Topic: From Rundown & Ragged.. To A Mean, Clean & Shiny Machine - My 1977 Honda CB750 K

[Ellz10]

Hey all! I know I should've started my project thread and accompanying journey quite some time ago, but for one reason or another, probably just pure complacency, I never got around to doing it. But I'm doing it now, so better late than never, right?

This bike is a 1977 Honda CB750 K.

My old man and I went to see it back in 2009 when I was a junior in high school. It was only a few blocks down the road from us. Anyways, we went and looked at it and of course I just had to have it, being an overly excited and idiotic teenage with dreams of grandeur and cafe racing. Looking back now, I should've held off for a better looking and running 750. But I was an impatient kid that needed an attitude adjustment and wouldn't take no for an answer, so I paid $900 for it, clean Michigan title, 22k original miles (and boy were those miles ROUGH from the looks of the bike).

Got it home and then the following month took it out to a local mechanic and spent almost $1,800, and got ripped off in my opinion, to get the bike tuned up and road worthy. 2 days after I got it back I'm cruising down the road and the throttle cable snaps. Guess he didn't care to check out everything. Oh well. Hooked a tow strap to the front forks and had a buddy pull me to his house which wasn't that far thankfully. And from there I towed it to our family storage unit and there it sat until December 20th, 2020.

Cue the curtain and ominous background music...

So going into this project I had a rough, and I mean very rough, idea of where I wanted to go with it and what I wanted it to look like. I can say that it wasn't exactly on point, but close. And ultimately I am very pleased with the end result. The designs I had formed in my mind changed from time to time based off of the different 750s and other bikes of that Era, that I had seen people restoring and modifying. I never initially set a budget for this project and I learned the VERY hard way that that was a bad idea, because of course a stock motor sounded cool in the beginning, but then an 836 sounded even better. Oh wait, I can get lighter and stronger Carillo rods? Oh yeah, I'm going need those. I can lighten and balance my crank and alternator? Yep, add that to the piles. So on and so forth - you get the idea. There were countless times where I almost said no, but after so much money was spent, I might as well get what I want. What's another few hundred, right? *sigh*

I learned SO MANY things the hard way. Some things I learned the hard way more than once. I've always been the type of person who does better by watching someone do something as opposed to reading it in a book, however I will say that Mark's Book was an exception. His book was one of the first things I bought, along with a camcorder and tripod - I recorded the entire disassembly of the bike, motor and then the subsequent rebuilding of the motor and bike. I'm really glad I did so.

A few things I learned along the way..
• It doesn't pay to take the cheap way out
• Listen to the guys that have been doing this forever
• Practice something until you feel like you're decent at it, and then practice alot more (especially with welding)
• If you're not a helluva good welder, then you better be a damn good grinder (ask me how I know)
• Plan for the future as best you can. I spent countless hours doing body work on my gas tank just to have it sent out to be painted and he had to blast it all off to guarantee his work
• Don't annoy Cal too much, or you'll get on his bad side, hah!
• Mark (Hondaman) is an absolute treasure trove of knowledge!


Alrighty, that's my intro. Now I'll post some pics of my journey!


This is what she looked like before!










The PO welded, and yes I said WELDED, the swingarm pivot bolt to the frame. Hard to fix stupid I guess.





Tearing it down.








Vaporblasted parts.






Learned the hard way not to use a damn screwdriver to pop the cases

[Ellz10]

Learned the fine art of cataloging






Mocked it up for the first time





I learned that there's tool called a piston compression tool and THAT'S how you get them into the cylinder. That one took awhile to live down from my buddies.






Saw another thread here about these push button latches and knew right away that that's what I wanted for my tank!













Never even heard of the word plastigage before! Now I have.






Side note to everyone - if you keep turning the socket, it'll eventually snap off. EDM saved my rear on this one.





Had to clean them up a bit and let then dry for a few days just to be sure.







Top end assembly. Very grateful for the stickied thread about rebuilding the top end. I had some blue loctite stuck in one of my oil passages and never would've thought to look!







