Topic: New Owner (with a LONG Uphill Climb...)

[Lucien Harpress]

Greetings, everyone!  New member here from the wonderful state of Michigan (amount of sarcasm is up to you).

I've been riding for about 6-7 years, and am no stranger to vintage motorcycles.  My first bike was a 1980 XS1100, which I no longer have, but I followed it up with a 1984 GL1200 Standard (last model of the naked Goldwing), a 1977 GL1000 that turned into a 1976 GL1000, a 1980 KZ1300 (with lots of '79 parts), and a (I think) 1968 CT90.

However, I just recently acquired my first CB750- a 1972 K2 model, as I recently found out.  I"ll get some photos up after I hit the right post count, but I got it in pretty rough shape.  It had been sitting in a shed for about 30 years, 20 of which the shed didn't have a roof.

The Good
-Most everything is stock, and still there.  The airbox is missing, the carbs on it are wrong for the year (they put on the early K0 carbs), and the grab bar was replaced by a sissy bar, but apart from that everything appears to be intact.

-The motor is free, and (far as I can tell) all 4 cylinders have compression.  Not sure if it's good compression, but they have it.  There's even a bit of oil left in the side tank.

-All things considered, parts are in pretty decent shape.  Not exactly clean, but mostly intact.

The Bad

-  It HAS set outside for 20 years.  Tank is nearly a write-off.  The top paint is trashed, the interior is solid rust, and I'm not ruling out pinholes.

-  Most of the electrical components (switches, etc.) will have to be replaced.  I've just started chasing sparks and I've already found the ignition switch to be faulty.  I'm guessing the handlebar switches are next, but we'll see.

-  There's moss on the crankcase.

So yeah.  I've got a long road ahead of me, and I'm not ruling out cutting my losses and parting the bike out, but for now I'd like to stick it out.  I've got a manual coming the mail, but I'll still probably be asking plenty of questions (and possible donations...).  The goal is to get the bike running and roadworthy, not necissarily pretty.  I may clean it up later, but first priority is to get it running.

Here's to hoping I can do it with a minimum of tears and bloodshed....   

[mystic_1]

Hey welcome aboard!

Sounds to me like your first step is to make sure the frame is sound.  If it's not rotted, then the bike can be saved.

We'll help!

As far as the motor is concerned, I'd suggest draining whatever oil is in it now, and then fill it up with clean oil to coat the parts before you move the crankshaft much more.  This is just a cautionary step until you can get into a more thorough inspection.

Catch the oil that comes out of the motor and strain it to see if you find any debris.

If you can get the oil pan off, you'll be able to check for debris there too and you'll also be able to visually inspect some of the internals.


Looking forward to your pics!

mystic_1

[kslrr]

Welcome.  Don't right off the hand controls yet.  I had found a '77 Yamaha XS750 that had sat outside in the California desert for several years.  The hand controls were frozen but I was able to disassemble and rebuild them to like new condition.  Of course the desert is very dry compared to Michigan.  Good luck and gives pics of your progress when you can.

[Lucien Harpress]

Thanks for the advice.  The guy I bought it from was actually my buddy.  He picked it up, tootled around with it a month, gave up, and sold it to me.  I managed to get a pretty good look at it before I bought it myself, so I kinda knew what I was getting into.

Frame appears solid.  The only part I couldn't really check as well as I'd like is the crossover tube where the center stand bolts on.  We've had the bike up on the center stand before, and while it looks REALLY ratty, it appears solid.  No over-rotation either.  So we'll see.

Left controls may be able to be saved, but the ones on the right will definitely need to be replaced.  The PO decided to do an "Easy-Rider Lite" build, with mini-apes and a sissy bar.  The carbs got replaced as well with K0 carbs, and the right controls swapped for a single throttle cable set.

I've got a line on a set of K2 carbs (mine are pretty rough), so I figure I'll get the correct throttle housing as well.

I've got a set of correct handlebars coming in the mail.  I'll pull the bars I have soon enough, do some more testing, and see where I stand.

[Lucien Harpress]

Well, carbs fell through.  I still have the full set that came off the bike, but I would prefer the correct setup for the year.  I may attempt a buy/trade at some point in the future.

Managed to get the bike up on the center stand as well.  Frame appears to be solid under there as well.  Nothing a bit of a wire wheel and paint can't clean up.

I'll pop a post or two here in a few other threads, get my count up enough to post photos.  Probably one here, then start a thread in the project forum (with a link in here so people can find it).

