Topic: First bike build 78 CB750K

[theslayedsaint]

Great idea! I'll be stealing that idea on the next build.

[martin99]

What a clever idea! Beats trying to squeeze two or three wires into one connector, or stacking them up. Great tip, thanks!

[Mule169]

Whelp, some more updates.

Wiring man.  It's so much easier when it's just in a schematic!  Ok, so I'm like 98% done with the wiring on this bike, and the only thing I haven't tested yet is the charging/running system (I know, arguably the most important part, and easiest to #$%* up).  But I'll start here.

I needed to splice and extend the starter motor lead.  I think there was some broken strands in it anyway as the resistance was quite high when I tested it.  cut progressively back down the wire until the resistance dropped dramatically, and I figured that's where the broken strands, or something must have been.  I bought some welding cable from a local battery shop, and got to splicing.

I first separated each wire into about 8 strands, and then carefully pressed them together in an interlocking fashion, twisted, crimped, etc. and coated with flux


Then I took some small gauge wire and wrapped around the splice VERY tightly for some mechanical strength (sorry for the blurry photo)


Then I soldered the crap out of it, and put some heat shrink around it.  Turned out pretty good, and low resistance in the final test.



Next, the charging system.  I extended the wires following my color scheme and routed up to the Ricks in mounted in the tail, and did some prelim cable management to see if the sleeving I got looked good and worked.



Wiring from the Ricks that runs down to stator


The whole shebang wired up


In another great bit of news, I got the speedhut back.  It took less than a week, the attached all of the correct cabling to my unit, AND re-attached some of the stock connectors I clipped off initially!  All free of charge after sending me a shipping label.  Can't say how pleased I am with the product and the customer service!



I installed the Pamco ignition and coils


I'm going to re-wire the side of the coils that connect to the Pamco to be yellow for 1-4 and blue for 2-3 so it's a bit easier to troubleshoot and see what's going on down the line.  You'll also probably notice I'm going to have to make some custom brackets for these coils.  The mounting hardward works fine, but in the stock position the coils hit the tank when I test fit it.  I'll have to fabricate some final mounts to drop the coils about a half an inch or so.  Not a big deal, just sort of annoying.  I have some mockup articles here that I used for setting the wiring runs



I also got a big ass 30A main fuse holder.  Probably overkill, and I didn't realize how big it was until it showed up in the mail.  It'll mount fine in the battery tray though, so no problem.


Speedo wiring


Final bucket wiring.  One pain in the ass was incorporating a little diode into the turn signal indicator lights for the speedo.  The M-Unit wiring diagram called for a small diode going to indicator lights, so I wired the diodes inline with the wire that I joined at the molex connector for the turn signal power for the indicator lights. 



So many wires! 


Anyway, I'm feeling like the end is in sight for the wiring, and just in time!  I got my swingarm back from Hondaman after some miscommunication on my end.  Happy day!  Here's a video of the M-Unit working with my headlight wiring and the speedo working with backlights and all!
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/sMfaOxE4oYs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/sMfaOxE4oYs</a>

Fit using an old shock to keep things in place



I also got my rear back with rubber mounted (front still being trued and rubber mounted.  Should be back early next week)


One really crappy setback was the rearset brackets I got from Cognito.  Said they were tested to fit all SOHC 750's, but when I mounted them... they don't clear the swingarm 



I shot Devin an email to see what my options are.  Some I thought of that I pitched to him were:

• This is the one I like the least, but I thought perhaps I could try and jury rig some spacers between the frame and rearsets brackets to clear the arm, but I am guessing these were engineered the way they are because there little extra length to play with in the swingarm bolt?
• I thought about taking them to a metal shop and having them make a double bend, behind where the rider peg mounts are to allow for some additional clearance.  I'm just not sure what kind of tooling/machine could bend material this thick and do accurately enough to offset the back half of the rearset by say an inch for clearance, and I would certainlly have to re-powder coat after.
• See if you have any alternative products that would work on my bike the provide a passenger peg mount.  I have all of the associated rearset hardware including the rear brake offset bracket.
• Perhaps get longer shocks to push the arm angle down past the bottom of the bracket and clear (which it does barely), but that would put me at a 14.5-15" shock length, and I don't even think that would work as that would only give me like an inch or less of travel before the swingarm contacted these brackets.
  

I've never had anything but great service from them so hopefully we'll get something sorted.  Got to have them passenger pegs to take the lady on rides with.

Next up is probably going to be Carbs.  Trying to decide if I am going to pull them completely apart and re-build, or just try to cosmetically clean them up and call it good for now.  Thoughts?  Suggestions/advice if I decide to tear them apart and clean/re-build them?

Ok, that's it for now.  Hopefully my work schedule lightens a bit in the near future so I can get this thing over the line and ride it before the summer is out! 

[calj737]

3 things: you don't need a diode from the m-unit unless your gauge has only a single input signal for turns.

Even with longer shocks, under compression the arm would hit the rearset bracket.

Now is the time to properly clean, configure, and maintenance your carbs. Never a good idea to do "Judy enough to get by" with the only source of fuel for your bike.

