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

[RAFster122s]

Not big metalflake, small metal flake suspended in the clear coat. Use silver metal flake and it will reflect the color of the base coat.  Saw a late 60s, early 70s Volvo P1800S or a P1800ES (don't recall which model it was) painted in Corvette Yellow with a ton of clear with the small silver metal flake suspended in the clear and it was eye popping in the sunlight, hurt to look at it up close without polarized sunglasses because the sun was catching the metal flake and reflecting the yellow with points of intense light. The paint glowed...

Some chrome side covers w/knee pads from a Superhawk or 450 would look nice if they complemented the lines of the tank.  (Maybe brushed or polished steel in the back portion of the tank with knee pads adhered in the proper location? Provided Phaedrus is a design you would have your knees gripping the tank.)

[MCRider]

Not big metalflake, small metal flake suspended in the clear coat. Use silver metal flake and it will reflect the color of the base coat.  Saw a late 60s, early 70s Volvo P1800S or a P1800ES (don't recall which model it was) painted in Corvette Yellow with a ton of clear with the small silver metal flake suspended in the clear and it was eye popping in the sunlight, hurt to look at it up close without polarized sunglasses because the sun was catching the metal flake and reflecting the yellow with points of intense light. The paint glowed...

Some chrome side covers w/knee pads from a Superhawk or 450 would look nice if they complemented the lines of the tank.  (Maybe brushed or polished steel in the back portion of the tank with knee pads adhered in the proper location? Provided Phaedrus is a design you would have your knees gripping the tank.)

At a recent event i saw a Kawasaki painted in blue with "prism" metal flakes, big ones. Amazing look. His friends were ribbing him calling it a "bassboat". he bot it that way and said he was going to repaint it, I encouraged him to think again.  I'm still open but that's high on my list.

As implied, it changes colors as you walk around it. I'd go for a purple base coat, gold and red pin stripes. Do pinstripes go with flake?

As to the tank covers, yeah the 750 tank contour doesn't lend itself to the SuperHawk/450 style tank covers. I think there was a prototype CB750 that had a very CB450ish tank, maybe even with the chrome covers.  I am going for the "standard" style which doesn't scream knee dents. But I'll be hustling it around and cordura riding pants can scuff up a tank.   

In the FJR world which I frequent, a clear plastic adhesive pad is used to reduce knee scuffing.

[greasy j]

pinstripes go with everything! I'm a painter and I love doing pinstripes but noone ever gets them.

I have seen people do cool things as well with mixing additives in clear. there is a really cool NCR ducati that was on the cover of cycle world. it has all carbon fiber body parts, which they cleared w/out basecoat using a blue tint in the clear. so it looks blue but when you get close you see the carbon fiber pattern through it. pretty cool.

obviously you have you're own style and know what you like. if you dig the bassboat look go for it. the way I see it the more individual it becomes the better. this is really going to be something when it gets done.

you should get botm w/out any voting necessary, they should just give you the month of your choice.

[MCRider]

pinstripes go with everything! I'm a painter and I love doing pinstripes but noone ever gets them.

I have seen people do cool things as well with mixing additives in clear. there is a really cool NCR ducati that was on the cover of cycle world. it has all carbon fiber body parts, which they cleared w/out basecoat using a blue tint in the clear. so it looks blue but when you get close you see the carbon fiber pattern through it. pretty cool.

obviously you have you're own style and know what you like. if you dig the bassboat look go for it. the way I see it the more individual it becomes the better. this is really going to be something when it gets done.

you should get botm w/out any voting necessary, they should just give you the month of your choice.

Thanks. I am in awe of people that can do pin striping! To me its little less than outright sorcery and witchcraft. I'll have it done if at all possible. AS far as style, I'm fishing on this one for the paint at least. Do I want to be stuck in the past, or come out without something too modern, or what? I'll be figuring it out soon though. My theme is to keep it in the 1970s, we'll see.

