I am new to this forum but I figured open forum was best for this subject.
Just the other day I was looking for new project and was on my way to the locksmith to have an ignition for an old Bridgestone rekeyed. As I drove by on the main street I looked down the back street and my head almost spun around as I saw bike sitting in what looked like a rummage sale. I had always heard about deals like this happening but had never had the oportunity happen until now.
I raced around the block at almost double the speed limit to get to this bike. When I pulled up I knew immeaditely that it was a CB750 four. Not in bad condition. As I walked up on the bike I figured that it was going to be long out of my price range. I walked up to see a hand written tag on note paper with a $200 price tag
and some notes about ignition switch - wiring problems - needs battery taped to the gas tank. The only thing that I could see outwardly that the bike needed was a set of tires because of weather checking and a seat if one was to be picky. The owner approached me and we talked about the bike. I prodded at it a bit and with nerves of steel I said "would you take $150 right now?".......... There was a pause, he consulted with his wife for a second and returned with yes.
I almost fell down. Still with nerves of steel I inquired about the title, keys, the box of parts next to it including a full front fairing. Trying hard not to see to anxious I shelled out the $150, collected the title and the keys and told them that I would be back for it in about an hour. I was driving my Toyota Corolla at the time so you see the problem. Fortunately the bike was only four small city blocks from my house so I decided to get a ride back and retrieve the bike and push it home.
About half way home I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I smoke way too much to push a heavy bike even though I am not in bad shape. Anyway got it home and located a battery for $35.
Not able to wait I started cleaning the bike right away and figured I would get the battery later. Like a good "new bike" owner I checked the oil and filled her up. MMMMM did I forget to mention it was on the small kickstand? (the room full of veterans erupts in laughter). For reference, I had a bit of a mess later when I did get it to start. Read on.
Setting up the battery was not a surprise that I was ready for. Having to fill the battery and all that. Far cry from getting a car battery. Anyway after I got the battery all set up and installed I inserted the key and turned it------nothing. Not one light. Nope, nothing nada........
After some mulling around I traced the hot wire back to the ignition switch with the trusty DVOM. Ok have power at all the points that I was supposed to?
? Plugged the switch back in and voila LIGHTS... Dirty connection I think.
The right hand controls where shot (like no start button) so I jumped the solenoid and the the starter spun to life, but it would not start. I stopped to remove the air box (lots of swearing) and sprayed carb spray into the carbs. Hit the solenoid again and a little rump..pump...bump... Ok getting close...
Removed the fuel tank real quick and double checked all of the connections for the coils. Cylinders 1/4 coil ground was unplugged. Plugged that back in. Reinstalled the tank and put more fuel in it. OUCH! OVER $6 for two lousy gallons. Got everything back into position and tryed to start again. This time it roared to life sounded pretty impressive to me. Only it would not idle not wind up right. Spraying carb spary in the two middle carbs the motor stumbled. Spraying carb spray in cylinders 1 and 4 had no effect.
Ok it was running sort of... Time to regroup and get to the books. A quick look at the schematic for the bike which I found on this site! I saw that there was two sets of points. It did give me a rosey feeling to know that 1 and 4 where dead and it was a great possibility that the points were to blame. Remember I have never worked on one of these bikes before.
Removed the points cover and gave the motor a turn with the kick start and saw... guess what... youre right the points were not opening. Spec was supposed to be like .016 for the points. I static set the 1/4 points at .016 and tryed to start it. It ran, but still not hitting on 1 and 4. Recheck the points on 2/3 it was set to .027. So I set the 1/4 points to match. Crossed my fingers, turned the key and stuffed my screwdriver into the solenoid jumpping the terminals and the bike cranked a few times, cleared and roared to life. The tone definetly different. Almost scarry. However what was much more disturbing was the fact that the bike was pumping I mean PUMPING
oil on the ground. After trapping the exxon valdez slick in the driveway I rechecked the oil and found that it was grossly over full. MMM? I wonder what dummy did that?
. Drained the oil back to the normal level and restarted the bike. All was well and it was time for that test ride.
The test ride was a success. The bike rode nicely and sounded very normal. Great power and idle. Now it's time to fix a few aboriginal lighting hacks on the bike and it is complete.
Thanks for reading hope you like. At the very least the dumb look on my face when oil started pumping out of the bike was priceless for anyone who was around to see it. LOL.
