Topic: Phaedrus: CB750 RestoMod - Update: 09/23/21 w/ new video

[MCRider]

Wow.  I take some time off from reading threads a lot happens!

Glad to hear you're improving, Ron and back now to working on the bike.  I hope you also had the foresight to tell the doctors to put in a turbo switch while they had you opened up?   

Ron

Yeah, a lots happened in the last few years. I didn't like the way the turbo hooked up to the exhaust  , so we opted for some nitrous  .

[MCRider]

Last week, we sorted out the pieces left over from my chainguard fabrication exercise. May have a buyer. Really trying to reduce the volume of stuff in my shop/garage.



This week, we got the CycleX exhaust. Removed the old one, good riddance, and dry fitted up the new one. It appears to be well made, and fitting my criteria. ie: way clears the oil filter, drainpan, for keeping track of the engine via oil pump screen, and after some twerking, the mufflers ought to come off and on quickly for aid in cleaning the wheel. Only thing missing is an obvious way to stop the centerstand. But that should be doable.

The spigots were actually loose in the head.     Since they aren't used with the new pipe, took them all the way off.



Next is to procure some late model finned clamps from eBay. Then store everything away and continue prep for engine removal. 

[MCRider]

Rats! Ohio Mile is no more. It was one unused runway of a little used regional airport. Amazon or something like that has purchased the property for a distribution center.

Rick has moved to Arizona, pre-retirement I think. His son Preston is still here and will assume duties of pilot at the drag strip.

Working on prep for pulling the engine and attempting to goop up some oil leaks.

Received some exhaust flanges from CycleX for the new pipe I bought from them. Hope to mock it up for a pic, and determining how it will mount and how we will stop the centerstand.

[RAFster122s]

Where is she leaking?  Sorry to hear about Ohio Mile...
Rick owned that strip?

Figured you would prefer a supercharger...steady solid strong pull out of the motor without a turbo lag or messy plumbing...

[MCRider]

Where is she leaking?  Sorry to hear about Ohio Mile...
Rick owned that strip?

Figured you would prefer a supercharger...steady solid strong pull out of the motor without a turbo lag or messy plumbing...

It seems to be weeping at the crankcase seam across the front. And drips form on the main bearing studs (I have the HD studs rather than the OEM bolts.)

No, Rick is just a friend who did some LSR stuff. Has 2 WLSR at Bonneville and 3 at the now defunct Ohio Mile. The East Coast Timing Assoc (ECTA.com) had the lease on the strip. They are looking for another facility

No, normally aspirated is all I care for. I expect the new pipe, 4 into 2, has more open mufflers. But really, hp is not the top priority as I don't think we're getting what we have on the road. The pipe will give full access to the filter without the mess of a 4-1, and access to the oil pump, which the screen will need to be monitored.

[MCRider]

Big thanks to CBJoe and friend! We got the engine pulled and positioned on the bench. Pics to follow. I'm psyched to at least try and seal this bottom end up more like it should be.

The new pipes should allow for more ease in maintenance.      

The electrical feed from the pole to the house/shop fried and we were without heaters, and only some lighting. But we got it done.

Indpls Power and Light made it here in a few hours and replaced the entire line from the pole to the house, about 60+' or so. and all's well now.

[CBJoe]

Big thanks to CBJoe and friend! We got the engine pulled and positioned on the bench. Pics to follow. I'm psyched to at least try and seal this bottom end up more like it should be.

The new pipes should allow for more ease in maintenance.      

The electrical feed from the pole to the house/shop fried and we were without heaters, and only some lighting. But we got it done.

Indpls Power and Light made it here in a few hours and replaced the entire line from the pole to the house, about 60+' or so. and all's well now.

Glad to help Ron!  Wow...so did anything on your side get damaged or was it all on IPL's feed side?  Strange situation

[MCRider]

Big thanks to CBJoe and friend! We got the engine pulled and positioned on the bench. Pics to follow. I'm psyched to at least try and seal this bottom end up more like it should be.

The new pipes should allow for more ease in maintenance.      

The electrical feed from the pole to the house/shop fried and we were without heaters, and only some lighting. But we got it done.

Indpls Power and Light made it here in a few hours and replaced the entire line from the pole to the house, about 60+' or so. and all's well now.

Glad to help Ron!  Wow...so did anything on your side get damaged or was it all on IPL's feed side?  Strange situation

No, the house was unscathed. The electrician said, pretty quickly, that it wasn't in the panel. Like you said, we "lost a leg" I think is how you both said it. HE said call IPL. He could see the insulation and wire hanging down from the line into the house. The feed from the pole attaches to the ext wall right near the widow in my upstairs office. My wife said she smelled something burning. Must've been the insulation. One man with a cherry picker had it replaced pretty quick.

The electrician said that it often happens when the feed isn't up to the 200Amp service I have. It can get hot but not fail for many years, or just 1. The 200A service was here when I bot the place 20+ years ago.
Hopefully the new one is more capacity. I'm wondering if that's why our lights would pulse with the dryer, not much, but a little.
Thanks again, I forget your buddies' name,  Let me know if you have any questions on your CB77 project.

