Topic: My Stock to Cafe back to Stock Build

[albertaboy]

Hey,
Bought a 1975 750K back in the fall of 2010. I rebuilt it cosmetically( Winter of 2010/2011) into a cafe style, then shelved it because of marital discord ( a temporary split) and my discontent with my creation.  I'm a novice builder.  This bike only read 13,000 miles on the clock but I began to doubt it after I got it home. Gauges can be switched easily but who knows. The PO painted the tank and aftermarket side covers, had put a new front tire, Dyna ignition, new clutch plates and a new seat.  Oh, he replaced the swing arm bushing with Honda stock bushings...  aw well.



Progessively the engine began to burn more oil than I remember during the test drive and It wasn't completely stock anyways. The 4 in 4 swapped out to 4 in 2, nice but not original paint job... regardless, I had cafe on the brain.


I'm going to attempt a build thread.  I'm not an experience bike mechanic or builder so I'm not trying to teach. Just document.  I really like many of the cafe bikes people have built and I still like them but nothing I came up with appealed to me.  Much of the cafe styling I like requires more modification than I'm capable of and I've bought a lot of cafe parts in an attempt to build something suitable to me but everything fell short.  I like a stock bike of this vintage and I've decided to take this bike back that direction. I'll begin by throwing some photo's up of the cafe creation I built between 2010-2011 and to this present day where I'll restart my build. You'll get to see how far I went with my cafe build.

[albertaboy]

The fall of 2010.. it's coming apart. That's my unheated, uninsulated garage. It's gets to way below zero F here in the winter and my hands went into freezing cold varsol solvent way more than I wanted to. In the back ground, you can see the DIY manometer I made .  It worked-not great- but worked. Before dis-assembly,  I played with carb syncing, valve clearances.  I don't know if the bike ran well or not. It was my first vintage bike but I wanted a baseline to get back to once I put it all back together.  I'm 48 years old and I grew up on old stuff but I only rode them, not wrenched.   First bike, in 1978, was a 1975 XL350.



Check out the grime. 146 years of it, it seems.


I can live with the cylinder leak but I'm going to chase down the head leak. Hopefully just those pucks inside.  By this time, I've found the SOHC4 forum and Hondaman's book is on order. Patient awaiting it. I don't know what the Eff Im doing after all. 

[albertaboy]

Sometime around November 2010, Hondaman's bible arrived.  I've now the courage to open this engine


There's those little bastiches.... lets hope.  Replace the o rings while I was there too.

[iron_worker]

Good to see you've started a build thread. 

One question: were you really up at 4AM posting this? lol

Btw, if you're taking the head off to fix a leak then you might as well take the cylinders off too if it's leaking at the base gasket. There aren't even anymore bolts to take off, just pull the cylinders up and off!

IW

[albertaboy]

Good to see you've started a build thread. 

One question: were you really up at 4AM posting this? lol

Btw, if you're taking the head off to fix a leak then you might as well take the cylinders off too if it's leaking at the base gasket. There aren't even anymore bolts to take off, just pull the cylinders up and off!

IW

IW
I really was up at 4 am.   I work shift work- 12 hour shifts. I go onto nights for two weeks at a time- so on my nights off, I stay up to 6 AM to keep my internal clock on schedule. 
Back in 2010, when these photos where taken, I only wanted to stop big top oil leaks. In hindsight, I would have done it a whole lot different.  At the time, I figured an engine with "only 13,000 miles" shouldn't need anything SO I figured I could quickly go in and renew the pucks, button, it up, clean it up, re-install and live with a little blue smoke.  I later regretted that decision.   More to come. 

[albertaboy]

It's the Fall Winter of 2010.
I've got a few things going on concurrently.  The bike is all apart, engine is on the stand. I'm cleaning all the grease and guk. With Lot's of hard to reach spaces that took countless hours. I'm working on a front dual disc set up, buying parts from all over. This photo reflects, the freshly sandblasted frame and the lester wheels I found in Toronto through this forum.  Decisions, decisions. More to come.


Rented a local paint booth.


I found another disc and sent it and my original off to Elcheapo to work his magic. I was well pleased.

[albertaboy]

Fall winter 2010/2011

Here's something I didn't see till after I got the bike home. I was a naive buyer and the seller seemed real honest.  Not to go into a PO rant but this reflects how my doubt that had purchased a one owner, low mile, never needed anything but tune ups... bike, began to grow.  Which one of these bolts is not like the other??

[albertaboy]

December 2010

It's just before Christmas and look!!, It fits under the tree... Sorta. 

[albertaboy]

December 2010
This will make some one cringe Im sure. All black.  And that rear Lester (not pictured) is a 20100 Cb500 rear Lester. I sourced a Cb500 sprocket carrier to make it all work.

[albertaboy]

Winter 2010/11
At this time, I'm reading, reading, reading the Sohc4 forum.... and polishing polishing polishing.  I took this shot to show some progress. The right fork lower is sanded to about 1000 grit before I hit it with the buffing wheel. This is where I fall down with photo taking... I've got no after shots.