[Lucien Harpress]

PICS!





More, plus the start of a build thread, here:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,157855.0.html

[mystic_1]

 

Step 1: Remove Seat.





 

[70CB750]

Welcome!

You can download manual here:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,17788.0.html

This is a good book to have too:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,65293.0.html

[Lucien Harpress]

Well, since I can post photos now, and I've got the appropriate build thread started, may as well show off my other rides.



'76 GL1000- my current daily driver.



'84 GL1200 Standard.  Managed to put this one into a ditch a couple years ago, so this one is getting put back together.  Just waiting on the paint shop, and this should be 100% very soon.



'80 KZ1300.  Shipped it to Michigan from Idaho, found out it had a bent rod, grafted the bottom end of a '79 motor to the top end I had, and am currently fiddling with carbs.



'68 CT90.  This one is just fun.   

[evanphi]

Apehangers, lowering blocks, and a big cushy queen seat... someone has a cruiser!

[TomsK8resto]

Welcome!

Looks like your 750 is pretty much there, albeit there is some work to be done to get it on the road.  I laughed when I read the comment on the seat, my '78 had a Bates bar-co lounger on it as well, now long gone. 

Nice looking wings you have there.  I'm starting to get a hankering for a "naked wing".  Good luck on the 750!  I'm sure you will find this forum and the very skilled and generous members a huge resource.

Tom

[Lucien Harpress]

Nice looking wings you have there.  I'm starting to get a hankering for a "naked wing". 

Yeah, I've kind of developed a soft spot for them as well.  They are pretty complicated as far a motorcycles go, and definitely a PITA to get dialed in, but once you do they are bulletproof.

The 1000 models are awesome muscle bikes.  Small enough to be fun in the twisties, but smooth enough to run all day long.  The 75-77 models had the hot cams, which got detuned a bit for 78-79 to help with low end grunt.  General consensus is that it robbed the top end without doing much of anything to the bottom.  However, some like the style changes the 78 and 79s had, which makes up for it.

The GL1100s were where the Goldwings shifted into touring mode.  More relaxed riding position, but performance-wise a bit of a stop-gap bike.  The extra 100ccs didn't do much, and with the extra weight (even on the naked models) they ended up a touch slower than the 1000s.  However, the fit and finish was much better, and it was still relatively simple to swap a dressed model to a naked configuration.

The GL1200 Standard was pretty special.  The motor was nearly completely redesigned, and ended up being the best 4-cylinder 'Wing motor ever built.  Couple that to a bike missing a couple hundred pounds off it's fully dressed brethren, and you got a rocket of a bike that's just all-around good.  Hydraulic clutch, linked brakes, bigger fuel tank- really, really good.  The only issue is that the Naked 1200 was a one-year-only model (1984), and converting a dressed 1200 is a very daunting task.  Lots of unique parts that are impossible to find nowadays.

However, one final quirk.  Apparently, all the 4 cylinder Goldwing engine blocks have identical mounting points.  That means a 1200 motor is a near drop-in to a 1000 frame, and apparently that engine combined with the early final drive is, I'm told, something very amazing indeed.

(Not sure if you can tell, but not only do I like the bikes I ride, I like the history as well.    )

[HondaMan]

(Not sure if you can tell, but not only do I like the bikes I ride, I like the history as well.    )

Me, too!
Keeping the carbs clean and fresh on the G'wing 1000-1200 is everything, I agree! Besides that and the timing belts, they run and run. Some of the Naked Wingers around here have the Vetter mounts on them so they can hit the 'long road' (like maybe a 2-day, cover-the-Rockies ride) with the fairing, then pop it off for the daily commute. Most of them have gorgeous (new) paint, too.

Your 750 looks like 'love at first sight' to me! It's not often you find one with that many original parts in that good of a condition in the Midwest. The handlebar switch may be rebuildable: it was the K3 and later ones that were mighty hard to resurrect from sitting too long. The early ones have removable pieces that could be cleaned: in truth, Honda actually sold the individual pieces to those switches until the K3 appeared. I wish I had kept those part numbers today! Honda was worried that the 750 might be perceived as 'too expensive to maintain' in the early days, so then you could buy things like [just] the moving side of the points, with or without the little insulator washers, switch pieces, left-only or right-only front brake pads, and just the cables for the tach and speedometer (not the sheaths), among other things. That all vanished from their parts catalogues in 1973, though.