Topic: Terry's new new redneck K0 "Special"..........

[Thunder]

Sigh... Terry... I got no words man. You make it look so easy.
Me on the other hand I measure...read... Measure some more..reread and then break it

[Terry in Australia]

Sigh... Terry... I got no words man. You make it look so easy.
Me on the other hand I measure...read... Measure some more..reread and then break it

Ha ha, thanks Thor, I was only talking to one of my old biker mates two nights ago and he said something similar, so I told him that between him, his brother and my cuz, those three guys were my mentors who taught me most of what I know today, watching them. This site has been a great help as well, lots of knowledgeable guys here too, you just need to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff.

[grcamna2]

Terry,I think you mentioned the cylinder head you have there(very early K0)is a 'keyhole' style,would that be referring to the shape of the access for plugs 1 & 4 ?

[Terry in Australia]

Terry,I think you mentioned the cylinder head you have there(very early K0)is a 'keyhole' style,would that be referring to the shape of the access for plugs 1 & 4 ?

G'Day Bill, the casting mark circled (as expected I'm as drunk as a skunk as I type this)  is the reason it's called a "Keyhole" head. I believe it's the first one they made, according to this link: http://cb750sandcastonly.com/support09.htm

K0 headjob Thurs 2 Nov 2020 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[grcamna2]

Ok,it's got one on either side.

[Terry in Australia]

Well I had a great day today. Spotty has moved into his house just up the road from me, and offered me some space in his garage to park my excess motorcycles. The first one I needed to take over was his old K7 as it's been sitting on my trailer (under a cover, I'm not a monster.....) for a year or so. Sadly the 9 ply top on my Chinese trailer hasn't stood up well to the weather, and as we were unloading it at Spotty's place, the floor collapsed under the front wheel. Luckily we got it off in one piece, and it's now enjoying the luxury of indoor storage.

CL90 K0 Sat 14 Nov 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

We then hopped in his "ute" (small pickup) to collect the CL90 from a farm around 100 miles up the road. I'd bought it a couple of months ago, but due to the lockdown's "Ring of Steel" we weren't allowed to drive into the country to pick it up. Luckily Steve, the seller is a top bloke, and he kept it safe until we were able to collect it today. We took it straight to Spotty's place, (because I think I forgot to tell the wife that I'd bought another bike....)     

CL90 K0 Sat 14 Nov 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I stopped on the way home to fill my car with diesel for the first time since March, and drove over to the carwash to give it a decent bath while I was at it. When I got home I got stuck into the K0 engine, and am happy to report that it only needs a cam cover gasket and an alternator gasket, and it's done. I'll save the pics for tomorrow when I go and see my mate Fred, who I'm always horse trading CB750 parts with, who has the gaskets for me, a set of new clutch plates for my F2, a set of K2 crankcases that I'll transfer the guts out of the engine with the blown gearbox (with some better gears) in my bitsa, so I'll have 3 CB750's up and running this summer. More tomorrow.

CL90 K0 Sat 14 Nov 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

[grcamna2]

That's a lot more space in your shop Terry:is that really Your shop ? Spotty certainly is a great neighbor,I'm glad he worked-out a space for your excellent bikes. 
When you say "9 ply top on my Chinese trailer" it gets me to ask '9 plys of what' ?? Lol  That "9 ply" must be Very aged.
 I purchased a used 4x8' Harbor Freight trailer up in Michigan at a mobile home trailer park,an old one that was very rusty:the owner used it to haul a Ski Doo MX snowmobile(the mobile home park was forcing him to get rid of it and I got the broken Ski Doo MX And the trailer for $100) and he had purchased the trailer in a box years ago,then he assembled it and installed a standard 1/2" piece of plywood that was very aged,but still somewhat decent.I removed that dried-out wood and installed a piece of standard 1/4" thin stuff and it did the job temporarily:I gave the trailer away when I got to my destination.
I traveled from CA. to MI. where I purchased 2) motorcycles from this person.I didn't have a tow vehicle(I took the train to get there)so I had a special hitch made for the larger motorcycle and towed the smaller one behind me back to CA.

[PeWe]

Plywood for boats?
Here we have plywood for concrete formwork construction that work for trailer floors.

