Topic: 1976 Honda cb750K

[BenelliSEI]

This week I’m going to put this bike up on a table. I haven’t checked my notes, but I bet I bought it at least 5-6 years ago! The result of an unsolicited phone call, from a fellow CVMG (Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group) member. He’d heard I collected and restored cb750’s and wanted rid of “his cursed project”. He’d picked it up as a garage sale find. Super clean bike, that had been stored for many years, low mileage, no rust, but definitely sold “as is”.
      He took it to a well known tuner, who then discovered that the “stuck motor” was really a fuked motor! Eventually the shop built him a K4 engine, and put it all back together. It looked great when he took it home around Christmas time. In the Spring, he fired it up and it ran poorly. Replaced all kinds of parts and got more and more frustrated. I really wasn’t interested and he also lived 250 miles away from our farm!
       The hook came when he sent me pictures. He had done a lot of work and the bike looked great! New seat, nice set of 341’s, new tires, brakes done, etc. He really wanted rid of it and winter was once again on the way (around this time of year). He asked such a ridiculously low price that I hooked up my trailer and set off the next day!
        When I got there, it looked even better than in the photos, I loaded up and took off, no dickering. Fired it up and it did run very poorly. Pulled the carbs, ran them through the ultra sonic tank and replaced the intake manifolds. Idle jets were plugged solid. Dropped in a new battery and it ran like a top.

To be Continued.

[rocket johnny]

as a fellow k-6 owner will be following your post .   the best thing i ever did for mine after getting the carbs dialed in , i added a hondaman elect. ignition .  no more fun and games with the points and it fires up with a touch of the started button .    you getting yours ready for sale ?

[BenelliSEI]

A few years later, I finally got hold of a Rickman Honda CR750 race bike, that I had been chasing down for many years. The race motor was heavily modified and could not be fitted with electric start. I sold it to a forum member. The Rickman is a ‘74 and I needed a motor. Mmmmm.
     Popped it out of the K6 and it was a great match. The stripped down K6 went under cover, to the back of the shop. The Rickman came with a truck load of parts, including several engines  in various states (a racer never passes up spare parts).
     Forum member “Lash” needed a few for his projects, so about two years ago, he took them all. One had case numbers very close to the frame number of the K6, so the deal was he’d build it for me……NO RUSH.

[BenelliSEI]

as a fellow k-6 owner will be following your post .   the best thing i ever did for mine after getting the carbs dialed in , i added a hondaman elect. ignition .  no more fun and games with the points and it fires up with a touch of the started button .    you getting yours ready for sale ?

My regular ride is a K1. My son rides my K3 and my grandson is now riding a dirt bike all over the farm and nearby trails. Will need a third one soon?

[BenelliSEI]

Lash phoned me a few weeks ago. No more excuses for this build……

[BenelliSEI]

Lash built me a VERY fresh engine, starting with a lot of parts he put through his self made vapour blaster. I’ll need to bring the bike up a few points to match the finish of this  motor!

[BenelliSEI]

+20 years ago, I built a really nice K6. A good friend in Quebec is still riding it. The plan is to get this one to the same level!

[grcamna2]

Do you have the engine which member Lash built for you yet John ?

[denward17]

John, you have a beautiful collection.

[newday777]

+20 years ago, I built a really nice K6. A good friend in Quebec is still riding it. The plan is to get this one to the same level!

Nice!
This will be a fun watch John.

[BenelliSEI]

Do you have the engine which member Lash built for you yet John ?

Not yet, just the pictures! Dwayne lives a few hours away from me and despite having her cast removed and now in a “walking boot” my wife is still stuck inside, on her “wheelie chair”. Not a good time to disappear for a day. When I go to visit, I’d like to be able to waste some time there. Dwayne has a lovely collection of Hondas!

[BenelliSEI]

John, you have a beautiful collection.

Thanks! It’s slightly diminished lately, but still keeps me busy. One of our CVMG members was in my shop a few days ago (a serious BMW enthusiast) and took a real shine to my K8! It was actually my first cb750 and I’ve had it for  +30 years. I said “No” but he’s pretty persistent.

[BenelliSEI]

+20 years ago, I built a really nice K6. A good friend in Quebec is still riding it. The plan is to get this one to the same level!

Nice!
This will be a fun watch John.

Stu…. I’ll pull it out this week and will post photos. From memory, it’s a pretty complete machine and the previous owner did a lot of clean up. It has the dreaded “motor safety switch” which I think I jumpered around using instructions I found on here. Oddly, it also had one rear wheel spoke completely missing, with no sign of the nipple stuck in the rim. That tire will be coming off in the very near future!

[BenelliSEI]

A very nice set of carbs for this project came from “WideAWAKE”, a few months ago. Two Forum contributors already! He also included the correct top boots, so after another good tank session, these will go on the K6.

