Topic: My first complete build 72 CB750 - completed for now...

[algophobe]

She's finally 99.5% done, after 7 years, got married, graduated and got a job, moved, became a father, and with a boy on the way this September, many lessons learned and skills acquired....

the fuel line in. ended up plugging one of the petcock port and simplifying the line without a quick disconnect. it flows better with less transition points/connectors. plugged up the nipple that was rubbing on the petcock with an allen bolt. and she kicks over easily and sounds fantastic.

by the way, does anyone else gets this emotional with their builds? at least the first?

[slikwilli420]

With the whole thing together, the grey looks less battleship grey, and I really like it. The yellow pops nicely and the fit and finish look excellent. Enjoy the ride!!

[algophobe]

With the whole thing together, the grey looks less battleship grey, and I really like it. The yellow pops nicely and the fit and finish look excellent. Enjoy the ride!!

thanks. It was a gamble but I've seen it on some street racer cars and thought it worked. she rides pretty decent considering I went for longer rear shocks to accommodate the frame mods that I did without realizing clearance issues. that single disc, single piston front brake though.. eek. i'm so used to dual from disc with two pistons each AND a rear disc.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nice bike.  Have you thought about re-installing the rear inner fender, or replacing it with a hugger?  Otherwise, you'll be cleaning the undertail/seat of water, dirt, etc. 

[algophobe]

Nice bike.  Have you thought about re-installing the rear inner fender, or replacing it with a hugger?  Otherwise, you'll be cleaning the undertail/seat of water, dirt, etc.

yes, i tried to think of ways to modify the stock fender but it too beat up and doesn't fit right. i'll have to look into aftermarkets. heck even with a quick ride the chain lube splashed on the oil tank and under tail. maybe chain guard combo. but i was going for minimalist look, fuctionality wise isn't as practical.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nice bike.  Have you thought about re-installing the rear inner fender, or replacing it with a hugger?  Otherwise, you'll be cleaning the undertail/seat of water, dirt, etc.

yes, i tried to think of ways to modify the stock fender but it too beat up and doesn't fit right. i'll have to look into aftermarkets. heck even with a quick ride the chain lube splashed on the oil tank and under tail. maybe chain guard combo. but i was going for minimalist look, fuctionality wise isn't as practical.

I used just the stock inner fender on my 750 bike.  It's too bad someone hasn't developed a basic one using the stock mounts in thermoplastic, CF or fiberglass.

[algophobe]

Nice bike.  Have you thought about re-installing the rear inner fender, or replacing it with a hugger?  Otherwise, you'll be cleaning the undertail/seat of water, dirt, etc.

yes, i tried to think of ways to modify the stock fender but it too beat up and doesn't fit right. i'll have to look into aftermarkets. heck even with a quick ride the chain lube splashed on the oil tank and under tail. maybe chain guard combo. but i was going for minimalist look, fuctionality wise isn't as practical.

I used just the stock inner fender on my 750 bike.  It's too bad someone hasn't developed a basic one using the stock mounts in thermoplastic, CF or fiberglass.

unfortunately I shaved of the metal tabs that mounts the plastic fender as part of the frame mods. I was trying to use the chrome outter fender and rotate it but its a lot of work to set up mounting points.

[slikwilli420]

I would get moving on upgrading the caliper to something period, like Grimeca or AP Racing. They are phenomenal brakes and can be adapted to your current forks.

[SKTP]

Looks amazing...I have been waiting to see it all together

[algophobe]

I would get moving on upgrading the caliper to something period, like Grimeca or AP Racing. They are phenomenal brakes and can be adapted to your current forks.

I was think about an upgrade, but wanted to ride it a while as is. I initially wanted to keep it retro.  But I have a feeling that I would upgrade the whole front end after a while. who knows... It might end up like Café Racer Fan's 9 lives bike. no offense.

btw. I'm looking at the Grimeca, who's the vendor. can't seem to get much listings of google.

[algophobe]

Looks amazing...I have been waiting to see it all together

thanks, really appreciate it!

[slikwilli420]

I would get moving on upgrading the caliper to something period, like Grimeca or AP Racing. They are phenomenal brakes and can be adapted to your current forks.

I was think about an upgrade, but wanted to ride it a while as is. I initially wanted to keep it retro.  But I have a feeling that I would upgrade the whole front end after a while. who knows... It might end up like Café Racer Fan's 9 lives bike. no offense.

btw. I'm looking at the Grimeca, who's the vendor. can't seem to get much listings of google.

They seem hard to come by lately. Best bet us the AP racing unit. You can get them from Andover Norton in the UK. Best price I've found.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I would get moving on upgrading the caliper to something period, like Grimeca or AP Racing. They are phenomenal brakes and can be adapted to your current forks.

