Topic: 1973 CB750K New Plans

[unitedguitar]

Hello. My name is Ben and I just recently got into working on motorcycles. A buddy of mine and I built a Kawasaki 400 over the Spring and now it is time to build a big boy bike. I picked up a 75 CB750 along with several extra parts bikes and frames and engines and all kinds of other good stuff for 650 bucks. The plan is to do it up kind of cafe style but different in some areas. I hope to keep this updated regularly but I can't make any promises. Unfortunately there aren't any pics from the tear down process as most of them were on my phone and it had a major malfunction. I did start taking pics with my camera recently but only after the frame had been modified and partially primed. Let me know what you think and any ideas you might have. Thanks!

[unitedguitar]

Today i got the frame painted up. It didn't turn out exactly how I had planned but I like it none the less.









It may be difficult to tell but it isn't really black. It was supposed to be black but I got some textured black paint that ended up having some metal flake to it and it looks like a dark graphite.

[unitedguitar]

I started on the engine cleanup a while back. I shot it with some engine degreaser which worked ok but my friend Bob told me about some degreaser that they sell at the dollar store called grease lightning. It was three bucks for a 40 oz. bottle so I thought I might give it a try. It worked much better. The engine was totally disgusting. It looked like a ball of mud. Unfortunately I don't have the before pics but I have the pics from after the degreaser.

The top of the transmission casing and the output shaft area are totally disgusting even after cleaning.




The left side covers are disgusting as well and the charging system cover has a huge dent in the bottom but I have another set that are in good shape.


When we got the motor out I noticed that the oil filter housing had a few fins broken off of it so I will have to rob one off of the donor bike.


Both of the chrome right side covers are dented. More to come off of the donor bike.


Now I have to spend some time with some carb cleaner and a wire brush and some sandpaper to get the engine clean enough to prime and paint. Unfortunately it is raining outside which hinders my ability to work on it.

[unitedguitar]

Here are some more pics after a little more cleaning.













And here is a little peek at what the lump will look like.





Since I will be replacing the side covers and the oil filter housing I didn't bother too much with them. Hoping to have the engine painted up today so it can set up and have plenty of time for the paint to cure before it meets up with the frame.

I did paint over all of the bolt heads and such but will probably replace most of them as time goes by with stainless fasteners. Those things aren't cheap though.

[unitedguitar]

Just finished up painting the engine. Not sure I'm totally happy with the way it came out but it will do. One thing I need to find is the main drive cover. Neither bike came with one so I'm stuck right now. However I will go on as it seems that the bike was ridden without it before.







I also got the left side engine covers cleaned up and in primer. Should turn out pretty decent.





Now it's a waiting game. The wonderful world of engine paint.

[unitedguitar]

Did something totally awesome today. Got the engine back in the frame! Very exciting. Wrapped to frame up in key places with bubble wrap and then laid the engine over and laid the frame over it. Took about 5 minutes to get it bolted in. Still had a few nicks and scratches but nothing that can't be touched up. Thanks goes out to my buddy Bob for helping me out. Maybe he'll post some pics of his bike for all to see.

Here it is! And with a lovely shot of the tail end of the Cadillac.


5 dollar insurance policy. Worked decently. The scratches that we put in it are around the motor mounts where there happens to be no bubble wrap.






Next on the list is finishing the steering setup. Hope to have it done on Tuesday.

[unitedguitar]

Well...Got some stuff done over the past couple of days. Cleaned up the wheels a little, got the front end all painted up and installed, as well as the kick stand. Now I have a rolling bike with an engine.

I also started doing some body work on the tank. It was pretty decent but fixing the tank emblem mounts was a bit difficult. Need to get that finished up and in another coat of primer.

[wvhardtail]

Wow, looking good. What paint did you use on the engine? I have mine out and about to do the same.

[unitedguitar]

It is Rustoleum 500 degree engine enamel in low gloss black. Goes on thick and looks pretty decent. The better you clean the engine up the better your end result will be. Just be careful if you do the fins like mine. I did one side with sand paper and the other I attempted to do with a rotary tool and it jumped on top of one of the fins and I had to do some touch up.

[unitedguitar]

It has been a very long time since I posted anything on here about my bike. Kind of sad really. Fortunately, I did get some new pics tonight. I haven't made a ton of progress but I did get the monster running. I do have an electrical issue though. I keep popping the main power fuse. I assume that there is a power wire that is grounding out somewhere so I'll have to go through the electrical system and find it.

Here is the control setup and the tach and speedo I got from Parts'n'More. I think it turned out decent.


Back angle...


I was planning on making my own seat for it but after doing some research and looking at lots of pictures I decided to order one. It is being made right now and I should have it in about a week or two. It should be awesome.


Front, head on...I'm really diggin' the blacked out headlight bucket and trim ring. It just looks so mean.


The pipes need work and some mufflers. By suggestion from the Wrenchmonkees I picked up a pair of EMGO shorty mufflers. I need to cut the pipes to length and then paint and wrap them. Probably go with a dark graphite or black wrap and the mufflers are chrome so it will look pretty decent. Also, check out the sweet Sharpie graphics. I like the scallop design but I think I'm gonna go with the design laid out on the other side of the tank in the pictures above.