Degreeing the cam and all the other fun stuff. Learn so many things I never even knew about.

[Ellz10]

The rear hoop was quite an adventure, I'll say that.












Time to make a seat!











I'm very proud of my electrics tray! Probably one of the few things I did well without input from anyone else.













Fabricated my own battery box! It mounts to the underside of the swingarm!









I also learned that some specialty tools are worth the money spent.





I went thru a couple different variations of my m.Lock holder including using ABS plastic molded over a socket end, but in the end I decided to do some 3D mapping and ended up with a flexible holder that turned out better than I had initially thought.











Rigged up some blocks to put her on her side nicely, then put the frame over.






Some, but not all, of the goodies!

[Ellz10]

Ended up doing this little modification I saw in Mark's book!







Ended up running into fitment issues with my rear brake strap due to the increased tire size from 130 to 150, so the brake strap I bought from Joker wouldn't fit. So I fabricated up my own and drilled some holes into it and got it powdercoated along with everything else. You can see it on the finished bike pics at the end of this post! I'm very pleased with how it turned out! 3rd pic shows the Joker strap I bought that wouldn't fit.







Here's the 20T shop press I bought from Harbor Freight. Drove 2 hours to get it since ours was out of stock and then get it home just to find out the manual bottle jack was busted. Nothing would fix it. So instead of taking it back, I just went and bought a pneumatic bottle jack, drilled some holes and made a few modifications and now I've got a pneumatic 20T shop press. Love it!





Well I tried, but in the end my efforts weren't good enough. Ended up talking to my buddy who has a mill and we milled out these shock mount spacers! What do you think?!








I was VERY nervous and hesitant to do the wiring, as I'd never done any sort of wiring before in my life, but with the help of the internet, YouTube and lifesaving help from Cal and several others, I was able to execute this full wiring job pretty well!








For some reason, I thought that making some spark plug leads/wires would be more difficult than it was. Thankfully I had a super informative and instructive YouTube video to follow!






Had the same buddy that helped mill up my shock mount spacers, mill out this holder for my battery cable and carb vent tubes!






Here's my oil vapor catch can I made up! Neat little design I made out of a brake fluid reservoir. Turned it upside down, drilled some holes and stuffed with a small bit of air filter material.






Final mock-up before sending everything out for paint.






Fabricated a mount for my ABM Brake Fluid Reservoir. Welded some stock to make an "L" shape, then drilled some holes and had it powdercoated.









After doing quite a bit of research, especially since I have the SumpThing installed, I was able to find that the Delkevic 4-1s for the '79-'82 750s will fit the earlier 750s with a bit of modification, mainly shaving down the sides on the outer exhaust ports. They sound nice and saved me at least $1k from having to have a shop custom make an exhaust.









I learned how to polish stainless steel! And boy was it laborious! Also, I didn't realize until after how toxic the compounds can be, so I'll be sure to wear my respirator in the future, but it turned out amazing! Way better than I thought it would!

[Ellz10]

And here we are. At the end of this exhaustive journey. The final end result of over 2.5 years of blood, sweat and tears. Literally. However I wouldn't change a thing. I learned SO SO SO much and that in itself was worth all the headaches. I met alot of good people along the way, in person and over the internet, mostly from this forum.


I want to take this time to give an enormous and very special thank you to Mark (Hondaman), Cal, BertJan at Outsiders Motorcycles for his outstanding product and professionalism, and Frank (Rest in Peace). There are so many more of you on this forum that have gave me amazing and helpful advice over the last few years and I will forever be thankful. Without this forum, it's threads and the people therein, I would NOT have been able to fulfill this goal and dream in the way that I have. Attaining this dream of mine is one of the top 3 greatest moments of my life. I've wanted it for so long. Some of you may think I sound silly or stupid because it's just a bike, but it's far more than that to me. My old man who went with me to get the bike back in 2009 passed away from lung cancer and he made me promise him that I would build this bike into the coolest, most badass cafe racer ever. And in my heart and mind, I've done just that.

Thank you everyone!












