Topic: Terry's Taxi CaB 750A project.

[Terry in Australia]

Okay, so it's possible that I've been unfairly hanging sh1t on CB750 Auto's. (Hondamatics) But like most "haters", I've never actually ridden one, much less owned one. Anyway, Vik contacted me a couple of weeks ago and told me that he wanted to sell his 1978 US import auto to a bloke on FB who did the old, "I'll think about it". I asked him how much he wanted for it, and when he told me, I offered him 250 beans more than he was asking, and told him I'd transfer the money into his account, now. Not surprisingly, we did a deal on the spot. In my defence, your honor, he was asking around half of what the only two auto's I've seen for sale here were going for.

Vik was selling up all his toys, for medical reasons. I organised transport, and he packed up all the stuff he'd pulled off the bike, plus some stuff that he'd bought for it. Even though we're locked down again (thank you China, not...) the "Bikes Only Transport" guy picked up the bike from Vik in Adelaide last Wednesday, and delivered it to me this morning. I don't know about you guys, but the older I get, the harder I find it to get out of bed some mornings, especially in winter, as it is here. Alex from "Bikes Only" rang me yesterday afternoon to say that Vik's auto was being delivered this morning, which was a real incentive to get out of bed.

Like clockwork, the truck arrived at 08.30, and I was happy that the extra money I'd paid over the transport company I usually use was worthwhile, as the bike was transported undercover, and the large cardboard carton of parts that Vik sent with it, was nice and dry, and nothing was missing or broken. I rolled it down the driveway and into the carport as it was raining, and parked it so I could look at it thru the patio door while hard at work, "working from home".

Terry’s Taxi 20 July 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

At lunchtime, I opened the box and pulled out all the parts that needed to go on. I transferred the carbs and brake parts into one of Spotty's tubs, and quickly fitted the new mirrors that Vik had bought, along with the sidecovers, tank filler flap, etc.

Terry's Taxi CaB 750A 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

By now you're probably all admiring that seat. To be honest, I have sat on it, and can vouch that it's actually really comfy. My wife, who has absolutely no interest in motorcycles (thank God) asked me if I liked the seat and I said, "Well if I was gonna ride around Australia I'd use it, but if I was just gonna do a 100 miler, not so much". The wife went to do some shopping, and in her absence, the DHL delivery man dropped off the 64mm CB350 pistons that I'll discuss later, and the only CB750A seat that I could find on Ebay USA that wasn't buggered, was dropped off by the Fedex man. Gotta love Fedex, whereas it took 10 weeks for my parts from CycleX that were shipped by USPS to turn up, the seat was Fedexed to my shipper in Florida, then Fedexed again to me here in Oz (seller didn't ship internationally) in just over a week. Magnificent.

Terry's Taxi CaB 750A by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I hoped that I could clean the overspray off the seat with acetone, but no, whatever had been sprayed near the seat wasn't coming off. No biggie, I have what appears to be a really good repro seat cover as well, so tomorrow I'll fit the seat cover, and install the seat, but I think I'll keep that lounge suite for awhile, just in case I decide to do an around Australia ride when I retire. More tomorrow.

[MauiK3]

Waiting to see this!!

[Kelly E]

I assume that you are going to boost the power output of your new ride. It should be a fun build. You know that after all of the bashing you've done to the automatics you have to build yours into a beast.

 Sounds like you found a good shipper. We're still waiting to hear from the shipper that is supposed to be picking up the 75' Z1-B. We've been paid and it's been almost two weeks since we sold it. I should charge the shipper storage, it's not the buyer's fault. He paid us within an hour of making the deal.

[PeWe]

Your new project look very interesting!
Your wife might wanna a ride on that bike if you keep the comfy seat?

[Don R]

 I took possession of a sad shape no title 76A last year. The wire rims are already spoken for but I have many of the parts off it. If you seem to be short anything, give a shout.  I had planned to open the crankcase just to see what's in there.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, it should be a fun build. I need to keep it as original as possible initially, because it's a US import and has never been registered in Oz it needs to be inspected by an engineer and get a VASS certificate (nope, I don't know what "VASS" stands for either, I'll google it later) before the pin heads at VICROADS (DMV) will give me a plate for it.

