Topic: ‘71 CB750 – Road to the Handbuilt Show

[the general]

Post 1: Introduction

I was not supposed to buy another motorcycle, it was clearly communicated by my now fiancé... ”Do Not Buy ANOTHER motorcycle.” So naturally, I bought it. This journey was not intended to lead where it has, but due to my love of motorcycles and the overzealous intrigue in artesian craftsmanship, along with the help of a good friend, we have fully transformed this vintage roadster.

Mid 2017 after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, there were a ton of cars, homes and valuables that had been flooded and a lot of folks needed some quick cash to fix their homes. I had just purchased a 2006 Ducati Super Sport 1000DS to do a complete modern café racer build… but knowing this was going to be a 2yr plus build, I start surfing the web for something cheap to cruise around town in the interim.

I set my sights on a CB given what I thought was an easy to work on bike with plenty of aftermarket parts. I figured I could do a little work myself to get it to the point that it looked cool but still under 5k. I have a good friend and rockstar tech/craftsman that offered to go see any bikes I wanted to… again, I didn’t listen. I got a bug and one Friday I road down to South Houston with cash burning a hole in my pocket and struck a quick deal on a pretty reasonable price on this one owner 1971 CB750. It had been this guy’s grandfather in California and he had been using it to commute to central Houston, it only had 9k miles.

A lot of items were for sale after the Hurricane and things were moving quick. It was hard to tell if the thing had been flooded, but it didn’t seem like it. I had ridden bikes in the past but never absorbed the full understanding or what to look for when buying something this old.

I rode the bike down the block and in all the excitement I told the guy I’ll take it, the money in my pocket had clearly gotten too hot for me to hold onto any longer.  I think the guy wanted some fast cash and I was looking for a deal, so I think I got a steal and he got the cash he wanted, we agreed to $2,500. I actually popped open the seat and low and behold the original CA title is in the tool bag, pretty cool find. 

In all excitement, I rode the bike up to my buddy/tech’s shop to show off what a good deal I just struck.  After 10 mins of him walking around the bike and asking me “so why didn’t you ask me to go with you to check it out” I replied “ah, I thought it would be okay and I didn’t want to bug you.”

His response back was the hilarity of the whole ordeal, “Nick, I have told you before, buy something nicer, better kept up and you won’t have to throw a ton of money into it.” Then he proceeds to tell me the error of my way.

Before I list off everything that I missed, I will say I have learned a lot and do not think that I would buy another bike that did not have a front brake. The master cylinder and the lever were in a box the seller gave me after I gave the guy the money.  I had ridden bikes in the past but realized later I was riding wrong all these years by not utilizing the front break, so not noticing at the time was on me. The bike was also sporting some really interesting stuff like a dual chain, ridged/lipped wheels and almost bald tires. Feeling like a bozo on missing all of that, I was still excited and set that I could now turn some wrenches and transform this old beauty. 

Having to explain why I “had” to purchased a second motorcycle to my lady, I sent her the above picture saying “oops” to ease the brunt of the punishment I was about to receive.

Before / After :

[Shtonecb500]

can i get a front shot of that rapid fire exhaust?

[the general]

Post 2: This will be fun and quick

Once I got home, I had the weekend so I figured I would tinker with the bike to see what I really had. 

I grew up turning wrenches with my Pops but like I mentioned earlier, I didn’t have a great grasp of the ins and outs of mechanics. I don’t know how to weld, I can only do minor electrical work and I really prefer not to look at instructions. Most of you can imagine where this is heading…

After surfing the web and saying to myself “Nick, you’ve got this” I decided to tear down the bike move forward, ready to make this a low budget modern café racer. Boy did I have my work cut out for me. 

Taking parts off, super easy – you just chuck everything.

I decided I was going to put a modern front end, new wheels/tires and replace the double chain while trying to avoid spending more than 5k on the bike.  At least that was the plan that I highlighted to my fiancé.

Removing the front end was easy; no front brake = easy. Rear tire and chain, also not bad.

