Topic: '76 750K: Project Gunfighter

[Stev-o]

Just saw this thread, looking good Greggo! +1 on polishing those engine covers.

The gold side covers will be in the mail on Monday, can't wait to see them fitted with that tank!

[Greggo]

Just saw this thread, looking good Greggo! +1 on polishing those engine covers.

The gold side covers will be in the mail on Monday, can't wait to see them fitted with that tank!

Thanks Stev-o!  Can't wait to get that tank and side covers on there.  I'll be polishing the aluminum covers soon enough.  Gonna clean up all the rusty bits as well.  This bike sat outside for who-knows-how-long, so everything on it is kinda crusty/rusty.  I'd like to fully tear it down, and repaint/refinish everything once I get a few thousand miles out of her (should be about a year).  I'm hoping to buy my first house by then, so I'll have plenty of space to work...my dad's shop is not conducive to tearing down/organizing/storing little parts.  It's filled to the brim with car parts, so things get lost easily.

[Greggo]

More progress today...drained oil from all three spots - refilled with fresh, and installed magnetic drain plug, and spin on oil filter adapter; connected all hand controls; lubed, and connected throttle cables; reattached the seat, and fitted the tank for some motivation 





It's beginning to look more like a 750!


Not too shabby considering she started like...THIS!

[Stev-o]

Ooooh, look at that tank!  What are you doing for grips? Highly recommend the gel type

[Greggo]

Ooooh, look at that tank!  What are you doing for grips? Highly recommend the gel type

Thanks Stev-o!  I've got a set of the 'galindo' grips I picked up from the local SOHC4 shop (Charlie's Place).

[hapakev]

Is that one of Nater's adapters?

[Greggo]

Is that one of Nater's adapters?

No, it was a NOS piece from back in the day...I picked it up from a member for a good price.  It was made for the GL1000's, but they fit all the SOHC4's.  It uses filters for late '70s Honda Accords 

Nater's look nice though!

[Greggo]

Tackled the front brake that I've been dreading.  Had the regular circlip trouble on removal and installation.  Having access to the tools in a shop is pretty much priceless.  Installed the new rubber hoses from SlingShot - the upper hose just barely fit, and had to be routed between the tach and the upper tree, which required loosening the gauge mounts...no biggie, but I would have liked them to be half an inch longer for those super sport bars.



The pad was rusted solid, so I used a C-clamp to work it inward, then pumped on the lever to pop it back out...did that a few times to free it up.  Forgot to take a pic after cleaning the inside with a wire brush.



Reassembling the caliper was a breeze, and now I have a functioning front brake!  Left to tackle on this project is cleaning that beautiful tank I picked up; replacing those fork boots, and putting a new tire on the front.

Almost done with the resurrection phase!!

Ooooh, and I got my matching side covers from Stev-o 

[Stev-o]

That brake was nasty. Was recently on the Slingshot website, do you like the brake line?

Need to see a pic of the covers and tank on the bike.

[Greggo]

That brake was nasty. Was recently on the Slingshot website, do you like the brake line?

Need to see a pic of the covers and tank on the bike.

Hey Stev-o, the brake was really nasty.  I think I got really lucky not having to rebuild the caliper, but I sure beat my hands up freeing it!  I'm very happy with the quality of the lines from Shaun, but like I noted above I would have liked the upper hose to be a half inch longer for the supersport bars I've got on there.  Otherwise, they were spot on at a great price!

I'll get the covers on there next week after cleaning the electrical connections in there.  I'll be doing electrolysis on the tank too!

[Greggo]

Cleaned the tank using the electrolysis method, and popped my VDO oil pressure gauge on there too!  How do you guys clean that nasty corrosion on the cylinder fins without disassembling and painting?

[Stev-o]

Have you tried Gunk Foamy Engine Cleaner? It will help but bead blasting would be best.

[Greggo]

I am almost 'done' with this bike.  Installed my rebuilt petcock on my freshly cleaned tank.  Hooked up the fuel lines (btw, how the heck do most of you 750 guys route those lines from the petcock on the RHS of the tank to the carbs??)  and new in line filters.  Media blasted my exhaust collars, and mounted the pipes correctly.  I'm sticking with the Jardine slip ons for now.  Charged up the battery, and she started right up!  My new oil gauge showed good pressure right off the bat (70-80 psi w/10w40 in it for the first few miles) and it sounded GREAT! I was worried my carbs may leak after using non Honda float valves and seats, but they held tight, even after I forgot to turn the petcock off, so I'm pretty confident I won't have to pull the carbs again (stoked!) 

All in all a great day!


I'm pulling the front wheel next trip for bearings, tire/tube, and maybe doing the steering stem bearings...we'll see about those, but I should just do them while I've got the bike in the shop, and access to the amenities...like a 30 ton press.  Also of note, is that the bump stops on the '76 frame don't stop the forks from banging into my beautiful K1 tank    No damage, but I sure felt that OH CRAP feeling when I heard the thud when the bars flopped over    We're tack welding a couple dimples to the stops on the lower tree, that way the frame stays unmodified 

[Greggo]

Finally rode this girl today!!       I fit the center stand spring today, which was a PITA, made easier by a very cool little tool we had in the shop...like a metal tube with a tapered end, you thread the rod thru the spring's end, and use the end of the rod as leverage to stretch the spring onto the clip...very cool.  Also installed my finned side covers with allen head bolts.  Cleaned up the motor a little bit with some KROIL, which wiped the oxidation/rust/crud right off the aluminum.