[RAFster122s]

grcamna2, no way that's Terry's shop...recall he said the CL90 was a secret from Mrs Terry. That's a clue, second is it does not have wall to wall bikes and parts and shelves of parts.


Terry, those handlebars, what in the rednek tarnashun is going on there? Is that bar in front a crude version of bark busters or is it a set of horns like a longhorn steer? What's with the hose clamped bar on the handlebars too?
That horn ain't gonna save you being further forward, as impressive as the 6V horns are and all that!
She needs a good power wash to see what you got...
Should clean up decently after replacing some parts like that fender. Hope that's just dirt and crud on the tank, be a shame to have ruined what looks like a straight tank with a rotten top.


I think you got all the life you could out of that 9-ply plywood sheet.


It is a warm day here in AZ with temps on the rise into mid 80s again in a few days. I am house/pet sitting in high desert at about 4800 ft above sea level about 2 miles or less from the Mexico border. I can see the 3 large construction lights they are using to work on building the border wall. Until Biden gets in off and tears them down.
Too many people die trying to cross or trying to get to the border and too many are enslaved by human trafficking groups or enslave those who cross with added fees they make them pay for years after they cross.


Glad you were able to free up some space for the couple Kawi bikes that will be getting finished up this summer and little more room to move around.
You will have to show us what things look like.


Watching from Southern AZ...


Spotty, good mate you are to uncle Tez, he better hook you up with some Ginger Joes, Ginger Slut, and Ginger Rocket Fuel as a small token of his gratitude. You gonna charge him to get them back now, possession they say is 9/10th of the law here...


David _stirring_the_s-it

That's a lot more space in your shop Terry:is that really Your shop ? Spotty certainly is a great neighbor,I'm glad he worked-out a space for your excellent bikes. 
When you say "9 ply top on my Chinese trailer" it gets me to ask '9 plys of what' ?? Lol  That "9 ply" must be Very aged.
 I purchased a used 4x8' Harbor Freight trailer up in Michigan at a mobile home trailer park,an old one that was very rusty:the owner used it to haul a Ski Doo MX snowmobile(the mobile home park was forcing him to get rid of it and I got the broken Ski Doo MX And the trailer for $100) and he had purchased the trailer in a box years ago,then he assembled it and installed a standard 1/2" piece of plywood that was very aged,but still somewhat decent.I removed that dried-out wood and installed a piece of standard 1/4" thin stuff and it did the job temporarily:I gave the trailer away when I got to my destination.
I traveled from CA. to MI. where I purchased 2) motorcycles from this person.I didn't have a tow vehicle(I took the train to get there)so I had a special hitch made for the larger motorcycle and towed the smaller one behind me back to CA.

[spotty]

Yes, that's my shed, that's Terry's old zzr11 under the unionjack cover down the back and I didn't realise he got me in the pic ( fat guy down the back with the Team Satan t-shirt on )
I'm expecting a few more of Terry's adopted orphan children in the near future, as long as there's room to get the vmax in there all will be good
I've got nearly all my cr@p sorted and on the shelves and the beer fridge hooked up

[grcamna2]

Yes, that's my shed, that's Terry's old zzr11 under the unionjack cover down the back and I didn't realise he got me in the pic ( fat guy down the back with the Team Satan t-shirt on )
I'm expecting a few more of Terry's adopted orphan children in the near future, as long as there's room to get the vmax in there all will be good
I've got nearly all my cr@p sorted and on the shelves and the beer fridge hooked up

That's a nice shop spotty;beer works 

[spotty]

and the pic of the tiny little bike has my tiny little great danes head in it, shes loking at the bike thinking dunno which one of you two thats for but either way you're going to look fcuking ridiculous

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Guys, what David said, and I agree with all the above, with my surplus bikes stored at Saint Spotty's place. Spotty and I removed the horrible home made "bark busters" from the CL90 then discovered that the OEM bars were cracked where the cables are fed thru, an obvious weak point, when we removed them. Oh well, I've got plenty of handlebars here, so no biggie. I was happy that the engine kicked over fine after sitting for 10 years since Steve crashed his Harley and was diagnosed with an acquired brain injury. Yes, the trailer needs a new floor, spotty suggested checker plate and I'm trying to decide whether to got got alloy checker plate, or just some proper 9 ply marine play, you know, the waterproof stuff.