Thanks for the botm comments, I'll be happy to have it on the road. 

[MCRider]

Made more headway this week. First was to resolve an issue with Brown's over a float bowl. They broke one of my bowls and bent over backwards to make it right. After calling me and asking for clues as to where they could get another bowl, I told them I thought they (VM29 Smoothbores) were used as standard on some kawasakis, post Z1. They found a place in California  http://www.americanclassix.com/home.html  that supplied a float bowl. However, it was not exactly correct as shown:
Mine has the Hole and the extrusion:


Axel at AC did the best he could based on the description from Brown's. So I talked to Axel and after seeing mine, he says mine had the hole, and the extrusion, to accomodate a fuel pump, which I don't have. In fact my bowl gasket closes off the hole, making it obvoius its not needed. So I'm proceeding with the idea I'm OK.

Installed the sidestand, pictures show the aluminum flashing I used to expand the spring coils for removal and replacement.


This picture shows the difference between the new Brown's chrome and the 30 year old chrome on the spring and centerstand. You can't really see that big of a difference in low light, but the flash really brings it out.

With the bike on its wheels, the pad on the stand, which was welded on by eye, comes real close to being the best angle to be expected:

The brake lever fit nicely. Brown's actually remove some material from the lever so that the chrome won't end up binding the lever. The top came out real nice. The body is the natural color after the sodablasting. They couldn't plate it with the site glass in. So a quandary. I'll wait and make sure the cylinder will activate the brakes properly, and if so, remove the cylnder, have the site glass removed and filled in then plate it all.

I couldn't find the pivot bolt, I could have sworn I left it out where i would easily find it. Spent at least an hour looking for it. Left the shop, came back, looked where i thought I'd left it, and there it was. Dang.
The clutch lever was a little tight so we opened up the switch with Dremel, and it fits nice now.


The goal here is to get all the loose parts in their place by installing them or filing them away, before taking the sheet off the engine and get back to work on it for real.

[MCRider]

Got some 4mm Stainless Steel Button Heads from ACE Hardware for the carb bowls and tops.


The carb bodies are natural finish, don't know what else can be done with them without serious disassembly. Maybe later.

The brake calipers were done nicely. One however had a little too much chrome in it to allow the pad to settle in. Some time under the Dremel with a sanding drum fixed that. Pucks fit in the other caliper just fine. The swinging arm fit into its "C" shaped holder nice as can be. The chrome made up for years of wear I guess. Brown's said they would make sure the pieces would fit once done.

Busy week at work, but I hope to get the calipers mounted during the week. Then we can order brake lines from the forum gentleman who is making them custom to order, I hear good things about him.

Then we can get back to work on the engine.

[greasy j]

pinstripes go with everything! I'm a painter and I love doing pinstripes but noone ever gets them.

I have seen people do cool things as well with mixing additives in clear. there is a really cool NCR ducati that was on the cover of cycle world. it has all carbon fiber body parts, which they cleared w/out basecoat using a blue tint in the clear. so it looks blue but when you get close you see the carbon fiber pattern through it. pretty cool.

obviously you have you're own style and know what you like. if you dig the bassboat look go for it. the way I see it the more individual it becomes the better. this is really going to be something when it gets done.

you should get botm w/out any voting necessary, they should just give you the month of your choice.

Thanks. I am in awe of people that can do pin striping! To me its little less than outright sorcery and witchcraft. I'll have it done if at all possible. AS far as style, I'm fishing on this one for the paint at least. Do I want to be stuck in the past, or come out without something too modern, or what? I'll be figuring it out soon though. My theme is to keep it in the 1970s, we'll see.

Thanks for the botm comments, I'll be happy to have it on the road.  

you could learn to pinstripe, it's not that hard. I got a video, recommended from a buddy who is a world famous pinstriper, which basically told me to do straight vert and horiz lines in rows keeping spacing and width even 1,000 times each, then 1,000 curved one way, then the other vert then the same horiz. then s's and so on. it works out to 10,000 lines I think. I used pieces of glass so I could clean and reuse them.

