Topic: Jerilee's '77 CB750F

[Jerilee]

Alright!
So earlier I posted to the newbie forum and shared a photo of my 77' F frame. http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=123630.msg1403254#msg1403254

 Tomorrow I'm headed on a little road trip to pick up the rest... mostly! I found another '77 F up in the next state over and I'll be headed up tomorrow evening to pick it up. Pretty much everything there to get me going on a rebuild!
I'm very excited, I'll let y'all know what I come home with when I do. : )

[Jerilee]

So last night we got the bike home safe and sound, about a three hour drive each way from southern NH to Addison County VT, a very pretty drive in the daylight, once the rain/fog/night hit the charm was all in having the bike on the trailer behind us! 

The bike seems to be in reasonably O.K shape, it's previous owner had tried to make a cafe out of it with not a lot of... results.

The good news is the engine seems free, the electrics -what of them are still hooked up- seem to work fine, and several of those missing items came home with me in a box, so that's a start!

So what's the plan now?
Well, I have a lot of my plate outside of the project, and the budget is so tight it squeaks, but, I'll start with the usual list making, research and then careful disassembly, inspection, cleaning, prep and sorting. I'll have to decide then what I'm restoring or replacing.

My goal is something of a resto-mod, how much resto and how much mod will depend on a lot of things, so it's not set in stone yet.

I'll keep posting pictures and videos along the way as much as I can, and I am always open to advice, insight and suggestions.

[apetersonboy]

Coocoocachoo

[Jerilee]

Well, I went out and took a few new pictures today, the three above were the seller's craigslist photos. I'll load one or two up here for posterity in a bit, I have to re-size them down a bit first. 

I gave it a very quick rinse to get off the spider webs and loose filth. Assessment is pretty much the same, solid with a few exceptions.

--
For my reference mostly:

Missing:
rear fender 1/2
right hand controls
flasher relay?
misc bolts, including grab bar mounting bolts, 2 front fender mounting bolts, etc?

Gastank inner coating, asap.

--

[lwahples]

Good to see another member bought that Bike.I sold some stuff to buy it and just missed it.The engine sounded promising in the C/L add. Good Luck with your build.

[Jerilee]

You're kidding!
Well I hope another promising bike comes your way soon, you'll have to let me know, especially if you'll be rebuilding etc, so I can follow it. : )

If I hear of another good candidate I'll send it your way.
Thanks for the well wishes, good luck with the hunt.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Open a free PhotoBucket acct and resizing is not necessary. Just copy and paste the "IMG Code".

[lwahples]

I picked up a 78F in NH a short time ago.Sounds like you being able to buy the one you did is a good thing.Now you have most of the parts needed to build a runner.

[Jerilee]

Congrats!
Any plans for the 78F?

Yup, for me time and money are both very tight, but I miss riding and I miss my ol' CB, so making a runner out of this will be beyond great. : ) If I can only have one, I want it to be *the* one.

Here's a pic of the 'worst' of the damage I've found so far. The RH control is all busted up. There are a few more pics in my photobucket now. (Thanks for the suggestion Griffin!)



A surprise heatwave and thunderstorms have kept me at bay the last two days, but hopefully I'll be able to go outside the end of this week and start cleaning up my work/storage space and snap a few pictures of some things I intend to sell to help pay for all this.

[Jerilee]

So today I didn't get a whole lot done, I'd started with the best of intentions but realized I wanted to repaint the wheelbarrow and put the garden to bed for the season. Ended up spending a beautiful afternoon outside re-potting a few things for indoors and rattlecanning the wheelbarrow. By the end I had just enough time before the dinner bell to straighten out the rear fender mount on my 77F frame.

I had tried to do some research on straightening these but there wasn't anything really... I assume that's because they don't bend often. I had imagined something much more elaborate or skilled, like real body or frame work but I had a flash of inspiration and decided a 6" c-clamp, a bit of shim and three scraps of two-by-four would do the job nicely



I got it pretty close to straightened out, it's still a little wavy-gravy but I may let it be, it's level enough to mount the fender, I think. I'm not really sure how to do much better, I'll put it like that 



I also noticed the right side shock mount bolt is bent forward a fair amount. Is this something I can or should fix and if so, how?



