Topic: Alan's CB750 K8

[Alan F.]

UPS finally delivered my second cam chain roller pin rubber early this afternoon. I guess I'm out of excuses now!

[Desert-SOHC]

UPS finally delivered my second cam chain roller pin rubber early this afternoon. I guess I'm out of excuses now!

HAHAHA...it's been 103* here, I need motivation.

[Davez134]

UPS finally delivered my second cam chain roller pin rubber early this afternoon. I guess I'm out of excuses now!

HAHAHA...it's been 103* here, I need motivation.

103? Amateur, I'm looking at 109 tomorrow! haha

[Alan F.]

Maybe it's not motivation you need, maybe some special gear to give you an edge?
Check this stuff out:

https://www.mycoolingstore.com/

[Desert-SOHC]

Maybe it's not motivation you need, maybe some special gear to give you an edge?
Check this stuff out:

https://www.mycoolingstore.com/

I have one of those neck towels and a "wet" vest for riding with the mesh jacket in the desert....I just HATE SUMMER here....and that I don't have a garage.  I've lived in the desert for a long time now, and 9 months out of the year the weather's great, but I just ain't no good once it passes 95 or so.

[Alan F.]

It's been threatening rain the whole weekend and has today too. I'm on call but so far nothing scheduled so I set up under the covered porch and measured the ring gaps. Most were .014" but a few went as high as .017

I've got 3-piece oil rings and the cylinders are all cross-hatched very nicely.

Pistons are dirty with carbon on their tops and there is some carbon in the ring grooves too. I'm going to have to research some good ways to clean them. I've read that I should stay away from the wire wheel, is that true?

[Desert-SOHC]

It's been threatening rain the whole weekend and has today too. I'm on call but so far nothing scheduled so I set up under the covered porch and measured the ring gaps. Most were .014" but a few went as high as .017

I've got 3-piece oil rings and the cylinders are all cross-hatched very nicely.

Pistons are dirty with carbon on their tops and there is some carbon in the ring grooves too. I'm going to have to research some good ways to clean them. I've read that I should stay away from the wire wheel, is that true?

WD40 and a nylon brush does a pretty good job on carbon build-up.

[Marks78]

It's been threatening rain the whole weekend and has today too. I'm on call but so far nothing scheduled so I set up under the covered porch and measured the ring gaps. Most were .014" but a few went as high as .017

I've got 3-piece oil rings and the cylinders are all cross-hatched very nicely.

Pistons are dirty with carbon on their tops and there is some carbon in the ring grooves too. I'm going to have to research some good ways to clean them. I've read that I should stay away from the wire wheel, is that true?

WD40 and a nylon brush does a pretty good job on carbon build-up.

I've had good success using a piece of an old broken ring as a scraper.  Perfect fit and free.

[Alan F.]

Thanks Desert-SOHC and Marks78, I'll give those a shot. I'll probably soak the pistons for a while before scrubbing and scraping. Then I'll chase out all of the oil holes and chamfer the edges of the oil holes under the wrist pin bosses (per the HM book) I'm planning to clean out these oil holes with a torch tip cleaning file set I picked up on ebay a few years ago for under a dollar.

[Desert-SOHC]

Also.....you can scrape with a razor blade, if careful.

[Alan F.]

Took a drive out to Vermont and picked up a correct tank and correct seat from 74cb750, it's a little dark for pictures now but I'll try to get some tomorrow.

[Alan F.]

Tank and seat pics:

(I'm thankful to have remembered to remove the seat lock before plopping the seat on there and locking it on, not sure if I have a key or not but now i have the key number)

[Desert-SOHC]

I love the look of the K7/K8, but there's just so much air between the tire and fender. 

[Alan F.]

I was noticing that too, I suppose using an 18" rear wheel will help that? (Was hoping it was just the unsprung suspension causing that but I guess not huh?

[Desert-SOHC]

And that's an early fender adapted...the K7/K8 fender is 2" longer.  I put 11.5" shocks on it but the spring was to light for that weight.  I was going to have a pair of 12" made for it but someone offered me stupid money for it.  This is it with the shorter shocks...rode better high speed too.

[Alan F.]

It's been a while, time for an update. I've made a few decisions.

1. I'll be going with round top carbs, I've got 2 sets, one is clean and may only need a quick going through to be ready to run.

2. I've picked up a set of 750A rims to lace up, and I've bought a set of Shinko 230 tires. Just need to remove the anodize from the rims, polish and lace to some polished hubs, new bearings, tubes and rim strips and they'll be ready to roll.