Apparently the bike needs to be original right down to the exhaust system, which might be a problem, as, if you look at the pics you'll see that the headers and the mufflers have separated due to rust. Who'd have thought that a Honda OEM exhaust would rust out on a bike that's only done 16000 miles, imagine that? Not sure what I'll do with that, I haven't seen a system on Ebay as yet. I'll worry about that later.

Yes Kelly, once I've got a number plate for it, the engine will be getting a birthday. I was having a look at the tiny 22(?) mm carbs yesterday and wondering what Honda was thinking when they designed the Auto? But no biggie, I have an F2 top end to go into it, with high comp 64mm (810cc) pistons, an Andrews A grind cam, F2 carbs, and probably a Delkevic pipe. I kind of like the factory 4 into 2 system, and the OEM headers are actually very pretty, so I might just install some megaphone mufflers and call it good.

Vik was a Hondaman groupie, so in the box with the various parts he'd removed was a new Hondaman ignition, and a copy of his book, which I'll give to Spotty when I give him back the bike mags that he loaned me. I don't know if I'll use the ignition amplifier either, as I have a new Dyna S and some Dyna knockoff "Magna" coils, and new Bosch leads.

That's all for later though, my first job after fixing the seat is to go thru the carbs and put them back together, do something with the exhaust, and take the wheels off to get some new Stinko tyres fitted, as the Dunlops that are on it are probably north of 20 years old, and absolutely shagged.

Don, I've discovered that the kick starter pedal is missing, do you have one? Or the plastic cap that goes over the shaft? For the edification of Auto noobs like me, I didn't think the A had a kick starter, but it does. Like the Goldwing, it was stashed in the bowels of the bike and only brought out as an emergency starter (anyone here remember when our parent's cars had crank handles in the trunk in case the battery was dead?) and like my Suzy T350, the kicker's on the left (alternator) side.

Oh, and it's also got a park brake! Yep, I guess it's to make up for not being able to park it in gear? Not sure why you'd need it, but it's kind of cool. Well the doorbell just rang, and the new Motobatt battery I only ordered yesterday afternoon was sitting at my front door, woohoo! I'll have to plug everything in and see what works in the electricity department! More later.    

[BenelliSEI]

Terry.......Good news, great project! I’ll be fascinated to hear how you like the “A”! I’ve passed on a few because (like you) I don’t get it..... Very curious to see what you conclude! There used to be one sitting outside a local bike scrap yard. Next time I’m by there, I’ll check if the kicker is on board. Where are they stashed away?

[Terry in Australia]

Terry.......Good news, great project! I’ll be fascinated to hear how you like the “A”! I’ve passed on a few because (like you) I don’t get it..... Very curious to see what you conclude! There used to be one sitting outside a local bike scrap yard. Next time I’m by there, I’ll check if the kicker is on board. Where are they stashed away?

Hey thanks John, the kicker lives in a bracket under the seat. While you're looking, I'm after the plastic cap that covers the kicker shaft, on the left hand side near the shifter, and finally, the tool kit, which lives in a tray attached to the underside of the seat.

I wish we still had motorcycle wreckers here, Ebay killed most of them off years ago, but there are only a tiny amount of Auto's here anyway, as I don't think they were ever officially imported into Oz.

I still remember talking to a wrecker who told me that he'd sent literally tons of CB750 and Kawasaki Z1 parts to the big metal recycler here in the 90's as they weren't moving much of the "Old" stuff anymore, and then another wrecker I knew killed himself and his wife just sent everything off to be recycled back in around 2007, I was looking at skip bins full of SOHC4 stuff through a chainwire fence so I rang her to ask if I could pull some stuff out and pay her for it, but she was a biatch (and the reason why her husband killed himself, apparently) and told me that she "couldn't be bothered with all that junk".

Oh well, I suppose that makes my bikes all that more "rare"....

