Well, thought it was time to tell my story. Here's where it all began:
There I am, maybe 3 years old. My Dad had purchased this 1977 CB750F2 used, in 1978 to replace a BSA he'd just restored, but didn't like. When I would eventually purchase it ~25 years later, it would be configured the same, complete with Vetter and backrest.
Dad eventually sold it to his brother, then it was sold to a cousin of ours until I got it. First thing I did was rip the Vetter and backrest off and proceed to put ~5000 miles on the old girl.
In the process, in fact, the day I got it licensed in my current province of residence, I lost the left side cover.
So, after riding it for a few years, and after putting another bike in my garage, I decided to clean up the old 'F' The original body work was in excellent shape, other than brittle side covers. In fact, the paint on the tail and the tank are still original.
However, there was 30 years of grime and some areas that needed addressing. Namely the peeling paint on the frame and some broken bits. Here's some teardown shots:
So powder coated everything that was black, black again. Gloss on everything shiny and some satin on a few parts like the rear brake caliper bracket and the upper triple clamp. Polished and cleaned all the aluminium and all of the fasteners. Sourced the couple NOS bits I needed like a new plastic rear fender and replacement side panel. With the help of my Dad, replaced the cam chain and the #1 exhaust valve that's tip had pitted on years before I owned it.
At this point, the tear-down / clean-up bit had only taken a few months. Of course I was repainting the engine. In the process of wanting to clean and polish every last fastener, I over-torqued one of the smaller diameter bolts in the head. Broken bolt in the head, and the project stalled for almost 3 years......
Parents were down for a weekend, so enlisted the old man to help fix the head bolt issue. Off to the races again and the re-assembly starts in earnest:
All of the details, including new decals:
Ended up fabricating my own oil lines, since the originals were seeping right through the walls of the hose. New braided lines, black nylon wrap to look more original, understated clamps at either end to the original Honda flanges:
Was moving at a pretty good pace last year, until I ran into a problem. A number of years before I even started the resto, I'd grabbed a used header in very good condition off fleaBay. Hadn't inspected closely, and looked way better than my original. At the point in re-assembly where it needs to go on, and I discover this:
The 2 connection points for the removable pipes are completely rotten. I got side-tracked with other projects over the rest of the year. Finally, this spring, my buddy Wes welded the pipe up for me, and I raced through final assembly. Here it was, finally done:
Been a long post, but I'll finish with this last bit. Since I started the thread '
MORE STOCK than NOT', I thought i'd point out where my 'F' varies from stock. They are all nods to my father. My Dad likes shiny parts, so whereas on any other resto I'll take aluminum back to the original patina, everything on here is polished:
In addition, my father absolutely hates the Phillips head screws on the engine. Can't say I like them, but I'd go as far as replacing them all on a future project. This girl gets allen head screws:
And finally, I left a few things the way my Dad had them. For instance, the activation switch on the tool tray for a mercury tube alarm system he installed after some punk tried stealing his helmet he'd foolishly left on the bike:
One final pic for now:
Few hundred miles on her now. I've fiddled with the ignition and carbs to have the old 'F' running as smooth as possible , as I wait for Godzilla to show up in Alberta.
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