[grcamna2]

Hey Ron,

Absolutely I'm available with a little bit of notice.  Been travelling for work a bit and heading to Atlanta Sunday for a few days but after that I'm free.  Just let me know when you're thinking.  I can easily round up a second set of hands if you need...just let me know.

Glad to hear you're getting back at it.

Cheers, Joe

Thanks Joe:
It will be purely at your convenience, and possibly (probably) later than sooner. My garage is heated though.

We unloaded the bike today to start making the preps. Ideally, we'll get it out some morning, do the re-gooping, and get it back in later that day. To avoid making it a multi day affair. But its not always in my control. If we find something other than run of the mill, it may be out one day, and back in later on.
I always liked this 90° profile shot:


Pulled the tank and frame rail kit:


After having sat alone on the trailer for 6+ weeks, the trailer rail was covered with oil below the engine. Dang! I mean, after a good hard run at the drags, there was no oil leak obvious for a few weeks.  Then as stated, after neglect for many weeks, there is oil dripping from the left frame rail, the main bearing stud tips, a film all over the front of the engine (which must have happened when last run and just not noticed till now.  A close examination shows oil pan is dry, the two large oil passage plugs have oil dripping from them, the oil filter cover has oil dripping from it.

The top end seems dry, though the front of the base gasket may be wet, running down the face, or the case seem is leaking and blowing up to the gasket... jeesh.

Anyway, I'm going in and regoop everything.

That's one nice view of your shop Ron,do you have any other pics  ?

[MCRider]

GRCamna2:
Yeah, love my shop. It is an extension to what was a rural, 2 bay, standalone garage. The builder added a 14' bay, took off half of the old roof and replaced it with a full coverage roof, covering one of the old bays plus the shop. He meshed the old and new block walls together and you can hardly tell it wasn't always that way. Poured vermiculite in the cinder block for an R8 or so, R24 in the ceiling, combination of 2" thick silver board and 14" of bat. Topped off with infrared heaters and rollup doors: 8' and a 4'.

[MCRider]

We've hardly missed a shop day in the last several months. A little shorter perhaps. Today, we swapped out the grips for some newer ones. The first ones were 87¢ from alibaba, shipped from Shanghai. They had lost some of their brilliance  from exposure. And Phaedrus is nothing if not brilliant.

The new ones are from the same place but cost much more, almost $7 I think. But they have a design feature I appreciated. I was dreading this as removal of grips has always been a PIA to me. But some prying and shooting WD-40 so that it could wick into them did the trick. Of Course we could have cut them off, but that is so barbarous.  Isopropyl alcohol did the trick for reassembly. Initially its a lubricant, then dries to an adhesive.



Removal of the grips was necessary for the real mod which was a change out of the quickthrottle. The one I have is an Italian job, that fastens into the stock switch. What I want is more discreet. I've heard that there is a pipe throttle from a more modern model sport bike. I bought one for a CBR900 from MotionPro, but it is identical to the OEM one. We got the right side grip off the pipe throttle and so it is til I resolve the pipe throttle issue.

[MCRider]

So several weeks ago, I bought a 4-2 "production" pipe from CycleX. Ken told me not to expect more HP. I am not really. What I wanted was clearance to pull the oil pan and inspect the pump screen, and ability to pull the oil filter without dropping oil on the pipe. And finally, I love the sound of the Marshall, but I think these will sound as nice, but louder. Since I'm not riding it anymore, and caring about the neighbors and noise pollution, louder goes over better at the shows. People would gather around the bike, and ask me to start it. You could tell just by looking at their faces that they were disappointed in how quiet it was.

The way it is, the muffler kicks way out to the right of the bike. The CycleX tucks in real nice with small cans on either side of the swingarm. They are straight through baffles and I expect it to be medium loud. Louder than the Marshall, but not as much as a replica like Carpy's.






To the extent louder means faster, maybe it will be.     I think the real holdback to 1/4 mile times has been the launch. Our new rider may be better at that. Rick said his son has experience holeshotting large flat track dirt bikes.

[MCRider]

We need to split the cases and reseal the seam, and the mainbearing studs. Another task I didn't want to do, but if we're going to beat it on the strip this year, it needs to be dry. Bruce and I did all the prep, but we needed some youthful horsepower to get it out and on the bench. CBJoe volunteered and brought a friend. Can't say enough thanks.







Ah, a clean pump screen. I'm so paranoid.

All the bolts are out and we split the seal, its ready to come off.

[RAFster122s]

Looks spick and span...very clean...no worries Ron.  Always good to have extra hands make the work lighter.  Sometimes you just need a strong back and weak mind, er something like that... 
It is great that CBJoe came to your aid...reinforces the community here, a trait we all should adopt if we do not already.

David

[MCRider]

Looks spick and span...very clean...no worries Ron.  Always good to have extra hands make the work lighter.  Sometimes you just need a strong back and weak mind, er something like that... 
It is great that CBJoe came to your aid...reinforces the community here, a trait we all should adopt if we do not already.

