Topic: Score! **750 cafe build** Completed!

[Speed King]

Damn, Dude that thing is looking good! Can't wait to see more.

[tweakin]

Man, the build is looking great.  Keep it up.

[rickmoore24]

looking sick!

[Shoeboxjoe]

Finally got oil pressure after pulling the gauge out and pouring oil in the hole where it mounts. Picked up an electronic relay for the blinkers and buttoned up all the wiring. Got a one piece stainless steal braided brake line from http://slingshot-cycles.com

Had to trim the seat up a bit to make it fit better with the new seat pad and then had a friend paint the tank and seat...









Ran all the fuel lines and installed the headlight with new chrome ring, tank and seat, new decal...



It needs more decals or pin stripes or something, still not sure what to add yet. Right after taking this pic i put a gallon of gas in and was about to see if it fires when the petcock started leaking gas like mad in the off position! So had to stuff a rag around there and pull the seat and tank back off. It was leaking from one of the barbed copper tubes, bad o ring or washer maybe in the petcock?? I ordered a rebuild kit but it probably won't be here until the middle of next week!! I was hoping to spend the holiday weekend tuning and working the bugs out!   I guess i can spend the weekend drinking beer since there will be no riding.

Still waiting for gauges and air filters which should also be here next week! Could use a shorter clutch cable also    

I'm hoping to get it running well enough to take it to up north Tomahawk WI for the annual Fall Ride in 2 weeks, even though it's mostly a Harley rally. Hope to be updating this thread soon with video of the bike running.

[Shoeboxjoe]

Got some fiber washers for the petcock from Ace hardware and that fixed the leak so it looks like i have to stop drinking and see if i can make this bastard fire! The 1/4" fuel line leaks around the barbed tubes from the petcock so i had to add some hose clamps. Also a little leak from the bowl even with a new o ring, perhaps just tighten that up a bit more. It was just starting to pop when the battery went dead!! So got the battery on the charger now and shut the fuel back off. Hopefully i'll have it running today.

[Shoeboxjoe]

Got it running this morning, here's a bad phone video of it starting...

Aside from the broken clutch cable and some small oil leaks, there's only one lingering issue that i haven't figured out yet. After riding about 15 minutes or so when the bike gets up to a good temp, it starts running like #$%*. Seems to lose power when you're on the throttle and stumbles and sputters but it idles ok for a bit and eventually gets worse and worse until it dies. At first i thought i was running out of fuel but i had plenty. When i let it sit for 5-10 minutes it starts and runs fine again until it gets hot. Any ideas what it could be? Right now i have no air filters (pod filters ordered) and a totally open exhaust. I replaced the jets with new stock ones from a rebuild kit, do i need larger jets? Would improper jetting cause it to stumble at a hotter temp but run fine when its cool? Any input would be appreciated but in the mean time i'll start digging through the forum for answers.

[rickmoore24]

I love that white and red on the blacked out frame and bits. Seriously cool looking and the exhaust sounds great too. Great job!

Rick

[Shoeboxjoe]

With help from another post on this forum, i think i've found the cause of the bike running like #$%* when it's hot. Someone suggested vacuum lock in the gas tank and i noticed there's no vent in the gas cap on the tank. so i drilled two 1/8" holes in the spring plate under the gas cap to allow venting. After doing this I fired the bike back up and noticed fuel everywhere under the tank. Apparently the cheap Ace Hardware 1/4" fuel lines don't deal with heat very well, they were very soft and now leaking at the in line fuel filter connections which is probably the real cause of the bike running like #$%*.

Also I've noticed the fuel tank is weeping fuel from one small spot along the seam. It seemed to be getting worse through out the day so I drained all fuel and aired the tank out. I'm waiting for some Caswell's Epoxy tank sealant at the moment and was going to try resealing the tank. Gauges and air filters should be here this week. I'm still hoping to have the bike ready for the Tomahawk Fall Ride on the 17th.

Thanks for the comments! I appreciate any feedback

[fastbroshi]

That's a damn good video for a phone!  You should see the pics, let alone the vid my phone takes.  My phone is a Commodore 64 compared to your super computer phone.

