Topic: Re: Bigsam302's 76 CB750F (915cc): Project Helen – Running Report!

[Tews19]

Sam - I'm pretty astonished about the liner ordeal! But like you said, all better now! Did you contact Benjie and let him know? I'd think he would definitely want to make some corrections on his end.

Cal,

No I didn't contact Benjie about the tank.  I wanted to, but it's all done and over with.  Plus, I bought this tank over a year ago.  I should have checked everything out fully when I first bought it.  So, that was my fault and another lesson-learned.  Now, everything is fixed and good to go.

It's never your fault about the tank. You spent your hard earned money. Shocking to some but not to those who have been around for a while but Benjie has a pretty piss poor reputation on this site. Not many positives from what I've read throughout the years.

Kodos to you though.  Now what's the plan moving forward?

[Bigsam302]

Tews,

Very good point!  I should have done my research before I bought it.  My project is rolling along.  The only thing that I am waiting for now is the rest of my engine parts to come in.  I can't really move any further.  The only other things that I have to do is:

-Assemble the rest of the engine.  All the engine parts (block, cylinder head, cam shaft, etc.) should be here by the end of the month.  Cycle X have had them for a little over a month now.
-I have Mikuni RS34 carburetors on order and I will be running velocity stacks from Steel Dragon.
-I have to finish mounting the oil cooler.  I have the oil cooler adapter painted and the hoses are ready to be installed.  I'm waiting to get the engine back together before I put it on.
-Then I have to run my lines for the oil tank.  I already have the braided nylon lines and AN/NPT fittings ready to go. 
-Then I'll get it painted.  I'm still looking for a shop here in San Diego to do it for me.  I already have the color picked out.  I just need to find someone that can match it at a reasonable price.
-The last thing that I will do is take my bike back to my buddy's shop so he can modify the exhaust that I have sitting in my garage.  I'm doing something pretty cool with my exhaust, but I can't spill the beans just yet. 

After all of this I'll go over it again and make sure that everything is tightened up and I'll hopefully be able to fire her up.

[calj737]

I wasn't implying a refund or reimbursement. I meant that he might want to know his product (some of which I believe he subcontracts) left with a very poor quality control. I know if I sold custom parts and had to have others help me fill orders, I'd want to be dead certain the product was right, the customer was happy, or I'd be making changes internally to insure it.

I think he'd want the feedback, in a professional and constructive way. I dealt with him on a fender a tank I bought (later gave away as project went another direction) and I found him to be determined to insure everything went well.

[Retro Rocket]

I wasn't implying a refund or reimbursement. I meant that he might want to know his product (some of which I believe he subcontracts) left with a very poor quality control. I know if I sold custom parts and had to have others help me fill orders, I'd want to be dead certain the product was right, the customer was happy, or I'd be making changes internally to insure it.

I think he'd want the feedback, in a professional and constructive way. I dealt with him on a fender a tank I bought (later gave away as project went another direction) and I found him to be determined to insure everything went well.

From what i've seen here on this forum and on others, I would NEVER buy any of the crap Benji sells, one member had so much bondo on his tank and tail piece i would have been embarrassed to even sell the stuff, I have seen the rust problem before on these products from new, If i remember correctly they are out sourced to the Philippines and quality control is non existent, sorry you had to fin out the hard way Sam.......

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Sam - I'm pretty astonished about the liner ordeal! But like you said, all better now! Did you contact Benjie and let him know? I'd think he would definitely want to make some corrections on his end.

Cal,

No I didn't contact Benjie about the tank.  I wanted to, but it's all done and over with.  Plus, I bought this tank over a year ago.  I should have checked everything out fully when I first bought it.  So, that was my fault and another lesson-learned.  Now, everything is fixed and good to go.

Sam,

I agree that you waited a while to use or check out your tank, but after spending $1200 for a tank, it should not have pinholes, rust and so much Caswell that it takes up inches of volume in your tank.  I would let him know -- send him pictures -- and maybe he'll do something to offset all of the correctional cost OR just not repeat what happened.

[Bigsam302]

CR Fan,

Yeah, I'll try to get ahold of him some time this week.  I'll keep you all posted.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I spent less than that for a full custom aluminum gas tank and I received a top quality product with ZERO issues.  For that kind of jack, you should expect nothing less.

[Bigsam302]

My electrical is done!

I hate to admit it, but the Motogadget M-unit is really worth the money.  I’m not very electrically inclined, and this is my first time doing all of my own wiring, but it was a breeze.  Once I got my headlight figured out, it was all down hill from there (Thanks for the help Cal)!  This is how my wiring use to look





And this is how it looks now.  If I had to do it all over again, I would have cut the center framing out and braced it with some 1” pipe.  It takes up so much room and made it very tricky running all of my wiring.  I probably wouldn’t even have used a battery box.  It takes up too much space and even though my battery is small, I could have gone with a smaller-sized battery that puts out the same amount of cranking power.  I had to get creative with mounting my Dyna 2000, but it works out fine.  I was able to secure everything and none of the wires interfere with the seat.  In fact, I still have plenty of room under the seat hump.  I am happy with they way everything turned out.





