forgive the picture whoring)
You can see both the stabilizer, tab, and cooler in these photos. I have seen other stabilizers where the mounting point of the cylinder can be moved...might give you more options.

[sethdhawkins]

I just looked at your photo, and it appears that your clamp adjusts as well. That oil cooler really does screw you :-/ Maybe find a way to modify a sportbike style damper that mounts on top of the triple?

[Retro Rocket]

Put some clothes on that bike and ride it Seth.....

[sethdhawkins]

Put some clothes on that bike and ride it Seth.....

It's indecent, Mick I still have over a week of work before I get to play with bikes again.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I'm waiting day to day on this bike to nominate it for BOTM.

[sethdhawkins]

Chase,

Any insight on those grips you're running? They look rather comfy.

[madScientist]

Seth -- they are called "Grand Touring" grips. I have had them for, gosh, 9 years I think. If memory serves I got them from Parts n' more. They are pretty comfortable and fit my hands nicely.


I think I have solved the riddle. I made a 3" extension that mounts to the clamp out of 16gauge steel that seems pretty firm. I then angled it so that I would have plenty of clearance between the cooler and dampener. I am also clear of the tank. With this setup I probably could go down to the 2000 model (120mm) but I'll run this one for awhile I think.
The steering feels awesome btw. Up over 100 I used to have a fair amount of wobble...now...nothing. It doesn't chase grooves in the road anymore and just generally feels more solid and firm.

Here are some photos:

[madScientist]

Why yes big red banner...i am sure i'd like to reply to the thread even though i've been away for like 8 years. Apologies for that but life got in the way.

Well...where to begin. Over that time i restored not 1 but 2 1966 Ford Mustangs...one is my daily driver. Moved. Had a kid. And a number of other kind of big ticket life things.

Unfortunately, the 750 sat dormant for a good 4 or 5 of those years...with gas in it so you know what that led to. About 5 months or so ago i pulled the RS34's off it to get them cleaned up and get the ol girl back into service cause i miss riding it. In the process i broke one of the float posts, attempted to repair it but it's not balancing and flooding the bike. I've been hunting around for a new rack but it seems like they're a bit hard to come by.

So i think i'm going to go with a set of CR29's. Dynoman has them in stock and ready to go. I'm going to sleep on it a bit because, while i love to tinker, not real sure i want to dive into the tuning work that CR's require. I mean...i'll probably do it but i'm at least going to think on it a tad.

Nothing else has really changed on the bike. I havent changed anything else...just rode and enjoyed it.
I'll also be reviving my 350 build as well since it also got neglected for the better part of a decade.

[grcamna2]

Why yes big red banner...i am sure i'd like to reply to the thread even though i've been away for like 8 years. Apologies for that but life got in the way.

Well...where to begin. Over that time i restored not 1 but 2 1966 Ford Mustangs...one is my daily driver. Moved. Had a kid. And a number of other kind of big ticket life things.

Unfortunately, the 750 sat dormant for a good 4 or 5 of those years...with gas in it so you know what that led to. About 5 months or so ago i pulled the RS34's off it to get them cleaned up and get the ol girl back into service cause i miss riding it. In the process i broke one of the float posts, attempted to repair it but it's not balancing and flooding the bike. I've been hunting around for a new rack but it seems like they're a bit hard to come by.

So i think i'm going to go with a set of CR29's. Dynoman has them in stock and ready to go. I'm going to sleep on it a bit because, while i love to tinker, not real sure i want to dive into the tuning work that CR's require. I mean...i'll probably do it but i'm at least going to think on it a tad.

Nothing else has really changed on the bike. I havent changed anything else...just rode and enjoyed it.
I'll also be reviving my 350 build as well since it also got neglected for the better part of a decade.

Welcome back ! sorry to hear about that float post;too bad that you don't know an expert solderer person.
Do you have a pic of one of those 66 Mustangs;do they have 289's ?

[madScientist]

Welcome back ! sorry to hear about that float post;too bad that you don't know an expert solderer person.
Do you have a pic of one of those 66 Mustangs;do they have 289's ?

Yeah i was pretty bummed. I'm thinking i might try to grind it flat and tap it for a m4 or m5 bolt to fabricate a post. Things pretty well screwed as is so i might as well give it a try. I'm also kicking around getting a set of Mikunis spaced for a kz and then using my current set as a guide for sizing them to fit. The KZ's seem to be easier to get a hold of. The Mikuni's have been great and, while the CR's would also be good, being more geared for racing I anticipate them to be a bit of a tuning nuisance. I have a wideband on my bike so i guess it wouldnt be too terrible. The $1300 price tag is a little hard to swallow though.

The convertible is a 289 block but bored over to 302. I need to get it back into my shop to do some work on it. I built it for my dad who passed away a few years ago so I own it now but didnt have room for it. My brother has been storing it in a "garage" thats a glorified barn in the middle of nowhere Illinois so humidity is wreaking havoc on it. Its mostly original suspension and stuff which is like driving a horse and buggy compared to my hardtop.
Speaking of the hardtop...its one of my daily drivers and i overbuilt the snot out of it because...why not?
It had a late model 302 that was ailing so i built up a 408w. Took the autotragic out and put a manual in (tko600). Fab9 rear with a 3link and coilovers. Coilovers up front. 17" wheels to fit over 13" brakes and LOTS of other things. Here are some pictures of that albatross around my neck






Both cars together

[grcamna2]

Great looking cars ! 
I think I see a Griffin custom radiator ?
Nice to see them and the custom AC is necessary.
Do you like how your daily handles ? 

[madScientist]

Thanks bud! The hardtop has a BeCool radiator that was made to fit the 71 big block cars. It's HUGE! I had to carve out the radiator opening 2" all the way around to really use it but it keeps that stroker cool even in 100+ degree heat with the AC on. The AC is kind of meh but it does enough to make it bearable in the real hot days. The headers bring heat in the car pretty bad still even with lots of floor insulation. I'm going to put some heat shielding around them in the near future.

The thing handles like its on rails. I live on a pretty twisty road that I can really rip it down if i want. I had it on a skid pad last year and managed to pull a little over 1g with summer performance tires that i'm currently not a fan of. I think i can get some more by switching to a softer compound. There is very little body roll compared to a stocker. I went to a 1 1/8" sway bar and grafted a convertible mustang substructure in stiffen up the unibody. Its a monstrous franken-car.

Here's a  dumb little video i did going down one of my roads. The angle is terrible and I'm hoping to do a better one when it cools off.

[scottly]

About 5 months or so ago i pulled the RS34's off it to get them cleaned up and get the ol girl back into service cause i miss riding it. In the process i broke one of the float posts, attempted to repair it but it's not balancing and flooding the bike.

Member Jim F does micro-welding, and has fixed quite a few broken float posts.
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?action=profile;u=4044
Here's a link to his web site:
https://www.jmfmicroweld.com/

[madScientist]

Awesome thanks! I'll give him a shout!

[Stev-o]

I'm waiting day to day on this bike to nominate it for BOTM.

Nominated!

Can you post some pics?  Thx

[madScientist]

I'm waiting day to day on this bike to nominate it for BOTM.

Nominated!

Can you post some pics?  Thx

Absolutely...prepare for a photo dump since photobucket screwed everything up