David

Couldn't have done it without him.

This week's update trumped by trip to ER. High BP and jaw pain. Fixed at least for now with aspirin and nitro.   

More tests this week.

[RAFster122s]

Good Grief...Glad you are OK.  Stay healthy...bike can wait.
David

[MCRider]

Good Grief...Glad you are OK.  Stay healthy...bike can wait.
David

Yeah, I wouldn't call it a false alarm, but it was close to that. Just have to be aware.

Got out in the shop Sunday. Balmy. We had already decided to dress up some details that were left undone. The hardware for the cases, 6mm bolts, etc., needed freshening up. It was a mix of SS, zinc plate, hex, and socket.

After thinking about DIY zinc, new OEM zinc, etc. I thought hey maybe Yamiya has already crossed this bridge. Yes indeed. I bought a whole set of crankcase bolts, top and bottom, in chrome hex. Chrome was about twice what zinc was, but at this point, that's not an issue. Fulfilling the theme is.

The 3 bolts at the tail of the cases aren't included, so we searched a little more in the misc. bolt box and found some in better shape and size than originally used.

Then we started pulling apart the carbs. Mikuni VM29. Man what a daunting task. But, other than the tops and bottoms which are chrome, the bodies and the bracket are pretty ugly. I soda blasted them which got them pretty clean. But I think that Noblehops vapor blasting will give better result.  I'll need some help disassembling them, maybe call Jeff at Z1.

[MCRider]

I received the bolt kit from Yamiya. Turns out they are the crosshead screws (Philips) for the side and top covers. What I wanted was for the top and bottom crankcase halves. Oh well. Yamiya has the hex heads in zinc, shouldered. Gotta buy them by the piece. They average less than 50¢ ea. so a little time with the parts fish, and I should be good to go. No actual work in the shop today. Persona and business priorities trump. 

[Tintop]

Ron I got a complete set of SS Allen (except 1 long case bolt) from UK.

[MCRider]

Yeah, I had a mixup of SS Allens and hex's, and some chromes. I'm on a kick now to get OEM zinc for the engine cases. Yamiya has them with the funny symbol on the tops. For K0s I think.

 I have complete SS allens and now a full set of chrome Philips for the side cases.

[WesTenRacing]

I just came across your thread.  When I saw the bike in a picture I recognized it right away. 
We met at Wilmington in the motel parking lot. I think it was Friday night.  We spoke for a while and I introduced you to the motorcycle tech guy.  My brother a I run a '62 Falcon Ranchero in F/CGC.
Sorry to here about your health issues but it's great to hear your feeling better!
Hopefully the ECTA finds another spot to race.  Wilmington was a great place for us. Great facility and a lot closer than Maxton NC where they used to be.
We're going to Loring (Loring Timing Assoc.) in May.  They have a 1 1/2 mile course that will also give you a mile speed.
Hope to see you in person soon.

Jan

[RAFster122s]

Ron, unless Z1 is closeby you could let Nils disassemble, forget his rate, might be cheaper than sending to Z1 and back considering shipping these days.  Nils has the reduced cost hipping option to him...cheaper than you can find on your own unless you have a friend at FedEX or UPS who can ship them at employee rate, I hope it is better than they offer businesses.

[MCRider]

Ron, unless Z1 is closeby you could let Nils disassemble, forget his rate, might be cheaper than sending to Z1 and back considering shipping these days.  Nils has the reduced cost hipping option to him...cheaper than you can find on your own unless you have a friend at FedEX or UPS who can ship them at employee rate, I hope it is better than they offer businesses.

That will be my next step. Happy to pay his fee. I've got other things to do and limited time. Thanks.

[RAFster122s]

I didn't word my message quite right before... See below for added and edited text in red.

Ron, unless Z1 is closeby you could let Nils disassemble, forget his rate, might be cheaper than sending to Z1 and back considering shipping these days.  Nils has the reduced cost shipping option for things going to him...cheaper than you can find on your own unless you have a friend at FedEX or UPS who can ship them at employee rate, I hope an employee's rate is better than they offer businesses.

So, Talk to Nils before you ship the parts to him to get that setup and take advantage of the lower cost.  Coming back, the shipping is now free, that is a great deal given the rise in shipping costs over the past 6 months to a year.

[MCRider]

I didn't word my message quite right before... See below for added and edited text in red.

Ron, unless Z1 is closeby you could let Nils disassemble, forget his rate, might be cheaper than sending to Z1 and back considering shipping these days.  Nils has the reduced cost shipping option for things going to him...cheaper than you can find on your own unless you have a friend at FedEX or UPS who can ship them at employee rate, I hope an employee's rate is better than they offer businesses.

So, Talk to Nils before you ship the parts to him to get that setup and take advantage of the lower cost.  Coming back, the shipping is now free, that is a great deal given the rise in shipping costs over the past 6 months to a year.

Got it, thanks!