I don't want to keep harping about what a great bloke Spotty is, but he WILL give you the shirt off his back, yesterday he rang me to come get some "presents" which were two nice new Flannel shirts which won't fit his massive frame sadly, but are just the right size for me, so they'll be really handy next winter. He also gave me a CB750 book, which is my current favourite toilet reading. I then drove over to my mate Fred's place to scrounge a couple of gaskets to finish putting my engine together. It does look very nice now.

K0 weekend engine finish 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 weekend engine finish 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 weekend engine finish 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 weekend engine finish 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 weekend engine finish 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 weekend engine finish by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Sunday 15 Nov 2020 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I was gonna put it in the frame today but I remembered that I hadn't pulled the oil pump (which is unique to the K0 again....) apart to make sure it was OK, so instead I decided to prepare a tank for painting, as my new lot of Candy Apple Red paint (which turns out to be an exact match for my NOS OEM headlight ear) was being delivered.

The tank wasn't bad, but had a few dings, including a deep knee dint on the right hand side. I've never had much luck with my "Ding King", but today after spending nearly 100 bucks at Bunnings on various types of glue, sand paper, and sanding discs for my orbital sander, the $8 packet of hot glue sticks did the job. I could have done an "American Hot Rod" restoration (i.e., lay on an inch of bondo and just shape it to look like a perfect OEM job, God they were a bunch of butchers, but I digress...) I like to use the minimum of mud, so I stripped the paint completely, and used lots of hot glue, let it cure while I drank a home brewed ginger beer, then tapped the "crease" at the top of the ding with my body hammer while slowly putting pressure on the pulling jig. Bugger me, it actually worked, and by the time I finished, it was (almost) perfect! Sweet!

K0 Monday 16 Nov 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I used some paint stripper on the filler neck area and under the badge brackets to completely remove any signs of old paint (I'm not gonna strip underneath, I'll just clean it and give it a quick coat of paint) then hit it with a coat of etch primer.

K0 Monday 16 Nov 2020 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Once it was dry I did a "guide coat" of a contrasting black lacquer.

K0 Monday 16 Nov 2020 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Then I used a sanding block to find the low spots. There were plenty.

K0 Monday 16 Nov 2020 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Then the mud cam out. I mixed it well, but had to get it on ASAP, as it was quite warm (high 70's) so I slapped it on.

K0 Monday 16 Nov 2020 9a by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Monday 16 Nov 2020 9 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Now anyone here who's a pro painter will suggest that I should have trimmed the excess bog offa the tank with my surform file, but by this stage I was falling down drunk, so decided in my twisted logic to leave it overnight, then I'll take the body file and some super dooper sanding discs for my orbital body sander to get a nice flat finish, before I use some spot putty, spray putty, primer surfacer, then of course, that delicious candy apple red paint.

I've got a stripe kit coming, along with the helmet warning sticker, so I'll paint it, (and the headlight shell, plus some side covers for the K2, there's another can of red on it's way.....) clear it, then apply the decals when they arrive, then clear it again, and call it good. I'm loving this weather..........



   

[grcamna2]

Hi Terry,
That "Ding King" apparatus looks like a good set-up.I like the Dyna? electronic ign. plate there,one of those 'install it,set and forget'? Spotty is The Neighbor to have  .That little CL90 is getting some work, it's been crying-out for it for a long time with that front fender and bars.. I hope you do actually purchase some marine grade "9-ply" and give that a test out in the elements and see just how many years it holds-up:I like wood on a trailer myself.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bill, the "Ding King" isn't available in Oz, but a mate in the US sent it to me years ago. It wasn't great until I bought some different hot glue here locally, and it worked much better. The ignition is a Kokusan (Made in Japan) and works  very well indeed, with the 3 OHM Dyna coils.

I cleaned and installed the oil pump today.

K0 F2 Wednesday 18 Nov 2020 8 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I ratted thru my gasket box, and found a new one for the sump pan, and while I'm sure I have a new oil drain plug, I couldn't find one, so cleaned up an old one, installed a new copper washer, found and cleaned all the screws I needed for the paan, and screwed it on.

