Topic: '72 CB 750 - "Kinetic Aline"

[Zaipai]

Truing wheels is... painful.  An exercise in... frustration.  Hard on the fingertips.  Tiring.  Tedious.  [Insert a general negative adjective here].

We need a little yellow emoticon face that's tired and laying on his back.

I kinda fancy this one..

[Doctor_D]

Yep, it's a pain.  Bicycle wheels - fine, but motorcycle wheels I leave to the experts.  Hence the $913 I paid Buchanan.

Good luck.

[wannabridin]

so soichiro, if you had to go back and do it again would you pay someone to true the wheels?  i'm debating on doing this myself or not, but i don't know if it'll be worth it in money savings...  only reason i wouldn't do it is because i'd want to customize the wheels some with paint

[sangyo soichiro]

Hi WBR,
I would still do it again, and in fact, still have to do the rear.  It's a pain, but it's worth doing once, just so you can say you've done it. 

But that's just me.

Of course, your decision might hinge on whether or not you already have the proper tools.  A spoke wrench, a dial indicator, and maybe a truing jig.  I have the first two, but not the jig.  I'd bet the jig makes it more manageable. 

[sangyo soichiro]

Speaking of proper tools, does anyone know where I can get the tools for removing the bearings from the front and rear wheels?  There are those "caps" that must be unscrewed in order to get at the bearings.  I need the tools (there's one for the front, and one for the rear) that fit in the caps to unscrew them.  None of my parts-supplier internet bookmarks has them.

[sangyo soichiro]

Hi WBR,
I would still do it again, and in fact, still have to do the rear.  It's a pain, but it's worth doing once, just so you can say you've done it. 

But that's just me.

Of course, your decision might hinge on whether or not you already have the proper tools.  A spoke wrench, a dial indicator, and maybe a truing jig.  I have the first two, but not the jig.  I'd bet the jig makes it more manageable. 

Oh yeah... and one more impediment for me was that every time I tapped the spoke wrench on the spokes to listen to the pitch (to see if they were all about the same), I couldn't resist tapping out that tune from the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, when he first gets to Bartertown.  I swear they made that tune by tapping a spoke wrench on some CB750 spokes.  Anyway, that added a lot of time to my truing project.

[sangyo soichiro]

Truing wheels is... painful.  An exercise in... frustration.  Hard on the fingertips.  Tiring.  Tedious.  [Insert a general negative adjective here].

We need a little yellow emoticon face that's tired and laying on his back.

I kinda fancy this one..

Yeah, that about sums it up. 

[wannabridin]

haha nice!  ya, i'm on the same boat as you with wanting to lace and true a set of wheels at least once in my life!  that might be all i need to make or break the idea of doing it again!  i have a dial indicator, which lots of people say you don't really need, and i can get a spoke wrench.  no jig either, but harbor freight sells one for about $50, but i don't see how that's worth it if i have an old axle and a vise...

as for the bearing cap removal, i'm pretty sure there's a thread in here on how to make your own.  do you have a welder or grinder?

[sangyo soichiro]

as for the bearing cap removal, i'm pretty sure there's a thread in here on how to make your own.  do you have a welder or grinder?

I don't have a welder, and the only thing that remotely resembles a grinder is some sanding discs for a 90-degree pneumatic hand tool.  

I'll put changing the wheel bearings on hold in lieu of just getting this thing back on the road so I can enjoy it.  Unless I get the proper tools in short order.  But I can maybe put some of the minor stuff on the 'next winter' project list.

[Doctor_D]

Speaking of proper tools, does anyone know where I can get the tools for removing the bearings from the front and rear wheels?  There are those "caps" that must be unscrewed in order to get at the bearings.  I need the tools (there's one for the front, and one for the rear) that fit in the caps to unscrew them.  None of my parts-supplier internet bookmarks has them.

I made a tool from a piece of sheet steel that I used to unscrew the caps, but it took a beating and wasn't worth saving when the job was done.  Heat is your friend here.  Also a brass drift and a deadblow hammer will help get things moving without too much damage.

There's a bearing removal tool that I borrowed to drive them out of the hubs, but it was so-so and much of the work was completed with said drift and deadblow as well.

