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

[MCRider]

Another good day in Church. After the first really cold snap of the season, mid week, today warmed upnicely to 35 and the heaters could handle it. The concrete will suck the life out of you though. So we cut down some chrome buttonheads to serve as fork drain plugs. The only copper washers ACE had were too big OD. I'll get some smaller ones.





During machining, RaceTech put some tiny scratches in the brake plate. I don't hold that against them, they were minor and expected. I polished them out and all's well.



Shots of the newly machined brake drum and arced brake shoes. Not much to see but humor me.





Got the rear wheel assembled and put back on frame.




The wheel is all the way forward, so the fender shows a lot of air. This may actually be the last mock up of the rear wheel, another sub-assembly complete.

Had hoped to make way on the front wheel too, but not today. We'll be in a cabin in the woods next weekend, so i hope to make some headway during the week.

[MCRider]

Indulge me. I got in a little more time tonight and hooked upthe brake linkage. On a stocker this would be a simple quick task, but it took me a trip to the hardware and several tries to get the length on the button top screws right. They each have to be cut as they only come in increments of 5 to 10 mm, and are invariably always too long. Couple hours all together.

So here's the final product. All parts are chromed except the pedal pivot and its pin, spares of which will go to Brown's Chrome Shop in the spring.


The original adjuster nut was actually worn out, and I found the 70s chopperesque style on eBay from some outfit in Ohio.

Here's a shot of the connection of the actuator rod to the pedal pivot arm. I show this as at least 3 people have had threads here about this as they had installed it wrong. The tendency is to rotate the pivot arm backwards underneath the swingarm. But this is wrong and makes it impossible to adjust the brake properly or safely. The pedal pivot arm goes IN FRONT of the swingarm pivot tube. The curve in the actuator arm hooks UPWARD to clear the pivot tube in use.



And a few other shots of the results:




You can see the finned axle spacer from Carpy. My brake stay rod is chrome and looks good in the picture, but is actually in bad shape. I was thinking of getting Carpy's Finned Brake Stay rod, or just drilling a stock one and having it chromed.

[GammaFlat]

Man.. is that nice.  When I see workmanship like that it makes me feel small

[Zaipai]

Wow I am in aw at the work so far, the attention to detail is just fantastic. It almost looks more like fine Jewelry then a motorcycle. Great work!

[Ichiban 4]

Ron:

Your rear rim and wheel combo looks great!  Much nicer than the Harley rim set up seen so often on re-laced set ups.

I just got my 550 Corbin homolog seat (based on the pics you sent me of your Phaedrus II seat) back from the upholsterers a bit ago.  Will try to get some pics posted..as soon as I get a digital camera and/or film pics scanned..uploaded.  Am also adding the re-chromed back/luggage rack..similar to yours.

Al / ichi
_______________________________________________________

Indulge me. I got in a little more time tonight and hooked upthe brake linkage. On a stocker this would be a simple quick task, but it took me a trip to the hardware and several tries to get the length on the button top screws right. They each have to be cut as they only come in increments of 5 to 10 mm, and are invariably always too long. Couple hours all together.

So here's the final product. All parts are chromed except the pedal pivot and its pin, spares of which will go to Brown's Chrome Shop in the spring.


The original adjuster nut was actually worn out, and I found the 70s chopperesque style on eBay from some outfit in Ohio.

Here's a shot of the connection of the actuator rod to the pedal pivot arm. I show this as at least 3 people have had threads here about this as they had installed it wrong. The tendency is to rotate the pivot arm backwards underneath the swingarm. But this is wrong and makes it impossible to adjust the brake properly or safely. The pedal pivot arm goes IN FRONT of the swingarm pivot tube. The curve in the actuator arm hooks UPWARD to clear the pivot tube in use.



And a few other shots of the results:




You can see the finned axle spacer from Carpy. My brake stay rod is chrome and looks good in the picture, but is actually in bad shape. I was thinking of getting Carpy's Finned Brake Stay rod, or just drilling a stock one and having it chromed.

[Ecosse]

my 2 cents would be to go for the carpy brake stay.

question: are the 750 stays the same length as the 400 & 550? are they the same for all year 750's?

thanks for the bright pix... i'll learn to keep my sun glasses by the computer from now on. 