[540nova]

+1 what Calj737 said about the diode. If you have one wire to your dash turn signal indicator, like mine, the diode has to be spliced in between the dash light and your blinkers. I initially omitted that, and all my blinkers came on. I like how you ran your shrink tubing onto the back end of the Molex connectors.


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[Mule169]

3 things: you don't need a diode from the m-unit unless your gauge has only a single input signal for turns.

Well color me an idiot...  I read the wiring diagram wrong, not the first time.

Even with longer shocks, under compression the arm would hit the rearset bracket.

Yeah I figured.  Figured it couldn't hurt to ask anyway.

Now is the time to properly clean, configure, and maintenance your carbs. Never a good idea to do "Judy enough to get by" with the only source of fuel for your bike.

Sounds good, time to saddle up and read some carb cleaning, syncing, etc. threads.  I've done a fair bit of reading about using pod filters, which I'll likely be doing.  Sounds like from a lot of my reading it's kind of a solved problem with some known drawbacks.

Thanks again for the response Cal.

[Mule169]

I like how you ran your shrink tubing onto the back end of the Molex connectors.

Thanks!  Yeah I'm going to try and finish most of the runs like that.  It's been a bit of a process figuring out the best way to run and finish everything.  Such a learning experience!

[Mule169]

Calj737 mentioned rivnuts for grounds, just thought I'd share my solution. Still wiring up this bike, eventually all grounds at front half of bike will go here.

Super rad idea.  I toyed around with doing something similar after seeing this, but I just couldn't find a way to route and mount things that worked.  I'm having to monkey with the coil mounts as it is to get them to clear the tank, and it's super tight under there.  Great idea and awesome looking finish with this though.

[540nova]

Here it is with all the grounds attached.


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[theslayedsaint]

Not sure if someone already said this or if you Devin got back to you about the rearsets, but when i installed mine it did the same thing until I actually bolted them down it added enough room for clearest, however I had to cut the rear pegs to make them fit. I do think that he should have remade these to fit better seeing how its not just one person that has issues. but with that said Devin and cognitomoto is a amazing parts store and i've spent more money then i would like to admit from him.

[Mule169]

Not sure if someone already said this or if you Devin got back to you about the rearsets, but when i installed mine it did the same thing until I actually bolted them down it added enough room for clearest, however I had to cut the rear pegs to make them fit. I do think that he should have remade these to fit better seeing how its not just one person that has issues. but with that said Devin and cognitomoto is a amazing parts store and i've spent more money then i would like to admit from him.

I haven't heard back from Devin, I popped him another email but I'm sure he's got bigger fish to fry ATM.  I'm a little bummed that I'm having to figure this out after spending the money for these but, nothing is perfect in life right?  Any way I tightened everything up and there is no way there is going to be any clearance for the swingarm.

I found a shop that I think is going to help out.  They have a monster press brake, and they think they can heat these guys up and bend an offset for me.  It's one of those shops where I asked how much it would cost, and the guy said, come back at 4 when the managers go home, and bring me a case of beer.   

Who knows, we might totally #$%* them up and ruin them, but they're pretty much scrap metal right now anyway.  Cognito isn't selling them anymore on their site, so I probably wouldn't be able to return them, or at least it would be a big hassle.  I'll post when it's all done.

[theslayedsaint]

I wouldn't do that... Devin is a great guy and he's really good at helping out just give him some time he works mostly by himself. try using spacers you only need a little room. also don't forget your trying to put the reatsets on without having the tire mounted and no weight on the bike, things move after you install the wheels and set it on the ground.
I really think you are in the same boat i was and just need to tighten the bolts closes to the engine it should then bend out a little giving you enough room. you are running the same setup i was so my guess is its the same. i'll try to look for some photos to post of my old bike. 

[theslayedsaint]

heres what he told me a long time ago still looking or photos

Malcolm,

Here are some pictures I'm not sure if this helps but feel free to call me and hopefully I can make sense of it.

The top bolt has a spacer allowing the back to kick out a touch. This allows the rear bolt to clear the swing arm.

We will get this straight for you. What ever it takes.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Devin stands by his goods.  Even when I've changed the spec of my build (swapping front ends) he's taken unused product and credited toward new product.  He's a real stand-up guy.

[Mule169]

Read my last post back and it sounded disparaging towards Devin.  Not meant that way at all.  His stuff is amazing and as I posted farther up in my thread, his cb on dotheton was one of the first threads I read that inspired me to even tackle this project.

He did get back to me and suggested exactly what theslayedsaint recommended, and I'm sure he'd be more than willing to do what he could to help.  I work in a consumer business and I guess I was just thinking that some days you wish your customer could just figure it out for themselves, so I was going to try and do that.

I tightened everything up, put the wheels and original suspension on and lowered it off the lift.  Even with a spacer on the top bolt there wasn't enough clearance (talking maybe 2mm at best without the rear passenger pegs mounted).

But, like I said earlier, nothing goes to plan, and I don't think I'd be having as much fun if it all just bolted together and didn't make me think a bit. 