K0 F2 Wednesday 18 Nov 2020 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 F2 Wednesday 18 Nov 2020 9 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I think another can of candy red is arriving tomorrow, so  I can finish my tank. It looks nice from 10 feet away, but a little blotchy due to running out, when you look close up. Oh well, at least it's shiny.....

K0 F2 Wednesday 18 Nov 2020 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[ktm136]

This is a really cool project, cheers from Appalachia in the US!

[grcamna2]

Terry,that oil pan been vapor blasted also ?  I love that tank ! 

[WhyNot2]

Man, you are doing justice to those parts......beautiful work., wish I lived down the street from you.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, it’s coming along really nicely. Considering I built the engine from a bare set of cases that came from Queensland, a cylinder block that came from Florida and a head that came from California and internals that came from all over the US, it went together surprisingly easily. First surprise was that there wasn’t a stripped thread or thread insert in the whole engine, something that I’m not used to, especially on cylinder heads.

My stripe kit for the tank has just arrived, but I can’t install it until I give the tank another coat of candy red as one can wasn’t enough to cover it completely, especially underneath. No biggie, I think I’ll carefully lay the painted frame over the engine today and bolt it in place, put it on my bike jack, and start building a bike around it. 11 days left in November so I’ll need to hit the ground running if I want a bike to ride sooner, rather than later.

[Terry in Australia]

OK, so happily, around lunch time the can of candy red arrived, and being in the 90's again today, I rubbed the lacquer back with 600 grade wet and dry paper, let it dry for 30 minutes or so, then hit it with the red, and was happy with the result. I threw a few coats of clear lacquer over it and tomorrow I'll wet rub it back with 600 grit wet and dry sandpaper, and apply the decals, then more lacquer. I've got another kit on the way, as I need to do some sidecovers and finish the headlight, this is becoming a very expensive process........

K0 Thursday 19 Nov 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Some time this afternoon I decided to shove the engine into the frame, or maybe, to shove the frame over the engine. Once upon a time when I was 330(+) pounds I could lift a CB750 engine and shove it into the frame, but since 2018 I'm 130 pounds lighter, and I've been too weak to even lift a CB750 engine, much less wiggle it into the frame. Desperation is the mother fcuker of invention, and as there was no-one home to help me this arvo (afternoon, in Australian) I laid a cardboard box in the driveway, then summoned up my massive strength, picked up the engine, carried it out to the driveway and deposited it, ignition cover down, on the box.

K0 Thursday 19 Nov 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I then wandered down to the garage and pulled the frame down, and lowered it over the engine. It took a bit of jiggling, but I managed to get it in. (or on, depending on what you're imagining I'm talking about) I'd bought new engine mounting bolts from Yamiya so shoved them into the holes to line the engine up in the frame, then with my new found mighty strength, lifted the whole shebang onto my son's furniture trolley (rated at 137 Kg (301.4 pounds, but I think they lied) and wheeled it into the garage.

K0 Thursday 19 Nov 2020 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Shiny new bolts do look kinda nice.

K0 Thursday 19 Nov 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

OK, so thinking ahead, tomorrow I'll need to rebuild the forks and swingarm so that I can put wheels on either end, which of course is important if I want to actually ride this thing, or even just push it around the driveway. The bottom triple has a broken lug from one of the bike's previous excursions down the road in a horizontal, as opposed to vertical, plane. The top triple is OK, but it had a hole drilled in the "Rhino horn" by a previous owner, so I cleaned it up and filled it with the magic potion that is "JB Weld".

K0 top triple 19 Nov 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 top triple 19 Nov 2020 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

And gave it a coat of another magic potion, "Rustoleum Canyon satin black ", and it came up a treat.

K0 top triple 19 Nov 2020 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So, the engine is in the frame, (thank God, Buddha, Allah, or the Great Pumpkin, depending on your personal theology) the tank is painted (albeit bereft of decals and final coat of clear lacquer for another day or so) top triple is painted, I have a very nice bottom triple that I don't think I'll bother painting as it looks very nice as is, (complete with brake hoses, splitter, etc) so i think tomorrow I'll build a set of forks using the new stanchions I bought, along with new seals, and maybe the lower legs I've had sitting in a tub for several years, as one of the lower legs on my current forks has a prominent gouge on it, from one of it's adventures in the horizontal attitude, so I suppose that it'll look nicer with unmarked fork sliders. I have a new set of repro gaiters, and of course, some shiny candy apple red headlight ears.

