In sitting down to write this post I am not sure if I should start with some fortune cookie line about how it takes a big man to admit being wrong. Or wax poetic about how all of these projects are a journey and they take turns. I will however cut right to the chase. This project just got a much needed boost and really has been kicked into gear. A tone of parts are currently in the mail and more are being ordered this week. Will update another time as to what they are and why they were bought.
I went into this project feeling that it would be not that much different then building up any other CB750. Most are behind the eight ball when starting with a basket case, but my plan was to get a solid parts bike and swap stuff. Easy peasy. Well for those that have been following along that didn’t go as planned. Mostly it was my own failings. I was extra cheap and lazy, never a good thing. The parts bike I bought was far from running, and had a whole lot of ugly on it.
So I ended up getting a MUCH better parts bike and redoing much of the work I had already done. I can not thank ATMCycles for the parts bike enough. He offered me a parts bike when I first got this project and has been nothing but helpful throughout this build. This bike was exactly what I needed. The new parts bike was a 76 K. Frame didn’t have a title, and the forks were bent. But the stuff that was important to me was in good shape. Not perfect, but that’s actually more what I wanted. It has just the right amount of “patina” for this project. The bike retained it’s original airbox and had a solid wire harness. First push of the button the engine jumped to life and settled into a nice idle. Didn’t even open the carbs or touch the points. I also have to send a huge thank you to chewbacca5000 for taking the time out of his day and extending his trip home to drop off the bike to me, it was a huge help and time saver. Also it is always fun to put faces to names and shoot the breeze for a bit with people.
So now the bike, because we really are here for pictures.
The wheels on the parts bike cleaned up well enough to make me rethink running the Lesters……for a few minutes at least.
Much nicer then this.
Also I found that the lower bolt hole for the points cover was so soft that it broke off!
So anyone need one semi rotten CB750 engine and one untitled frame?
The great thing is that I am now back on a good track. I have a complete (what I need) bike that runs, and runs well. The theory still remains that if it runs in the stock frame it should be no big deal to make it run in the Seeley. Fingers crossed that I have a running Seeley very soon. Most will not understand how excited I actually am about that.
Unfortunately I lost some time. This work happened before Memorial Day. I had to go to Detroit for a week and lost some time. Not a big deal, just more bummed not being in the shop working on junk. Hope this week I get some time.
