Well, I guess I might start a build thread. Been reading from this site for a while and figure I should contribute.
I've been into "older" style bikes/cars forever I guess. Maybe I just appreciate older things more and feel like they have more character and takes a different person to be able to keep these antiques (*DMV term) on the road, which is probably why we're all fans of them. I've always liked stuff on two wheels and built up a Honda Ruckus with all kinds of stuff, if anyone knows what that is and wants to see it, let me know and I'll post up some stuff (EFI gy6 big bore etc etc) otherwise, I'll keep it about my motorcycle.
Back in August, I had to burn a month of leave or they were going to take it away from me and luckily, I was able to stay busy by selling my 79 xs650 and buying a 78 cb750 that sat for over 5 years in someone's shed across the state. So, I drove my little truck over there and snagged it and barely did the speed limit back.
Then had to unload it...definitely a little schetchy, but it worked.
This thing needed some work, as most do after sitting for so long. It looked pretty crappy, its hard to see, but it had "Ghost flames" painted all over it......geez. Main list of stuff needed included:
-New tank
-Chain, sprockets
-Charging system
-Carbs rebuilt
-Cables
-M/C rebuilt, caliper, etc
-Timing, Ignition, general tune-up etc
So after many trips to Dime City Cycles, parts were accumulating and progress was being made
Red Kote'd the new gas tank
4-1 header was very rusty and dented all over, so I decided to wrap the exhaust. First I soaked the header in vinegar and cleaned it up the best I could before I painted it with grill paint and wrapped it. Got rid of the big clunky muffler and threw on a shorty
This was the first attempt at wrapping 4-1, I didn't like how it came out with the two big pockets that would just collect crap and looked terrible, so I re-did it. I don't have a picture of the second attempt except on the bike.
Pulled the big seat and decided to do the cafe type seat
Knocked out all of the other maintenance and stuff to get it to run and finally got it started! It's always pretty gratifying to bring something back to life after it was left for dead. Took it out for the shakedown ride.... I was definitely kinda nervous that it would have some terrible problem and end up killing me, but did alright. Still had a lot of tuning left, but it ran
Got tired of the pod filters and dealing with losing all power because of a side draft wind, so I bought the tried and true stock air box and threw in a KN filter, tuned and synched the carbs for like the 5th time and BAM, finally got to ride the bike the way it was supposed to feel. NIGHT AND DAY.
Put on a ton of miles with this set up, and since then have only done little changes like bars, grips, mirrors, and fixing things here and there, wheel bearings, etc
And this is about how it sits now:
Next up is to change the seat and install a brat-type seat so my wife can ride. Also, most of the carb bowls were stripped out from the carb bodies and would leak gas, and I tried to ride yesterday until I saw that they were pouring gas out even though they are as tight as I could possibly get them without completely stripping them out, so I ordered a new set of carbs. I'm going overseas in a few months and unfortunately will have to store it for a year and a half. It's been fun and I've racked up like 1700 miles on it in like 3 months. I ride with a bunch of guys that all ride their $15-16000 Harley's and I stick out like a sore thumb, but anyone can go to a dealer and buy a brand new bike, most people can't get a 35 year old bike running like a top again and burn ass everywhere.
Sorry it's such a long post. Thanks for looking
