Topic: Making lemonade out of a 74 CB750K Lemon

[jumpnkill]

Hello All!

I've been following this site, done a lot of reading, and I'm ready to start my build.  I can't start without sharing the drama though.  I have been on ebay for 11 years, bought cars and motorcycles and everything in between, and never had a serious issue...until now. 

I found a 1974 CB750K with 35000 miles in Ohio for 1325.00  I asked the seller a ton of questions, checked his feedback, and spoke with him on the phone.  I was expecting to get a bike that had some cosmetic issues, being such a classic, but I was looking for a bike that was mechanically sound.  What I got was far from what the seller said, awesome condition.  After paying 300.00 to have the bike shipped, I discovered the bike would barely start and run, had oil leaking from every orifice, and had some of the worst backyard mechanic work I've ever seen.  I took it to a local trustworthy shop to go through the bike and the repair list was almost 1500.00  The bike wasn't charging, had bad fork seals, tach seals, valve cover gaskets, bad ignition, dry rot tires, fouled up carbs, rusted out tank, broken speedo, wiring issues, and more.  The dilemma I had to resolve was whether to keep the bike and pay to have it fixed, keep the bike and rebuild it myself, or sell it and cut my losses.  With that last option, being the honest guy I am, I expected to lose about a thousand and have nothing to show for it. 

What I decided to do was rebuild the bike from the frame up with the help of some of my coworkers.  I have done a lot on work of cars, been riding motorcycles for almost 20 years, but never worked on them.  I've got a build plan, been ordering more parts than I care to share with my wife, and I've made some good progress.  I'll include pics along the way.  I'm already a little behind on pics as my coworkers and I got super involved and totally stripped the whole bike in one afternoon.  I plan to do better and look forward to sharing the better part of this bike project with you all.  Thanks in advance for any pointers or constructive comments you can add along the way.

[jumpnkill]

So the bike is completely stripped down.  It took me a couple hours with some degreaser and a powerwasher just to get the years of caked on oil and grime off the frame.  The wheels were rattle can painted, and one of the worst jobs I've seen.  I dropped the frame, swingarm, and wheels off at a local powder coat shop to have everything blasted and coated in gloss black.  I'm hoping to have it all back this week. 

I've been working the past week just on getting all of the oil and grime off the engine.  I've gone through and replace the oil seals, easy gaskets, and installed the new bolt kit.  The engine has soooo many years of abuse that I would have to sand the engine for many hours before I could even think about polishing it.  Because of this, I plan to paint most of the engine black and accent it with the new bolt kit and new tappet covers. 

Some of the parts I've ordered have started to come in.  I'll add some pics of the parts that may be of interest.  The one attached is of the cycle X performance 4-2-1 system.  Other parts that came in are black euro-bars, new wiring harness, new pamco ignition system and coils, new plugs and wires, new engine gasket set, oil seal set, new headlight kit and ears, new fork tubes (old seals were blown because the tubes had huge pitting in them), engine bolt kit, all new bearings for wheels and steering.  I've got a new fuel tank that should be shipped next week and a new seat from Omars also coming next week.  Again, I'll put up some pics as they come in and I make some more progress.  If anyone wants to know where a specific item was purchased just ask.  More to come this week.

[jumpnkill]

Well the powder coater is behind schedule, so I picked the frame up today.  I don't ever plan to ride this two-up, so I bought an angle grinder and some cutting/grinding wheels at lowes (total spent 35.00) and decided to cut off what is not going to be needed.  I chopped off both triangles for the passenger footpegs, and since the bike didn't even have the center stand with it we lopped off the center stand brackets as well.  I've never used this kind of tool before or have any experience cutting through steel frames etc., but we had a lot of FUN!  We made quick work of it, and I really think it's going to look so much better without the extra unnecessary framing.  This time I remembered to get a few pics during the process.  I dropped the frame back off at the powder coater and he still promised it by the end of the week.  I'm not gonna hold my breath. 

[greenjeans]

Omar's......please tell me you are doing a street-tracker.

Is that pipe from Cycle X ?       

Looks like you have a great start - you'll be glad you didn't throw in the towel too early.

[jumpnkill]

Omar's......please tell me you are doing a street-tracker.

