Topic: 1972 CB750 Four K2 -- Rebuilt to NEW OLD STOCK -- PIX ON PAGE 50

[Tews19]

They remove the rivets for the plate. You can replace those. Is your tag gone? If so that is ridiculous.

[edwardmorris]

Not quite gone, but it has taken a beating 

[Kickstart]

Argh... that sucks!

Had they just drilled out the rivets and carefully removed the plate you'd be golden (and that is the proffered way to do it).  Getting replacement drive rivets is easy.  I took mine off myself before taking it to the powder coater.

I think I read a post about someone making or buying a reproduction plate.... found it:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=116002

Or, maybe you could flatten out what's left of your plate and epoxy it to a thin piece of metal flashing, then rivet that back on the neck.

As for not painting the studs/threads where the shocks attach, I think you're OK there as you shocks will slide over that part.

Did you leave the lower bearing race on the triple tee?  It's hard to tell in the picture, but it looks that way.

Looks good though, even if it's frustrating.  I know how you feel.  When I dropped my frame parts off at the local powder coater I carefully went over what should be painted and what should be masked.  The guy I talked to seemed to be taking notes, but when I went to pick up the finished parts half the things I requested weren't done.  I also got a lot of the "that's the way we always do it".

[MCRider]

Sorry about your VIN plate. Barbarians. Mine was damaged when removed but not that much. I used a 2" (I think) piece of PVC as a mold and tapped the plate over and over to restore its curve and remove wrinkles. A little heat may help too.

CAn't replace the missing metal. I think I have heard that the plate can be replaced with a reproduction. Don't know who or where.

Here's a thread: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=116002.0

[edwardmorris]

Thanks guys, that's exactly the thread my search brought up too,  and this seems a pretty close match, so will start looking into that tomorrow.



@Chris, its just a bad pic, I had everything removed a looong time ago



and yea, I just realized that the shocks will cover up the missed parts, but I'll touch those up with paint anyway before assembly. I found one other spot that needs it, the threads on that small built in bolt on the electrics plate that attaches to the battery box.

Another bummer tonight, I assembled the cheapo wheel balancing stand from Harbor Freight, only to find out the damned axel is bowed  Minor setback I suppose, I can grab same size rod at menards and get it to work by the time the NOS rims arrive.

[edwardmorris]

Picked up the rear hub from the shop today, had the brake shoe surface cut and trued. They dirtied it  up, but thankfully didn't put any scratches after I so meticulously sanded it down grit after grit.

Mixed up the yellow chromate dip and finished that up, not many parts are yellow/gold so went fairly quick. The solution was a bit aggressive, dipping more than 3-4 seconds was getting to be too much. Had to sacrifice some washers and bolts to get the "feel" for it, so that the larger pieces can be done right. The footpeg spring towards the right fell off my dipping hook into the tank, overexposure made it go steampunk on me  Oh well, its not going to be visible so I'm not bothering with a redo. The last pic is just in better lighting, the pivots (I had an extra) came out nice looking.

[Terry in Australia]

That looks great Raffi, you're really doing a brilliant job for a first time restore! I bought a new vin tag from a dude on eBay a couple of years ago, it was an excellent copy, and he did different tags for different years and countries too. Do a search and I'm sure you'll find him, and the tag was only a few bucks. Cheers, Terry.

[edwardmorris]

Thanks Terry! Zinc plating and sanding aluminum are the only two things that fit with my all work and little time pockets for fun schedule. Has taken weeks to finish and I hope it will be good for what my aim is with this build, ride it forever 

I've got the VIN replacement process in motion. Aggipike here had a near perfect replacement with the VIN engraved via www.machineplates.com. I called them up today and sent them Aggipike's order info (which he so kindly shared with me) as a reference for making me a new one. Haven't heard back, probably won't until next week since its the weekend now. I've looked around on ebay and couple other places that make replacements, but won't stamp/engrave the VIN number. Good to know there are options though.

[edwardmorris]

So the VIN plate attempt is a bust, heard back from machineplates, they do not make them for the vehicles from the 70s anymore. Back to square one, may have to go with ebay on this one and find someone who can stamp the VIN.

[Davez134]

Give this a look

http://www.khneisser.ch/products/63/honda-1971-vin-plate

[edwardmorris]

Give this a look

http://www.khneisser.ch/products/63/honda-1971-vin-plate

Thanks Dave, I contacted the same guys via ebay and they said they'd do the engraving for an extra $8.50, so I went ahead and ordered it. Lets see how it goes.

[edwardmorris]

The Khneisser guys seem to be doing good work, they sent me a preview and asked for help with promoting their stuff. I recommended that they join these forums or better yet, become a sponsor. Just have to wait for it to get here now, but I'm glad this issue is done. On to more usual things, still sanding away at parts, and the NOS rims arrived yesterday. Will have to finish buffing up the hubs and get busy with the wheel lacing soon.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Give this a look

http://www.khneisser.ch/products/63/honda-1971-vin-plate

Probably the best repro out there.

[edwardmorris]

They sent me a preview for the finished plate too, looks good  wonder how long it will take to get here.

Also, ran into a small issue last night, need some input from the lacing/truing experts http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=138819.0

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

They sent me a preview for the finished plate too, looks good  wonder how long it will take to get here.

Also, ran into a small issue last night, need some input from the lacing/truing experts http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=138819.0

I wonder if they get the Honda "9" right.

[Terry in Australia]

Give this a look

http://www.khneisser.ch/products/63/honda-1971-vin-plate

Yep, those were the guys I bought my K2 plate from, their products are very high quality. Cheers, Terry. (oh, and the special Honda "9" was only on the frame and engine, not the VIN plate) 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Give this a look

http://www.khneisser.ch/products/63/honda-1971-vin-plate

Yep, those were the guys I bought my K2 plate from, their products are very high quality. Cheers, Terry. (oh, and the special Honda "9" was only on the frame and engine, not the VIN plate)

You're spot on about the 9, Terry. I just saw that on my frame last night. Good catch!

[edwardmorris]

Never enough time in life to do anything! Starting tomorrow, progress will be stalled badly due to work and personal commitments will be limited to little things I can do in very small time slots. I'm itching to finish this thing, especially now that the powder coated frame is staring at me every time I'm in the living room. Plan is to get the engine buttoned up so I can lower the frame on it and then do the rest, but still haven't gotten around to painting it. So, just wondering here, question for the experts:

Will powder coating the engine silver/aluminum stray too far away from the stock look? Also, heat concerns? I've read people suggesting not to coat due to overheating issues, then there are incredible race bikes in the hi-po forum with crankcases all coated wrinkle black 

Which is it? Do or don't for PC the engine?

[oldhatt45]

Edward,
I'm not an expert by any means, but if you are going for a Stock Look, as I am with my restore, than I would likely Not PC the engine but Maybe the Valve Cover.  Our engines were designed 40 years ago, and I don't know what the design parameters were in terms of heat dissipation and actual running temperature.  I'm sure others will chime in and give you better information.
Charlie

[Powderman]

Powder coating anything on the engine will not cause over heating issues if down properly. I don't know of any powder that will match the look of the factory cast aluminum in color or sheen.

[edwardmorris]

Thanks Marc, if the color can't be matched then there is no point. Sigh, it will just have to wait its time before I can paint and bake it next month....

[edwardmorris]

The new VIN plate arrived today! Damn these guys are fast, and I got exactly what's in the pic above.

The new gauge faces arrived today as well, thinking about putting them back together soon. Should I reset the counters all to 00000 or leave them be? My title already says NOT ACTUAL on it despite my sincerest efforts to convince the grumpy old DMV lady at the time of purchase (something with their new system, modern bike titles have mileage printed on them as opposed to the 70s bike title that has the mileage filled in by hand). I'm tempted to reset them, but don't want needless work if there is nothing to gain.

[Powderman]

If it were me and I could change the numbers I would put actual miles on the gauges and explain the Not Actual Mileage to any potential buyer.

[calj737]

The flip side of Powderman's suggestion, is that the mileage will now show since "restored". That data, coupled with the volume of pictures and receipts makes a compelling story.

It's no longer original, so original mileage is meaningless in that regard. The yin and yang of restoring-

[seanbarney41]

Anyone who knows what's up knows that the mileage on the speedo don't mean #$%*.  I have had four different speedos on my most longest owned bike because they were all destroyed.  God only knows how many were on it before I owned it.  I have totally lost track of how many miles I rode with no speedo cable. It read 20k some odd miles when I bought it and I generally do about 15k a year, so that makes over 90k miles.  I ain't setting anything back to zero.