Then I started to realize that the plan I had may not have been as straight forward as I imagined.  I know I was feeling ambitious, but was a little more time and money going to hurt anyone?  Things were old on this bike; the dang thing was from 1971. I started looking at the internals and thinking, what in the heck…

Next to go was the rear suspension, the seat, the oil pan, the exhaust the rear fender. Everything that was there, gone.  I had ridden the thing once (or twice, to my buddy’s shop… and back home). And now I had this (see below) - bare bones

Stripping it down was a blast – I thought, “Wow, that didn’t take long at all.”

My fiancé is confused now… “Didn’t you buy that to ride while the other one was getting built?” 

I replied, “Oh yeah, but I am just going to do a couple things to this one. No biggie.”

Meanwhile, the skeleton of a bike sits in my garage. Now I need parts. What parts.
With the help of my tech and some internet searches, I was able to come up with “The List” (well… the first list). Front end, wheels, tires, chain, exhaust, seat, oil pan, rear swing arm. At this point, I’m still thinking that this will all be pretty simple as well.

I figured this would be done in a month and I’ll be cruisin’ before it gets “cold” in Houston.

Again, no intention other than to have this slightly modified bike. The internet is a dangerous place. I found some parts but not just any parts, really cool stuff. I started to imagine what this bad boy could really be.

First Orders:
Front Wheel assembly    $      970.00
Front End (GSXR forks, brakes)    $      600.00
Exhaust    $      571.00
Top triple tree with motoscope Mini    $      519.00
Oil Tank    $      355.00
Rear Hoop    $      340.00
Rear rim    $      327.00
Additional rear Rim    $      327.00
Lower Triple Tree    $      300.00
Rear shock absorbers    $      280.00
Frame conversion stem    $      190.00
Front Tire    $      188.00
Back Tire    $      188.00
Rear sets    $      178.00
Swing Arm     $        90.00


That was my starter list, but only if I had more foresight…

[the general]

can i get a front shot of that rapid fire exhaust?

I have some shots of it on her coming soon

[754]

 Is it titled as a 71 ?
Looks like a lot of it is newer than that .

[the general]

Is it titled as a 71 ?
Looks like a lot of it is newer than that .

Yeah its titled as a '71, I wish I had a picture of the original CA title but at the time of tilting it was titling 2 other bikes as well and spaced on it. My tech thinks at some point there may have been an engine swap but not 100% sure.

[the general]

Post 3:  This will still be fun but not quick/how far can will I take this

I know you are thinking, there were some funny things with the first list. For example, why did this guy buy two rear rims? Why is he buying a GSXR front end? Why a rear hoop when he can’t weld?

At this point I’m ~$7,800 into the bike, $2,500 on the bike itself and just rang up a nice order of $5,400 for parts (ok, I’m still in the ball park, I can make this work without my girl putting a pillow over my face in my sleep).

Now I am thinking about doing some modern twists like the GSXR front end. The website made it sound like it was doable, and I was confident.  I thought the rear hoop would be an awesome touch with the LED in-lay, but I still hadn’t figured out how to cut the frame and then weld the hoop. I had my buddy that was building me the Ducati and thought I could get him to do it once I got the wheels on it and oil pan installed. (The thought was I would just ride it to him.)

The following week I was patiently waiting for the wheels to come in, pumped to get them on and then get a rolling bike. Lo and behold, no one told me that wheels don’t come laced. I think this was the first time I realized that I may be in over my head.

I had the new swing arm on, new rear suspension and the front end all installed, but those wheels had me.  I didn’t know enough, so I enlisted some more qualified help - my buddy Trever Scales at Scales Studio. The dude is Leonardo da Vinci reincarnated. Once I realized the dollar commitment and shear technical ability that this project was going to take, I wanted someone that could do it right and also make it look beautiful. The guy is an artist and no question one of the best when it comes to custom fabrication and paint.

[754]

At minimum the head and front end and tank are off later 750.
If you spend an evening reading on here, you will be ready to try lacing a wheel..
Maybe not truing, but lacing it up close to true is half the battle. .

You want to go in the Handbuilt show, let's hand build it..

