Topic: 70, 72, 74, 75, 77, 78 CB750K Cafe

[jrrobertsjr]

After a little over a year, I am running out of things left on the 'To Do' list.

I still need some fluid in the front caliper and then it is out on the road for a shakedown cruise.

Can others that have done rebuilds give me ideas of things I might want to keep a close eye on during and after the first short rides?

This is my first CB and my first rebuild of anything. Well, I did take an alarm clock apart once and put it back together that didn't work out so good.

Thanks for the advice in advance.

Johnny

[Rocking-M]

Looks reeeeaaal nice! Where did you get that tank decal?

[Rhonda750F]

I would also like to say nice job, looks clean.
Can't stress to check the fluids enough.  After your shakedown check to see if any nuts or bolts got loose.  My licence bracket almost came off my first run.  Let us know how it goes.
Peace.

[ProTeal55]

That is a killer bike you built there - u should be proud !
I like the white tank, yet why no white sidecovers ?

[slarty-bart-farst]

That is one cool lookin cafe racer! I am just putting together an 836 with fireblade front end, what is that rear tyre you have on the bike? It looks fatter than normal.
Things to look out for on shakedown run:-
Keep an eye on the oil pressure light, I run a gauge on the engine on my KO
Cam chain rattle, sometimes after a rebuild chain settles into position and needs retensioning
Oil leaks from tank hoses
Rattles from down below when hot and on tickover are often primary chains even when new, so just put 500 miles on then rebalance carbs and noises nearly go!
Brakes dragging, try a run without using them then feel if the drum/disc is hot, if it is they are dragging.
Either run an in line filter for 1000 miles or Flip off the float bowels every 500 up to 1500 miles to get rid of any muck from tank.


Graham

[jrrobertsjr]

Thanks for the comments. It was a blast to build. My wife said she didn't mind so much cause it kept me from getting into trouble with other things. She can keep an eye on me in the garage.

White sidecovers were definitely considered and still are. I have plenty of paint left. It always had white sidecovers in my minds eye but when I put the tank on, I kinda liked the balance.
I still may do it soon .

The oil gauge is on the wish list. I may just get over to a supply place in Houston and pick up the parts. My bro, KGhost, made an adapter for me to mount it so the hard part is done.

The engine is the '78 part of the equation and had about 17,000 miles on it. I never got into it further than new gaskets under the polished covers. Hopefully it will hold up for a time while I get started on the next one.  The thing purrs nicely but I will listen carefully for any changes. The fluids will be monitored very closely.

The tire is pretty fat. It is a BatteAxe that is mounted on alloy rims from a '76 CB750A. I found that the CB750A rims did take a wider tire than stock. Beware-If you find a set of these, makes sure you grab the swingarm with them. The swingarm is wider also and makes thing so much easier when putting these on the bike. I used a needle bearing setup on the swingarm and I am really looking forward to seeing how this works out.

The tank has just been lined prior to painting so no crud is in there but I still think filters are a good idea. I plan on picking up one this weekend.

The decals are from Carpy. He has always been so cool. I can't even imagine how hard this guy must work everyday to turn out the works of art he does. Especially considering it took me a year to do mine. He was the inspiration for this project. If I hadn't stumbled across his site, this bike would still be sitting behind a shed under a rotted tarp where it sat for 16 years.  I really appreciate his motivation and occasional emails making sure I was doing OK with the project.

There are a lot of people on this forum  who have helped me.. Like I said, this was my first bike to rebuild and I would have given up long ago without guidance from this site.

Many thanks and I will let you know how things go.

[Daves_76_SS]

Looks fantastic!  Awesome job!!

[kghost]

The tank came out awesome.!!!!

[jalfonso]

That's a really nice bike Johnny.  Definitely something to be proud of.

[matchanu]

Keep an eye out for leaks(oil on the rear tire is BAAAAD),

Ahh BS, it keeps your rear tire from dry rotting.


 

[jrrobertsjr]

Just a quick post and I will let this thread die.

The is me on the left and Kghost on the right halfway through the shakedown cruise after the rain stopped on Saturday morning.

We took some nice twisty roads out to San Felipe State Park about 45 miles from the house.

This was taken after a quick adjustment to the #3 float bowl. It feels pretty cool to see a problem and know what to do cause you put those 32 year old carbs together from a bucket of parts.