[HondaMan]

Beautiful work!

[Stev-o]

Sounds like a fun project John....along for the ride.

[BenelliSEI]

Thanks Steve……. Dug out my notes and the bike today. I picked it up in 2016 so it’s soon to be 8 years ago. Yikes! In addition to doing the plugged up carbs, I flushed out the tank, completely rebuilt the front brake and master (painted and new pads), replaced the oil switch and four new plugs. I also mounted a new front fender and a really clean #4 pipe. I think the original had a patch. Both these bits were from my stash of parts that came with the 7 “Pickering bikes” I had bought earlier that year.

On July 21, 2016 I rode the bike on a 28 mile “test loop” around our country neighbourhood and concluded that it ran exceptionally well, brakes were nice and the front forks seals were dry, but “change the fluid” would be a good idea. Never did it. Noted a small oil drip around #4 spark plug. When I ran that motor in the Rickman a few years later that leak was in fact a rubber “puck” and I also discovered a totally buggered cam carrier cap and hardware that got fixed then.

Got the bike up on a work table and noted the total mileage on a very clean speedo is 27,541. The oil tank and lines are MIA. I wonder how many bits I’ve “borrowed” over the past few years?? The whole thing looks very tidy, but could use a fresh spoke set to really make it stand out. Rims are smart and the tires were new when I bought it. Will have a closer inspection and do a parts inventory, next time. Have a look!

[newday777]

That tank looks sweet !

[BenelliSEI]

That tank looks sweet !

Stu….. It has some “patina” on the other side, but great colour. The side covers are very nice, so I won’t be touching them! Just noticed in some other photos that the battery box is missing too. I think I used a lot of bits when I “mocked up” the Rickman. Somewhere I must have a box with all these parts……?

[seanbarney41]

The one and only color for the 76k is a very handsome shade.  I sold a nice one for too little money years ago and regret it.

[BenelliSEI]

The one and only color for the 76k is a very handsome shade.  I sold a nice one for too little money years ago and regret it.

Sean…… You and me both! Definitely a few items make it easy to spot a long way off. The colour and  “frying pan” turn signals are fairly obvious. I like the green faced gauges too. Never seen a good explanation for that green. I will likely keep this one for my Grandson!

Thinking about this afterwards. Those big turnsignals first came on a K5?

[BenelliSEI]

Reading through my seven year old notes…..
Bike is frame number: cb750-2564XXX.
The engine that came out of the Rickman stash is cb750E-2563XXX.
Close enough!

[newday777]

Yes John, K5 was the 1st year of the big turn signals.
I bought my 1st 750 new in 75, a Planet Blue K5 with the frying pan signals, but had to replace it a year later after I watched my ex cousin total it. There weren't any more Planet Blue in stock so I got a K6 and put 45,000 miles on it before selling it in 1983. So I also am partial to the Antares Red of the K6 and now have 2 project K6s. The 1st one I've had since 2015, and it's been in a stalled state(lack of $$) I fully stripped it down in 2015 to the frame and the motor has the top end off to rebuild as it was locked up from mice pee in 2 cylinders. This K6 I set up from the crate for my oldest brother when I was parts manager. He had me put on a Vetter fairing, Shoei bags and 10" rise bars. He only had it a year or 2 before taking a job in Chicago and didn't want to take it there needing to buy a house for his family so my dad bought it and rode it to work for a couple years on good days while he was service manager at Sears. He sold it to a friend of mine that wanted a K6 in 1979/80? who rode it until 1988 when it puked oil on his dress pants on the way to work one morning. He parked it when he got home that night under his lean-to, then bought a shed in 94 where the mice took up residence with a 2 story penthouse condo......a nest in the tool tray and a birthing chamber under the carbs and air filter..... it has 25,000 miles on it.
The second K6 I got in a package deal of 6 rolling frames, 4 with motors, and a separate K5 motor with an 836 kit, SS2 cam and the ports are polished, (it was in a chopper)  but I need to open up the bottom end as it sat upside down in my friend's shed without the oil pan so I want to inspect it as well as new gaskets in the top end. The cam looks like it has low miles on it. I also need to strip off the black and red paint job on that K5 motor as there's lots of peeling paint. Hopefully the hotrod K5 motor will live again over this winter to go in my brother/dad's K6, until I can rebuild the original motor for it.
I'm not sure how many miles are on the 2nd K6 as someone put a K7/K8 front end on it including the gauges at some point of it's life, but the motor kicks over still.

[BenelliSEI]

Stu….. Just read this and the start of your new Project File. I’ll be following along!
John D.

[newday777]

After reading this thread John I figured I'd better start my own project thread....