[MCRider]

Gamma, Zaipai, and Al: Thanks for the props!
Looking forward to seeing how the thing rides on the 17' wheels. My HawkGT and FJR both have 17s front and rear, so why not?
Al: Interested in seeing your seat. I've seen some local upholsteres do some really nice things.
Ecosse: Carpy's stay is awful nice, matches the spacer, but is pricey. We'll see.
Don't know how it measures up to the other bikes, my guess is they are shorter. I think its the same for all year 750s that have drums of course. Maybe the early Fs might be longer.
Some of the pics are with flash others witout. I think the ones without flash come out better looking when transferred here. Its a <2002 vintage Olympus stone of a digital camera. The media only holds 35 pictures, ancient by today's stndards.

[Ecosse]

yeah i checked his site out after... 90 smackers. of course a chrome factory bar looks just fine too.

[MCRider]

yeah i checked his site out after... 90 smackers. of course a chrome factory bar looks just fine too.

I could drill holes in the stocker to give it some look, then Brown's would rechrome it for $30-$40.

Still the Carpy arm matches the spacer...

In either event, I'm good to go with what I've got and I got to make progress.  The arms can be replaced later.

[HavocTurbo]

Let me know what you decide but.....

I could make you an arm out of aluminum and polish it for you. That would at least give you the look and help keep $$ down.

All I'd need are specs and then to find a good polisher. 

[MCRider]

Let me know what you decide but.....

I could make you an arm out of aluminum and polish it for you. That would at least give you the look and help keep $$ down.

All I'd need are specs and then to find a good polisher. 

Thanks HT. The Carpy model is finned to match the wheel spacer. So short of that I'd just keep my steel one.
http://www.cb750cafe.com/parts.php?id=58

In getting that link I see he has added some stuff to his menu, like  finned breather cover, a frame rail kit (no pictures) (for $65, I'll bet its like the old APE kits), universal idiot lites.

I'l take this opportunity for this week's post. We'll be out of town to the backwoods of Nashville IN for a getaway. Didn't get much accomplished this week. Disassembled my old brakes. One piston came out easily with air, the other is stuck. Its soaking now, I'm sure it will yield to my encouragement. A good cleaning and polishing and they will be ready to install. Once they are on, and the front wheel, we can see what kind of interference we'll have for the fork brace (to be made) and fender mount. Hopefully one and the same.

Take care y'all. 

[HavocTurbo]

Yep... completely different than what I was thinking.

I was thinking round....

Have fun on your getaway!!!

[HondaMan]

Let me know what you decide but.....

I could make you an arm out of aluminum and polish it for you. That would at least give you the look and help keep $$ down.

All I'd need are specs and then to find a good polisher. 

Thanks HT. The Carpy model is finned to match the wheel spacer. So short of that I'd just keep my steel one.
http://www.cb750cafe.com/parts.php?id=58

In getting that link I see he has added some stuff to his menu, like  finned breather cover, a frame rail kit (no pictures) (for $65, I'll bet its like the old APE kits), universal idiot lites.

I'l take this opportunity for this week's post. We'll be out of town to the backwoods of Nashville IN for a getaway. Didn't get much accomplished this week. Disassembled my old brakes. One piston came out easily with air, the other is stuck. Its soaking now, I'm sure it will yield to my encouragement. A good cleaning and polishing and they will be ready to install. Once they are on, and the front wheel, we can see what kind of interference we'll have for the fork brace (to be made) and fender mount. Hopefully one and the same.

Take care y'all. 

Well, now that I got my drooling done for the morning... 
Ron: someone here at SOHC4 mentioned installing a grease fitting in the brake port and pumping out a frozen piston: I tried that about a month ago and it beats all the other methods I've used before. I got the fitting in an assortment from Checker Auto for $4. Made it easy for an old guy like me.

[MCRider]

Thanks HM. I've read that about the grease fitting as well. I haven't been back to the soak tank since my last post. Spent 4 days in the woods around Nashville IN, vacation cabin. Then other family stuff. Back to the shop tomorrow.

If that piston is still stuck I'll be doing something like that I expect.

[Terry in Australia]

I had a stuck piston in a caliper a couple of years ago, and rather than pump in a heap of grease which would require thorough cleaning afterwards, (grease and brake fluid don't mix well) I just chopped an old cracked brake line in half, connected one end to the caliper normally, then poked my compressor's "duster gun" nozzle into the brake line and gave it a spray, and popped it right out. To avoid launching a brake piston across the garage I bolted both halves of the caliper together, and just stuffed some rags between the piston and the backing plate to "cushion" the piston. Cheers, Terry.