[Terry in Australia]

Ok, so I wandered outside around 3pm and stripped off the old seat cover. I was happy that I was able to get the seat strap screws out, some seats that I've had in the past have been so rusty that it was impossible to get the screws out, but this seat base was in pretty good condition, for 43 years young. The foam was in really good condition too.

Terry’s Taxi 21 Jul 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The new cover is really good, was a good fit, although it needs to sit out in the sun once the weather warms up to pull it a bit tighter, but I was happy with the result.

Terry’s Taxi 21 Jul 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

By now it was getting dark again, but I quickly installed it on the bike, and I'm happy with the result. I'll carefully store the lounge suite for that "Around Australia" ride in 2025, but I sat on it after I put it on the bike, and was happy, the OEM seat is nice and comfy, and I like the riding position.

Terry’s Taxi 21 Jul 2021 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry’s Taxi 21 Jul 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I asked Emily what she thought of it, but as usual, she wasn't interested.

Emily 21 Jul 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[BenelliSEI]

I’ll check the wrecker, next time by. Seat looks great!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks John, much appreciated mate!

[MauiK3]

Nice job on the seat!

[Kelly E]

The stock seat looks way better than the ass bucket that came on the bike.

[PeWe]

Really good looking seat. It look comfortable. Why replace that with a huge TV sofa?

So you have another garage admirer? Leo is not there all the time?

[MauiK3]

Put an outrigger on it with a nice seat for your wife!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, I do like the new seat, it makes the whole bike look better. I’m lucky that the wife has no interest in bikes, so I really enjoy riding my bikes without having to bring the “hand brake” along for the ride, I always feel sorry for those blokes who can’t get away from their wives, even on their bikes. Each to his own, I suppose?

I think I’ll do the carbs today, Vik said that they’ve been ultrasonically cleaned by someone else, but wasn’t sure if they were complete. That’s ok, he bought new rebuild kits, so I may as well rebuild them while I’ve got them apart, and importantly, set the float levels. I think I’ve got the home made float level gauge that Jona in Israel sent me from his K8 days, so I’ll see if both bikes have the same specs for float height, and if they’re the same, I’ll use his gauge. More later.

[Just John]

I think you will be surprised when you ride the A.  Years ago a man in our town had a lime green 750A with a sidecar.  He had a neurological disease which had advanced to the point he could no longer ride it.  I would go by his house every Sunday and take him out as a passenger in the hack. 

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks John, will it be a pleasant surprise? Brian (Bear) here has just bought an auto as well because he's a paraplegic after a really bad crash when he was racing sidecars, and he's fitting a sidecar to it. I had to laugh when he wrote that the Auto turned up so his mates sat him on the bike so he could ride it. He took off and had a ball riding for the first time in years, but when he came back his mates were all sitting in the shed drinking beer ignoring him, so he had to ride around in circles yelling at them until they came over and caught him just so he could get off!

[Terry in Australia]

Well speaking of surprises, I got one today when I opened up the carbs that had been "Cleaned". I'd hate to think what they were like before they were cleaned!

Terry’s Taxi 22 Jul 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Not just that every circuit was blocked with black sludge, but the insides of the carbs were wet, not with fuel, the bike hasn't fired a shot, as far as I'm aware since it arrived in Oz in 2019, but the pot metal casting is quite badly corroded. It may well be that the guy that charged Vik to clean them didn't know what he was doing or he was worried about the internals being fragile so didn't actually strip them before he dunked them in his ultrasonic cleaner, but whatever he did, he was a butcher. Vik was quite insistent that I strip and rebuild them, so maybe he'd taken a peek, but either way, they are bordeline buggared. Don, if you've got another set of carbs, I want them.

Terry’s Taxi 22 Jul 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyway, I managed to clean them, unblock all the jets and circuits, set the float levels and reassemble them so the bike should run and shouldn't leak fuel, but it was a bit disappointing. I buttoned it back up and tomorrow I'll re-fit the carbs on the engine, and over the weekend I'll fit the header pipes and anything else necessary to fire it up, and hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. More soon.    