I was think about an upgrade, but wanted to ride it a while as is. I initially wanted to keep it retro.  But I have a feeling that I would upgrade the whole front end after a while. who knows... It might end up like Café Racer Fan's 9 lives bike. no offense.

btw. I'm looking at the Grimeca, who's the vendor. can't seem to get much listings of google.

They seem hard to come by lately. Best bet us the AP racing unit. You can get them from Andover Norton in the UK. Best price I've found.

That's where I sourced a pair (Andover Norton):

Phil
genuine-norton-spares@btconnect.com
Andover Norton International Ltd
3, Old Farm Buildings
Standen Manor Estate
Hungerford
RG17 0RB
Tel.0044 (0) 1488 686816
Fax.0044 (0) 1488 686826
www.andover-norton.co.uk

Pricing when I purchased them in 2012:

APCP2696-38EO TWO-PISTON CALIPER 107.69 BP (each)
APCP3696D36-RQ3 BRAKE PADS (PAIR) 14.04 BP (each)

BP = British Pounds

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I would get moving on upgrading the caliper to something period, like Grimeca or AP Racing. They are phenomenal brakes and can be adapted to your current forks.

I was think about an upgrade, but wanted to ride it a while as is. I initially wanted to keep it retro.  But I have a feeling that I would upgrade the whole front end after a while. who knows... It might end up like Café Racer Fan's 9 lives bike. no offense.

btw. I'm looking at the Grimeca, who's the vendor. can't seem to get much listings of google.

No offense taken.  I think that the AP calipers might be better than the Gold Wing calipers I used on the Nine Lives bike, but on that bike I transplanted an entire Gold Wing front end.  The AP Racing calipers might give you some clearance issues to the spokes and that's why I didn't use them on my 750 (why I ended up doing the Goldwing front swap).  Another, less period correct solution is transplanting an older R6 front.  Several members have done this including (most recently) Dave Barbier; FunJimmy and Oette also did this swap.  It's a conventional (NOT upside-down) fork so it does not stick out to the eye (and his not nearly as heavy as the Goldwing front), but the brakes and forks are a huge step forward.

[algophobe]

I would get moving on upgrading the caliper to something period, like Grimeca or AP Racing. They are phenomenal brakes and can be adapted to your current forks.

I was think about an upgrade, but wanted to ride it a while as is. I initially wanted to keep it retro.  But I have a feeling that I would upgrade the whole front end after a while. who knows... It might end up like Café Racer Fan's 9 lives bike. no offense.

btw. I'm looking at the Grimeca, who's the vendor. can't seem to get much listings of google.

No offense taken.  I think that the AP calipers might be better than the Gold Wing calipers I used on the Nine Lives bike, but on that bike I transplanted an entire Gold Wing front end.  The AP Racing calipers might give you some clearance issues to the spokes and that's why I didn't use them on my 750 (why I ended up doing the Goldwing front swap).  Another, less period correct solution is transplanting an older R6 front.  Several members have done this including (most recently) Dave Barbier; FunJimmy and Oette also did this swap.  It's a conventional (NOT upside-down) fork so it does not stick out to the eye (and his not nearly as heavy as the Goldwing front), but the brakes and forks are a huge step forward.

I looked at Andover's website, doesn't seem like they carry anything except OEM Norton calipers. It has been six years since. However have you known of anyone who's swapped stock calipers for AP's and resolution for the clearance issues?

[seanbarney41]

Engine sounds great!  Congrats on excellent work.  Not many get that much right the first time.

[Tews19]

Your bike looks great! Awesome color combo!

[slikwilli420]

I would get moving on upgrading the caliper to something period, like Grimeca or AP Racing. They are phenomenal brakes and can be adapted to your current forks.

I was think about an upgrade, but wanted to ride it a while as is. I initially wanted to keep it retro.  But I have a feeling that I would upgrade the whole front end after a while. who knows... It might end up like Café Racer Fan's 9 lives bike. no offense.

btw. I'm looking at the Grimeca, who's the vendor. can't seem to get much listings of google.

No offense taken.  I think that the AP calipers might be better than the Gold Wing calipers I used on the Nine Lives bike, but on that bike I transplanted an entire Gold Wing front end.  The AP Racing calipers might give you some clearance issues to the spokes and that's why I didn't use them on my 750 (why I ended up doing the Goldwing front swap).  Another, less period correct solution is transplanting an older R6 front.  Several members have done this including (most recently) Dave Barbier; FunJimmy and Oette also did this swap.  It's a conventional (NOT upside-down) fork so it does not stick out to the eye (and his not nearly as heavy as the Goldwing front), but the brakes and forks are a huge step forward.

I looked at Andover's website, doesn't seem like they carry anything except OEM Norton calipers. It has been six years since. However have you known of anyone who's swapped stock calipers for AP's and resolution for the clearance issues?

Gotta search part numbers. Their site is horrible.

