When deciding whether or not to pull and restore an engine, what are the things you'd typically look for other than compression? If compression is good, is it worth pulling the whole thing?
I've had a 78 CB750K for a few years now, and it runs pretty well. I've long had cafe plans for it, but have always lived in a city apartment and have no place to work on it properly. I ride in fear that some old part is going to break and that'll be it. I've done basic maintenance, but not enough to feel super safe.
Well, I just bought my first house and I have a whole bay to devote to motorcycle projects. I'm thrilled, and have been spending more time making tool wish lists and dreaming about mods as our closing date approaches than thinking about the move itself.
Regardless, I want to pull everything apart and restore / replace what needs replacing. I'm still a relative amateur — I've pulled and rebuilt carbs about 7 times on a previous bike (the first 5 times were me learning the hard way that there's no such thing as a shortcut when it comes to old motorcycles), replaced valve shims, etc. Pulling the engine kind of scares me a bit, but a big goal is to KNOW that my bike is solid all the way through. I also want to clean and polish everything up, get rid of the pitting, etc. Half my motivation is aesthetics. Engine's got < 15k miles, but it spent a lot of time sitting (obviously). I'm definitely doing a full restore on all the non-engine parts, going to learn to do wiring etc, but want some advice on whether or not I should commit to going all the way and stripping it down to the frame, or if that's overkill for a bike that doesn't *seem* to have any engine problems.