One problem that I have with waiting for my engine parts to come in is that I start getting ideas and start spending money other places (I’m really trying to break that habit).  After I finished all the wiring, I decided that I didn’t want to use the traditional ignition switch.  I ended up buying a Motogadget M-lock.  The M-Lock is pretty cool as well.  I can’t knock Motogadget’s products.  I did run into one problem with the M-Lock.  My bike is all steel and I’m not going to run side covers or any other parts made out of plastic.  So I had no place to mount it and the signal will not pass through metal.  I ended up mounting the M-lock receiver to an old horn bracket.  Then I drilled a 1/2" hole in the bottom of my seat tray.  I placed a rubber grommet in the hole.  It also acts as a rubber cushion for the m-lock receiver and you cannot see the unit from the underside through the hole.  Because it’s rubber, the signal passes through it with no problem.  So now I have a cool custom feature and all I have to do is run the key up under my seat to cut the bike on/off.



The last thing I did was move my horn.  I had it between the frame, but I was worried about interference with the carburetor.  Luckily I was able to mount it over my oil cooler.

[Retro Rocket]

I spent less than that for a full custom aluminum gas tank and I received a top quality product with ZERO issues.  For that kind of jack, you should expect nothing less.

And in alloy....

[Bigsam302]

I spent less than that for a full custom aluminum gas tank and I received a top quality product with ZERO issues.  For that kind of jack, you should expect nothing less.

Yeah, if I could do it all over again, I would have gone that route.

[Bigsam302]

I also got my seat redone.  I wasn’t happy with the way it came out.



This is what it looks like now.  Much better and exactly how I wanted it.







All buttoned up!

[Tews19]

The seat looks great. Same upholster do it?

[Bigsam302]

The seat looks great. Same upholster do it?

No, not a chance! I ended up finding another guy that Blackfin suggested.

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

[calj737]

Sam - looks pretty good. I just did a 750 this weekend, same components. I installed the Reg/Rec on the underside of the pan to aide in cooling. I also installed the m-lock receiver underneath, ran the wires through the pan, then into the m-unit. Kept it hidden and allowed for open reading of the fob.

Be sure to program the second key, and don't use the Master afterward to start your bike; it wipes the second key.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Looks great. Are you running the Motion Pro throttle?

[Bigsam302]

Sam - looks pretty good. I just did a 750 this weekend, same components. I installed the Reg/Rec on the underside of the pan to aide in cooling. I also installed the m-lock receiver underneath, ran the wires through the pan, then into the m-unit. Kept it hidden and allowed for open reading of the fob.

Be sure to program the second key, and don't use the Master afterward to start your bike; it wipes the second key.

Thanks Cal.  I want to order a second key, so I will have a spare.  I already programed the the key that I have with the master.  Do you know anyone that sells them?  Or will I have to get one through their company in Germany?

[Bigsam302]

Looks great. Are you running the Motion Pro throttle?

CRF, yes I am running the Motion Pro throttle.  I have the Motion Pro kit in my garage.  It has the cables and and throttle assembly.  It is already set up for Mikuni carburetors.  The throttle assembly that's on my bike now will not be used.

[calj737]

CognitoMoto does. There's a cool, super tiny key, about the size of a grain of rice. Sew it into your helmet liner by the jaw or neck, wave your lid, and you're riding! Or into a coat cuff, glove or whatever... Extra keys are all "blind" so out just program them in and off you go.

[Bigsam302]

Ok, cool.  I'll look into it!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Revival and Motomadness also carry Motogadget products but I'd rather give Devin the business.

[calj737]

Come on, Sam, stop rolling around and finish this bike already!

[Bigsam302]

Cal,

I'm trying.  My engines parts still haven't come back from CycleX.  I'm actually going to give Ken a call in the morning.  Right now there is nothing else I can do.  And since I have to sit around and stare at my bike everyday, I ended up doing something that you told me not to do.  I bought more stuff for it.  I'm in the process of swapping out the forks.  I have a set of GSXR 750 forks that I sent off to have revalved and set up for my weight.  I'm going with black forks and getting rid of all the gold on my bike.  I was planning on eventually swapping out my HD front hub with one from Devin at Cognito.  Since I have time, I decided to go ahead and do it.  Hopefully I will hear something soon about my engine so I can wrap this bike up.  I'll keep you posted.

Sam

[calj737]

Ah, the nemesis of a build budget is delays in shipping and receiving... It's one of those: "Dang, while I'm waiting, I might as well..." scenarios. We have all done it before. I too am quite guilty of it. I just wait until I have everything decided, everything bought, and the motor ready, then I get cracking on the balance of work. It feels much easier to assemble it with all the parts as you want them instead of doing it twice. Besides, who wants to stop riding and re-build? 

[spiffy587]

where did you get the you used for your bike, the color coded stuff?

[brandEn]

WOW I am really liking your build. That wiring turned out great. Nice and clean. I tried to find if you documented how you installed the swingarm spools? I want a set on my K4.