[MCRider]

I had a stuck piston in a caliper a couple of years ago, and rather than pump in a heap of grease which would require thorough cleaning afterwards, (grease and brake fluid don't mix well) I just chopped an old cracked brake line in half, connected one end to the caliper normally, then poked my compressor's "duster gun" nozzle into the brake line and gave it a spray, and popped it right out. To avoid launching a brake piston across the garage I bolted both halves of the caliper together, and just stuffed some rags between the piston and the backing plate to "cushion" the piston. Cheers, Terry.

The first one came out with air into the caliper at the caliper spot. It leaked quite a bit but still popped out.

The grease had me thinking so I may try your idea with some line that the nozzle would fit into tighter. Either way its coming out. 

[Ichiban 4]

Hey Ron..

I was wondering how your shop has been this winter..regarding heating..etc.  If you remember..last year/winter..you were investigating new heater options.  I think I saw a brief comment fairly recently regarding the heating situation in there..but it didn't impress me as being very detailed.  I was just curious to see if you can work in your shop more regularly..with your new heater/heating set up?

As usual..I'm enjoying watching your build.  Do you have any "guesstimations" as to when you'll be getting your engine together..and in the frame?

Later,

Al / Ichi

[MCRider]

Hey Ron..

I was wondering how your shop has been this winter..regarding heating..etc.  If you remember..last year/winter..you were investigating new heater options.  I think I saw a brief comment fairly recently regarding the heating situation in there..but it didn't impress me as being very detailed.  I was just curious to see if you can work in your shop more regularly..with your new heater/heating set up?

As usual..I'm enjoying watching your build.  Do you have any "guesstimations" as to when you'll be getting your engine together..and in the frame?

Later,

Al / Ichi

Hello!
We bot a 5000watt, 220v heater which is portable. We set it near wherever we are working. Along with a 1500W and a 1000 watt shop light, we can knock the chill off near where we are standing, but it won't "heat" the whole shop. Hasn't been max cold yet. Its toleragble in the shop down to 20degF outside. Below that, we may have to pass.

I'm 2 months behind the last timeline I laid out. So now, its front end this week or 2, haul the chassis to Saldanas for the front fender and mount, while its gone, the motor goes to the bench. Within 3 weeks I hope to have the bottom end together. I'm thinking all parts are accounted for. But if something comes up missing...

An April rollout is hoped for. In time for some June and July local shows, and a shakedown cruise with the wifer to the covered bridges we visited on this bike the day we met 25 years ago.

[Ichiban 4]

Hey Ron..

I was wondering how your shop has been this winter..regarding heating..etc.  If you remember..last year/winter..you were investigating new heater options.  I think I saw a brief comment fairly recently regarding the heating situation in there..but it didn't impress me as being very detailed.  I was just curious to see if you can work in your shop more regularly..with your new heater/heating set up?

As usual..I'm enjoying watching your build.  Do you have any "guesstimations" as to when you'll be getting your engine together..and in the frame?

Later,

Al / Ichi

Hello!
We bot a 5000watt, 220v heater which is portable. We set it near wherever we are working. Along with a 1500W and a 1000 watt shop light, we can knock the chill off near where we are standing, but it won't "heat" the whole shop. Hasn't been max cold yet. Its tolerable in the shop down to 20degF outside. Below that, we may have to pass.

I'm 2 months behind the last timeline I laid out. So now, its front end this week or 2, haul the chassis to Saldanas for the front fender and mount, while its gone, the motor goes to the bench. Within 3 weeks I hope to have the bottom end together. I'm thinking all parts are accounted for. But if something comes up missing...

An April rollout is hoped for. In time for some June and July local shows, and a shakedown cruise with the wifer to the covered bridges we visited on this bike the day we met 25 years ago.

________________________________________________________

Sounds cool Ron!  Doing a nostalgia run sounds really fun.  Wish I lived a little closer..sos we could ride a little together.  Thanks for explaining the shop heating thing.  That's an issue I've been concerned about lately in mine..as it's been minus 10 - 20 several times now this winter.  I've been holding off on some stuff due to that.  As you've mentioned with concrete floors..it really sucks the heat out of your feet/body pretty fast.

