Hey guys, long time lurker, new owner... Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. But like most newbies/owners I come here with the hopes to finding the answers to all my questions and share my progress and victories!
So I just picked up my new (to me) 1974 Honda CB750K with 29k from the original owner. I had been searching for awhile for something close with a good history and after searching I settled on this one. Even though it was 3 hours away, wasn't the right color, it had the wrong seat and a hideous (my opinion) Windjammer front screen, wrong mirrors and a huge rear rack/sissy bar but it seemed like the "one".
The first night out went flawlessly and two hours later I was counting down the hours till the next ride. She starts up on the first kick or click of the starter, has good power throughout the entire rev band. The second day I tore into her to start bringing her back to 100% stock. So I tore off rear rack/sissy bar the next night, on the third night I tore off the Windjammer screen and ran into my first issue as the Windjammer hacks into the factory harness and once removed I had no turn signals or headlight as the Windjammer used its own light but fortunately the owner included the original bezel.
Two days later I figured out the wiring and cleaned up a few things in the bucket while I was at it and had turn signals once again and headlights, yeah! After fretting for two days wondering if a I'll ever figure out the wiring and have turn signals to ride again, that small victory made me feel good! So then I tackled the slow blink of my newly working turn signals with a new flasher relay, now I'm really flying high and not worried some one from behind won't see it and run me over.
So next came the new reproduction seat on the 4th day and that was a simple, it took more time to get my tools out then it did to swap out the King and Queen seat with the new seat. It fit perfect and totally transformed the look and I couldn't be more happy with the way the bike looks now. On the fifth day the new factory original mirrors showed up and basically was the last piece of the puzzle to get her back to looking like the way she did back in 1974.
So of course now, on the 6th day of blissful ownership and she's looking the way I would like and running like a champ, Murphy, you know that guy that has that law named after him reared his ugly little head on my way home. Hopefully someone has read this far and can hopefully help and point me in the right direction. So I'm in my way home and as I'm coming off the highway I push the clutch in to coast down the ramp and she shut off on me. But a mile or so prior to that she started laboring and required more and more throttle input to keep speed and seemed to be running rough. The exhaust note had changed as well...
So I pulled off the ramp, started her back up but I had to continually keep the revs up to keep her from stalling out. Luckily at that point I was only about a mile and a half from home but she really didn't want to get me home she was stumbling and required a lot of throttle input to keep running. Luckily though she did make it and now she's resting comfortably awaiting to be looked at tomorrow. It almost feels like she's running down on a cylinder or two, possibly...?
Now a little bit about me, fairly mechanically inclined and usually do most of all my work on my cars and my past bikes have been modern sport bikes so carbs are a totally new world for me and so I'm hoping this community is welcoming for a new guy looking to learn. Aside from oil changes and basic maintenance my previous bikes were good to me and required no repairs so I'm basically new to the world of vintage bikes and what it takes to keep them on the road and running properly. So please bare with me.
So any advise as to what to look for first would be GREATLY appreciated... Before the Search police show up, I've tried already and didn't come up with anything definitive like when I searched for the relay or wiring diagrams for the headlight. I'm hoping for the best and it's something simple that I can figure out and get her back on the road as I'm already bummed that I won't be able to ride her now so hopefully I can find the answers that will lead me to salvation, haha!
Joe