[MauiK3]

It's always the carbs.
For such a small part they take a lot of effort and patience.

[Don R]

 I got an XR70R for when the grandkids can ride, the lack of a clutch is a double edged sword. I forgot and revved it thinking it must be in neutral and it took off with me in tow. Thank goodness it was in grass and no one was looking.
 

[MauiK3]

That’s embarrassing!

[Kelly E]

Awesome visual

[Terry in Australia]

It's the middle of winter here in Oz, and while the temps yesterday were OK for a quick lap on the K2 bitsa to confirm that there is no noise coming from the front end now that I've swapped out the warped disc rotor, today was absolutely freezing. When the bike arrived the pipes were off it, so I thought I'd put them back on.

The mufflers have rotted off them, but I quite like the 4 into 2 OEM system, Honda went cheap and just Siamesed the inner headers to the outer headers, then welded them onto the mufflers. The mufflers have rotted at the weld, which is a bit weird because they're not at the lowest point, but I guess it's possible that the weight of the mufflers have caused a stress point (sorry, I've been watching Air Crash Investigators) and that's why they've both broken neatly at that point, but the good thing is I can chop the remaining piece of muffler off both headers, so I've bought two 15 degree stainless bends to go between the headers and the new aftermarket stainless mufflers, and when they arrive I'll clamp them all together and call them good.

The headers were wrapped in bubble wrap, and were quite rusty, but a little time in the phosphoric acid bath scrubbing the left side headers with a stainless steel wool scrubbing pad made them look like brand new.

Terry’s Taxi 24 Jul 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The right hand headers had a piece of "Hundred Mile An Hour" tape on it, and written on the tape was "Patch Panel needed". Very true.

Terry’s Taxi 24 Jul 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Oh well, I had plenty of time and a MIG welder, so I welded a patch on it. Of course the pipe was rusted in places that extended past my patch as  the tube was pretty rusty inside, so I had to blob my welds together to fill the holes that I blew in it. Good thing is you have to be under the bike to see it, but if I can find a better one eventually I'll snag it.

Terry’s Taxi 24 Jul 2021 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The bike looked 100% better.

Terry’s Taxi 24 Jul 2021 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Today, as previously mentioned, was sunny, but freezing. 10 deg C and windy as, so even though I was rugged up with my big warm jacket and beanie, my hands were frozen. Oh well, I needed to do some bike work, so thought I might install the carbs and fire it up. I removed the tank and noted again that there were a few screws missing from the cam cover, so ratted thru the parts Vik sent me and found them. I started to do the cover up then wondered if there was a cam cover gasket? Bugger. I pulled all the screws back out and lifted the cam cover off (the CB750A is the only SOHC 750 that you can do this on easily) and sure enough, no cam cover gasket. On top of that, Vik (I presume) had loosened off all the rockers. Poop.

Terry’s Taxi 25 Jul 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry’s Taxi 25 Jul 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

OK, so as there is no kicker (well there is, but I don't have one) I had to first remove the spark plugs (interestingly Champions, with 16mm hex's) then the points cover, and turn the end of the crank around to TDC for cylinders 1 and 4 so I could set the valve clearances, then 2 and 3, and while I was at it I adjusted the cam chain. I installed a new cam cover gasket, and re-fitted the cam cover. The carbs were next, of course the original carb insulators were pretty hard. I attempted a few different methods ranging from leverage to tapping with my plastic mallet, to no avail. Hmmnn, then I thought, what about a C clamp or two?

Terry’s Taxi 25 Jul 2021 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

It worked really well, and I'll use it again on bikes with PD carbs, although I don't know if it'll work on the earlier carbs. Anyhoo, by now it was getting dark, and bloody cold, so I put the tank back on, and called it a night. Hopefully there'll be no more surprises and I'll have this sucker running this week. More soon.

Terry’s Taxi 25 Jul 2021 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Trevor from Warragul]

then I thought, what about a C clamp or two?

That's exactly how I "pop" the carburetors back onto my CBX.  The 6 carburetors are in a "V", and it's a bugger of a job!