I kind of had a head start since it's almost the same as cutting lines in house painting and I've been doing that for over 10 yrs. only diff is you're concentrating on both sides of the line, not just one. and it's tiny.

but if you spent an hour a night you could get good enough to do your own bike in a month or 2...

then you'd be the wizard

[Raef]

You'll be stuck in the back of the pack on that thing, the glare will be unbearable

 

[MCRider]

You'll be stuck in the back of the pack on that thing, the glare will be unbearable

 

I know you're just teasing about the chrome, but I'll make this clear...

I may not be in the lead of the pack, but I'll only be in the rear by choice. I plan on flogging this thing to (near) death!      

[Raef]

You'll be stuck in the back of the pack on that thing, the glare will be unbearable

 

I know you're just teasing about the chrome, but I'll make this clear...

I may not be in the lead of the pack, but I'll only be in the rear by choice. I plan on flogging this thing to (near) death!      

is there any other way to ride?

it's gonna be ,if I can help just let me know, planning on getting back in the middle of my project soon. maybe this spring will will be it's time.

looking foward to another ride

mark

[MCRider]

Picked up a set of repro sidecovers from Frankenstuf. Ordered them Friday, got them Monday. How's dem apples? I still have my original ones. But during a mockup, I broke apiece off of one. I had it welded back on, very nice repair, but it got me thinking. Those old sidecovers have outgassed all of their chemicals that keep them soft and pliable, turning them hard as week old biscuits.

So do i want to risk a paint job on a couple of cracker side covers, or use some new pliable ones. I'll take both to the painter and see what he says. But for Frankies price, its worth asking the question.

They look as close to original as one could ask. I feel a little guilty for adding this qualifier but they really are nicely done, especially for the money. That is to say I would consider them nice for a lot more money.

[MCRider]

Session complete: First, sized up the emblems in the sidecovers. Very good fit. Original emblems, losing some of their black background and the plastic chrome getting minor pitting. 


Discovered what broke my original sidecover. The side cover touches left side gusset, not allowing the tab of the sidecover to settle all the way into the grommet. I'll check with Frankenstuff about how to relieve this if possible.

When I pulled the original cover off, I pulled from the rear, and the front was levering off that contact point on the gusset, and snapped a piece of the brittle old sidecover off.
On the brakes. Got the second caliper reassembled.


The left side fits so close, the bolts have to go in a certain sequence to clear the smaller wider rim, and turned 1 flat at a time with an open end. But it all fit.


Misc: Looking for the sidecover emblems, I found the bracket kerekr used to stand off the center stand. This has been an issue of many posts on the forum, So I thought I photo it for futre reference.


And finally the last license plate of Phaedurs I. Hard to believe its been that long.

Next week, the Engine!

[Damfino]

I warned ya....

[HondaMan]

I think that when this bike rolls out into the sunshine for the first time, it might just set off a Launch Alert at the Incoming Missile Monitor in Cheyenne Mountain here in Colorado, where all bright flashes are monitored. 

Thanks for my Thanskgiving Day 'fix', MC!

[MCRider]

snip
Thanks for my Thanskgiving Day 'fix', MC!

My pleasure! here's hoping for a Memorial Day rollout.

[Zaipai]

Yeah a heads up before you roll it out would be nice, give us regular folk time to put on sunglasses to protect from all that shine!!!

At the rate you are going a Memorial Day rollout should not be an issue.

.: Scott :.

[MCRider]

Zaipai: Here's hoping...

Update: It was 25 deg C outside. 6500W of heat got it up to 55 inside, comfy with long johns. From the WGAS dept... We had a discussion on another thread about which way should the tight coils on shocks go, up or down. I vote for up, though there was truly no concensus. Koni actually says down, yet i have Konis on this rolling chassis, and they're up:

and on my 78 hawk400, Honda has them up:

On to my engine. Many of you may have forgotten that i actually have an engine for this project. Its been under this sheet since we got stalled out on primary chains many weeks ago.