K0 headlight ears 10 Nov 2020 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   

I have a 20 litre bucket of ATF from when I was going to try to save the transmission in my Ford Exploder (now gone to God, tragically) so I'll be using a few hundred mils in each fork leg, I find ATF an excellent fork oil, as it has just about the right damping qualities, and a "seal swelling" quality, which will ensure that the forks don't leak in the near future. Actually I remember  that my son bought a very expensive 1 litre pack of super-duper synthetic ATF when the Exploder transmission started to smoke, I might use that and keep my massive drum of ATF for my funeral, when I expect to be cremated on a funeral pyre like the American Indians, or Aboriginals, or First nations, or Redskins, or whatever they're (respectfully) referred to this week. The ATF, should keep me sizzling away for many hours.

Anyway, all is well, I'm happy that the build is progressing faster than expected, so all going well, it'll be on the road in the next couple of weeks. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty, but I'll stay positive, and keep plugging along. more tomorrow.    

K0 Thursday 19 Nov 2020 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr     

 

[Kelly E]

Must be nice to be able to lift motors. I only weigh 130lbs and I have to use the engine hoist or wait for help. The up side is the bikes are much faster when I ride them.

[RAFster122s]

You know Spotty won't need to buy any beer as long as Uncle Tez is leasing space with payment of the lease in ginger beer, unless he wants something other than a ginger beer...

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, wow, 130 pounds Kelly? That’s less than the weight of a CB750 engine! I was surprised that I could still lift it on my own, but my back is killing me today, so that was the trade off.

David, Spotty’s rent is very reasonable, and I’ll be dropping off more bikes and more Ginger booze shortly as I have another batch to bottle in the next couple of days. I’m going to keep my rented storage facility as well because it’s quite handy with 24 hour access, so I can just drive over there, jump on a bike and go for a ride, so I think I’ll park my project bikes at Spotty’s, my surplus riders at the storage facility and my favourite bikes here.

Today I need to assemble the forks and swingarm in preparation of installing the wheels so I can roll it around. Another beautiful day here, so hanging out to wander outside and start twirling wrenches.

[grcamna2]

Your 'at home shop' there really looks overwhelmingly Full Terry 

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bill, yes, it's more like a crime scene than a garage, but what the hell....... Hey I sold a bike! How's that! Well, my youngest son decided that he wants my Yamaha XS650, so I told him how much it cost me, then cut 25% off the total, and he's gonna take it off my hands. The only stipulation is that I get to ride it once he's got it on the road. Won't make any difference in my garage sadly, unless he moves out, but he's only 35 on Sunday, so still plenty of time..........

Anyhoo, Friday today, so when I took my lunch break (gotta love "Working from Home") I rubbed back the tank, and with above mentioned son, applied the tank decals, then re-lacquered it after a couple of hours out in the sun. I'm not 100% happy with them as there are a few tiny air bubbles underneath that I couldn't squeegee out, but what the hell, it looks good from 10 feet away...........

K0 Friday 20 Nov 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So, tank is done, time to get my hands dirty. I needed to do the swingarm next. New Bushes, new shock absorber mounts, and new (for the time being) rear shocks, as I haven't had a chance to rebuild the old school Koni's.

K0 Friday 20 Nov 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Friday 20 Nov 2020 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Friday 20 Nov 2020 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Friday 20 Nov 2020 9 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Friday 20 Nov 2020 9a by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Friday 20 Nov 2020 9b by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I'd remembered to install the rear brake pivot assembly and spring before I installed the swingarm, and tomorrow I'll install the (chrome, sadly) centre stand before I think about the rear fenders (inner and outer) and rear wheel. I've gotta build some forks then install the gaiters, front fender, headlight ears etc into the freshly painted triples. Still, it's all going well, and I'm pretty happy with the progress. I do think that  ride is in order tomorrow though, so I might have to do that first.

K0 Friday 20 Nov 2020 9d by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr