Topic: Good Lord where do I start? CB750... ish

[Killman]

Well that was a ton of reading. I may have missed a few threads on a forum here and there, but it wasn't for lack of effort. 

So it looks like the PITA with the dual disc conversion on this model is the speedo drive. Not really sure if I should give a rat's ass about a speedo drive as the plan is to run an Acewell and not use the mechanical pickup. Seems like just making up some spacers and doing away with the drive completely would save a lot of problems. As I understand it, all that would be required, other than straight up mounting of the rotors, calipers, braided lines and a new mc, would be to make sure that the bottom mount on the right caliper was shimmed to ensure it'd sit parallel with the new rotor. Seems like this would simplify the Hell out of everything. Shave bucks, too.

Wouldn't mind grabbing the aluminum rim from a GL to mate up with my hub, someone kept saying that the hubs were supposed to be a match between the two models.

Still like the idea of a little beefier forks and the GL would give me the option of installing emulators down the road, but if I decided to go that route, then I'd probably be happy to just drop the bucks on usd's at that point. Not to mention that a fork brace for the GL would really limit me in terms of fender choices and whether or not I could install gators. Have to modify the stops, too. The extra length could help with ground clearance issues though if I raised the rear shocks accordingly, and it would be nice to get some air assist if I grabbed the right assembly?

If I can mount up a second rotor fairly easily, using the existing assembly, I think that's the route to go for now.

[Killman]

Interesting afternoon. Went to install the new transparent silicon copper core 7mm plug wires into the new Dyna coils just to see how they would look. Looked silly because they didn't fit. As I'm sure most of you know, Dyna wires come with crimp-on connectors and boots, which are required to make the damn wires stay in the damn sockets. I now know this as well. Spent some time searching around trying to find the bloody things outside of a CAD $60, (there's that exchange rate biting me right on the ass again) set of plug wires. No love.

So I called Dyna and explained my situation to the nice man, emphasizing my recent purchase of new Dyna dual outlet 5 ohm coils. He has sent me out a set of the connectors, boots and plug caps gratis, (don't really need the plug caps, with the 5k NGK caps that are coming, but nice to have for a rainy day).  Great service!

edit: Was just sent this info from Dyna via email...

"The boots and terminals are basically the same as used on automotive
distributor caps from the US manufacturers up to the mid 1970's. They can be
found at your local NAPA store in their Belden ignition catalog. To help the
parts person, have them pull a plug wire set for a 1969 Chevy Impala 350 and
the terminals and boots are the very same as we use.
Out of curiosity, did you purchase our plug wire kit with the coils? We
include these boots and terminals with the plug wire kits, but not coil sets."

Now if my ignition switch can finish it's epic journey through the ebay Global Shipping Disaster Service by way of Ohio, Kentucky and slow dogsled team across from Ontario, I'll be ready to start the fun in earnest. With the Hondaman bits, also coming soon, I'm half expecting this thing to start pawing the ground when I go to start it up.

[Killman]

I would also like to reference my astonishment and borderline admiration for USPS's ability to ship my new mirrors from L.A., east and then south, to Malta by way of Zurich in a matter of two days. I am, however, underwhelmed by the subsequent snail's pace that they seem to be finally making their way in my actual direction. Which would have originally been pretty much a straight shot north up the coast. One for the books.

Maybe I should start a new children's educational computer game, called "Where In The World Are My Frickin' Mirrors?"

[Killman]

Started thinking about those broken fins last night. Got a buddy who does TIG for a local brewery that's offered to teach me a bit. Probably a good idea to get one of Frank's frame kits. One way or another that engine is eventually coming out, for one reason or another, but it would be nice to not make it any more of an adventure than necessary.

By the way, I'm loving the wealth of knowledge and experience on these boards, it's like KZR for CB's. Finding myself up into the wee hours reading away. Nice vibe too, seems relatively troll-free, appreciating the hospitality.

I'll be ordering Hondaman's book this weekend as well. Thank you's to everyone that's chimed in so far.

[calj737]

May not even be worth trying to repair those fins if you plan on some "untraveled" roadways. Sure, they're a bit unsightly, but I don't see where they'd effect negatively the cooling of your bike. TIG welding cast aluminum is NOT a task for a new welder but does really require an experienced welder. The heat involved will draw all the impurities out of the cast alloy, and make the weld problematic. Too much heat, and you do risk causing more damage than you'll fix.

Just an FYI and my opinion.

[Killman]

Totally valid. Thanks for jumping in.