Below is a comprehensive list of all that was done to this bike such as engine work and frame work, as well as any and all parts I used and/or installed!

Carillo Connecting Rods
WiseCo Pistons 11.5 (836)
Super Studs (Cylinder Studs)
CX-11 Cam
New Cush Drive Bearing
Super Gasket Set (65mm)
Treated Main Bearings
Treated Rod Bearings
Adjustable Cam Sprocket Kit
Dowel Pin Kit
Super Flow Valve Set
Cast Guides
Spring Set
Primary Chains
Tsubaki Cam Chains (Cryo)
Primary Chain Tensioner
Magnetic Oil Drain Plug
Bore & Hone 65mm
Alternator Lightened and Balanced
Undercut Transmission
Cush Drive Rebuild
Combustion Chamber Blending Modification
Head Job (Both sides of head surfaced, guides replaced and reamed, valve job) -
Vapor Blasted Entire Engine and Parts
Line Lap Engine Cases
Refurbish Electric Starter
Rebuild Output Shaft
De-tabbed All Stock Tabs
Removed Triangles (Both Sides)
Cut Off Rear End
Welded Custom Rear Hoop
Welded Custom Seat Tabs
Fabricated Custom Electronics Tray
Welded Cross Member for Structure Under Seat
Richer needles currently installed are 9DZH03
Brembo T-Drive rotors
Front shocks and Brembo calipers off a 2019 Suzuki GSX-R 600
Vesrah Race Pro brake pads
Parts from CognitoMoto:
• Triple tree with stem
• Rear sets
• Sun Buchanan rims (Front and Rear)
• Woodcraft clip-ons
• LED Projector Headlight
• Motodemic headlight brackets
• Spiegler SS branded brake lines
• Custom airbox
• Bates LED taillight
• Vertical license plate holder
Most of Motogadget's electronics:
• M.Unit
• M.Lock
• Positive Battery Cable with fuse
• 3-button switches (L & R)
• M.Blaze turn signal discs
• M.Grips (Aluminum)
• M.Stop relay switch
• M.View polished mirrors
Rick's Reg/Rec
Rick's Electric Starter
Rick's starter solenoid
Antigravity battery
Velona Daytona speedo and tach (2 separate gauges)
YSS Shocks custom made
Brembo RCS19 Corsa Corta master brake cylinder
Brembo clutch lever
Mikuni RS34 Carbs
Dynatek Ignition Coils
NGK plug caps and wires
Joker Machine horn
The SumpThing oil conversion kit
Delkevic 4-1 SS Exhaust
DID 630 Chain
Avon Cobra Chrome tires



There's probably several parts and things that I'm missing, but I'll add them to the list as I remember them.

Lastly, I want to say that the only thing I have left to do on this build is fabricate the rear cowl that'll sit directly behind the seat backing. Once I get that completed and back from paint, I'll throw it on and post some updated pics, but other than that she is good to go, and I could not be happier with the end result. I did it. I built a bike.

[denward17]

Dang, you did a lot of work, Looks great!

Your Dad would be proud.  Looking forward to video of it running.

Good Luck finishing it up.

[Ellz10]

Dang, you did a lot of work, Looks great!

Your Dad would be proud.  Looking forward to video of it running.

Good Luck finishing it up.

Thanks so much Dennis, it means alot!

There's so much work I did that I didn't post, but it was all worth it in the end.

Tomorrow I'm pulling the motor and splitting the cases to see what the noise is from and the gear sticking. My guess is pointing towards bent shift forks. Possibly some bad gears. Won't know til I get in there, but I'm leaving the top end assembled to save me some time, money and hassle. I'll be updating here with the results.

[MauiK3]

Big job!!

[Shtonecb500]

looks like you put some serious coin into this, nice fit and finish, I hope you are able to resolve your bottom end issue all on your own so you dont have to come out of pocket anymore.

Nice paint, aggressive looking wheels, Im usually not a fan of those model tanks but your paint job compliments it.

Carry on.