Man, this bike is WAY faster than my 500 feels...don't know what's in this motor, but it felt waaaaaay stronger than I had expected.  The Corbin seat knocks the stock seats out of this universe. 

The carbs haven't been synced yet, so that's why it won't idle smoothly just yet.






And, here she is parked next to a land whale 

[Old75_ratafe]

Lookin good now ya just gotta tune and clean it up.  And trust me do the tune now before you start riding you'll thank yourself as you won't want to stop and do it later.

[Greggo]

Lookin good now ya just gotta tune and clean it up.  And trust me do the tune now before you start riding you'll thank yourself as you won't want to stop and do it later.

Thanks!  And, yup, tuning is next.  I'm pulling the tank next trip to adjust the valves while it's cold, then I'm synching the carbs with the vacuum gauge kit I've got (well, share at least). 

When ScottS catches his breath, he'll be sending me the extra caliper and disc I need for my dual set up   I've got the speedo drive adapter kit from member Rangelov too, so I'm almost set.  Just need to buy another bottom brake hose.  When I have all those parts ready to go, I'll pull the whole front end and do....wait for it....new front tire, front wheel and steering bearings, speedo adapter, dual discs, caliper mounting, fork boots, and properly routing of all my cables as I re install...phew!

[Old75_ratafe]

Yea I got my rats nest apart as well and get to reattach everything at least your year had the connectors not the bullets.  So someone is still making the adapter kit for the dual disk setup?  I actually need one I have the rest of the parts just not a speedo adapter (or bolts).  I am dreading doing the new bearings, I bought a nice all balls set but I've heard they are a PITA to do.  If you get to it first take lots of picks and let us know how it goes.

[Greggo]

Yea I got my rats nest apart as well and get to reattach everything at least your year had the connectors not the bullets.  So someone is still making the adapter kit for the dual disk setup?  I actually need one I have the rest of the parts just not a speedo adapter (or bolts).  I am dreading doing the new bearings, I bought a nice all balls set but I've heard they are a PITA to do.  If you get to it first take lots of picks and let us know how it goes.

Don't stress on the bearings.  You just have to drill out the stakes and the retainer should come out nicely.  My bike does have the bullets.  I had to chop the molex connector off that throttle side control and wire it into the nest.  There's still a few wires to be sorted, but this bike doesn't have turn signals yet 

I'll take some pics when I do the bearings, but I think there's a better write up than I could provide in the Tech Tips section.

Member Rangelov makes the adapter set ups.  It may take a while if he runs out, cuz he does them in small batches, so ask early. 

[Greggo]

Dang...nevermind.  I just read the last page of his thread.

[Old75_ratafe]

Don't stress on the bearings.  You just have to drill out the stakes and the retainer should come out nicely.  My bike does have the bullets.  I had to chop the molex connector off that throttle side control and wire it into the nest.  There's still a few wires to be sorted, but this bike doesn't have turn signals yet 

I'll take some pics when I do the bearings, but I think there's a better write up than I could provide in the Tech Tips section.

Member Rangelov makes the adapter set ups.  It may take a while if he runs out, cuz he does them in small batches, so ask early. 

Sucks on the bullets those are a serious pain and way over engineered, Yea I've read the write up and then seen some horror stories.  My bike has 32,000 and sat in the rain for 15+ years so I'm a bit leery of attempting it.  But I need to it has a little bit of slop in it.

Dang...nevermind.  I just read the last page of his thread.

Yep...

[Greggo]

Full tune up done.  Adjusted the point gap, only 1&4 needed slight adjustment.  Set the timing with a light.  Adjusted the cam chain tensioner.  Adjusted valve clearance, only had to adjust three of the tappets.  Synced the carbs and it runs and sounds like a top! 

Got out on the CA95 for a little fun afterward

[Greggo]

Got to work on the second caliper for the dual disc set up today..One of the caliper bolts was a naughty word I save for very unpleasant women..We welded four different nuts on there before getting enough leverage to break it free, as you can see from this pic



When I got it apart, I was greeted by this



After a cleaning, a new piston seal, and some paint, I put it back together with the old bolts until I can get to the hardware store for new ones.




Also put on the mirrors I picked up from ScottS as well.  Had to use a couple washers to get them to seat right, as these are early mirrors mounted onto later hand controls.

[Stev-o]

Caliper looks good, need to do mine too. What paint you use?

[Greggo]

Caliper looks good, need to do mine too. What paint you use?

Thanks Stev-o, I used some duplicolor VHT, cuz that's what we had laying around. 

[hoodellyhoo]

Bummer about the cruddy caliper. I've got one in my parts stash with a piston so stuck even a grease gun won't push it out! I wouldn't mind doing dual disks on my K6 some time in the future.

Really enjoying your project. How do you like the lower bars so far? I really like the look of lower bars on a 750K but I wonder how comfortable it would be for longer distances.