Keep warm..

Al

[traveler]

I know I'm new around here, but...

I have built and restored cars and bikes throughtout my life, and I just wanted to say that your bike looks OUTSTANDING.

You are doing it "your way" rather than following any trends.

Really top notch...keep up the good work.

Is the EXCEL rim in the rear 16" ?

~Joe

[MCRider]

I know I'm new around here, but...

I have built and restored cars and bikes throughtout my life, and I just wanted to say that your bike looks OUTSTANDING.

You are doing it "your way" rather than following any trends.

Really top notch...keep up the good work.

Is the EXCEL rim in the rear 16" ?

~Joe

Thanks! 

No its a 3.5x17". Stock on mine was a 2.15x18", tho later models stock was 17". Its 3.5 wide. Carries a 140/70 tire, with room for a 150. The front is 2.5x17 from the 1.85x19 stocker.   My goal was to modernize the wheels for more modern rubber.

The 17s will give it a gangley look, I'm not the first to have done it. Also I'm concerned I'll lose some ride height. Longer shocks are available and I bot 2" over tubes to tune the height. Cornering clearance may not suffer as the wider tires hold the bike up when laid over. We'll see.

[MCRider]

Hope everyone had a great Holiday with another to come. We had 4 days in a neat cabin 1.25 hrs away from Indy in the Artist Colony known as Nashville IN. Its a hilly backwoodsie part of the state that is popular for...artists. And campers, hunters, motorcycles (in season). Better to rent someone elses cabin, leave them with the headache part.

Now on to today, and man what a bust! More questions raised than answered. We firs twithdrew the legs from the triples to install ORings under the dust covers. These old forks came with accordian type covers. When replacing with dirtbike style none will fill the groove fully in the lower leg. Believe me I've looked. No problem with later legs as many came that way.

So someone suggested putting an ORing in the roove first (Mystic?) and that works pretty well.



Then we measured the travel fork travel for placement of the tweak bar. But discovered the left side goes 5.75" and right only 4.75" as indicated by where the zip ties ended up at the top of the stroke.


What's up with that? Guess I'll have to disassemble. A snapring must have slipped, or sumpin.    (Springs and oil are not in yet)

So in putting the front axle together, we discover I have laced the rim to one of the narrow hubs. What's up with that?  I never even knew there were 2 different hubss, till reading about it here from HondaMan. When I had this wheel built in 2001, I just sent a hub to Buchanans, origin unknown. But the hub, measured from the disc flange on each side is 4mm narrower than the wider hub. The narrow hub being an early pre-K0 deal. I'm sure i should have a wide hub for my discs to space correctly.

Anyone need a narrow hub?

Disc bolts show the difference.


But I laid out the axle stack. Here's the modified speedo drive (left) vs the ground down piece I used for ages v stockers which look like they might work but are too big.


But the final disappointment came when fitting up the brake brackets. The 17" wheel is offset to the left due to the wrong hub I assume, but worse there is not enough room for the lft bracket. Even if I shift the rim to the right (centering it) there still won't be enough room to get the bracket bolt in, and the right side gets real chummy.



So now what? Relace a 2.15x17, or safer a 2.15 x 18? Anyone want to buy a 2.5x17?

Seems I still have another K0 or earlier front axle. Anyone want to buy?

According to Terry, the solid ones are the early ones.

So, at least I got the fluorescent lights running again, took 6 4ft bulbs.

[Zaipai]

Well that is all part of the adventure isn't it? How ever I am sure you will find a really good way to fix that fork travel. Sounds like you have the tire thing figured out. Its good to know as I did not even think that a shorter front rim might cause clearance issues. I have to say it looks good so far. Hope you get it all figured out soon. Can't wait to see it running down the road..

Have a safe New Years!

[traveler]

I'm sure you could put a spacer between the hub and the rotor...of course that might throw off the speedo pickup.

Sorry to hear of this misfortune...

~Joe

[Terry in Australia]

G'Day Ron, you beat me to it, but yep, that's a K0 hub mate. Stick it in the box with those fork seals, I'll take it! Oooh, and I'll need the early speedo drive flange thingy and the chrome cover too? That's a pity about your wheel, what about a wider set of "triple trees" like the one's Rob (Voxonda) in Holland is making? 225 Euro's and he'll make them any width you like? Cheers, Terry.