Topic: 1977 CB750 K7 Resto-mod, Knoxville

[Restoration Fan]

Ron,

With the kill switch on, the bike will not fire, but just cycle the engine.

I know.  That's not what I mean. 

In my case, that oil light stayed on because it had a short in it.  I would have been crapping a brick in my pants had I not had the oil pressure gauge on there so that I knew for certain that oil was getting pumped up to the head.

I'm just saying that you get a whole lot of "peace of mind" for a pretty small price by using one.

[enwri]

It's a stressfull/exciting time the first turnover and start.
Cranking without plugs takes most of the load off the big ends and mains, oil in the head at least wets the valve gear, you can't unload the rockers.
Take the rocker caps off and try to look in the intake side, at the cam behind the rocker, the oil should be getting sloshed up on that side, the exhaust side it has been wiped off by the rocker pads.
It should flick a bit out of the exhaust side when running. You should also see it draining towards the front studs if you look down at the base of the exhaust valve springs.
If your oil light goes off when cranking, and comes on when it stops reliably, you should be able to trust it. Might take a while to fill the filter the first time.
When it comes time to fire it make sure all the throttle springs are on, and the idle screw is backed off to nothing, last thing you need is for it to race to redline as soon as it fires.

[enwri]

Hey Easy, do you have your wheel off and spacers out still? how long is your spacer on the sprocket side, between the hub and swingarm.
I've only got 10mm of spacer sticking out of the sprocket carrier.
Could you measure yours when you get a chance? thanks.
Cant find a definitive answer by searching, csml doesn't have lengths, just different part no.s

[AintNoEasyWay]

Hey enwri! I'm out of town for the weekend, that's why I haven't had any updates. I'll be home late tomorrow so I'll get back to closing things up on the bike on Monday night. My wheel is still off so I can definitely take a moment & measure the spacer for you if you can stand to wait a couple nights.

[enwri]

Thanks, no hurry.
Avagoodweekend.

[AintNoEasyWay]

Hey enwri, not sure how to send photos through message so I'll just upload it here. Is this the spacer you're referring to?

[enwri]

Thanks, it was the other side I was after, but forget that, you must be getting close to starting it now.
Keep doing whatever you're doing.

[AintNoEasyWay]

Thanks, it was the other side I was after, but forget that, you must be getting close to starting it now.
Keep doing whatever you're doing.

Oops! If you still need it, I can measure it for you in a couple hours when I head home for lunch. No trouble at all.

I was gone all weekend but hope to close everything up by end of this weekend. The check list for finish keeps growing though! The old hub/flange I ordered off eBay came this weekend & the bearing retainer in that one came out much more easily. I'll get that all back together during lunch today. Then I have a bunch of odds & ends to deal with:

- Reset cam chain tensioner
- Go over some tiny nicks in the engine paint that occurred during install
- Check float levels in carbs
- Check my clutch & get all that hooked back up
- Change out the small sprocket for the new drive chain I have
- Get grease in the swing arm & reinstall
- Get wheel back together, reinstall
- Install exhaust
- Switch engine bolts to other side (not sure if it matters, but I installed them backwards)
- Refill the master cylinder
- Install carbs, clutch & choke cables, all miscellaneous parts

I think that covers just about all of it.

[calj737]

is it this one?

[AintNoEasyWay]

Hey cal, I think so!

[enwri]

is it this one?

 Thanks Calj,
Would that be the greasy spacer from an early wheel? I think the late ones are longer, for the big carrier.

Sorry about the sidetrack,

but I saw a photo of a 77 750 with about 15< mm gap on the sprocket side when mine has only got 10mm. not sure which one is right.
Also have another spare sprocket side spacer that would make it about 7-8 mm gap, chain lines up pretty well anyway, I'll leave it how its been unless yours has less than 10mm sticking out of the sprocket carrier. Yours should still be stock, this ones been around.

Are you going to video the start? or is that just tempting fate..

[AintNoEasyWay]

Ok enwri, still not sure if this will help, but here are some photos.

[AintNoEasyWay]

Ok, rear wheel flange is good to go. What a pain in the a$$ that was!!

[AintNoEasyWay]

Okay guys, I've got a couple questions. First, I just replaced my old drive chain sprocket the goes in the engine. Is there a torque value for this?

Second, I checked the float levels on my carbs & it looks like they're set at 12.5mm, which is the value I got from here: http://www.hondachopper.com/garage/carb_info/float_levels/float_levels.html. I know others set there's to 14.5, but my bike ran well at 12.5, so far as I could tell. Should I still change them to 14.5?