[the general]

At minimum the head and front end and tank are off later 750.
If you spend an evening reading on here, you will be ready to try lacing a wheel..
Maybe not truing, but lacing it up close to true is half the battle. .

You want to go in the Handbuilt show, let's hand build it..

thats fair, its a good medium to absorb a lot of information. I didnt want to compromise on safety so one of the main reasons I outsourced. 

We will be there at Handbulit, very excited.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I don't mean to offend you, but since you've invested a few coins in the modern inverted GSXR front end, why in the world would you mount Firestone tires with ABSOLUTELY NO EDGE GRIP (molded like squares)  I'm not sure what the fascination is with Firestones, other than ON A CAR where you do not use the edge of the tire to corner.  The rest of your aesthetic is geared toward a restomod -- indicating a penchant for modern performance handling/braking.  Why hamstring ALL of your work with those tires?  Firestones are for hipsters who don't ride much except to photograph their bikes for Instagram.

Ok. End of rant.  The rest of the bike looks nice.

[Bankerdanny]

The aluminum rims on the bike when you got it are not stock on the 750K. They are probably from a 750 automatic, although the front could be from a 75-77 GL1000. I 2nd SOHC4 Café on the tires. I suppose for show purposes they are fine, but if the bike supposed to be a regular rider put decent tires on it.

[the general]

I don't mean to offend you, but since you've invested a few coins in the modern inverted GSXR front end, why in the world would you mount Firestone tires with ABSOLUTELY NO EDGE GRIP (molded like squares)  I'm not sure what the fascination is with Firestones, other than ON A CAR where you do not use the edge of the tire to corner.  The rest of your aesthetic is geared toward a restomod -- indicating a penchant for modern performance handling/braking.  Why hamstring ALL of your work with those tires?  Firestones are for hipsters who don't ride much except to photograph their bikes for Instagram.

Ok. End of rant.  The rest of the bike looks nice.

i hear you, which tires would you recommend otherwise? i still want to go with something to maintains a similar look but would be nice for something with a ridge line.

[the general]

Post 4: Down the rabbit hole we go

3 months into the build that I thought I could do myself, I was getting razzed by my fiancé, and I also enlisted Trever’s help to finish the build.  He came over to my garage and we hoisted the skeleton of a bike and boxes of parts into his truck, waving them goodbye as he drove off.

Knowing now that I have two projects with Trever (the Ducati 1000ds and now the Honda) I waited a couple weeks to bother him. As we made our way into 2018, he texted me to come up to the shop to take a look now that he had the rims laced.

I saw some cool tires on the internet and bought them, but Trever HATED the Firestone tires I picked out.  He told me after I bought them that they didn’t run well, were super bumpy, and overall it wasn’t a great tire. I was swayed by the internet and “the look” in which I thought I was going for. This was where I had to buy another rear rim. 

When speaking with the tire place on the phone, they said I should run the same size front and back, but Trever convinced me that we needed a wider rear tire and rim.  The shop didn’t take back a drilled one and I had to order a second wider one. 

I think I took a bath on that rim, selling it on Ebay for 1/3 the price I paid (brand new, unused rim, no secondary market). Trever was right, the wider one looked a lot better now.

We sat the tires and exhaust next to her, mocking up to get a look of how it will all turn out. He put a nice polish on the rear hub while she was waiting her time until it could get a spot on the chopping block. Once on the block, she did sit for a while as we turned our attention back to the Ducati, but as time went on, little updates were happening.

The paint on the frame was not in the best shape. There had been some spots where it looked like there had been work done, but at the time we were not thinking show paint. At least I wasn’t, but I also hadn’t thought about having to weld the new hoop on yet.

I think all along I knew in the back of my head that it was going to get painted, I just didn’t want to think about what the end dollar result was going to be. After all, the tank looked decent for being 48 years old.

On the bright side, we had a rolling bike.

We had gotten to the point where the wheels were laced, suspension is installed, front assembly is on (brake and calipers), headlight on as well. All I could think was “Ok, let’s cut that ugly stock rear frame. Dang thing is so silly looking.”