The new ones were delivered many weeks ago, though by then I had other things to do, now back to business. I bot the HD chains from ClassicCycleCity, don't they look good on the APERacingcrank? Painting on the assembly lube with a tothbrush:

Then wrapping them up with the HD cam chain:

and install in the upper case:

On to the clutch: time to share, the pressure plate has notches in it to receive the splines of the hub. There has been discussons of this here before. The hub has 4 ways it can go on. Only 2 will allow the splines to line up. Here they are unaligned:


Here they are aligned:


Once you've determined the proper alignmnet mark one of the spring posts and a spot on the hub nest to it, so you won't lose the alignment. Uppon disassembly, you should do this before taking it apart.

If they are unaligned and you go to crank down the lifter plate, you'll break the lifter plate.
Now I have a question: Is this hub/clutch assembly on far enough? It lacks a bit of being flush with the splines on the main shaft.

And finally, I've replaced most of the trans bearings with "CS" styl;r bearings which have a skosh more clearance for less rolling friction. But how do you get this bearing out of its holder?

I've got to get an ORing for the front oil passageway and the cases can go together.

[mystic_1]

To get the bearing out of the holder, I freeze the assembly, then gently heat the holder.  That provides enough clearance that a few slaps into the palm of the hand causes the bearing to fall out.

mystic_1

[MCRider]

To get the bearing out of the holder, I freeze the assembly, then gently heat the holder.  That provides enough clearance that a few slaps into the palm of the hand causes the bearing to fall out.

mystic_1

Kewl, I'll give it a try.

[754]

 Just warm up the housing.. You can get it up 150 degrees easy, but freezing will only bring it down 50.. or use blind puller if you can find one

 Bike is looking good.. Browns sure does nice work..

[MCRider]

Just warm up the housing.. You can get it up 150 degrees easy, but freezing will only bring it down 50.. or use blind puller if you can find one

 Bike is looking good.. Browns sure does nice work..

With what? A heat gun perhaps? With the bearing side down, heat up the aluminum side?

Thanks.

[mystic_1]

I used a gooseneck lamp with a 60w bulb, lowered it to within an inch of the bearing holder and it got toasty fairly quick.

mystic_1

[MCRider]

I used a gooseneck lamp with a 60w bulb, lowered it to within an inch of the bearing holder and it got toasty fairly quick.

mystic_1

I can do that!

[seanbarney41]

MC Rider, those Mikuni vm 29 float bowls should be ok.  Newer american versions were jetted lean for emissions thus requiring an accelator pump.  Canadian versions did not have the accelerator pump.  Tons of Kawasaki guys rave about those carbs and ditch the accelerator pump system by swapping to the early/canadian float bowls and re-jetting accordingly so you should be ok as long as the gasket keeps em from leaking.  If you need any parts or info for those Mikuni's try googling KZRider.com.  These guys will give ya lots of ribbing about your Honda and then be very helpful.

[MCRider]

MC Rider, those Mikuni vm 29 float bowls should be ok.  Newer american versions were jetted lean for emissions thus requiring an accelator pump.  Canadian versions did not have the accelerator pump.  Tons of Kawasaki guys rave about those carbs and ditch the accelerator pump system by swapping to the early/canadian float bowls and re-jetting accordingly so you should be ok as long as the gasket keeps em from leaking.  If you need any parts or info for those Mikuni's try googling KZRider.com.  These guys will give ya lots of ribbing about your Honda and then be very helpful.

Thank you very much for that! Great bit of back story. I'll keep the reference in my notes.

I'd had them on the earlier version of this bike, also an 888cc engine. They worked wonderfully. I'd also had a pair of DCOE40 Webers on a 750cc engine which worked great. But overall I like the VMs and can't wait to put them back to use.