[HedNut]

Wow DUDE!  I wish I would've seen this build come together! GREAT STUFF!!  At least I'm here for the good parts!  Love the look of your bike!!!
Cheers!

[Shoeboxjoe]

Resealed the gas tank with Caswell's Epoxy (great stuff!), installed gauges, mirrors, air filters, rebuilt petcock, new fuel injector hose for the fuel line and removed the leaky inline filters. Filled the tank last night and the exterior is still dry as a bone today so hopefully we're good to go! Registered the bike this morning so I'm legal now. If the weather dries up I'll take it out this evening and see if the bugs are ironed out.


Tach only goes to 8k but i got a deal on it


If anyone's interested I found that ordering the K&N filters individually was cheaper than ordering the set of 4. These were part number RC-0160 which are .5" longer and don't taper but I like the look.

Made a steel plate side cover that doesn't stick out as much as the OEM plastic ones.

[Shoeboxjoe]

Put about 250 miles on since the rebuild. Recently put in 130 main jets and adjusted the needles as much as possible to give it more fuel. It runs good but at 50mph or more it doesn't like to maintain a speed even though it accelerates great. It will maintain a speed but you can hear it stumble slightly as if it were running out of fuel. It's much better than it was with the needles adjusted and new jets but still feels like it's wanting more fuel while cruising at like 1/4 to 1/2 throttle, but only while doing 50mph or more.

Added some pin stripe decals to the top of the tank and seat, bar end mirrors, and a new clutch cable.


Also added some HM wing decals to the oil tank and the side cover.


Made a steel plate side cover, it ended up a little crooked when bolted on but im happy with it.




Think I'm calling it DONE! Or done until I can afford one of the CycleX "Git Kits"  

[domer]

god damn thats pretty! now on to the chopper!!!

[brandEn]

WOW, looks friggin great. I really like the white with red seat. I can only imagine how good it feels to be "done." Good job!

[rickmoore24]

Congrats, on a job well done!

[BrianAdair]

Very nice bike, man!!

I'm wanting to paint my bike white also with the black rims.

[HedNut]

Stand up job SBJOE!!! Wow...I absolutely LOVE that tank/seat combo..and you done it wicked with the white paint/red seat!  Very clean looking bike!  One slik ride!  Cool and congrats on getting it "done".   (We can never REALLY be done...here's always something on the wish list...hehe)

Cheers!! 

[Frankencake]

Can I have the orange fairing and bags?

[MorePDX]

Nice build, thanks for sharing!

[Shoeboxjoe]

Can I have the orange fairing and bags?

Sorry sold the bags. No one seems to want the fairing. The windscreen is severely cracked, the wiring is pretty cobbled and there's holes cut in the fairing for a radio or CB or something.

[Shoeboxjoe]

Sold this bike earlier this spring, now that the weather is nice I'm kicking myself!

This cafe build was a great learning experience for me, and i really appreciated all the positive comments! I think the next one we can do bigger, stronger, faster, and hopefully cheaper!

Anyway, picked up a '77 cb750k that will be the future project.
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=121669.0

[Ricky_Racer]

Nice clean job. I like the red upholstery with white. Very dramatic.

Ahem...  Ahem...  And I really like the wonderful, tasteful, detailed HM Logo and CB750 stickers.  I think everybody should have at least one set, especially since they come in five great colors including chrome!  RR

[davis96]

A few things:
1) I LOVE build threads like this. You know exactly what you want to build, no funny business, no time wasting and quick progress. Also, the bike is a beaut!

2) I'm just sayin', a couple red decals and you could recreate this design. Some love it, some hate it, but the more I look at it the more I dig it:

Would look super cool.

Keep up the good work
Davis

[Bankerdanny]

Looks fast, but I'm not sure that those bicycle disks on the front are up to the task of stopping it. Plus that downward angle won't do any favors for fuel flow.

Seems like more of a trailer to the show than get up and go bike.

It is pretty though.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Nice inspiration, but I have to agree about the practicality of those brakes and the mounting angle of the tank.