GREETINGS.. Newbie here.. thinking about restoring a Honda CB750K3 that I "FOUND" in my girlfriends back yard.. ya see she moved in to this house and the previous owner had played around with bikes in the past.. he didn't want to have to move the bikes so he basically left everything as is... he said if I wanted the bike, it was mine.. problem is he never had the title.. so that would be my first order of business..
Now to the order of business..
The good:
-Engine turns over easily with the kick start.. sound like it has good compression.
-front wheel is pristine
-All chrome is in good shape (after we washed it up)
-oil is clean and looks new(ish)
-doesn't seem to have ever been layed down..
-all side panels are present
-tank is in good shape
-all rust is superficial ONLY (except on back wheel see below)
-seat is PRISTINE.. now tears or anything..
The bad
-transmission seems to be locked up.. don't know how hard that would be to fix.. i see transmission part for sale all the time on Ebay..
-rear wheel is rusted beyond repair
-exhaust is rusted beyond repair..
-It is missing the headlight (EDIT: I got one off of ebay along with a Clymers manual)
-front caliper and rotor are missing..
-master cylinder is DRY so it will need to be rebuilt.
-tires hold air but are checked and rotted and need to be replaced
-all cables are shot and need to be replaced.
-It looks as if the owner started to do some wiring in the front but lost interest or removed the parts.. electrical is not a problem as my dad is an electrical engineer and can help me with the wiring..
-plug wires are shot..
-chain need replacing..
The pics look bad because we have BAD pollen down here.. I have since washed it up and DAMN it looks good.. Chrome looks AWESOME!!!!! So basically everything WHITE or GREEN you see on the bike just WIPES off..
Is it worth keeping and fixing or part the #$%* out for $$$$$$
This would be my first bike..
I remember your posts from the old board, how are you fairing in louisiana now that the hurricane has hit?
Still waiting on pics of your bike after you cleaned it up. Those before pics look awful but if you know how the louisiana weather affect bikes you know it ins't as bad as some of the rust bucketrs hanging around the north. I have resurected worse bikes pulled from louisiana salvage yards.
If I remember correctly you are kinda new to bikes also. What do you mean the transmission is locked? does the lever not shift it? Chances are the clutch plates are locked together meaning that when you pull in the clutch the trans is still in gear (this is a common problem amoung bikes that sit espically in louisiana). Because the bike is in gear and the clutch is locked you may not be able to shift it out of gear without rocking it back and fourth. Really this would mean the clutch needs a rebuild but the way we used to break these clutches loose is to ride the bike up the street with the clutch lever in until the plates seperated. YOu may want to just rebuild the clutch (it will need it anyway) and go from there. Sounds like the bike just needs the usual stuff you do when you restore a bike. Clancy's in Gretna is a pretty nice salavge yard with tons of cb750 parts and you may be able to get all you need through him (provided it is still there after the hurricane). Almost all the parts you need are available either used or new (things like caliper rebuild kits and plugs are commonly available at your honda dealer).
Personally I don't think you are nuts for trying to redo the bike because I know it probably isn't as bad as it looks. Now lets some some after the clean up pics.
Edit: I sould really slow down and read all posts, otherwise I would have seen you mention me. It's Kerry from (formerly) New Orleans. One thing I have learned about bikes in louisiana is that while corrosion is common to the outside surfaces, if you have good airtight seal the internals will be as perfect as they were when running. I have pulled nasty corroded engines apart only to find fresh machine work inside, this is after the bike sat outside for over a year. There isn't that much variance in the temprature so if something (espically rubber) is kept in oil it will usually stay looking fresh. The heat tends to dry out all rubber items that are kept well lubed (like the carb rubbers).
I forgot all about the rear brakes on the cb750, they are not airtight and if that rim is as bad as you say then the brake shoes are probably corroded to the lining. The correct way would be to disassemble the back wheel and try and knock the rear brake free. The hammer mechanic way would be to get a rubber mallet, disconect the brake drum lever arm and give the brake actuating arm a few light taps. An easy way to check if the rear brake drum is stuck is to remove the brake stay and try and turn the inside of the brake with the wheel stationary, if it does not turn give it a few whacks to see if you can loosen it up otherwise that sucker needs to come off. While you have the rubber mallet in hand give the frotn caliper a whack to make sure it is not stuck.
AS for chopping the bike it would probably be a good canidate for this but I recomend learning to ride a stocker before attempting to go out and ride something with poor handeling and suspension geometry. Not that i am one to talk my honda chop is a death trap, but I have been riding since I was 15. As for the resto you don't have to do a correct paint, numbers matching resto, a couple of rattle cans of paint is usually all you need cosmetically speaking - you don't have to get fancy.
