Long story short: trashed the top-end of my ’76 750F a while back and purchased a ‘76K motor to swap out for $200. The “new” motor was sitting outside under a carport – otherwise uncovered – but turns over and seems to shift through all gears. The guy I bought it from had swapped it out on his 750 for a larger engine, and (of course) said that it ran fine when he took it off and was just upgrading, not replacing. He seemed genuine enough and told me “If this here ain’t what I claim it to be, just give me a call and I’ll make it right.” The fact that he lives only a couple of miles away does give me a little reassurance... He also had about ten 750’s in different states of (dis)repair and had evidently been fixing them up & riding them since the 70’s.
Anyway, see the pix below. It’s missing most of the outer parts: oil pan, alternator & cover, points/plate & cover, shifter, kick lever etc. Part of me says: “Just throw it on the frame, swap all the parts over & ride the sucker!” But the (more rational) part of me thinks I should at least take the top-end off and take a look at the pistons, cylinders etc since it was sitting outside for a while. So I’ve got my gasket set from CycleX and my screw set from Jim Spillane and am ready to tear into it.
Any advice here? I’ve got Hondaman’s CB750 book and this forum for specific instructions, but am wondering if there’s anything I should do prior to tear-down.
