Topic: The rebirth of Frankenhonda

[Eydugstr]

About eleven years ago, I bought a CB750K from a friend's dad, for $250.  He'd bought it brand new in '72, and put about 13K on it, but on his way home from work, a lady turned left directly in front of him.  He swerved, but clipped the right side handlebar...He broke bones in his right hand, and the front end of the bike was pretty much trashed.  His hand recovered fully, and he rebuilt the front end of the bike with another CB750 (K7), but his wife never got over the accident and pestered him constantly to sell it. 

When I first got it, it had a K7 tank on it (PO thought that having the gas tap on the left hand side would be better), and it still had the original (but very dinged up) 4-4 pipes on it.  Once I had the time to mess with it, I found a very beat up K6 gas tank and sat it on the bike and took this picture...


My initial plan was just to fix only what it needed and ride it.  So that's what I did. Cleaned up the HM341 pipes and sold them on ebay, and put the money back into the bike, finding a cheap 4 into 1 exhaust at a local shop.  After going through the carbs, Kreeming & rattle canning the gas tank, fixing some electrical odds & ends, replacing the rear hub bearings, adding a small fairing and some new tires....Was up and running.

Sure there were used ol' bike issues.  It leaked oil, it blew a couple of fuses, but within a month's time frame put on another 2K on the odometer...Decided it was time for new bike, and bought a then-new '05 Kawasaki Concours.  The "Frankenhonda" went into storage.

A few years later, another friend asked me to rebuild his '71 CB750 (story within itself) and after getting it back together...

......Decided that I really liked CB750's, and at some point, should drag mine out and rebuild it.  Little later on, found a front lester wheel, and adapted a rear lester kawasaki wheel to fit.  At this point, it looked like this...


The beginning is always the best place to start...more to follow.

[Elan]

Nice! so what do you have in mind?

[Eydugstr]

Well, mine's going to be mild compared to a lot of the guys here on the forum...No hi performance mods, but will go through the engine & check clearances, have the frame sandblasted & powdercoated, repair & clean up the wiring harness (unforturnately the aftermarket people don't make a K7 wiring harness), replace every bushing in the rear swingarm, go "electronic" on the bike (OMP electronic regulator, Dyna ignition)...and have it done by the end of April, so it can be ready to haul Godzilla's butt during the SOHC rally.

Just like the bike, I'm a "work in progress" as a mechanic...If anyone has an idea & wants to chime in I'm all ears.  The bike is just going to be used for short trips once she's done.

The frame before the sandblaster...


After...

[Elan]

end if april?! I see some all nighters in your future

Did you blast it yourself? make sure to tag specifically what should be masked for your powdercoater. I verbally told mine and he still got it wrong..

[Eydugstr]

end if april?! I see some all nighters in your future

Yep.  Won't be the first time and won't be the last!!  I won't be able to get everything done (hence no major engine mods) because of time/money, but it'll make for a good project "log".

Was very fortunate to find an old Goldwing fanatic that does powdercoating on the side and knows his stuff.  Next time I tackle a project like this will probably go out to harbor freight and buy a sandblasting cabinet, do all the little pieces myself.

BTW Elan - Nice looking rebuild going on in your garage!  If it's done, go ahead and post a pic of it here, if you want.

[Eydugstr]

Got the frame & other pieces back from the powdercoater!

[Eydugstr]

Other stuff before & after...

[Eydugstr]

This is the main issue (oil leak) that I've found so far...Before I got it, it must've thrown a chain and broke the engine case.  Will need to talk to the PO to get the full story, but it looks like they welded a piece of aluminum to the bottom case and tried grinding it, and the top they repaired with JB weld.

[hapakev]

After doing the head work and honing the cyl. on my engine, I cleaned up the cases and found the same thing-JB Welded case behind the chain.  So, I picked up a spare engine.  Really pissed me off tho.

[Eydugstr]

After doing the head work and honing the cyl. on my engine, I cleaned up the cases and found the same thing-JB Welded case behind the chain.  So, I picked up a spare engine.  Really pissed me off tho.

Don't blame you for being ticked...

Fortunately some years ago I picked up a set of engine cases pretty cheap off of ebay, and the guy was nice enough to throw in the proper output shaft to go along with it...Everything seems to measure out OK so will throw the innards in the better case.

[Eydugstr]

Sorry it's taken me so long to get stuff posted on here, but have been pretty busy...but have some more pics to share...

Before

After




And here's what the front sprocket area looks like now...

[Eydugstr]

Okay, time for an update...Just before the night of the rally, this is how FH looked...

Work had thrown me a loop, and decided that they needed me to go in the week before the rally.  So I was up late both Friday and Saturday night prior to the rally working my butt off getting the new electrics, dyna & coils all installed and sorted out on the bike. 
Also got the gas tank done, fuel tap cleaned out, fuel lines, etc etc..

Late that saturday night started it up - ran but just needed to be timed better..so I grabbed the timing light from my toolbox only to have the end the goes around the plug wire fall apart in my hands!! ^%#!(^%!! 

It was about 11pm, so I decided to take my other bike ('05 Kaw Concours) out on the rally, let someone else have the honor of carrying Godzilla across kansas.

But things took a turn...During the trip out to Oakley, gravity won its ongoing battle with the Connie at a gas station in Junction City, KS (aka I dropped it).  Looked it over, everything seemed tight, but on the way back to Topeka began to notice the left crash bar getting a little loose, and a small rattle - turned out one of the engine mounting bolts broke!    The other was still tight, so headed home to KC from Topeka in hopes of getting the bolt sorted out in time to head back for the interview in Topeka.

Sure enough, next morning after getting the lower fairing portions off, the nut falls out with about 1/2" chunk of bolt stuck in it..That explains the rattle...Then the fun part of trying to get the new bolt & nut in, which requires time after time of trying to snake the nut in from the other side behind the radiator and through oil pipes with a long extension...had to call Jerry and tell him I couldn't make it in time for the interview with M/C Classics.

But things got better.  After finally getting the Connie done, quickly turned around and got a new timing light on the Frankenhonda...Timed it, bike running like a song..looked at the clock...quarter to 1pm...Quickly rode the bike around the block and everything felt good...So I called up Jerry, was still able to catch Don R, Pinhead & Bud...The rally was still doable for Frankenhonda!! Threw stuff in the tank bag, shot down I-435/K-10/K7 and then Old 56, and sure enough, see a group of three CB's led by a lizard-carrying F super sport...

[chronic_rider_550]

What a crazy story! Sounds like although it was slightly unfortunate it was a pretty good time! It's good to hear stories about KC and 56 highway cause that's where I grew up. In Olathe only a few miles away from 56 highway! Enjoy the summer cruises in KS!

-Chad

[Eydugstr]

What a crazy story! Sounds like although it was slightly unfortunate it was a pretty good time! It's good to hear stories about KC and 56 highway cause that's where I grew up. In Olathe only a few miles away from 56 highway! Enjoy the summer cruises in KS!

-Chad

There was nothing unfortunate! The bike made part of the rally, which was the main thing!

56 hwy ain't a bad ride at all.  Little sparse on curves but hilly, and connects with some other nifty areas.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Doug,

Yeah, just missed you on your return. Sorry I didn't get to see GZ on FH  Just damn glad I got to meet you and ride with you. Thanks for the tour of Kansas on something other than that damned I-70