Can't say enough good things about KGhost. The man knows his stuff. Keep him stocked up on Guinness and he can work on these things for hours on end.

We also went from 120 jets to 130s after this ride. It may go up one more size. The bike overall did very well. I am going to rebuild the master cylinder to stop a slow drip from behind the lever. Other than those minor things, it is very responsive and a pleasure to ride. This is the first ride on a CB750 ever for me and the first ride on a bike that I rebuilt.

You don't get good memories like this everyday.

[Kevin400F]

Hey Johnny, was the twisty road you took FM1458 (aka "Racer Road") between Pattison and San Felipe?  That's a nice stretch of pavement.   Not sure which direction you are from the park, but I'm about 65 miles from the city of San Felipe.  One of these days, we oughta get some of the local SOHC/4 enthusiasts together for a ride out that direction.

Kevin

[jrrobertsjr]

You nailed it, Kevin.

Racer's Road. I live up in Cypress so this is a nice ride for me.

Cypress would be east-north-east of San Felipe.

Give me a shout and we can arrange some rides.

Johnny

[ProTeal55]

Bike looks great, love the white tank...
Just a thought, but maybe you could "bob" the rear fender to give the bike alittle tighter look (or ditch it all together)..

[dagersh]

Johnny,

Excellent work, that bike looks fantastic.  What a pleasure it must be to know you built it yourself.  Keep it up!

BTW,

What rear light are you running on it  - it looks killer - and what modifications did you need to do to fit it?

Thanks,

Gersh

[jrrobertsjr]

Thanks dagersh.

I had another PM about that tail light. I will take some more pics of it if you want it.

It is called a Lucas Style Tail Light and I think this one is a NOS BSA part.

I asked another guy and he said it was a K&L tail light.

I will be glad to make a call to the shop where I got it to get more info if you need me to. It was a brit bike shop. I knew what I wanted cause I saw it sitting there when I was getting parts for my Triumph.

Johnny

[seaweb11]

I would be interested in knowing as well.

[andy750]

Hey Johnny,
Great pic of you and KG - always good to see riders on their bikes! Sounded like a good days ride and both bikes looking great!

cheers
Andy

[jrrobertsjr]

Dang, guys. I would have worked harder to get it finished earlier if I had know I was going to get this kind of response.

My wife asked me why I set up a computer in the garage. I told her that I was tired of having to go upstairs every time I needed to check fo answers from this site.

Its good to be married to a women that understands what SOHC stands for.

Anyway, for those with an interest in the tail light, I found this.

Correction:

Call Les over at Ton Up Specials

Les Means

http://www.tonupspecials.com
713-305-0335

He is very Brit Bike oriented but he can get the parts and knows the tail light.

He is starting up his own business and could use the help.

Here is a crummy pic. I will send it to Les as well so he know what ya'll are talking about.

[jrrobertsjr]

You will have to excuse the last registered Nov. 91 tags.

I said it ran great. I never said it was legal.

[ProTeal55]

I said it ran great. I never said it was legal.

That tail lite looks to be the same as DME has on his black Cafe...

[justinmcgiver]

I just bought a brand new "Lucas Style" tail light that looks like JR's from Flyincycle.com here http://www.flyncycle.com/acatalog/universal_rear_tail_lights.html

[DME]

I said it ran great. I never said it was legal.

That tail lite looks to be the same as DME has on his black Cafe...

Yep, it´s the same though I bought mine without fenderbracket and licence plate bracket as i wanted to make my own.
They can be found at pretty much any parts shop at really low prices.
Just ask for a Lucas-style taillight.
They come in two versions though, early and later style.
The early style is slightly smaller than the later style used by jrrobertsjr and me.

Good job on the bike!
The seat is a top effort, really flows with the rest of the bike 
Stock seatbase, I suppose?

Cheers
Dan

[jc750cafe]

where did you get your cafe seat?  I just bought a 1978 cb750k and would like to get a seat similar to that one.

[GammaFlat]

Really sharp looking bike! 

It appears to be a K6 or earlier frame.  Your engine is a '77.  What did you do chain-wise and do you have any alignment issues (the K7 engine pushes the sprocket outward 10mm)?  I'm in a similar situation and I'm wondering if you addressed this issue or are not worried about it.