Topic: '70 K0 Riding Along Just Quits

[Scootch]

Thanks Eric! When the bike crapped on me the other night two guys on Harleys stopped to see if I needed help. Had a great chat with them! I also have a Harley lol 
Mark...  🙂

[newday777]

So Scootch since we have you on the line do you have any fun stories or interesting history on that fine looking K0 that you have ? Is it totally restored or a nice cleaned up survivor ?  Glad to see you are out riding it.

Yes, I'd love to hear as well.  Always interesting to hear.

OK...  Here are most of the high points… I had lusted after a CB750 for many years. I was 17 when they came out in '69. I owned a CL350 Scrambler at that time but was blown away with the enormity and the sound of the CB750. I have never forgotten that sound. 1970 was the year I graduated from HS. Thus the special significance of the '70 CB to me. This machine was located in Arizona and obtained from the son of the original owner with ~4300 miles on the clock. The gentleman that located it brought it back to Florida and performed a refurbishment on everything except the deep entrails of the motor. Some of the parts are original and have been re-chromed. Many parts are new old stock from Honda. The fenders are original  re-chromed. The painted parts were purchased as a set from Yamiya. The rims are new from DID. 98% of the hardware is new from Honda. Wiring harnesses are new. Seat is new. Pipes are HM300’s. Last fall I was in Florida and came across the gentleman that had it. At that point I couldn’t resist any longer and 52 years later I had my CB750. I have spent the past couple months getting acquainted with it and learning about it. I have had to troubleshoot and repair a couple things and I changed the front and rear sprockets. I learned how to sync the carbs. I am pretty familiar with the type of carbs bcz I’ve had other bikes with similar. I have been watching plenty of CB750 videos on YouTube. I hope I don’t get bit with something major in the motor but if need be I will rebuild it in my basement. I plan on riding it – and have been. It is not going to sit on display. It is a blast to ride and it causes a stir everywhere. I enjoy seeing the look on people’s faces – even on those people who are not necessarily cycle enthusiasts. People just seem to know that there is something special about the bike… and there is!!

Yes That is a great story of your ride. Go to the new member and introduce yourself and your story with pictures of the bike(hard to see the avatar picture).

[dave500]

early 500s only have one fuse,this is the simple way to use a blade fuse.

[Scootch]

early 500s only have one fuse,this is the simple way to use a blade fuse.

That's a good tip!  When I was at the auto parts store I noticed that they have circuit breakers that auto reset themselves. I was sort of tempted to give them a look but decided that might not be a good idea. I wouldn't mind a breaker that you had to manually reset so that you knew it tripped.

[Don R]

 I used a 30 amp circuit breaker on an electric cooling fan. It got hot, stayed hot and didn't re-set. Was not a good idea. I nearly cooked my motor stuck in traffic.

[Scootch]

I used a 30 amp circuit breaker on an electric cooling fan. It got hot, stayed hot and didn't re-set. Was not a good idea. I nearly cooked my motor stuck in traffic.

Sounds like you are talking about a classic car or street rod. I can appreciate the situation. I recently adjusted the set point of when the fan comes on in my ride. Traffic and coolant temp is concerning. Do you have a story regarding your sandcast?

[Don R]

I used a 30 amp circuit breaker on an electric cooling fan. It got hot, stayed hot and didn't re-set. Was not a good idea. I nearly cooked my motor stuck in traffic.

Sounds like you are talking about a classic car or street rod. I can appreciate the situation. I recently adjusted the set point of when the fan comes on in my ride. Traffic and coolant temp is concerning. Do you have a story regarding your sandcast?

