Topic: Lets see your SOHC bike out on the road!

[Terry in Australia]

mate bought a 2017 harley but only rode it home so far,we went for about an hour and half ride through some really steep local areas to test it out,gotta load the motor and get them brakes hot!

That’s very nice. I remember years ago there was someone here offering rotor drilling service. Do you notice a difference?

Gday Kenny,thats a cast iron rotor not a drilled stainless factory one,id say it works slightly better in stopping power for lever pressure compared,however the stainless one i could fade to zero if i wanted easy on our long steep decents,the cast iron one seems to get better to a point then stay there without fading,i have semi sintered pads i cant seem to find sintered pads here?a guy here in australia is turning them out for hondas,they come drilled or solid,was only about 180 bucks.
you have to grind n punch out the stock rivets and bolt these on the carrier,its about 160 grams lighter then the stock one,i must tidy up that caliper one day.

You can just send him an old disc rotor and he'll mount the cast iron rotor on your disc carrier. His name is Hugh Robinson, and he's usually advertising them on Ebay Australia. I have a twin disc setup on my K2 Bitsa with 2 of his cast iron discs, braided stainless hoses and a better master cylinder, and my old girl will pull up almost as well as a modern bikes, or approx 1000% better than a stock CB750.....

K2 Bitsa weekend 2-3 May 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[disco]

Hi Terry,
I see you’re running the Delkevic 4-1 exhaust on this bike. How do you like it? I have a few of them on my CB750’s and I think they are great value for money. My repro 4-4 exhaust is rusting from the inside out in less than 5-6 years. My Delkevic stainless systems are showing no signs of wear whatsoever.

[Terry in Australia]

Hi Terry,
I see you’re running the Delkevic 4-1 exhaust on this bike. How do you like it? I have a few of them on my CB750’s and I think they are great value for money. My repro 4-4 exhaust is rusting from the inside out in less than 5-6 years. My Delkevic stainless systems are showing no signs of wear whatsoever.

Yes Greg, they're great value for money, the OEM 4 into 4 pipes are sh1t as far as I'm concerned, and when I was a youngster the first thing I'd do with a  new (to me) CB750 purchase was pull the rusty OEM pipes off and install a 4 into 1. Of course nowadays folks pay big bucks for new OEM or repro 4 into 4's, but I'm still not a fan. I have Delkevics on my K0, F2, K2 and Z1-B.

K0 Saturday 20 Mar 2021 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

[disco]

Hi Terry,
I have 3 x Delkevic systems & 1 x repro 4-4. I’m a big fan of the Delkevic 4-1. Cheaper, lighter, better all round.
Btw that repro 4-4 system that i spoke about lives in my garage and it’s still rusting! I could understand if it was out in the elements, but it’s pampered!

[Terry in Australia]

Hi Terry,
I have 3 x Delkevic systems & 1 x repro 4-4. I’m a big fan of the Delkevic 4-1. Cheaper, lighter, better all round.
Btw that repro 4-4 system that i spoke about lives in my garage and it’s still rusting! I could understand if it was out in the elements, but it’s pampered!

Yeah mate, I remember one of the first guys to own a K1 in my home town had the OEM 4 into 4's rust out in under 2 years, and like you, he pampered that bike. There are all sorts of theories about why they rusted out, but I reckon the chroming process had a lot to do with it, all those chemicals inside that weren't possible to properly flush out that mixed with moisture inside the pipe were almost designed to rot out pipes in record time.

[Shtonecb500]

Street count?

[newday777]

Btw that repro 4-4 system that i spoke about lives in my garage and it’s still rusting! I could understand if it was out in the elements, but it’s pampered!

Do you start it up in the cold winter months?
Do you ride it until it is full heated up to burn off the condensation created by hot gasses hitting cold steel?

[RAFster122s]

Popular thinking is to not start them in winter, as they cool down they only re-condense the moisture in the air in the tank and exhaust as well as inside the motor. Better to fill the tank and leave it or completely drain it and fog it. Exhaust can can be fogged too...any oil remaining burns off when you get it hot next season.

Without a ride are you going to be able to safely get it to operating temp and keep it there long enough to burn off any moisture? Better to just have fresh clean oil in it for the winter.

That's my opinion.

[Terry in Australia]

Greg lives in Sydney Australia guys, so doesn’t have a “riding season” like some countries, so no need to go thru a seasonal shutdown procedure. OEM Honda pipes rotted out here in Oz just like they did in every other country, the problem was (and still is with the repro pipes apparently) the way they were constructed, and what was left inside them after the chrome plating process, and the various acids caused by exhaust gases, and the fact that all of the metal inside the exhaust system is unprotected mild steel.

[dave500]

plus in the day these were churned out like sausages,even the chrome on the fenders etc wasnt as good as the english bikes?only half as solid and polished,the engines were where it was at though!

[Terry in Australia]

plus in the day these were churned out like sausages,even the chrome on the fenders etc wasnt as good as the english bikes?only half as solid and polished,the engines were where it was at though!

Yeah Dave, Pommy bikes were the best looking, best handling, best braking bikes that were ever pushed home, regularly.

[Trevor from Warragul]

I see people lusting after the 350 Four OEM pipes & think "Don't bother".  The only was they won't rust out is if you don't ride the bike.  Better off with a 4 into 1.  I speak from experience...

[MauiK3]

I seem to remember when I received my repro 4-4 pipes that I looked inside and saw what looked like a grey coating.

[PeWe]

Took the freshly rebuilt 750F on a ride today, it just broke 100 miles on the new engine and its running wonderfully! The break process in is killing me though I cant wait to rev it over 5,000 rpm's 

I waited max 20 minutes to rev past 6000rpm
I have old pistons (Action Fours 836) I can look at that got a too soft break in. Not passing 5000 rpm the first 1000km.
They have brown residues under and around the rings  as described will happen when not let it grind in the rings the important first 100-200km (when bores are rough like sandpaper) by heavy decelerations reducing throttle completely a several times from 4000, followed by 6000rpm.

