Hi everyone I'm not much of a fan of introducing myself , but I know people like to read this crap so here goes.
About a month ago my girl friend and I were making our rounds through the neighborhood garage sales and I spotted a beautiful 750 sitting outside a neighbors garage off to the side of their garage sale.
My favorite thing about going garage sale shopping is seeing what motorized toys people have in their garages and chatting with the owners, so when the owner of this bike saw me looking at his bike( probably drueling ) he came over and we started chatting.
I introduce myself to Herb then ask him what year is it? Herb says "it's a '74" . "Did you restore it yourself? " I ask. "I had the tank and covers painted a couple years ago, other than that it's never been restored just cleaned " Herb says. Are you the original owner ? I ask " I've owned it for about 20 years and I got it from my brother" he tells me. Hoping herb will start it up for me I ask "How's it run?" "Well, I can't get it to start , I always try to start it at least once a month, but the battery died a while ago , and now I think the carbs are gummed up" Herb goes on to tell me that he's made arrangements to get the bike picked up and taken to the dealer to have the carbs rebuilt. I offered him my services to pull the carbs and rebuild them for him, but he didn't seem interested in some Joe Shmoe off the street rebuilding his carbs for him. After chatting a little more about the bike I had to ask , "ever think about selling it?" To my surprise Herb responds with " I have been thinking about it , I don't seem to be able to find time to ride it anymore."
We exchanged email addresses and Herb promised he'd let me know if he decides to sell it.
I wait a couple of days ( trying to hide how excited I am to possibly be able to buy this bike) then send him an email asking if he wanted to let it go. He responded with a yes and an asking price. I called him right up and made arrangements with him to pick it up the next day.
So far :
I've pulled the carbs, soda blasted them and rebuilt them , remounted with a new air filter , installed new fuel lines with the original hose clamps and got the bike running. ( sorry I didn't make a first start video)
Carburetors still need to be vacuum synched, first attempt at a manometer failed, I'll try the home built one one more time before throwing in the towel and buying a set ( no fun )
I've been going through the bike top to bottom slowly checking off all the items on the 10000 mile service.
Points have been gapped, dwell checked, and timing set.
Oil and filter changed.
Valve clearance adjusted and chain tension set.
Brakes are new front and back, adjusted and front brake fluid replaced.
All cables lubed and adjusted to factory specs.
Aluminum and chrome hand polished. Still need to pull the exhaust to do a thorough clean and polish.
The cleanliness and originality of this bike amazes me, Herb the PO didn't seem to be the mechanical type nor did he ride it to often ( 2000 miles in 20 years, 11000 total) yet everything is intact and all OEM, he even bought replacement light bulbs from the Honda dealer. Yes Herb included his receipts for the last 20 years, the original owners manual, the tool bag and tools,a hideous king/queen seat and a sissy bar. Everyone hates those hideous king queen seats but I love the one from this bike because by using it the original seat that came with the bike was preserved for my use. All the factory wiring is in tact and working including the factory fuses and unused replacement fuses.
I still have a few more things I'd like to do, but I tend to want to ride it more than I want to work on it
Thank you to everyone on this site for sharing their knowledge, it really makes the learning curve quick and easy.
