Topic: 76 750f hopefully kind of a cafe bike someday

[jakecb420]

just wanted to show off my freshly painted 750f frame. i used rustoleum dark bronze hammer finish. it turned out pretty nice i think. i got the bike from a damp father in laws garage that sat for twenty years. i snad blasted the frame, then primed it with sandable etching primer. about three coats. then it sat for a while. couple days ago got the bug to make progress. wiped it down, skimmed a couple of pitted areas(this step not documented), and put another coat of prime on. put two coats of paint on. it was like 95 degrees out. i hope that helps make it harder. let the frame sit a couple days and put one more kinda heavy coat of paint on today. ill see how it turned out tomorrow. everyone has  seen a painted frame but ill post it anyway. i also know that the pitted area looks bad, but thats what im working with here.

[BeSeeingYou]

i got the bike from a damp father in laws garage

Let's hope he doesn't mildew.

[jakecb420]

      a little more progress, rebuilt the front forks. sanded them down with 300 grit wet sand paper. then buffed with with rouge. looked good. i then sanded them with 600 wet sand paper. looked a little better, but i probably could have stopped at the last buffing. I've read everywhere that you should bust it down in stages, and it will look better, but i was quite pleased. ill used some aluminum polish before i slide em into the frame.
      my goal is to have a  rolling chassis before my baby boy Jack is born in the next couple weeks. next up, clean my already kinda clean wheels, paint the insides of the rotors, and try to build one working rear brake setup out of two non working assemblies. Its nice to actually see things materialize.
      also at the bottom is a pic of my dads recently refreshed 750 K0. new paint, tapered bearings, stainless brake hoses, and more.

[jakecb420]

a little more.....






i shortened the seat pan a couple inches, i think it looks a lot better not hanging out so far but keeping the rear cowl. upholstering is going to be they tricky part i think.


gonna weld nuts into where i cut the signal tubes off. anyone know what the thread pitch is for aftermarket turn signals?

[jakecb420]

progress has been made. i finished the seat pan itself, now it needs to be covered. turn signals on the front. the thread pitch of my turn signals was 10x1.5.  motors in. wiring is mostly in. i fired it up the other day. sounds good.

there is still a ton of work to do. i got all the rebuilds for my brake components. rearsets need to be fabricated. billion other things.

[Loki047]

I like the seat idea.  But I dont think you have enough tires.   

[jakecb420]

    been picking away at this bike. the seat is getting upholstered now. i am going with a textured brown vinyl seat cover with minimal foam on my shortened seat pan.  the guy that is doing it does some high end kinda stuff. i changed a couple of drag tires for him in exchange for the upholstery. gotta love the barter system! i will post pics when i get it back.
   all my brake components have been rebuilt. still need to order pads front and rear and braided brake hoses. $$$$$

i am trying to go with a minimalistic approach on the idiot lights. i think it looks good. i also cut up one of those boomerang ignition switch holders and bolted up to those two nubs on the triple. looks clean.

some more crappy phone pics:

[bluesmoke69]

Nice start keep up the good work!!!

[Really?]

Is that a fork brace on top of the rubber caps on the lowers?

[jakecb420]

Is that a fork brace on top of the rubber caps on the lowers?

yes, i see a lot of hardtail rear ends, so i wanted to be different and hardtail the front!!

actually it is a tweek bar that is not tightened at all. i originally planned on using it because i have it, but after learning that it is for extended front ends and really isnt a good brace to use instead of the factory one(i planned on a fenderless front) it will be saved for another bike. the heated structural integretiy of the front end thread proved useful to me.

my new game plan for the front is welding 2 stock baces minus the fenders together. i may buy a real brace somewhere down the line, but i am trying to use the parts i have.

[Really?]

Good, glad you listened.   

Dunno how much room you will have welding two in there between the tire and brace though.  You will prolly need to leave some to allow for any tire flex if any.

[jakecb420]

more pics of whats going on.






finally got my seat back. i had it done in a brown vinyl, leather texture. i asked him to make it low and tight. i think it looks good. dont know for sure yet what color to paint the body. dark green, cream, black, i dont really know. patched up my side covers with fiberglass repair cloth and resin. after i fix my tank's pinholes and seal it, i will be ready for paint.  the brown seat kinda throws things off a bit but thats what i wanted.










i was planning on welding two braces together for the front end, but there really isnt a whole lot of room to work with. so for now just one brace minus the fender.

[cobrajunkie]

Looking good. What treatment did you give the handlebar controls?  Are the stripped/polished or aftermarket?

[Toxic]

Nice job on the seat.  You're going to want to give the final paint choice allot of thought.

If you don't choose wisely that brown seat is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

But with the right colours for the tinware it can look stunning.

I would vote for a cream / gold pinstripe combo.

Nice build

[jakecb420]

Looking good. What treatment did you give the handlebar controls?  Are the stripped/polished or aftermarket?

thanks, the controls are polished on the top and painted black on the bottom. they are actually off of a k2, i wanted to have the option of turning my headlight on and off. they came on a parts bike i bought, and what do you know, the PO cut every single wire coming out of the bodies. i took em apart and sorted it all out. i think they turned out rather nice.