 My Honda guru had a shop out back of his house. The big 4 bike shop, I was just back into cb's after a couple decades without one. I was riding and had heard the guy had ALS and was spending time on his patio if anyone wanted to visit. I stopped, visited and asked questions. He let me take pics of the sandcast he had bought from the family of the guy that bought it new so I could assemble my diecast properly . He always serviced it but hadn't done anything with it since he got it.
 Long story shorter, he mentioned selling it but I didn't feel right about it. (yes, I'm dumb) Later he was gone and I got it at his estate auction. Another Honda friend was there, I mentioned the original purchaser's name and he was surprised. He remembered that he had assembled that bike new along with a blue green one. He still has the blue green one after finding it used when he got back from Vietnam.
   A really good friend as a kid rode the Honda mini bike that was bought at the same time as my sandcast.  The OP's son was riding it to high school and those two had pulled the motor to chrome a few parts. His Dad didn't approve and he got banned from the bike. It was put back together with the chrome parts.
   I had to buy the Big 4 bike shop drag bike to get the rolled rear rim back for the sandcast. They had swapped it for a hog rim at some point. Both rims had two hole hubs. I also got a defunct stroker motor and an ARD mag. I ended up spending $4K for both bikes right after I had retired. I was a little nervous about that.
 

[Scootch]

Don do you mean you were nervous about spending the money after you retired?  I can understand that but you now have a piece of history and some other goodies. I hope you feel better about it by now  🙂  We struggle with justifying different things but some things can't and don't need to be justified. Do you ride the sandcast?

[Don R]

 I do ride it but not a lot since I have too many (just enough) bikes. It's still under 10K miles. A third of the miles got put on in the last few years. Part of my riding problem is my wife prefers the gl1000 and my other riding buddies no longer ride.

[69cb750]

I stopped, visited and asked questions. He let me take pics of the sandcast he had bought from the family of the guy that bought it new so I could assemble my diecast properly . He always serviced it but hadn't done anything with it since he got it.

How many years for first owner ?
How many years for second owner ?
How many years for you ?

[Don R]

 The original purchaser took delivery the first business day of 1970, he bought it around Christmas of 69.  My buddy never titled it, cleaned it, or even got it running so technically I'm the second owner.
  I always felt like my buddy wanted me to end up with it, we talked about it being a rare sandcast but he never told anyone else.
   My buddy never told me what he paid, he just knew when the OP's widow called him to look at it he was bringing it home for sure. The son of the OP later told me that his Mom got $500 for it.
   I got it in 2009 and had just retired but was expecting to begin a new job that didn't happen. It turned out fine, fortunately.
   Part of why I got it was the chrome had been sprayed with WD40 and the paint was heavily coated with blue coral wax. Dirt had built up on it over the years and appeared to be pitting and corrosion. Imagine my delight when I wiped off a turn signal and it was perfect under the dirt.

[69cb750]

My buddy never told me what he paid, he just knew when the OP's widow called him to look at it he was bringing it home for sure. The son of the OP later told me that his Mom got $500 for it.

In 1980 a CB750 was just an old motorcycle and not worth much.
CB750 revival started around 1995 and prices started increasing, I'm guessing your friend bought it between 1980 and 1995

[Scootch]

Like to hear the backstory on these machines! If only they could talk.

[ekpent]

I've got some nice original paint bikes in my stash that came from original owners or family of but those examples nowadays are getting fewer and fewer as those guys are starting to age out and already got rid of them.

[Don R]

 The Sandcast was the first 750 sold here, the guy that assembled it found the second one, it's a diecast that he also assembled. He still owns it and the diecast I bought near his shop is within 4,000 serial numbers so it's likely the third.  Both diecasts have Lester Mags and had action 4 headers. Mine was a clone of his because he refused to sell his, so the guy built one just like it. I've removed most of the custom stuff.

[Scootch]

I've got some nice original paint bikes in my stash that came from original owners or family of but those examples nowadays are getting fewer and fewer as those guys are starting to age out and already got rid of them.

I'd love to hear more about your stash! Looks impressive.
I believe your name is Eric?

[Scootch]

The Sandcast was the first 750 sold here, the guy that assembled it found the second one, it's a diecast that he also assembled. He still owns it and the diecast I bought near his shop is within 4,000 serial numbers so it's likely the third.  Both diecasts have Lester Mags and had action 4 headers. Mine was a clone of his because he refused to sell his, so the guy built one just like it. I've removed most of the custom stuff.

I'm curious... Do the sandcast motors run or sound any different than '70?

[Don R]

 The early motors reportedly had a healthier cam, good compression ratio, free flowing exhaust and hand ported heads. The method of casting may have changed but the rest of the K0's were fast also.