[wannabridin]

you could get a piece of flat stock and drill some holes in it and put some bolts through the holes that fit in the slots on the cap, grind em flat so there's more surface area and then give that a shot?  but heat IS your friend here!  i don't have any pictures of my idea, does it make sense to you?

[MCRider]

you could get a piece of flat stock and drill some holes in it and put some bolts through the holes that fit in the slots on the cap, grind em flat so there's more surface area and then give that a shot?  but heat IS your friend here!  i don't have any pictures of my idea, does it make sense to you?

I have pictures of that exact tool. Except no need for grinding, round bolt end in square slot worked fine.


Once you've drilled out the stakes, the "retainer" not caps   should turn fairly easily. No heat IMO, too soft and not necessary.

[sangyo soichiro]

Thanks guys.  I think I can make something like that. 

MCRider, what did you mean by "Once you've drilled out the stakes...."   

[MCRider]

Thanks guys.  I think I can make something like that.  

MCRider, what did you mean by "Once you've drilled out the stakes...."  

Aha! I thought so. Before i learned about the stakes I ruined several retainers and a rear hub.

Looking at the retainer head on, there are 2 or 4 dimple marks, 180deg or 90deg apart depending on how many you have.  Like a centerpunch mark right where the threads from the retainer and the threads from the hub meet. These are called "stakes" and they were put ther by the factory to keep the retianer from turning. You should take a drill bit slightly larger than the stake, and drill down about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch. That will clear out the deformed threads and the retainer will turn, usually very easily.

As i learned, if you don't drill them out you likely won't get the retainer to turn no matter what you do and in my case I went medieval on it and trashed the hub.

Once you've done you're work, you'll want to restake the retainer. Centerpuch and a sharp rap with your hammer.  They are not tightened down terribly tight.

In my picture, you can see where the 4 stakes were in the hub, slightly larger as they were drilled out. There are no marks on the retainer as it is new.

[sangyo soichiro]

Wow.  Thanks Ron!  You probably saved me a lot of work and frustration!

[MCRider]

My pleasure, hope so, anything to delay you putting your engine together before me.   

[wannabridin]

i KNEW you were the one with those pics Ron!  thanks for coming to the rescue!  once again....

[MCRider]

i KNEW you were the one with those pics Ron!  thanks for coming to the rescue!  once again....

You're welcome. And it wasn't my original idea, someone else here on the forums came up with it. Wish I could remember who to give credit. Very cheap and effective.

[sangyo soichiro]

Update on the rod situation:
I emailed Jake at Cycle X to ask their opinion.   They sent me out two rods, along with a packing slip to send back the two heavier rods.  So now I have a matching set.  They took care of me, no questions asked.  And they will make sure from now on that the rods will all be matched.  They take care of their customers.

The rods came in yesterday and I shipped the other two back today.

[sangyo soichiro]

I had been putting it off, but decided today was the day to clean the cases. 

Sounds simple, doesn't it?   

Man, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.  Getting the gasket residue off, and getting all the gunk out of the little crevices, turned out to basically be an all day job.  I finally had to tell myself it was good enough and decided that I'm going for the "used look" and not the "showroom look."

Where's that little emoticon Zaipai gave me...
Ah, here it is. 

[heyjones]

I'm trying to strip the cases to repaint... what a nightmare! I wasn't going to crack the bottom end, but I'm considering it now just because it might make cleaning and painting this thing so much easier.

[MCRider]

Soichiro and Heyjones: I agonized over my cases for months. I tried power washer at the car wash. hand scrubbing. Final decision was to have them media blasted and then clean them. and that cleaning is a lot of work. At least you know that your cleaning out the cleaner, and not more and more crud. My cases were already bare, so it was an easier decision.

But really, a good cleaning as you described Soichiro, will look surprisingly good.

[michrobi]

I'm in the same camp as Ron on cases. It's less heartbreaking to spend a day cleaning out media and have spotless cases, than to spend a day cleaning paint and grime to end up with a little less paint and grime. Here is the result of $25 on my rebuild last summer.

BEFORE



AFTER

[wannabridin]

any updates???   

[sangyo soichiro]

any updates???   

Thanks for the interest, but nothing really new to report.  A few more parts are trickling in - I have the caliper for a dual disc system now (thanks to forum member NikkiSixx).  Have to order a few other little things, going to plastigauge the rod bearings tonight, and maybe clean up the new caliper.  Lots of little things left to do....