And just like that, the cut was made! 

You can finally start to see what she is transferring into. At this time, I am still committed to keeping this a sub 12k project.  I really didn’t want to put any more money into it as I had just bought another bike (the only one that was running at this time with the Ducati DS and Honda both at Trever’s). So again, I needed something to ride in the interim.  I purchase a 2003 Ducati 999 with the notion I wanted to start going to the track to improve my riding. 

This is also a time where the attention switched back to the Ducati at Trever’s shop.

The two bikes at Trever’s and the 3rd that was purchased to track.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

There are quite a number of good rubber choices out there.  Since you are going "modern" on the wheels and suspension, I think you can go modern on the rubber.

Pirelli Sport Demons
Bridgestone BT45
Avon Road Riders
Continental Classic Attack

[the general]

Post 5: Hiccups and the List Grows

Once we got back to working on the Honda, we started talking about where this could go. Initially I was against spending the money because I wanted the Ducati finished, but as it always does the internet convinced me that I could have a bike as cool as the ones on Bikexif or cooler!

Another reason why I wanted to use Trever was the small things, like how he showed me how I installed the headlight bracket upside down and backwards.

I guess the fact you can turn a wrench doesn’t mean you’re always turning them in the right direction. The other reason is that his attention to detail was incredible, and in the end, things are done right, and of the best quality.

We had some bumps along the way, and I soon found out that not all parts are created equal. For example, the Ebay purchased engine case cover was actually cracked.
 
We later found out that the oil breather hose had been clamped, Trever pointing that out. We also found out that the oil case connectors had been cut. Now I never told Trever that was me, but let me explain. I had purchased this new oil pan and thought I could cut the old connectors to make it work.  I knew that it was probably too short and Trever caught it anyways, but another reason I was glad I had an expert on the job.

Once the vision was fully explained to me, I had some more shopping to do. We were going to take this thing to the next level, still not plaining to paint the tank, but everything else.  We were going to rewire the whole thing, build a rear seat assemble, clean up the engine but nothing crazy.

I present to you, The New List:

Electronic ignition    $      170.00
Stator cover     $      165.00
Coils    $      163.00
Anodizing for front and back rims    $      152.00
Rear Set Brackets    $      133.00
Tappets    $      128.00
Rear wheel spokes    $      125.00
Oil filter cover    $      105.00
Carb rebuild kit    $      104.00
Overhaul Gasket Set    $        95.00
Swing Arm     $        90.00
Brake rotors    $        90.00
Blaze pin turn signals    $        90.00
Wiring Harness     $        85.00
Vintage connectors professional kit ck-2, crimp tool    $        85.00
Chain    $        65.00
Rear cush drive    $        65.00
Carb holder rubbers    $        65.00
Sprockets    $        63.00
Control for turn signals    $        61.00
Regulator/rectifier    $        60.00
Control for throttle/engine kill switch/starter    $        48.00
Rear brake shoes    $        47.00
Brake lever    $        42.00
Engine seal kit    $        42.00
Factory starter cover    $        40.00
Engine bolt set    $        40.00
Shifter    $        38.00
Factory clutch cover    $        37.00
Tubes    $        30.00
Rear Wheel bearing    $        30.00
Rear wheel adjusters    $        28.00
Shortened solenoid    $        28.00
Throttle tube    $        25.00
Pressing Service    $        20.00
Anodizing service (triple tree)    $        20.00
Shortened clutch cable    $        20.00
Carb hardware kit    $        18.00
Oil filter bolt    $        16.00
Outer plug caps    $        16.00
Inner plug caps    $        16.00
J-webster tach drive black off plug    $        15.00
Rear sprocket washer set    $        15.00
Cap Nuts    $        13.00
Spark plug wires    $        13.00
Sprocket nut    $        12.00
Gemi 32-50 hose clamps porsche 12    $        12.00
Oil filter    $          5.00
Screws to install cover    $          3.00
Cover hardware    $          3.00

I’m sure some things are missing, but these are the items I tracked. I remember thinking, what else could we possibly need. It seemed like the list would never end.