I also took off the seat lock and the center stand. I'm going to do some research, I had thought I saw something somewhere about adding a zerk fitting to it? At any rate, it all went without a hitch and aside from removing the vin plate, the frame is ready for stripping. I may wait until I'm closer to having everything ready to powder coat so I can have it all done at once.

[KRONUS0100]

i hit a dog in early morning darkness and rain on way to work, and bent the right side of that fender mount on my 76 750f.  straightened as best as i could, but the plate and brakelight are ever so slightly tilted to the right

[Jerilee]

Owch, sorry to hear about the accident! I'm sure mine will be ever so slightly off now too.

So today was eceptionally nice, warm weather for the season and I couldn't miss a chance to get out and pluck some more stuff of the '77.

I pulled off the wire harness, the horns, the gauges, the headlight and bucket and all the pedals and leavers/grips (except that left hand pos that's glued on.)





Next time I have time I'll drain the oil, remove the exhaust and loosen the engine mounts so I can take the motor out. I have to say, I'm a little worried about that step only because I'm not sure where I'm going to store things at that point.

[78whiteorbs]

interested in parting with one of those sets of carbs? I have many nice new parts for you bike I would trade!

[Jerilee]

I'm afraid I only have the one set. Otherwise I'd say a very hefty 'yes!'

[Jerilee]

Today's progress


A huge thank-you to my spouse for helping me fight the engine out, a 1/8th inch twist here, a half a degree there, up another 1/4", oh, now over again... You all know the drill!

I also want to show off two of my favorite tools, these are ratcheting wrenches from autozone... Of all the things I've ever bought there, these are the only ones I'd do again.
They're no replacement for a static wrench when the torque's too high because of rust etc, or a socket for the deep stuff. But they are amazing in a lot of places. I love these things, we've named them the Carol's, since we never could figure out what to call them when we yelled out from under a car...  'grab me a... y'know, the ratcheting thing... the 13... no no, the wrench'


http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Duralast-2-pcs-metric-ratcheting-wrench-set/_/N-25fu?itemIdentifier=951644&_requestid=61381

I was a little bummed to find a whole-lot of not-oil in the oil pan when I drained it, but I'm hoping this is some kind  of result of having sat for years, and that the engine was never run like that.

I also found the carbs were frozen, but they look in good shape, hopefully a soak and a rebuild and they'll be fine.
The drive chain was getting stuck links, so I'm glad again I'm tearing this thing apart for this rebuild rather than trying to ride it.

I'll finish disassembling the frame and suspension and then focus on cleanup and frame mods, we'll see where I go from there.

[lwahples]

Nice that you have your wife willing to help.Sorry to hear that the bike was only a so-so deal.Going to have a warm spot to work on it this winter?

[Jerilee]

She's been amazing about the whole project from pickup to pulling the motor and bearing with my time working on and obsessing on the whole thing. I count myself pretty lucky. Plus, we might be the first two women in history to have pulled a CB motor.

I'm not sure about the warm spot for the winter, the garage is unheated and filled with a lot of other unfinished projects... But if we can get the Saab wagon put back together I'll have a bench again. I may clean off my sewing table in the basement for the smaller stuff, fork tubes carbs, etc.

I'm a little disappointed that so far the bike's been so-so, but I'm taking it all in stride, I had decided I was going to frame-off rebuild from the start so even if maintenance hadn't been very good or strange stuff had been done by previous owners I'll be in there anyway... The engine is the only spot that scares me, if that's fubar then things might get expensive and fast! 

Ah, a little wordy! Update on the way!

[Jerilee]

No pictures for today. By the time I got everything apart last night I'd lost daylight and I was beat after I got home from work today, just bagged up what was left and put it away.

I've got everything off the frame now though, right down to the rubber side-cover grommets. I'm away next weekend and this week is a mix of funky schedules at work (inventory... whee) and getting prepped for our trip.

When I get back I've got to sell the El Camino and I'll start picking out the parts I want to clean. I've also got to do my research on prepping and storing everything I'm getting powder coated until I can send it all in at once. I'm especially worried about the steel parts rusting in the meanwhile.

Oh! And I need to track down a frame splice kit or imagine up my own solution and weld in a few gussets. I don't want to go nuts on that front, but I figure since I have the welder out, I might as well.

More pics as soon as I have something to show!