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-details/18254

This is a pretty decent price and is about $219 as of today. Shipping will be a bit nuts, but I get things in about 3 days from the UK here in Michigan.

Regarding clearance, that can be a challenge. You may need to space the rotor out a bit to get more clearance since you don't want to go to the trouble of wider triple trees. To make a Grimeca fit and center the wheel in the forks I added 0.83" to the width of stock 750 triples. It can be done and is very worth doing, but will take some work. I have an iron rotor and single Grimeca on my race bike, and while 2 calipers would be even better, one is plenty. If it works for racing, it will be fine for the street.

[algophobe]

Your bike looks great! Awesome color combo!

Engine sounds great!  Congrats on excellent work.  Not many get that much right the first time.

thanks for the complements. I'm definitely hooked!

[algophobe]

I would get moving on upgrading the caliper to something period, like Grimeca or AP Racing. They are phenomenal brakes and can be adapted to your current forks.

I was think about an upgrade, but wanted to ride it a while as is. I initially wanted to keep it retro.  But I have a feeling that I would upgrade the whole front end after a while. who knows... It might end up like Café Racer Fan's 9 lives bike. no offense.

btw. I'm looking at the Grimeca, who's the vendor. can't seem to get much listings of google.

No offense taken.  I think that the AP calipers might be better than the Gold Wing calipers I used on the Nine Lives bike, but on that bike I transplanted an entire Gold Wing front end.  The AP Racing calipers might give you some clearance issues to the spokes and that's why I didn't use them on my 750 (why I ended up doing the Goldwing front swap).  Another, less period correct solution is transplanting an older R6 front.  Several members have done this including (most recently) Dave Barbier; FunJimmy and Oette also did this swap.  It's a conventional (NOT upside-down) fork so it does not stick out to the eye (and his not nearly as heavy as the Goldwing front), but the brakes and forks are a huge step forward.

I looked at Andover's website, doesn't seem like they carry anything except OEM Norton calipers. It has been six years since. However have you known of anyone who's swapped stock calipers for AP's and resolution for the clearance issues?

Gotta search part numbers. Their site is horrible.

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-details/18254

This is a pretty decent price and is about $219 as of today. Shipping will be a bit nuts, but I get things in about 3 days from the UK here in Michigan.

Regarding clearance, that can be a challenge. You may need to space the rotor out a bit to get more clearance since you don't want to go to the trouble of wider triple trees. To make a Grimeca fit and center the wheel in the forks I added 0.83" to the width of stock 750 triples. It can be done and is very worth doing, but will take some work. I have an iron rotor and single Grimeca on my race bike, and while 2 calipers would be even better, one is plenty. If it works for racing, it will be fine for the street.

I have to read thru your build thread on that race bike and do much research before I jump down that rabbit hole.

[algophobe]

well the celebration didn't last long before the gremlins creep in. I put in about 16 miles over 2 days up in the mountains near my house. she ran fine, but you can hear her struggle in higher altitudes likely from the engine and carbs finding richer conditions. however I tried to take her out this morning after about 5 minutes of warming her up. got her about 3 blocks up and the engine dies. I managed to get her home having to rev the engine higher to provide enough umph! to get her back.

it sounds like 2 cyclinders aren't firing.. i hooked up the timing gun to check if i'm having the same issues as before with cylinder 2 and 3 not firing and yes this was the case... 2/3 does fire but very erratic.

if you recall, i had issues prior with the 2/3 plugs fouling out. a member recommended running hotter plugs D7EAs and it fixed the problem immediately.

I took out the plugs to inspect them. all 4 are black as expected, but 2/3 is only slightly wetter. I dropped a cheap harbor freight camera down the hole for a quick look and things seem to be fine. can't inspect the valves however unless I borrow my buddies' medical camera. I cleaned all the spark plug contacts and reinstall them, except I use a brand new plug as control for my experiment on cylinder 2 and fired her up. now no signals are read from 2 and 3 at all.

any suggestions?

should i just chuck this PAMCO out the door?

[calj737]

Swap the leads from the Pamco to the other coil to see if the problem follows the coil. You’ll need to swap the plug wires too.

[algophobe]

Swap the leads from the Pamco to the other coil to see if the problem follows the coil. You’ll need to swap the plug wires too.

will certainly try that. hopefully its something simple like a loose contact.

[754]

Over on vintage Flattrack .org.. I think that's the name.
 Kosman offered new AP type calipers , not marked AP. . For about 135.00 US without pads..

[algophobe]

Over on vintage Flattrack .org.. I think that's the name.
 Kosman offered new AP type calipers , not marked AP. . For about 135.00 US without pads..

have you heard how they perform? I'm assuming you would use AP brake pads, also if its a knock off of AP, probably has the same clearance issues. but I guess at that price I can try it out.