My later used 836 and 1000cc are shiny. I had read about break-ins and why to not be too light on the throttle.

The 1000cc got a quick trip to 8000 rpm too at first ride when really warm and whipped by several decelerations. Too fun;D

My stock K2 with K7 61.5mm pistons got a similar treatment. Run it warm and easy the first 10-20 minutes, 4000rpm, max 20 minutes later 6000 rpm bursts. Not for a longer period though. 7000rpm at 2nd ride, from 150km

Steady cruising in 4000-5000rpm with heavy decelerations.
8000rpm after 200 km and really warm engine.

Important to let it rev 2000rpm at first start to quickly ensure oil pressure at top end is my thought.

I wonder how the race guys do?

[Translations]

Took the freshly rebuilt 750F on a ride today, it just broke 100 miles on the new engine and its running wonderfully! The break process in is killing me though I cant wait to rev it over 5,000 rpm's 

I waited max 20 minutes to rev past 6000rpm
I have old pistons (Action Fours 836) I can look at that got a too soft break in. Not passing 5000 rpm the first 1000km.
They have brown residues under and around the rings  as described will happen when not let it grind in the rings the important first 100-200km (when bores are rough like sandpaper) by heavy decelerations reducing throttle completely a several times from 4000, followed by 6000rpm.

My later used 836 and 1000cc are shiny. I had read about break-ins and why to not be too light on the throttle.

The 1000cc got a quick trip to 8000 rpm too at first ride when really warm and whipped by several decelerations. Too fun;D

My stock K2 with K7 61.5mm pistons got a similar treatment. Run it warm and easy the first 10-20 minutes, 4000rpm, max 20 minutes later 6000 rpm bursts. Not for a longer period though. 7000rpm at 2nd ride, from 150km

Steady cruising in 4000-5000rpm with heavy decelerations.
8000rpm after 200 km and really warm engine.

Important to let it rev 2000rpm at first start to quickly ensure oil pressure at top end is my thought.

I wonder how the race guys do?

I will admit after reading the Honda break in procedure it left me a bit disappointed, I mean to wait 600 miles to go past 5,000 rpm's is a little much? I have gotten it above 6000 rpm in short burst of course and it's already set with a high idle as advised so I feel like I am hitting a nice middle ground here 

[PeWe]

Took the freshly rebuilt 750F on a ride today, it just broke 100 miles on the new engine and its running wonderfully! The break process in is killing me though I cant wait to rev it over 5,000 rpm's 

I waited max 20 minutes to rev past 6000rpm
I have old pistons (Action Fours 836) I can look at that got a too soft break in. Not passing 5000 rpm the first 1000km.
They have brown residues under and around the rings  as described will happen when not let it grind in the rings the important first 100-200km (when bores are rough like sandpaper) by heavy decelerations reducing throttle completely a several times from 4000, followed by 6000rpm.

My later used 836 and 1000cc are shiny. I had read about break-ins and why to not be too light on the throttle.

The 1000cc got a quick trip to 8000 rpm too at first ride when really warm and whipped by several decelerations. Too fun;D

My stock K2 with K7 61.5mm pistons got a similar treatment. Run it warm and easy the first 10-20 minutes, 4000rpm, max 20 minutes later 6000 rpm bursts. Not for a longer period though. 7000rpm at 2nd ride, from 150km

Steady cruising in 4000-5000rpm with heavy decelerations.
8000rpm after 200 km and really warm engine.

Important to let it rev 2000rpm at first start to quickly ensure oil pressure at top end is my thought.

I wonder how the race guys do?

I will admit after reading the Honda break in procedure it left me a bit disappointed, I mean to wait 600 miles to go past 5,000 rpm's is a little much? I have gotten it above 6000 rpm in short burst of course and it's already set with a high idle as advised so I feel like I am hitting a nice middle ground here 

The throttle off decelerations when rings are written to press extra to cylinder walls is what I believe in and reason for better looking/sealing rings.

I know how Honda stock rings look like when riding the bike very hard direct without any warming up, no slow riding first 10-15 minutes.
They fell out in pieces when lifting the cylinder. Except for those carbonised into the grooves, still in parts.

This was the reason why it got 836 and more back then 1983.

[newday777]

On the road......

[Terry in Australia]

On the road......

Looks fantastic mate, I love the wheels, pipe, bars etc, very nice!

[newday777]

On the road......

Looks fantastic mate, I love the wheels, pipe, bars etc, very nice!

Thanks Terry.

[KennyRedman]

On the road......

That’s nice looking!

[newday777]

On the road......

That’s nice looking!

Thanks. That was a fun day riding in the Labor Day Parade, doing donuts and zig zags and seeing old friends waving and hootn and a hollern

[BenelliSEI]

Heading out for breakfast and a ride with Ganaraska CVMG bunch. Gorgeous, cool morning!

[ekpent]

Heading out for breakfast and a ride with Ganaraska CVMG bunch. Gorgeous, cool morning!

K1 cruisin" ! One of the best years for the 750's in my worthless opinion. 

[Hoosier Honda]

Cornfield cruising today. It's nice to get away from all the traffic sometimes and the smell of the corn this time of year is really strong.

[Terry in Australia]

Heading out for breakfast and a ride with Ganaraska CVMG bunch. Gorgeous, cool morning!

K1 cruisin" ! One of the best years for the 750's in my worthless opinion. 

+1, me too Eric, in my questionable opinion, the K1 was the best CB750 built, I really must put my 1970 built K1 together soon. Beautiful bike John.