More to come, Devin and Cognito rule, thanks for all the messages and advice!  Appreciate you all taking the time to help.

[theslayedsaint]

I also would be remiss not to say I may have sent Deivn a email #$%*ing about how the rearsets didnt fit the way i wanted them to.... we all get upset sometimes. anyways Deivn is a great guy and hopefully when i make it back East I can see his shop and meet him. one more note on the design of the rear mount... it sucks lol sorry Deivn. i took mine off and told the wife she could take the car..

[Mule169]

The end is getting closer.  I'm so far behind where I thought I would be at this point I've stopped even worrying about how little progress I've made.  I did make some pretty significant (for my little project) progress this weekend. 

Afer the whole "rear set" issue, I did some running around town, some asking about, and found the most awesome guy Chris that works at a gear manufacturing shop her in Portland.  I'm not talking regular gears, when I walked into the shop to find him there were machines two stories tall making gears 6ft. tall.  I was blown away with the place.  Anyway, he was a referral from a referral and when I found him and explained my situation he was super helpful.  His business card says his title is "mechanical smarty pants".  I knew this was the right guy for the job.  He had a big hydraulic brake of some sort.  He was able to bend an offset in my rear sets with no problem at all, we literally just used a wax pencil, marked some bend spots, set the machine up and whammo!




After the work was done, I asked how much I owed him and he said bring me a case of beer when you get a chance.  Such a nice guy.  It restores my faith in people when you can find folks who take an interest in what you're doing and offer to help.  Sorry to go off on a tangent, but his years of experience and access to the right tools, and 10 minutes of his time made this so much cooler and less kludgy in my mind.  After the month I've had, getting this work out was just one of those little things that let me a breathe a sigh of relief and made this build so much more bad ass.

Anyway sorry for the diatribe.

If I was to go back and do it again, I'd have him bend a tick less of an offset, and pull the rear sets in a little tighter into the swingarm, but it's still pretty badass in my opinion.





So now that the rear sets are settled, I was able to build the rear wheel, and all the mounting bits.  I test fit the pegs, foot controls (which I'm going to have to do some work on), and pretty much have the entire rear done sans shocks.  Soon as I grab the front axel out of storage and mount the front disc It's gonna be ready to roll!




And last shot with all the chain adjusters mounted up etc...


Only last little "damnit" was that the pegs I ordered from Cognito were wrong.  I got 3 front control pegs, and one passenger peg.  I figured I could just use them interchangeably but the shoulder length is different.  But I'm sure we'll get it sorted, and it doesn't really impact me getting work done while I exchange them out.



Also got the gauge bucket coated...

[calj737]

I don't want to rain on your parade, but... with that much offset in the right side peg, you may have interference issues with your exhaust  Might want to throw that on right quick to check-

The rest of the bike looks really great by the way! 

[theslayedsaint]

also don't want to just say a bad thing... but hope our lady has some bow legs..

[Mule169]

I don't want to rain on your parade, but... with that much offset in the right side peg, you may have interference issues with your exhaust  Might want to throw that on right quick to check-

The rest of the bike looks really great by the way! 

Thought about that, too worn out to test fit before I put it on.  Probably the next thing I'll do before trying to button everything up for good.  Thanks again for the heads up.

[Mule169]

also don't want to just say a bad thing... but hope our lady has some bow legs..

Ha!  Another thing I didn't consider.  I gave a sit and it didn't seem too bad.  I rode a buddies TL1000 for awhile and I guess that cured me of caring about getting split like a chicken while riding a bike.  This bike has a huge tank and I didn't really notice.  Hopefully she'll get used to it!

[Mule169]

Started in on the carbs.

I'm going to be using pods, or something equivalent, so I figured this would be a good chance to order new mains, and clean everything out.

I was pleasantly surprised which how good the condition of everything was.  Dirty, but nothing too out of place.  The cheapskate in me even thought the gaskets were in good enough shape to reuse   (don't worry I'm ordering new ones)





The only thing I was a bit worried about was the accelerator pump diaphragm.  It's pretty crusty and gummed up on the top.  The actual soft diaphragm material is fine, so I thought I might take a stiff nylon brush and some carb cleaner to it.

[calj737]

Only order NEW Keihin brand jets.

[Mule169]

Sad news for this build.

Life (divorce), and the need to move are ending this project for me.

I'm looking to sell the rolling chassis and all the parts, bits and bobs that I've accumulated over the last couple years.

If any of you that have followed this thread might be able to pass the word on to anyone looking for a mostly finished project with lots of rad parts, please DM me.

[calj737]

Wait a minute, your thread started with a “girlfriend”. Are you now married and after a short stint splitting up? Say it isn’t so! Or is “divorce” just a domestic split situation on shared living space 

Either way, sorry to hear about your bad news. You’ve done some great work and taken a lot of time to get to this point. Shame you need to unload it. But, there’s more projects out there and this point was all learning, so the next one will go much quicker.

Best wishes for a great outcome on the parting of ways and bits-and-bobs