[Kevin D]

Yes , I like the multiple stripes on the tank.
Too bad you have to split the cases for trouble…
I’m sure you want to get on down the road, but all in due time.
Have you put a total on your material list?

[scubanerdnick]

Man this was awesome to see!  Fantastic job on it and I'm sure your Dad would be proud of your efforts on this one.  The bike looks totally rad.

Great job

[Ellz10]

Big job!!

It was definitely something!

looks like you put some serious coin into this, nice fit and finish, I hope you are able to resolve your bottom end issue all on your own so you dont have to come out of pocket anymore.

Nice paint, aggressive looking wheels, Im usually not a fan of those model tanks but your paint job compliments it.

Carry on.

Thank you!! To be honest, I did wrestle with the idea of switching out the tank, but in the end the idea of having the cool push-latch gas lid sold me and I decided to keep it. I designed the paint job for this tank, I wanted to use the multi angled areas to my advantage so came up with this after scouring the web for ideas. I will say I did want the front of the lines to come together at sharp edges, but he must've misunderstood.

Yes , I like the multiple stripes on the tank.
Too bad you have to split the cases for trouble…
I’m sure you want to get on down the road, but all in due time.
Have you put a total on your material list?

It is unfortunate, but I'm a strong proponent of "everything happens for a reason" and this could very well be a good thing. Who's to say I didn't take it down the road and then the gears locked up and I went flying and died because of it, ya know? So I'll just roll with the punches, get it down and then I can enjoy the open road finally on this bad girl! I'm taking the motor apart today, so if all goes well it could be back in and running in a few days.

So as far as a total, not including the price of the bike, nor any sort of personal labor costs, I'm sitting at roughly $19.5k and that's with the cost of the paint job. I save all my receipts so I'll know for sure whenever I get around to adding them all up and cataloging them.

Man this was awesome to see!  Fantastic job on it and I'm sure your Dad would be proud of your efforts on this one.  The bike looks totally rad.

Great job

Thank you so much, I appreciate that! I hope he would be proud.

[Kevin D]

Ellz, I don’t know where you’re at in Michigan but if you ever get downstate with your Honda I want to see it and hear it and ride alongside for a bit, okay?

Your Dad would be be very proud.

[Rookster]

Great build!  Where did you have the vapor blasting done?
Thanks
Scott

[Ellz10]

Ellz, I don’t know where you’re at in Michigan but if you ever get downstate with your Honda I want to see it and hear it and ride alongside for a bit, okay?

Your Dad would be be very proud.

I'd absolutely love to Kev! I'm up in Traverse City, probably a couple hours from you, but I've got family down in Algonac/St. Claire area that I visit often, and I plan on making a trip with this bike when she's up and running and highway worthy! I'll be in touch!

Great build!  Where did you have the vapor blasting done?
Thanks
Scott

Hey Scott! Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it!

So I got all my vaporblasting done by a guy I know in Ridgway, PA - he's done an absolutely immaculate job everytime I've sent something. His business is called Arnold's Design.

[seanbarney41]

Ellz, I don’t know where you’re at in Michigan but if you ever get downstate with your Honda I want to see it and hear it and ride alongside for a bit, okay?

Your Dad would be be very proud.

I'd absolutely love to Kev! I'm up in Traverse City, probably a couple hours from you, but I've got family down in Algonac/St. Claire area that I visit often, and I plan on making a trip with this bike when she's up and running and highway worthy! I'll be in touch!

Great build!  Where did you have the vapor blasting done?
Thanks
Scott

Hey Scott! Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it!

So I got all my vaporblasting done by a guy I know in Ridgway, PA - he's done an absolutely immaculate job everytime I've sent something. His business is called Arnold's Design.

I want in on this!  High time for an all Michigan sohc4 get together and ride.  I know I got some tasty stuff to bring to the party.

[HondaMan]

That's surely a show-worthy custom, and a real head-turner! I'd bet your dad would love it.
Glad you lived through it! For a while there, I thought you might give up.

[Gamma]

Well that was a very interesting read, I’m hoping you don’t find anything to bad going on when you strip her

[Gurp]

So when are you starting the next build?
Can't wait to see it after this one! Great work man!