Figured I'd see if my friend was comfortable with the procedure, not something that I'd be wanting to try my hand at as a newb. He had offered to break me in so that in a month or so I could attempt some stays for fenders. He has a pretty responsible position and seems very knowledgable. We train together, I've seen his work ethic and he's not prone to bull#$%*ting, so I'm prepared to take him at his word either way. If it turns out to be a non-starter then I could always find replacement jugs.

I get that functionally it won't make much of a difference, but I've got a bit of an OCD personality and it would drive me nuts every time I looked at them. Eventually I'd have to do something about it.

[calj737]

Well TIG by a pro would be the way to go. TIG is an art requiring a great deal of practice to get the puddle right, and a foot pedal helps an awful lot once you're proficient. I'd start you stick welding personally. Learn the techniques on cheap metal clips, pull beads, burn a 50# box of 7018 and then get you working on verticals. 

You can preheat the block with a torch to help purge the impurities before welding it. This helps keep the bead clean and the pockets out. An even better trick is to use a trashed block, cut out "square patch pieces" and graft them on using the same material as opposed to welding new material. Then at least the temp would be the same to fuse the 2 pieces. And the result will be less noticeable (playing to your OCD). 

[Garage_guy_chris]

Those TKC 70's look nice we were looking at them the other day for a friends CB500X. If it was my bike and i was setting it up for some offroad i would be looking for some ground clearance I would probably look for an exhaust with a flat 4-1 or 4-2-1 collector rather than the two high two low 2x2 collector. Otherwise i might look into some "chopper" +1" or  +2" fork legs and springs and some longer shocks to raise the bike somewhere from 1" to 2". I would also look for the engine crash guards as the engine is wide down low just for protection. Other than that its pretty much all cosmetic.

[Killman]

I considered the CycleX 4-2-1, but Carpy's Sidewinder header was just too slick not to run with, it admittedly upped the geek-factor for me when he told me I could have the prototype off the demo bike.

Swapping to the GL front end would give me an additional 1-2" up front and I was thinking around a 14" set of rear shocks. However, it seems to me that I should be able to just do away with the speedo drive, install a new spacer and convert to dual disc pretty easily. There's already seems to be a splitter mounted under the lower triple, as well. Maybe I should keep an eye out for some 1-over uppers. I'm only 5'10" so I need to be conscious of the inseam. 

Case guards are def. a good idea, lots of chromed goodies to see on this thing, but the chrome isn't in the best shape.

[754]

 The GL fork is basically bolt on, and looks good stand alone. The USD fork by itself looks awkward, need a whole bunch more stuff done to get it to look right. if you go dual disc with stock parts i know another way to mount speedo drive that may help.

[Killman]

I took a look at the chrome caliper assembly. It looks like I should be able to just spin the fittings and mount the caliper on the other side of the arm. I don't need the speedo drive to run the Acewell. Could it really be as simple as just putting matching spacers on both sides of the axle and maybe some kind of block-off plate for the drive recess?

The money that I would use to order in a GL front end could be used for other things. Like a frame kit and maybe Mark's book, lol.

[Killman]

Life just got a bit more interesting. Looks like my tax refund is going to be substantially larger than I was expecting this year. Which means that, if I watch my beans closely, I should be able to do a bit more than I had initially hoped for.

Bits are still trickling in from the first round of orders. Waiting on Hondaman's goodies and a couple of other pieces to make a serious start on this little project. Ordered his book last night, taking advantage of the 25% off sale that expires this evening. Seriously stoked to get my hands on it, going to wait until I've been able to go through it a bit before finalizing any serious plans engine-wise, and I haven't even tested compression or had it open to see what I've got, but nothing wrong with a little pipe-dreaming to refer to later.

Since the jugs are bashed up anyways, it might be an opportunity to not only replace them, but to drop a big bore kit in there. Just pie in the sky mind you, but an interesting thought. Any recommendations on places that I could trust to do the work within Canada and preferably in B.C. would be greatly appreciated. Cycle-X could get prohibitively expensive between the exchange rate and shipping.

Exchanged some emails with Hagon today. Have to do some more pondering before I cough up CAD $600-ish. Anyone have any thoughts on NJB or YSS, (I see that calj737 approves of the YSS) shocks? I've been seeing some good reviews and the prices aren't too terrible.

Kinda hoping for a string of sunny days so that I can do some wrenching outside.  Now that I know I have a bit of cushion money-wise to play with I'm seriously champing at the bit to get this party started. Quite a few goodies that I've got my eye on. Like a frame kit?..

