So, this week I'm back at it. First I did what i thought i couldn't, scored a decent K1 speedo on eBay. First one i was bidding on was whisked away "buy it now". So I figured it would be a struggle. The next one was actually in better shape than the first. and i got it for the high side of what i wanted to pay. Shipped in a few days. The chrome base was trashed, chrome bubbled, but i had one in my stash that's not perfect, but usable. A new one can be fitted after the fact. The rubber mounting ring was absent, but again I had a spare. The body has the tiniest of dents near the rim, you wouldn't see it if i didn't show you. The wiring has hardened and crunchy, I've ordered some rubber renu and another product to soften it up. The face is checked, but i figured virtually any used instrument will need a new face. But with only 9900 miles on the clock, could be a low miles unit. Here's us sorting parts to come up with the best:
Final result:
So with the Free NOS Tach (not in picture, not picked up yet) and this speedo, I have both for less than $100. After building the front wheel, so i can get the measurements, I'll send the speedo to Foreign Speedo Repair in LA to have it recalibrated to be accurate with the smaller wheel. They'll install a new face for free since they will be in there anyway, I'll get it from Yamiya. I'd get a cheaper one like so many people make, but no one makes one for the K1 except Yamiya. I'll send my K2 speedo and tach as well to have them checked out for resale. Their faces are in good shape.
The result is all idiot lites are in the instruments, so i have room for the oil pressure gauge and air fork filler where the lights used to go.
I worked on the hub, the spoke marks were sanded off and then i did the polish thing 3 grades of sandpaper, 3 grades of rouge. Looks good in the pictures, but not good enough to use. I get hurried and don't get all the scratches out before moving on to the next stage. So I'll spend some more time with it.
I fished the cam chain tensioner out of the parts cleaner and inspected. The one on the left looks brand new, I'm pretty sure its the original K2 tensioner. The one on the right is from a parts bike, nasty.
I'll polish the one on the left and it'll be ready for install. So while I've got it out, we'll talk about a problem that comes up with these occasionally for you CB750 guys. If your cam chain sounds noisy, and dosen't seem to respond to the adjusting routine, it could be that the shaft of the tensioner plunger is hanging up in the housing. The one on the right is crudded up and whe i pulled it out it borught the seal cup with it. That wasn't supposed to happen, that cup is supposed to stay with the housing. Upon reassembly, the one on the right would stick as you push the plunger in and out. The spring was always able to overcome the sticky spots, but it will hang for a moment. Over time that would get worse.
The one on the left slides freely all the way in and out, and it has a stouter spring to boot.
Also, the flat spot on the plunger rod is to be inspected. The lock bolt you can see in the housing has a machined tip that presses hard against that flat spot to hold the shaft there against the wildly flailing cam chain. Some over zealous owners will tighten that bolt too tight against the flat spot, causing it to dig in and over time make a detent. So when you go to adjust it, you think the plunger has moved forward as it should and you go to tighten it down and the bolt slips into that detent and the plunger backs up and you've lost your adjustment. The fix is to remove everything like you see here and file that detent out of the flat area of the plunger.
Another oddity, I don't know why the spring on the left is longer and beefier than the one on the right. Never knew them to be changed. Can't really say which is newer as i don't know the origin of the parts bike. I'd like to thinkthe one on the left is new and improved.
This week, continue to try and finish the front wheel, everything is hanging on that now.