[Ellz10]

Ellz, I don’t know where you’re at in Michigan but if you ever get downstate with your Honda I want to see it and hear it and ride alongside for a bit, okay?

Your Dad would be be very proud.

I'd absolutely love to Kev! I'm up in Traverse City, probably a couple hours from you, but I've got family down in Algonac/St. Claire area that I visit often, and I plan on making a trip with this bike when she's up and running and highway worthy! I'll be in touch!

Great build!  Where did you have the vapor blasting done?
Thanks
Scott

Hey Scott! Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it!

So I got all my vaporblasting done by a guy I know in Ridgway, PA - he's done an absolutely immaculate job everytime I've sent something. His business is called Arnold's Design.

I want in on this!  High time for an all Michigan sohc4 get together and ride.  I know I got some tasty stuff to bring to the party.

Heck yeah! Sounds like a good time to me, I'd love to see what ya bring!

That's surely a show-worthy custom, and a real head-turner! I'd bet your dad would love it.
Glad you lived through it! For a while there, I thought you might give up.

That is high praise coming from you Mark! If it wasn't for you and your book, I'm not sure how far I would've gotten nor how much longer it would've taken me to get there. Thank you for returning each and every email I ever sent, no matter how stupid the question or topic!

There was never a single time I thought about giving up! There were however, MANY times I wanted to put my head thru the wall and rip my nonexistent hair out of my head, hah!

Thanks again so much!

Well 5hatbwas a very interesting read, I’m hoping you don’t find anything to bad going on when you strip her

Thanks lol. I know I didn't exactly follow the status quo when posting a project thread!

I hope not, but we'll see. Regardless of whatever needs fixed, I just hope that I can find the part to replace it!

So when are you starting the next build?
Can't wait to see it after this one! Great work man!

Thanks!!!

Unfortunately I promised my wife that I would wait to start my next build until AFTER we got our new house *sigh*.

So my guess would be in about 6 months, that being contingent upon when we find the house we like and want, however with this housing market we're in, it's anybody guess.

I'm almost 100% sure I'm going to be doing a Honda Shadow VLX600 custom build, I'm pretty excited!

[Kevin D]

Ellz, I don’t know where you’re at in Michigan but if you ever get downstate with your Honda I want to see it and hear it and ride alongside for a bit, okay?

Your Dad would be be very proud.

I'd absolutely love to Kev! I'm up in Traverse City, probably a couple hours from you, but I've got family down in Algonac/St. Claire area that I visit often, and I plan on making a trip with this bike when she's up and running and highway worthy! I'll be in touch!

Great build!  Where did you have the vapor blasting done?
Thanks
Scott

Hey Scott! Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it!

So I got all my vaporblasting done by a guy I know in Ridgway, PA - he's done an absolutely immaculate job everytime I've sent something. His business is called Arnold's Design.

I want in on this!  High time for an all Michigan sohc4 get together and ride.  I know I got some tasty stuff to bring to the party.

Heck yeah! Sounds like a good time to me, I'd love to see what ya bring!

I posted two Mid Michigan events to the calendar today:
 Sunday August 20  VJMC meet in Hell
 Sunday September 17 All Clubs Day in Stockbridge

[Ellz10]

Got the motor out safely today. I will say that removal was much smoother than I had initially anticipated!

Going to situate some wood blocks then turn it upside down and split the cases and see what's going on.

I will note that upon removing the oil pan, I observed ALOT of metal shavings many of which were
good sized slivers. Also, all of the oil and the oil filter were packed with glittery metal shavings.

I already know l'll be replacing SOMETHING, I just hope that I'll be able to find the part(s) to replace them with. I'I keep y'all updated!

[denward17]

Good Luck Ellz...

[Ellz10]

Good Luck Ellz...

Thank you!

It's such a blow to the gut to have to do this after so long! But these things happen I suppose. The sooner I get in there and fix it, the sooner I'll be out enjoying the open road!

[newday777]

Bummer......