[Alan F.]

Sold a few things on eBay over the weekend and just bought front and rear spoke sets for 76-77 CB750A from eBay seller: Vintagecb750online in Ontario.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-CB750A-1976-77-Hondamatic-Full-Rear-Wheel-Spoke-Set/292270931377?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D2a537ccde3794cd89ad42a0ff24d58cb%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D292270931377%26itm%3D292270931377%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ad62d6da2-9655-11eb-8743-fef5a1835cb8%7Cparentrq%3Aa3efaf161780ab8f9ef6a23cfff5d9c2%7Ciid%3A1

[Alan F.]

I received my CB750A front and rear spoke sets from eBay seller: Vintagecb750online, they arrived Wednesday with a return address from Parts N More in Stratford Ontario. I find them from PartsNMore for (US Dollars) $40/set, their international shipping to my door in Mass. estimates at $9.95 which totals at $90.95

From EBay with sales tax and PayPal fees the 2 sets totaled $104.23

Now to find some oven cleaner to get the anodize off of the 2 sets of CB750A/GL1100 wheels and choose which will go on the K8.

[Alan F.]

Ok, 5 stores later and no damn oven cleaner. It's either been discontinued, made illegal, gone out of... or into limited production, just not been replenished to the shelves, or some other thing.

Today I took a look at my 2 sets of 750A wheels, one set is actually in good enough condition that I think I'll leave the clear anodize on and just clean them up. Photos another day.

[jgger]

Alan try Home Depot or lowes.  The last can I got as from a grocery store though. I use it to clean pitch off of saw blades.

[Alan F.]

I tried a local Home Depot and they said they haven't seen any this year. Next time I'm on the road I'll try a different location and a Lowe's too. I'm thinking about checking with some of the older independent hardware stores, there are still a few in town here.

[Alan F.]

Yesterday I found my best deal on AllBalls brand wheel bearing kits front and rear.
Today after doing quite a bit of reading, wondering and worrying, I pulled the trigger on a set of IRC brand standard inner tubes with TR4 stems. There sure are a lot of opinions around that seem to bear consideration when you've never bought tubes before. But when it comes down to it you can cheap out and spend $30 on the low end or go whole hog into a set of heavy-duty Super thick tubes which some swear by and others think are overkill. I'll have my tires mounted by a local moto-business southern New Hampshire that has been around for a decade and installs several hundred motorcycle tires each year.

[Stev-o]

I pulled the trigger on a set of IRC brand standard inner tubes with TR4 stems. There sure are a lot of opinions around that seem to bear consideration when you've never bought tubes before.

Hey Alan...I like IRC tires as a budget friendly tire on a non-high performance bike. I have them on my 550F and just bought a set for my Bomber [not a lot of choices for the stock tire size].

Just bought a tube for my Kawasaki H1 and decided to go with a heavy duty one, first time I remember seeing an Avon tube and it was only 20 bucks...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Avon-Motorcycle-Inner-Tube-Heavy-Duty-3-50-4-00-18-TR-4/393100686561

I already have the Dunlop Gold Seal tire for it.

[Alan F.]

Thanks Stev-o. I had IRC Durotours on tube type Comstars on my last bike a Honda CM400C twin. I thought they handled very well and were easy to trust. I suppose my threshold for a good handling bike is pretty low? 
I agonized over the tube purchase for almost a week not wanting to overbuy and keep costs manageable, after reading a few accounts here and there about punctures, and switching to HD and UHD tubes for street use with sealants.... I guess my head was spinning with indecision. Then I read some posts from SOHC4 from back in 2006 that talked about buying standard tubes and putting on some miles, developing your own opinion and going from there. That struck a chord with me and I'm proceeding along those lines.

I notice lots of guys slightly my senior buying up the cool bikes and actually getting them out riding and enjoying them like you are. I like that trend, they weren't meant to be paperweights or commodities. I'm not sure if that's down to the person, to deep pockets and desire, or if it's become so common because of the times we're in, in relation to clean-air legislation and the simple idea that gasoline just won't always be sold and the times will be changing again.
I'm hoping for a few more good riding seasons for all of us myself.

[Alan F.]

Was having a bad day yesterday so I picked up a cheap 630 88L o-ring chain on ebay, gold color for the k8. The total was $28 and change. I won't beat myself up over running it on the sprockets I've got.

It didn't improve my day any but it's one more part off my list.