If I go with a number on the side covers it will be 75 since the bike is a 75. You can barely see it but I changed out the foot pegs too. I thought about reusing the stock style pegs but to get new rubber was gonna be slightly cost prohibitive so I improvised. $16 bicycle pegs and two bucks worth of hardware and I had a sweet custom set of pegs. It took a little bit of engineering to get them to work right but they are on there and I can stand up on them.

[unitedguitar]

Had an unfortunate mishap with some gasoline and the engine paint. I guess "gas and oil resistant" doesn't mean it won't eventually eat the paint away.



The gas got both of the side covers and around the starter cover. Hopefully it turns out ok but the paint doesn't seem to match up too well. May have purchased a bad can of paint. Bummer.

The good news is that I got my new brake lines in today from slingshot cycles and the front brake works. Now I just have to figure out the rear brake and wait for my new seat to come in. Then it will be time for some paint.

[seaweb11]

I try to keep some plastic over the new engine paint while sorting the carbs and getting the bike running.

Once it heats up with the 1st few rides it gets baked on a bit better. Then you can go back with some strategic tape and paint and finish it off.

[Old75_ratafe]

Nice ride united I may have to steal some of your tank design.  and now I know what my engine is going to look like I was planning on painting it black in the spring.  What did you use for paint gloss or semi gloss?

[unitedguitar]

I used Rustoleum Low Gloss Black on my engine. It contrasts just enough with the flat black headlight bucket and front end. I think it would be cool to go gloss black on yours if you plan on leaving the tank flat black. I kinda dig yours with the unpainted engine but not much can beat a bike that is blacked out when it is done properly.

The scallop design was actually the idea of my buddy Bob. He's a hot rod guy and drew that on there with a Sharpie. The "C" shaped design was my idea that I kind of modified from another design I saw on another bike. You still thinking about doing the gloss black tank with flat black graphics?

[unitedguitar]

I might have to go with something to cover the repainted area. Since the mess up I've been trying not to remove the tank unless I really have to. Thanks for the tip seaweb.

[Old75_ratafe]

I've been flipping between doing the engine in all black or just the main and polishing the sides and valve cover.  I had been trying to come up with a good idea for that tank but nothing seemed to flow right. It never occured to me to reverse the pattern on the tank.  I was just planning on doing it real simple in flat black and gloss black with maybe some logo on the side in white.

[unitedguitar]

It would be cool if you did flat black and flat white graphics on a gloss black tank. Very hot rod-esque. I'd be tempted to throw a little red in with it but that may not be your style.

[unitedguitar]

Total awesomeness today. My friend's boss has a Honda Trail 90 that he asked us to work on for him. It wouldn't start and he said the headlight wouldn't work. We got to tearing into it and figured out that the battery had lived way past its life expectancy. It was a twelve year old battery. We got a new one from the parts store yesterday and charged it up today. After a few kicks and some fooling around with the choke and petcock the little guy fired up. I took off on it and for some reason it would only do about 10 mph. I thought to myself, this sucks. Looked at it some more and realized I forgot to turn the choke off. After that I got it going up to 30. It would probably do more but I'm not used to it and it isn't mine so I decided not to risk getting crazy. Plus it isn't tagged and there is a police officer that lives down the street. We're going to clean it up and try to degrease that tiny little engine. It will be a cool ride. The most awesome part about the whole thing is that he gave us his Honda Trail 110 as payment. Now we get to tear into that and make it run. Hopefully it just needs a new battery too.

[unitedguitar]

I got bored tonight and decided to do a quick rendering of the design I'm thinking of going with for the tank. The number won't likely make it into the final design but who knows. Let me know what you think.

[haggeo]

the rendering looks good.

[HondaNorway]

I like it alot!!

[unitedguitar]

Thanks. Today is the day that something awesome happened. After 4 weeks of waiting and being anxious, my seat finally arrived. Like I said before, I was planning to make my own but when I saw one of these I knew I had to have it. I talked with the person who makes them for a while and was able to get one ordered and made up with a special mounting bracket just for me. It is so exciting. I would definitely recommend these guys if you want a totally rad seat. So who is it that made my seat? Well...

Here's a hint.



That's right, none other than Benjie's Cafe Racers.









The seat set me back some money and threw me over budget but it is so cool it doesn't even matter.

I also upgraded to a new brake master cylinder. The original one had a leak in it and I didn't want to rebuild it so I got a new one. Plus, the new one has much better clearance with the headlight ears than the original one.

[unitedguitar]

Ok. So I went out this morning and started cleaning up the seat and tank and got them in gray primer. I also tested a few pieces in the orange color that I was planning on doing the bike in and decided that it just didn't look good. So "The Great Pumpkin" is dead and now I need to decide on a new color. I think a gloss gray would look cool and very old school. I also like the legend lime that Ford used on some of their cars. Some other colors would look cool I just don't know what yet. I also dug out the old front fender and started to clean it up. I think I will chop it down a little bit and paint it up either black or something to match the tank and seat. So many decisions.

[Old75_ratafe]

Looking slick man and of course my vote is always for black    But in this case I like the grey idea... say gun metal maybe?  Look around another member did one like similar to how yours is set up and in gun metal grey with red striping awhile back.  It came out really good.

[going4speed]

Awesome thread...thanks for all the detail.

I think this bike would look sick in your color choice of gloss gray.  

Have you thought about maybe a metallic silver or one of those new car colors silver/gold metallic?

That would match the frame too.