Topic: Garage sale find '75 CB750 refresh

[mk2drew]

Hello Everyone. Just picked a 1975 CB750k at a garage sale and wanted to share a little bit of the cleanup and refresh process.

Pretty brief story on this one. My wife and I were out searching garage sales over the weekend when we drove by one house and I saw they had some sort of motorcycle for sale. All I could initially see was a big white fairing and what looked to be some sort of Honda. When I got closer my jaw dropped when I saw it was a CB750. After about 30 seconds of convincing my wife that I had to take this home, I made the seller and offer and was the new owner of this rather ugly, not running, 1975 CB750.





Almost immediately removed the Windjammer and the cases and brought it back to what it should somewhat look like.





Once I got it stripped down a little bit I could see all of the crud that built up over the years.





Seized caliper and bad fork seals.



Unfortunately a couple of the pipes have some rust holes.



Cleaned up okay after an initial wash. Need to get in there with some degreaser but wanted to get most of the junk off before working on getting it to fire up.















Wiring is pretty hacked together so i'll address that soon. a lot of these crappy quick splice connectors.



Still a lot more deep cleaning needed but I got it to the stage where I was ready to try firing it up. Hooked up a new battery and got to fire up spraying some carb cleaner in the carbs so i was pretty excited about that.

Started taking the carbs apart for a cleaning yesterday evening and going to get them assembled and back on the bike today to see if it will run with the new fuel and cleaned up carbs.

Need to source a different seat and exhaust and a few odds and ends that I may have in some bins somewhere. Overall extremely happy with it and just wanted to share some progress.

[denward17]

Nice find, looking forward to progress reports.

[CycleRanger]

Howdy! Welcome!
Only 30 seconds to convince the wife?!
You're a lucky man. 

Great score! My favorite color too. That's the classic 70's Honda time capsule!
Look forward to seeing your progress.
Do you have any other bikes?

[mk2drew]

Howdy! Welcome!
Only 30 seconds to convince the wife?!
You're a lucky man. 

Great score! My favorite color too. That's the classic 70's Honda time capsule!
Look forward to seeing your progress.
Do you have any other bikes?

Thank you! Fortunately she likes the bikes too so it was pretty easy

The only other vintage bike I have is a '74 CB750k. That was purchased in far less original condition, so it's been a cafe project for the past year and a half. It's not much of a looker right now.

[RAFster122s]

Welcome and nice find. While everyone hates he king queen seat,they are comfortable on long trips making saddletime not as fatiguing, behind a Windjammer they tour quite nicely.
So, give the seat a try to see if your opinion changes for long rides…
Ugly as sin most say, but functional.

You likely got a good deal…
Clean up the exhaust and decide if some patches would make it serviceable to let you save 1-2k for a stock exhaust… or put a 4-into-1 stainless Delkevic on it for around $500 shipped.

[mk2drew]

Welcome and nice find. While everyone hates he king queen seat,they are comfortable on long trips making saddletime not as fatiguing, behind a Windjammer they tour quite nicely.
So, give the seat a try to see if your opinion changes for long rides…
Ugly as sin most say, but functional.

You likely got a good deal…
Clean up the exhaust and decide if some patches would make it serviceable to let you save 1-2k for a stock exhaust… or put a 4-into-1 stainless Delkevic on it for around $500 shipped.

Thanks! The little bit I've sat on it, it is quite comfortable. I'm sure it was a smooth ride in it's glory days.

I got a pretty good deal on it so if I've got to spend a bit to get some new stock pipes I'll be in the green. I do have an old Kerker 4 into 1 I may just throw on in the meantime once i get the carbs back on and fire this thing up.

[newday777]

Welcome and nice find. While everyone hates he king queen seat,they are comfortable on long trips making saddletime not as fatiguing, behind a Windjammer they tour quite nicely.
So, give the seat a try to see if your opinion changes for long rides…
Ugly as sin most say, but functional.

You likely got a good deal…
Clean up the exhaust and decide if some patches would make it serviceable to let you save 1-2k for a stock exhaust… or put a 4-into-1 stainless Delkevic on it for around $500 shipped.

Thanks! The little bit I've sat on it, it is quite comfortable. I'm sure it was a smooth ride in it's glory days.

I got a pretty good deal on it so if I've got to spend a bit to get some new stock pipes I'll be in the green. I do have an old Kerker 4 into 1 I may just throw on in the meantime once i get the carbs back on and fire this thing up.

That's a great find.
If you hurry you can get a set of no number repop 4into4 pipes ordered from Busso for @$1000 shipped to you from Italy in @August. They have to be ordered in the next week for the group order that has been set up as Busso will close off the sale after that and full price will be back up.

Read the write-up of the last batch review and of the group rate order here....
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,131225.msg2246068.html#msg2246068

[newday777]

And welcome aboard the forum.

[Stev-o]

Congrats...looks ten times better already!    What does the inside of the tank look like?  Dont contaminate newly cleaned carbs with a bad fuel supply.

[willbird]

The splice connectors were perhaps included with the new windjammer. My bike still has the jammer and until a few weeks ago still had those blue splices.

Bill

[BenelliSEI]

It never ceases to amaze me! How many more Honda cb’s are still stashed in garages around North America? They just keep appearing. Nice find and best of luck.

[mk2drew]

Congrats...looks ten times better already!    What does the inside of the tank look like?  Dont contaminate newly cleaned carbs with a bad fuel supply.

It actually looks pretty good, surprisingly. Cant see any rust. I'll give it a little clean though when I'm ready to get the carbs put back on and new fuel lines.

