Topic: The "My wife said no" build

[Chad]

So I finally decided to start a build thread. This has been a slow moving project, and will probably continue to be a slow moving project, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to go ahead a start documenting everything.

So why is it the "My wife said no" build?

Good question.  It's really a long story. But to make a long story short, my wife and I adopted a baby and the cost became much higher than originally anticipated so the wife froze the bike fund, but I wasn't gonna let that stop me! Here's the story:

I had a little Chevy car that gave up on me. Instead of looking for another car to get me to work, I did what any sane man would do; I bought a motorcycle. I began looking at this forum years ago and have been through a few bikes since then. 2 CB550's, 2 CB650's, and a CB500 Twin. I learned a lot from these bikes. Most of them I got for dirt cheap and got them running and then resold them. This time I wanted a CB750 and wanted something in good shape. (My previous bikes were all projects). I found a CB750F2 with a nice list of improvements.

This is from the PO (Forum member Mandic):

Engine:
   •   836cc Big Bore Kit from Cycle-X
   •   WebCam #41 from Dynoman-Performance
   •   Head kit from Cycle-X with SuperFlow valves, upgrade springs, bronze valve guides, and Aluminum spring retainers
   •   OE Honda Cam Chain guide, new at top end rebuild.
   •   Carbs rejetted for top end, forget jetting. I THINK 40 on the slow-jets(press in) and 150 on the primary but that is a guess.
   •   Velocity Stacks - Steel Dragon Performance
   •   Exhaust - Cycle-X full Tri-Y header with Race Muffler hand wrapped by me.
   •   Ignition - Dyna-S Magnetic Pickup
   •   Heavy Duty Engine studs on the top end from Cycle-X
   •   The bottom end is completely stock.  See bottom for more on that.
   •   Clutch was replaced shortly after top end rebuild(wasn’t holding).  Steels are stock, fibers from Dynoman Performance, Heavier springs from Cycle-X I believe.
   •   Oil filter adapter is from Cycle-X.
   •   Oil Lines made by me from -8 Push Lock
   •   Oil line adapters on engine from Cycle-X
   •   Oil tank made by me from a kit supplied by Bung-King
   •   Oil catch can was a custom piece I made to solve an oil overflow issue with a breather direct on the tank.
Suspension:
   •   FastFromThePast Fork Brace
   •   All Balls racing tapered neck bearings.
   •   Progressive fork springs
   •   All-Balls double lip fork seals
   •   New oil in fork at rebuild
   •   NEW Factory Length Fork Tubes from Cycle-X.  They are their 1” shorter versions but the 750F came with 1” shorter fork tubes than the normal 750K bikes did, so stock length.
   •   Rear shocks, junk cheapies from Cycle-X I think.
   •   Rear Sprocket - Custom Made 530 Sprocket, Forgot maker and tooth count
   •   Front Sprocket - JT Sprockets 530 Conversion sprocket for CB750F
   •   Chain - EK X-Ring 530 chain - forget length
   •   Smooth Fork caps are some unknown machinist.  Neck nut is from Joker Machine I believe.
Wiring:
   •   Sylvania Sylverstar headlight
   •   Rectifier - Oregon Motorcycles
   •   Regulator - Adjustable unit from Oregon Motorcycles
   •   Wiring/Fuses - Custom laid out by me.  Sorry the wiring is so much of the same colors, the shop I was working in at the time was a joke sadly so supplies were limited.  The headlight is on a relay direct to battery power.  The diagram, well it is a mixture of designs from the way I like to do things, and various online Bobber/Chopper simplified diagrams.  Sorry I can’t do much better than that.
Frame/Body:
   •   Frame Notch(removable section above engine) is from Cycle-X
   •   Tank is stock for the bike.
   •   Seat is from CB750Cafe.com / Carpy
   •   Upholstery work was done by a guy in Austin, forget his name but South 1st Performance worked with him while I worked there.
   •   Handlebar throttle controls are from Motion-Pro, cables are factory.
   •   Brake lines were custom made DOT Stainless lines by a shop in PA.
   •   Headlight Bucket is stock
   •   Headlight Mounts were Ebay specials I think, as were the mirrors.
A vast majority of the hardware was replaced with stainless pieces.  I measured bolt lengths, thread pitches, and ordered those bolts online myself.  No one really sells a stainless bolt kit for CBs.  The engine bolt kit yes, rest no. 
Things I intended to do next, to truly complete the bike: It runs pretty damn warm in the summer.  I rejetted the bike richer literally the day before I sold it.  It picked up power and may have run cooler but I only put a few miles on it to make sure the jetting was right.  The bottom end is stock as far as I know. I never did anything to it.  The next step for the motor was going to be a full tear down, new bearings, lightened and balanced rotating assembly, and new primary/cam chains.  Getting it to stay cooler and spin freer will really wake that bike up quite a bit. 

.....and a pic form the original CL ad:



I loved it. Wasn't the prettiest bike, but it had so much potential. I bought it for $4500 and was on my way.