[Killman]

Got some stuff. The mirrors finally decided to cut out the Moses act and stop wandering the desert.



Thanks for the electrical wizardry Mark!

[Killman]

Well bugger. Front end is raising my blood pressure. Bear with me, I'm still learning to speak 70's Honda.

Will be ordering new prog. springs next week, but I'm mulling over getting 2" over fork uppers from CycleX and then I'd need longer springs as well. Seems like getting a bit longer set of shocks in back would go nicely with an extra 2" up front. Another question is, how are the fork uppers different between the later F models and the early K models? As I understand that it's the later F model forks that will take an emulator, and although I won't be going that route now, it would only make sense to leave the option open down the road. I believe that I would also need the internals from the F model before I made that change.

I'm just not satisfied that the tweaker bar is going to cut it. Like to get a Tarozzi fork brace for the lowers, but they don't have one for this model, and I'm unsure about the fitment with one for the F series. Dug up some info on another thread about them. If anyone by any chance has mounted one of these up to an early K model, I'd love to know how that worked out for you. I'm not emotionally attached to the brand name, but the price is right.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,49515.25.html

http://www.fastfromthepast.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=kz440+fork+brace
76 Cb750F
#22-0037

Now I'm as much of a sucker for looks as the next guy and I really like the looks of a nice set of gators, but I just don't see a way to mount up a set and a decent fork brace. Any bright ideas are welcome. Going to install a steering damper as well. I would like to attach it to an existing frame point and then under the lower triple clamp, but there's a plate there, (which will be going bye-bye) that has a headlight and brake line splitter mounted to it. So I'll have to get that cleared up.

I'd like to run a ribbed front fender, but I'm not crazy about the idea of cutting up a perfectly good stock fender just to use the bracket with another fender blank. Anybody got a loose fork brace from a stock fender that'll bolt up to my '72 K model? Or even a line on a nice, smaller, bolt-on aftermarket fender? I'm also trying to get my greedy little paws on a set of rotors to work out the dual-rotor mod with new spacers and no speedo drive.

Still looking for a tank with viable badge mounts as well.

[Stev-o]

Yes, I have a fiberglass fender that might work for you.

[Killman]

I appreciate the offer, kinda had a metal one in mind though, got any pics?

[Stev-o]

I appreciate the offer, kinda had a metal one in mind though, got any pics?

I'll have to pull it out of my storage on Monday.

[Killman]

Don't go to any trouble. I'm really looking for something that'll be at least as stiff between the forks as the stocker. Just don't want to cut it up if I don't need to.

[754]

 The longer forks just use spacers, ie 2 inch spacer for 2 over forks/
 i have made things to hold  top of gaiter to fork, bottom is trickier but, can probably be done,, are you talking being used with fork brace ?

[Killman]

Top of the fork is no problem. Especially if I don't use the tweak bar. But yeah, the bottom with a fork lower style brace seems problematic. Although one of those Tarozzis looks like it has a lip for a dust seal, which might work, just have to find another set of boots that would fit.

[754]

 If you buy the later forks, the tubes are chromed to the top..and the fork braces fit them.  Then you can run without gaiter if you chose to do so..

[scottly]

Here are some pics showing the speedo drive, the drive replaced with a spacer, and with the second rotor.

[Killman]

Awesome, thanks!

I had it pictured differently in my head. That's exactly what I'm looking for. Done and done. If you want to shoot me an email addy for Paypal, I'll send you my shipping address, and then send the money on Tues., evening. Guess who's getting his tax refund this week?..

Thanks very much for the pics and info, it's greatly appreciated. Means that with the braided lines I'll be ordering in (from Spiegler?) I should be good to go!

[Killman]

Well this has been an up and down kinda day. Lined up a new jug, (and cylinder if I need it) at a reasonable price from my local CB guru. Snagged some really cool NOS Tommaselli MX bars and inlaid Honda pegs. Looks like most of the front end issues are sorted, thanks again, and with any luck Mark's book and the last of the electrical bits will be here this week.

Then I went and got my butt just whupped bidding on a couple of tanks on ebay! Could not believe how high the prices went. Kinda had it coming karma-wise though considering I sniped the rotors and pegs with less than ten seconds to go each. Still...

Oh well, now it's time to kick back and watch last night's fights, noone ruin them for me.

Oh yeah, Frank, scottly was suggesting that you might be able to whip up that spacer for the front wheel? It would be great if I could add that to my frame kit order. Have I mentioned lately just how seriously kickass you guys are? 

[calj737]

what tank are you trying to buy?