Is that pipe from Cycle X ?       

Looks like you have a great start - you'll be glad you didn't throw in the towel too early.

Thanks, I'm getting more excited about things as I make some progress.  Omar's has a cafe style seat that I liked.  Mainly because it has a bit of a classic look but still curves down at the back.  I owned a duc before and liked that mono seat, but I wanted something slightly different for this bike.  The pipe is from cycle x.  It's a little shorter than I was expecting, so I really want to get it on to see where it exits and how it looks.  I also had to order new fork tubes because of some bad pitting I discovered on the tear down, also got them from cycle x.  Since I was shopping I got new headlight ears and a new headlight too.  This bike will be all new when she's done.  I will probably find a place to paint a gold ring on her because there's no doubt I'm married to her now! 

[jumpnkill]

Finally some progress.  It has taken me weeks to finally get all of the oil, sludge, dirt, grime, and other nasty stuff off the engine.  Of course a lot of scraping was required, but the last two steps really made a huge difference.  I used a wallpaper remover type steamer and went over the entire engine.  WOW, what a help that was.  It actually had decent pressure, but not too much to force water places I didn't want it to go...the main reason I didn't pressure wash it.  One day with the steamer, some nylon bristle brushes, and q-tips and she was ready for paint prep.  To prep it I went over the whole engine with acetone.  Well, I'm sure I didn't get all of it, but enough to make the paint stick.  I'm super happy about the results.  The picks aren't the best, but what you'll see is that after it was painted I went back with q-tips and acetone to all of the fins and the "750 OHC" script on the valve covers.  My new tappet covers (chrome) are enroute to go with my chrome allen bolt kit.  On another good note, the frame, wheels, and swing arm are done and powder coat and I will pick up on monday.  I love it when a plan comes together! 

[jumpnkill]

Well the mailman brought another gift today...my new gas tank finally arrived!  Since this project is way over my planned budget, I did not go with the tank and seat combo I really liked from BCR.  I found this tank on ebay from a company in florida.  It's finished in black so it's hard to see the detail now, but I plan on finishing it in bright silver.  I really like the flush mount gas cap and the way the sides stick out.  I will get a pic of it on the frame later this week.  My new sprocket and chain adjusters also came in.  This bike is really going to start taking it's shape!  More to come...

[rickyracer]

Looks good so far ... An liken the seat too!

[theofam]

Looks great!  Keep the progress updates coming!  What tank is that - cool lines?

[jumpnkill]

All right guys!  I'm super pumped because I picked up the frame, wheels, and swingarm from powdercoat today.  All I can say is WOW.  The gloss black made this antique look brand new.  I got the tires mounted on the wheels today also.  The tires were purchased from J&P cycle, bridgestone spitfires 100/90/19 and 120/90/18, and only cost 125 for the set delivered.  It's hard to see just how awesome the wheels are in the pics, but they will really pop once they're on the bike and out in the sun..matching that sweet ass frame! 

Looks great!  Keep the progress updates coming!  What tank is that - cool lines?

The tank is a norton manx style fuel tank that I found on ebay.  The seller is Cafe bike connection and so far I'm pretty happy with the style and workmanship.  I will need to fabricate a few parts to mount it properly, but I think it will work well.  I had to set it on the frame to get a pic! 

Still waiting on my seat from Omars and my carbs...but on a better note I got a whole ton of stuff today.  I had the evil eye from the Mrs. because the new front sprocket, dust caps, 530 o-ring chain, tappet covers, clutch cable, and tail light.  BTW...I Love that taillight...thanks Dime City Cycle!

[jumpnkill]

Ok.  It's been awhile since I've posted.  I painted the engine because it was so pitted and fugly.  I used gloss black engine paint and detailed it with a chrome bolt kit and will accent the fins and tappets with chrome.  I also laid it on its right side, protected the frame with foam, and prepared to reinstall the engine.

[CB550CAFE]

Sorry to hear about the rocky start, glad you decided to rebuild it. It's looking awesome so far, I've been curious about those tanks on ebay...look forward to seeing mounted pictures soon.