[Chad]

Building a bike with no money

So with most of the performance upgrades I would want already done on the bike, I immediately began dreaming up ways to change the bike and make it my own. I definitely wanted new paint and GL1000 front-end with spoked wheel conversion. These were the two big things on my list. There was of course lots of little things as well. The problemo was I had no money to spend on it.

I run a web design business and I began looking to find a person/company that may want to barter. That way, I wasn't spending the money while we were going through an expensive adoption, but I still got to work on my bike. After lots of emails and phone calls, I found someone that was interested. Kemp makes some of the billet aluminum stuff for DCC. He didn't have a website for his company, Ripple Rock Racers, so I emailed him and we began to work together. We recently finished the project and my new parts will be in the mail soon! I'm getting a complete new triple to accept the GL1000 front-end, gauges, engine covers, rearsets, etc.

I also picked up a complete GL1000 front-end for $150 along the way.

So that took care of a huge part of what I was wanting, but I still needed paint. I looked everywhere. I was willing to ship my tank/seat somewhere, but I couldn't find anyone that was interested. Then, I asked a guy at my local bike shop if he knew of any local painters and he gave me a number. I called the guy and offered him my deal: a website for a paint job, and he took it! He did a great job on it too. I'm very happy with it. He also took a lot of the worn parts on the bike and repainted them for me for free. (Not part of the original deal)

Here are some pics. First pics are of the bike just before I took it to the painter.

[Restoration Fan]

Great story.  I love the new paint job. 

[Chad]

Great story.  I love the new paint job. 

Thanks!

Along the way...

Another thing to note... the bike developed a top-end oil leak. I decided to go after it thinking it was the rubber pucks under the cam towers. Ended up finding a broken off bolt that went all the way down to the case, so it turned into a full top-end rebuild. I ordered a new top-end gasket set from CycleX (with the MLS gasket) and did the rebuild. It was a bit stressful because this bike is my transportation, but I had a lot of fun on the rebuild. Learned a lot about the bike. Branden's Leak Free Top-End thread was a huge help.

Also decided to paint the top end while I had it apart.

[70CB750]

Subscribed.

[Chad]

What's happening now and what's coming...

So Texas finally got some wintery weather, so I decided to take some time and put on some new tires, as well as changing out the chains/sprockets. Since I probably won't be able to get the new wheels anytime soon, I decided to paint my current wheels while I have them off for the tire change. Painted them with gloss black VHT engine enamel and then cleared it with the gloss clear VHT engine enamel. Turned out pretty good for a quick job and $20 of paint.

Here is my "wishlist" for the bike. Some of this stuff will wait a bit, while some of it will come pretty quickly.

• GL1000 front end and CB750F1 rear wheel (convert to spokes)
• New rims and stainless spokes from Buchanan's
• Rewire electrics with motogadget goodies
• Mikuni RS Carbs
• New oil tank (not a fan of the one on there)
• Put on new parts from Kemp/Ripple Rock (Triple Tree, Gauges, Engine Covers, Rearsets)
• Get seat reupholstered
• Misc small things (New headlight, turn sigs, etc)
• I'm sure there is more, but this is all I can think of at the moment

Also, somewhere down the road, I would like to do a FULL rebuild. Send in the head, crank and tranny to get worked. Who knows, maybe even go up to a bigger bore?? 

....and just for fun here are some more pics

[Stev-o]

Subscribed. My wife always says no too, I no longer ask!

[Chad]

Subscribed. My wife always says no too, I no longer ask!

Haha. I hear ya! Where in Central TX are you? I'm in Bastrop.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nice paint job. 

[Riceman]

Nice bike!
My Dad was born and raised in Bastrop and Elgin...

[Stev-o]

Subscribed. My wife always says no too, I no longer ask!

Haha. I hear ya! Where in Central TX are you? I'm in Bastrop.

An hour west on Lake Travis.  Some great roads out this way...

[Chad]

Nice bike!
My Dad was born and raised in Bastrop and Elgin...

Subscribed. My wife always says no too, I no longer ask!

Haha. I hear ya! Where in Central TX are you? I'm in Bastrop.

An hour west on Lake Travis.  Some great roads out this way...

Wow, small world. I know there are some great roads out that way, unfortunately I haven't made it out there on this bike though. Soon though 

[Stev-o]

Nice bike!
My Dad was born and raised in Bastrop and Elgin...

Subscribed. My wife always says no too, I no longer ask!

Haha. I hear ya! Where in Central TX are you? I'm in Bastrop.

An hour west on Lake Travis.  Some great roads out this way...

Wow, small world. I know there are some great roads out that way, unfortunately I haven't made it out there on this bike though. Soon though 

Ranch Road 1431 from Cedar Park to Marble Falls is a fantastic ride.
Let me know if you make it out this way...

[Nuffsa Fugginnuff]

Subscribed.

Yep, feel your pain.....re: The wife says no. I always have the last say in our home "Yes dear."