On the topic of buffing, here's some engine shots that are much later in to the spring of 2011. I don't have much documentation of all the seals I replaced or other work.
-Cover's polished,
-Engine cases, cylinders, head scrubbed clean, degreased, shot with VHT primer and silver paint.
-Clutch basket drilled per Hondaman
-New heavy duty clutch springs installed- because I was there.
-Oil pump O-rings replaced
-Outer shaft seals replaced (clutch and sprocket).
-Fresh Honda OEM gaskets for all the outer covers
Some where along the way, I dropped a nut down inside the engine.     FML. Fortunately, I rotisseried the engine around a couple time until It fell to the floor. Phew....


Btw... this that points cover very common?

[albertaboy]

Spring 2011

Getting ready to slide the engine back in. Ground the lower engine mount down for clearance. Had a friend/co worker come over to give me a hand.

[albertaboy]

Fall Winter 2010/11 Spring 2011

Here we go... it's back in the frame!! Kinda jumping ahead with this shot. I've had been rebuilding carbs, gauges, brake master cylinder, brake calipers... long before I got to this point but I didnt document those steps with photos...  and the parts ordered came in piece by piece by post office and courier.  It was like Christmas every second day for weeks.


Oh, and polishing, polishing, polishing... I'm pretty sick of it....

[albertaboy]

Winter 2010/11
Here's a project I completed in my basement.  There was 2.5 feet of snow that winter and minus 20-25 Celsius temps outside. My shell of a garage was difficult to work in.
New gauge faces from Lecram.  I took these apart, cleaned up, lubed, re-painted the needles, found better chrome bottoms and re-painted the black out bezel. Look pretty good now.

[albertaboy]

Winter 2010/2011

Steering stem roller bearings going in. Just followed tutorials from this forum.


And another shot.

[albertaboy]

I was able to use services from a few forum members

Hondaman for his book and blade fuses and halogen headlight relay wiring (not pictured)


Kevin400F for two phenolic brake caliper pistons. There was no new stainless available that I could find. Kevin's work great.


Pampadori for braided SS brake hoses


Frankenfrankenstuff for side covers

[albertaboy]

Rangelov- for his speedo drive adapter - never got around to using it yet.


As pictured in a prior post, Elcheapo for drilling my rotors. Also Lecram for gauge faces.

754 for a Gordon style frame kit. I've not yet installed this either. Soon.

[lwahples]

Must say, I like how the is moving.Engine looks good!

[ogsmakdade]

I'll keep an eye on this one.  looking good so far

[albertaboy]

Must say, I like how the is moving.Engine looks good!

Thanks bud. If anyone is interested.... that polishing of cases was time consuming but with exhilarating results.  I needed a stronger buffing motor, plain and simple. Because I did not, I hit the roughest spots (ie Fork lowers) with 200 grit until the nick disappeared. Wet Sanding. Then I moved up 400, 600, 800, 1000 and even 1200 or 1500 before I hit the part with the buffing wheel. I used Caswell abrasives and individual buffing wheels per abrasive (black, brown, white). I learned all of this on the sohc4  forum.  I believe that If I had a stronger buffing motor (1/4 or 1/2 hp), I may have been able to start machine buffing way sooner than 1000 grit... i dont know, but these are the steps I used.  I find Autosol, metal polish is enough to keep them shiny.

[albertaboy]

Off topic.

People have asked if this is me.. Haha. No it isn't.   Just a random pic I found somewhere.  I'm sure we're related though. 

[albertaboy]

Winter 2010/11

More polishing and a Yamiya dash plate. Freshened it nicely.

[albertaboy]

Winter 2010/2011

Here's the inspiration of where I wanted to take my cafe "look". That was Bonafid's F bike. Not my photo- credit to the owner.


... and so parts came in.  My photo sequence is a little off. Sorry.


.... and maybe something completely different- I'll borrow from the future... or not. CB900C tank plate. Ultimately, I will not end up using this stuff.

[KayOne]

Nice work Alberta Boy. I too am an Alberta boy, I live in Sherwood Park. Our winters are long and cold, no wonder we work so much on our bikes. You really have to heat that garage!

[albertaboy]

Nice work Alberta Boy. I too am an Alberta boy, I live in Sherwood Park. Our winters are long and cold, no wonder we work so much on our bikes. You really have to heat that garage!

KayOne, Thanks and welcome to my build thread.  Remember the snow fall of 2010/11?  I swear over 3 feet fell- way more than I remember for a long time. Since these pics were taken, I have insulated and sheeted the inside but no furnace yet. Now At least, my space heater can bring the inside temp up tolerable to work and the insulation holds the temp longer.  Although, I haven't tested it in anything colder than -5C or so.  Furnace next year... I hope. 
I expect to get more work done.

[albertaboy]

Winter 2010/2011

The PO threw this in with the bike.  I tried everything to remove the baffle to check it out but no go. I polished the 'ell out of it too but was way to rough for my taste. I also found all kinds of pin holes in the collector. It was not usable I decided.


Therefore, Yamiya got my business. Seemed suitable for what I wanted to do with the bike.