[Tews19]

Man you are spending some serious freaking coin. A few of the best benefits here on the forum is the knowledge of how to work on these fine machines and the willingness of members here to sell parts at a fraction of what you are paying for them.

Slow down a bit. The cost of these machines adds up very fast. Welcome to the site and subscribed! If you need any other parts let us know before you go crazy again !

[Bankerdanny]

Am I the only one that can't see photos?

[Tews19]

Am I the only one that can't see photos?

No photos here either Danny

[Kelly E]

Am I the only one that can't see photos?

No, I can't see them either.

[the general]

Am I the only one that can't see photos?

No, I can't see them either.

I will see if I can find another photo sharing site to link them up, I have been using google photos, let me know if you know of a better option.

[mathias2803]

Am I the only one that can't see photos?

No, I can't see them either.

I will see if I can find another photo sharing site to link them up, I have been using google photos, let me know if you know of a better option.

I only seen the first photo so I'm excited about seeing some more

Sent fra min E5823 via Tapatalk

[Bankerdanny]

You can just attach them directly to the post as long as they are less than 4.1MB, which allows for a pretty high resolution photo.

[the general]

Post 6:  Throwing in the towel….just kidding

I had gotten to the point where we were really churning on the Ducati (below) and my focus to the track had really set in.  The attention on the Honda took a back seat for a while.

I was of the mindset toward the end of 2018 that I wanted to commit more time to the track and as such, I wanted some cash to play with. I had put some real $$ into the Honda now, and knew because it wasn’t running/ridable (not that it had any issues) but because it wasn’t wired or put back together, that I was going to take a bath on it.  Trever and I debated what I could get for it and once I came to terms that I probably wasn’t going to get more than 5k out of it and that I would have to wait for the right person to come along, we said F it.  I told him to keep going, hopefully I can make some money back on the back end of it.

Trever working his magic and me getting reeled back in… I knew what he was doing but I was 100% cool with it. The hoop was welded and I was back to being all-in on completing the build.  This time, the Duc took the back seat.

Now we are back on track. Once Trever had my renewed commitment we pressed on, clean up the bulky rear sets.  New exhaust bracket point was welded at this time as well.  He also had to cut off the muffler and rotate it to adjust the angle to allow it to sit correctly on the bike.

Next on the docket was to get the rear tail assembly built.  This involved building a new fender and crafting out of carbon fiber the seat cowl and seat pan. We also had to figure out where to hide the battery and the electronics. 
   
The fender was set to house the battery, rectifier and starter solenoid.
 
Keeping with the minimalistic vibe, Trever crafted and welded a fully custom ignition switch bracket to hide under the fuel tank.

[the general]

Am I the only one that can't see photos?

No, I can't see them either.

I will see if I can find another photo sharing site to link them up, I have been using google photos, let me know if you know of a better option.

I only seen the first photo so I'm excited about seeing some more

Sent fra min E5823 via Tapatalk

had to go the attached route...uploaded now let me know what you think...

[the general]

Post 7: Fine Tuning…Vacuum Bagging and Tear Down

There was quite of bit of back and forth on deciding the shape of the cowl. I am more of the new age, I wanted smaller and sleek while Trever thought it would look proportionally odd with a rider onboard if it was too small. He was using foam to shape and I was using my fiancé’s phone app to morph images (the same app Instagram models use to make their butts look bigger) to try and convince him to make the cowl smaller.

I won a small battle and got him to shave it down a little.
 
I was so anal about not wanting any bubble look to it, and while it took hours to describe/debate, I think Trever did a good job of eliminating the bubbly aspect and shaving it down just enough to make us both happy.
 
We had gotten to the point where we had to strip the bike down, as all the fabrication was complete. I got to come in on a Saturday and help with stripping the paint off the frame, and then allowed the sand blaster to finish the work my elbow grease couldn’t.
   
Meanwhile, Trever keeping with the modern flare on vintage products and layering carbon for the super lightweight front fender.  Vacuum bagging it to pull all the air bubbles out of it.   
 
Then came a little engine cleaning…