[mk2drew]

It never ceases to amaze me! How many more Honda cb’s are still stashed in garages around North America? They just keep appearing. Nice find and best of luck.

Thank you! This was maybe a mile or 2 from my house as well and the family really had no idea what it was.

[mk2drew]

While the carbs are soaking a wanted to clean up the chrome a bit. Maybe spent 10-15 minutes on these.




Hit the pipes for just a minute as well just because.

[grcamna2]

Welcome to the forum mk2drew,I love the way you found that CB750:at a Garage sale !!  excellent find.
I've never seen a big top luggage box like that one;what brand is it?

A pizza delivery person would love that top box 

[CycleRanger]

From the shape of that rack I'd guess Triple A.

[mk2drew]

From the shape of that rack I'd guess Triple A.

The boxes are unbranded but the rack does look like a AAA

[mk2drew]

Small update. Got the carbs all cleaned up and really should have waited for the rebuild kit to show up before reassembling but I was impatient. Got the carbs on and tried to fire it up and was struggling to get fuel into the bowls. I noticed the needles were looking pretty rough so I think once I get the rebuild kit and everything replaced I should have better luck. Fortunately these carbs are pretty simple.

I did pop the bowls and messed around with the floats to get some fuel flowing and got it to run for about 30 seconds until it ran out of fuel. All 4 pipes were getting pretty hot so that’s a good sign. Just going to test the coils today, check the spark plugs and ignition timing to make sure everything is good there and hope that when the rebuild kit comes that will help with the fuel delivery.

[BenelliSEI]

Good progress. Great to hear them fire!

[newday777]

Small update. Got the carbs all cleaned up and really should have waited for the rebuild kit to show up before reassembling but I was impatient. Got the carbs on and tried to fire it up and was struggling to get fuel into the bowls. I noticed the needles were looking pretty rough so I think once I get the rebuild kit and everything replaced I should have better luck. Fortunately these carbs are pretty simple.

I did pop the bowls and messed around with the floats to get some fuel flowing and got it to run for about 30 seconds until it ran out of fuel. All 4 pipes were getting pretty hot so that’s a good sign. Just going to test the coils today, check the spark plugs and ignition timing to make sure everything is good there and hope that when the rebuild kit comes that will help with the fuel delivery.

Congrats on getting it to fire off.
But what kits did you order?
You know aftermarket carb kits are known for notoriously bad sized brass parts???

[mk2drew]

Small update. Got the carbs all cleaned up and really should have waited for the rebuild kit to show up before reassembling but I was impatient. Got the carbs on and tried to fire it up and was struggling to get fuel into the bowls. I noticed the needles were looking pretty rough so I think once I get the rebuild kit and everything replaced I should have better luck. Fortunately these carbs are pretty simple.

I did pop the bowls and messed around with the floats to get some fuel flowing and got it to run for about 30 seconds until it ran out of fuel. All 4 pipes were getting pretty hot so that’s a good sign. Just going to test the coils today, check the spark plugs and ignition timing to make sure everything is good there and hope that when the rebuild kit comes that will help with the fuel delivery.

Congrats on getting it to fire off.
But what kits did you order?
You know aftermarket carb kits are known for notoriously bad sized brass parts???

I just got a kit from vintage 750, which I’m sure is still just from China. Must of the brass I’m going to use but I just need to try the needle and floats from a new kit. And the bowl gaskets.

What kits do you recommend for the future? Or just try and save the original brass parts?

[grcamna2]

Small update. Got the carbs all cleaned up and really should have waited for the rebuild kit to show up before reassembling but I was impatient. Got the carbs on and tried to fire it up and was struggling to get fuel into the bowls. I noticed the needles were looking pretty rough so I think once I get the rebuild kit and everything replaced I should have better luck. Fortunately these carbs are pretty simple.

I did pop the bowls and messed around with the floats to get some fuel flowing and got it to run for about 30 seconds until it ran out of fuel. All 4 pipes were getting pretty hot so that’s a good sign. Just going to test the coils today, check the spark plugs and ignition timing to make sure everything is good there and hope that when the rebuild kit comes that will help with the fuel delivery.

Congrats on getting it to fire off.
But what kits did you order?
You know aftermarket carb kits are known for notoriously bad sized brass parts???

I just got a kit from vintage 750, which I’m sure is still just from China. Must of the brass I’m going to use but I just need to try the needle and floats from a new kit. And the bowl gaskets.

What kits do you recommend for the future? Or just try and save the original brass parts?

I carefully clean and save the original brass parts when I rebuild carbs;I only replace the rubber parts during a carb. job.

[BenelliSEI]

I’ve used kits from Vintagecb750.com that are “made in Japan” with good success.

[newday777]

Yes save the original brass. Clean it.
When I need something
https://www.southsoundhonda.com/--xpartsstream#/Honda_Powersports/CB750KA_(76)_750_FOUR%2c_JPN%2c_VIN%23_CB750-2540001_TO_CB750-2575894/CARBURETOR/b3d05c73-22e7-4620-b018-132301d96b6e/2956d6f0-ff36-4614-8698-9bd31eb1e621/y

[britman]

That my friend is a true garage sale find.  Great bones and should come back nicely.  I had the same experience with my Wife when I had my garage sale find of all times years back.  We started not to stop but did, all of the items were laid on tarps on the ground, and there were not many to pick from.  In the middle was a Civil War Cavalry sword in great condition with 10 dollars on the price tag.  I couldn't hand the money over fast enough while my Wife was saying, "What are you going to do with that old thing"?  I still have it and refuse to part with it, my moment of glory.  BTW, what is your bike showing as mileage on the clock, a lot of times when the old guys decked them out like that, they put some miles on them.....