[andy750]

Jerilee you have fellow member Anders along the road from you in Candia, NH - Anders has a ton of experience with SOHCs and a lot of parts so if you get stuck for something go visit him!

Good luck and hope to see you out on the road when the snow melts

cheers
Andy

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

No pictures for today. By the time I got everything apart last night I'd lost daylight and I was beat after I got home from work today, just bagged up what was left and put it away.

I've got everything off the frame now though, right down to the rubber side-cover grommets. I'm away next weekend and this week is a mix of funky schedules at work (inventory... whee) and getting prepped for our trip.

When I get back I've got to sell the El Camino and I'll start picking out the parts I want to clean. I've also got to do my research on prepping and storing everything I'm getting powder coated until I can send it all in at once. I'm especially worried about the steel parts rusting in the meanwhile.

Oh! And I need to track down a frame splice kit or imagine up my own solution and weld in a few gussets. I don't want to go nuts on that front, but I figure since I have the welder out, I might as well.

More pics as soon as I have something to show!

Jerilee,

Great idea on the splice kit, since you have the motor out.  I wish I had done the same with my K7 when it was disassembled for PC. 

Kudos to your other half for helping you remove the motor. 

Since you are contemplating some frame modifications, you may want to grind off the ridge on inside of the lower engine mounts; Hondaman recommends this because the ridge sometimes hangs up the engine from going in or out.  Of course, if you lay the frame and engine onto their sides to remove or install the engine, you can also save yourself from undue muscle strain and bashed knuckles, too.

Looking forward to what you do with your 750F restomod. 

[Jerilee]

Jerilee,

Great idea on the splice kit, since you have the motor out.  I wish I had done the same with my K7 when it was disassembled for PC. 

Kudos to your other half for helping you remove the motor. 

Since you are contemplating some frame modifications, you may want to grind off the ridge on inside of the lower engine mounts; Hondaman recommends this because the ridge sometimes hangs up the engine from going in or out.  Of course, if you lay the frame and engine onto their sides to remove or install the engine, you can also save yourself from undue muscle strain and bashed knuckles, too.

Looking forward to what you do with your 750F restomod. 

Thanks! No luck yet on the splice kit. I don't care for the 'slip on' ones, I have an idea in my head for making my own splice but I haven't committed to cutting just yet.
Really? I didn't know if those ridges were wields that might be important, but if they can be ground down, by god I'll go nuts on them! Those things were the other half of the frustration getting the engine out!

As much as it's all for ease of instalation/removal/maintenance, the other part is to keep the engine/frame paint in nice shape after pc, the less chance of deep nicks and gouges, the better.

Jerilee you have fellow member Anders along the road from you in Candia, NH - Anders has a ton of experience with SOHCs and a lot of parts so if you get stuck for something go visit him!

Good luck and hope to see you out on the road when the snow melts

cheers
Andy

Will do, and thank you for the heads up!

Speaking of locals, does anyone know of a fellow in Derry, NH here on the board? I stopped to talk to him last summer, he works on old Honda's and other vintage bikes just for fun and when he's got a few extra he rolls three or four out by the street to sell. After a few years of passing by and seeing these nice old CBs I had to stop in to say hello.

At any rate, I'll keep Anders in mind and thank you, I hope to be out and riding then too! 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Jerilee,

The consensus on the forum is that the Gordon frame kit is THE KIT to have.  Some have described it as over-engineered, in terms of its design and strength.  You should be able to get one by PM'ing forum member Gordon who goes by the handle Ilbikes (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=101036.0).  Ocassionally, one goes on sale in the classifieds and is quickly sold.

Alternatively, you can buy one from Cycle X for $130 (http://www.cyclexchange.net/Frame%20Page.htm) -- not as robust as the Gordon kit, but it will do the job.

Don

[stewonepot]

hi
talk to 754 about his new kit
regards stew

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

hi
talk to 754 about his new kit
regards stew

Frank aka 754 makes first-rate stuff.

[Jerilee]

So, it is May now and I have little real progress to report. Used and new parts have trickled in as funds allowed over the winter and with the weather finally warming up I've started sorting all the bits into piles. Things to ready for powder coating, chrome brightwork, aluminum to be polished, wires to look over, etc, etc.
I'll take a picture or two next time I'm out there at it just to show some progress. : )