[enwri]

Are the carbs upside down when you measure the level? It depresses the springs in the needles too much when they are. Tip them on their sides so the floats will hang and just touch the needles without depressing the springs.

You will never really know which float level is best until you clear tube test them individually.
It doesn't take much of a difference in float buoyancy, or a difference in the spring in the end of the needle valve, or maybe even bent floats, to make a big difference in the final level.
Make sure the upper vents are clear and fill the carbs really slowly.

Have to add, setting by the float level was good enough when everything was brand new, newer replacement/aftermarket parts may change things though.
My levels are closer to the 14.5 to keep the level a few mm down from the bowl edge.

[Desert-SOHC]

I was under the impression that the raised portion of the counter sprocket goes to the engine, that is unless you have one with the it on both sides.

[enwri]

in case you have problems clear tubing.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,149344.msg1703658.html#msg1703658

[AintNoEasyWay]

I was under the impression that the raised portion of the counter sprocket goes to the engine, that is unless you have one with the it on both sides.

I thought that the raised portion of my sprocket was facing out when I removed it last night. Can anyone else confirm? Maybe a PO put it on backwards.

I am trying to find some torque values for the bike. I'm not sure what to torque the bolt on this sprocket down to. I don't know if I should follow the standard torque for that size bolt given in the Honda manual since the sprocket turns so often. Any thoughts?

I also need to go back & torque the pan screws on my cam cover down since I wasn't able to find any value for those. Pictured below are standard values from the '78 CB750 manual Ron was kind enough to share.

[AintNoEasyWay]

Are the carbs upside down when you measure the level? It depresses the springs in the needles too much when they are. Tip them on their sides so the floats will hang and just touch the needles without depressing the springs.

You will never really know which float level is best until you clear tube test them individually.
It doesn't take much of a difference in float buoyancy, or a difference in the spring in the end of the needle valve, or maybe even bent floats, to make a big difference in the final level.
Make sure the upper vents are clear and fill the carbs really slowly.

Have to add, setting by the float level was good enough when everything was brand new, newer replacement/aftermarket parts may change things though.
My levels are closer to the 14.5 to keep the level a few mm down from the bowl edge.

Enwri, yes that's with the carbs sitting down flat. I'll put them at an angle tonight & measure again. I'd forgotten that they shouldn't be depressing the needles at all. Good call. Do people just set the bike on the center stand for the clear tube method?

[enwri]

If you check them before they go on, you can adjust them easier if they need it, but yes, the centrestand is better than the sidestand.
The carbs are worth taking time to even up, 4 carbs is like having 4 separate engines sitting side by side and getting them all to run at exactly the same revs.
Closer you can get them, the smoother everything feels.

The slide height, or throttle opening makes the most difference, I've found after fiddling with mine that the throttle adjuster screws can make a difference at less than a sixteenth of a turn.

[enwri]

I was under the impression that the raised portion of the counter sprocket goes to the engine, that is unless you have one with the it on both sides.

That's what I thought as well.
Torque to whatever that size bolt takes I suppose, really don't want the head popping off from overtightening either though., I put locktite on it as well,

[AintNoEasyWay]

I was under the impression that the raised portion of the counter sprocket goes to the engine, that is unless you have one with the it on both sides.

That's what I thought as well.
Torque to whatever that size bolt takes I suppose, really don't want the head popping off from overtightening either though., I put locktite on it as well,

Now that I think about it, kind of makes sense. You would want room between the sprocket & where it sits against that part of the cases. Still can't find it in any diagrams though.

[Desert-SOHC]

I was under the impression that the raised portion of the counter sprocket goes to the engine, that is unless you have one with the it on both sides.

That's what I thought as well.
Torque to whatever that size bolt takes I suppose, really don't want the head popping off from overtightening either though., I put locktite on it as well,

Now that I think about it, kind of makes sense. You would want room between the sprocket & where it sits against that part of the cases. Still can't find it in any diagrams though.

When I asked a question about it, cause mine was backwards and moved on the shaft.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,149142.msg1701179.html#msg1701179

[AintNoEasyWay]

I was under the impression that the raised portion of the counter sprocket goes to the engine, that is unless you have one with the it on both sides.

That's what I thought as well.
Torque to whatever that size bolt takes I suppose, really don't want the head popping off from overtightening either though., I put locktite on it as well,

Now that I think about it, kind of makes sense. You would want room between the sprocket & where it sits against that part of the cases. Still can't find it in any diagrams though.

When I asked a question about it, cause mine was backwards and moved on the shaft.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,149142.msg1701179.html#msg1701179

Yep, just checked at lunch. Definitely put it on backwards. Nice catch!

[Desert-SOHC]

Every now and then!!