Toxic:
 i agree, i have been kicking around colors probaly since i started working on this one. i like greens, but you are definately right about the seat sticking out like a sore thumb. i think cream is a good choice, maybe with  brown pinstriping to match the vinyl? cant think of too many color combos that work with what ive done so far. we'll see. its all good.

lots more work to do, brake linings and hoses need to be purchased still. and i already ordered a 17 tooth 530 front sprocket. gonna have to tinker with differences between a 530 and 630.  taillight and license plate bracketry need made. and also have some dialing in on the carbs to do. it runs but it needs to run better.

[Really?]

Maybe a darkish brown like the earlier K.  I have a two color brown seat on my ride (sig) and I think it works with the dark brown.  But then, you have to be an oddball like to to like a brown colored bike.   

[Free Booter]

Is that a fork brace on top of the rubber caps on the lowers?

the heated structural integretiy of the front end thread proved useful to me.

OMG!? I started that thread! hahahahah I never would have thought that it would explode like that. I'm glad that all of the debate has proved useful to someone.

Awesome Sauce...I like the way you're headed w/ your build. Looks like you put a lot of thought behind every choice. That's the hardest part for me sometimes...fighting impulse.

[Old75_ratafe]

Loving the look of this build so far.

[somesuch]

Is that a fork brace on top of the rubber caps on the lowers?

...
my new game plan for the front is welding 2 stock baces minus the fenders together. i may buy a real brace somewhere down the line, but i am trying to use the parts i have.

Probably not a very good way to go. The fit of the brace should be neutral. It can not exert any force on the forks as you tighten the mounting bolts. If it does not fit perfectly, you will see more stiction in the forks. It is very hard to weld-up up a brace from two and have it fit perfectly in my experience. I think that is why the factory went to a rubber mounts on one side of the brace in K3 and later bikes.....even a slight misalignment causes measurable stiction.....in a pretty bad front end as is.

Just get a brace that will accommodate slight manufacturing differences without exerting any force on the forks. In my experience the slider diameters at the top are the ones that vary somewhat, and not so much the distance between the holes in the triple clamps.

--Nick

[BruceDeuce]

subscribed!

[jakecb420]

thanks for the props. i try to think things out because i dont really have any money to do things twice. if i am cutting up a part, i try to have two of them in case i fukk one up.

Probably not a very good way to go. The fit of the brace should neutral. It can not exert any force on the forks as you tighten the mounting bolts. If it does not fit perfectly, you will see more stiction in the forks. It is very hard to weld-up up a brace from two and have it fit perfectly in my experience. I think that is why the factory went to a rubber mounts on one side of the brace in K3 and later bikes.....even a slight misalignment causes measurable stiction.....in a pretty bad front end as is.

Just get a brace that will accommodate slight manufacturing differences without exerting any force on the forks. In my experience the slider diameters at the top are the ones that vary somewhat, and not so much the distance between the holes in the triple clamps.

--Nick

as for the front brace, i see your point. the welding of 2 braces together isnt gonna happen for now. i think that a tarozzi brace is 100 bucks or so, so once i get into the tweaking stage(and the getting money stage) i may just spring for one. i am sure it is money well spent. the last thing i want this bike to do is handle like a turd.

[Anti-Johnny]

Where did you get your idiot lights? how far do they stick out the back? I am looking for something similar

[jakecb420]

i got the lights from pepboys, but i have seen the same ones at carquest. i think there are blue, green, red, and orange to choose from. as for sticking out the back, id say an inch. on the f model headlight bracket however, there is a bar that goes from one side to the other that had to be modified. i just cut it out  and welded the holes shut. i think i am going to paint what you can see of the botytom of them black and it will blend in nicely.

there was other lights that looked similar that werent quite as deep but the wires on those looked pretty damned thin. i ended up soldering correct colered wires onto the lights i used so its easier to navigate my headlight bucket.

[hapakev]

Any progress?  I'm gonna steal your idea for my seat.  I think it looks good, but I want a bump in the back of mine closer to the front.  I have short legs, lol.

[jakecb420]

progress was halted when brother's timing belt broke in his nissan frontier 3.3 v6. i had to take the heads off to get redone. it was quite time consuming but that job is done now. i did order a bunch of parts. braided brake hoses, cables, air flter, tail light and probably some other stuff. i feel that progress will begin again very soon.

the tail light is a turn/stop/tail light all in one. (the cheap $30 one off ebay, led double cat eye with plate bracket) mounting it doesnt really pose a problem, but i am a little confused on where to wire in load resistors.

i got some r1 rearsets that i am going to cut up and weld to the stock rear master cylinder braket. i will post pics here shortly. after welding i may just have to fabricate the yamaha brake pedal to clear the splined shaft.

hell yeah about the seat. good #$%* man.