[jumpnkill]

Sorry to hear about the rocky start, glad you decided to rebuild it. It's looking awesome so far, I've been curious about those tanks on ebay...look forward to seeing mounted pictures soon.

Thanks, bro.  The tank mount won't be hard mounted until almost the end, but I keep putting it on for inspiration. 

I've been making some pretty decent progress.  The fork tube lowers had multiple coats of different color paints, so I stripped them and repainted.  The seals have been replaced and the new dust caps have been installed.  They are ready to go back on the bike. 
 
The tapered stearing bearing install is also done.  No real issues with that as I followed a very detailed thread from SOHC4 forums everything seems to go together nicely.  The thing I did have problems with was replacing the swingarm bushings.  Those were bonded with the swingarm and after hours of trying to hit them out, we went old school.  We took a hack saw blade and made two cuts 180 degrees apart on one bushing, then used the thinnest flat tip to pry up an edge.  After we got one out, we could press the other out from one side to the other, but there is a channel inside that prevents you from pressing both bushings straight through.  The new bushings were in the freezer for two days and were pressed in like butter. 
 
The other thing we did was to test mount the upper tripple tree and prep the bike for full reassembly.  I also went with a different seat from Sean at Roc City Cafe. 

[jumpnkill]

So we got the engine back in the frame.  Doing it with the engine on the right side was soooo much easier than the way we took it out...standing up.  Also got the swingarm and rear shocks back on.  And of course, the front forks are on too.  This is the motivation I need because it's really starting to remind me that it's a motorcycle and not only a money pit.

[jumpnkill]

Well the work I'm doing is less than glamorous.  Most of it involves sanding old paint to bare metal, then paint prep and prime.  Since I am trying to salvage what I can it's taking more time than I want, but it's coming along.  These pics are of the new coils and wires I got with my PAMCO ignition, newer speedo/tach guages/mounting bracket (compare to old), new kickstart rubber, and last but not least, you'll see I got the rebuild carbs back and installed with the new air filters.  I've still got a lot to do, but it's starting to look like a motorcycle again.

[jumpnkill]

Well I've been making good progress sanding and painting small odds and ends such as the speedo gear, brake rotor center, and the like.  The main reason I have to paint them is because the PO did and they look horrible.  I didn't get pics of those, not much to look at.  I did get my seat in from roc city cafe and I really like the look with the tank.  I am going to have to do some tweeking to mount the tank and seat, but I don't think it should be too difficult.  I also just found out that I am missing parts for the electrical system..notably the starter safety unit and fuse assembly.  I'm using a new harness I got from "CB750 supply" and it seems good, it just shows me how much more I need to fix.  Oh well, I keep telling my wife I'm going to have a brand new bike for only 4K, no 5K, ok I promise just 6K

[jumpnkill]

Well after a lot more sanding and painting, I got all of the front brake parts ready to reassemble.  Before I could do that, I had to get all of the bearings put back in.  The right tools makes the difference.  I left the bearings in the freezer for a week, mainly while I was sanding and painting, and then used the press at work to slide them right in.  I used a little mobile syntheitc grease in the race before seating and that helped.  After the bearings were in, the rotor and all spacers put back on, I took them to my local bike shop to check true and balance.  The owner ran them twice each because he couldn't believe both were perfectly balanced with no adjustments required.  MY FIRST LUCKY BREAK!!!!  I took them back to my shop and got the front brake pads changed out of the caliper, fender mounted, and then the wheel.  I ran out of time today, but hope to get the back wheel, chain, and sprockets all back on next week.  And some pics...

[jumpnkill]

Alright...so now everyone is caught up.  I'm hoping to get a starter safety unit this week to plug into the new harness.  I also need to mount the headlight, turn signals, and get some wiring done.  To finish up my wiring I really need to drill the new bars too, so this week is going to be a busy one.  Stay tuned...

[KB02]

Oh well, I keep telling my wife I'm going to have a brand new bike for only 4K, no 5K, ok I promise just 6K

If I could get my bike up and running for under 6K, you can, too!  We have the same seat from Roc City, too. 

[VTCBike750]

I remember that bike on ebay

[jumpnkill]

I remember that bike on ebay

Yeah..I wish I would have passed on it!  It's coming along though...More pics soon.