Topic: My first build and certainly nothing fancy. 1978 Honda CB750K

[Cam]

Two years ago I wanted to buy a bike and make it my own. My friends all had cookie cutter Harleys and crotch rockets which were all nice, but I don't like to have anything you pass 5 of on the way home from work. With a limited college kid budget I purchased a bike off craigslist that needed the carbs tanked, a new battery, and a serious overhaul. I've had a lot of car projects in the past but this was my first motorcycle. I never set out to build anything perfect or expensive. Just something that didn't cost too much money and looked neat going down the street. After I bought it and brought it home things came up and the bike ended up sitting in the barn from two years ago until 2 months ago. I no longer have the pictures from when I first got it but these pictures start from two months ago until today.

[Cam]

The wheels were a disaster but I wanted to keep them original so some steel wool, never dull, and a lot of elbow grease. The rear swing arm was pretty rusty so it was removed, sand blasted, and repainted.

[Cam]

The Mac 4-1 exhaust was more surface rust than chrome and the muffler was hideous IMO so I took all the surface rust off the header and used flat black exhaust paint and then heat wrapped it with black wrap but it actually looks more of a black/charcoal grey. I also took apart the speedo and tach and put new faces in and white led bulbs. Then started getting ideas for a brake light I purchased with turn signals built in.

[Cam]

I put some Bridgestone Battlax tires on and started bolting things back together. Brakes were in good shape and I bought a new gold 630 chain. I bolted on the exhaust and started working on the wiring. Also bought a new master cylinder for the drag bars and rewired everything. What a nightmare that headlight bucket can be!

[Cam]

I decided I wanted the turn signals to be up on the headlights like earlier models I had seen so I bought smoked lens signals to match the tail light. I also purchased a '74 tank because I wasn't that into the '78 tanks and liked the more narrow vintage look. I cut off the old signal stalks and planned on putting caps in where the holes are to give them a deleted look instead of just "never had been there." I also cut the back off the frame and will weld in the holes later. I wanted to open up the rear wheel and build a custom seat that stops at the arch and molds into the frame.

[Cam]

I started painting the tank. It was painted BMW alpine white. I also did a Kreem tank liner. What a nightmare that was 

After that I started working on the seat. The original was hideous IMO and I've never seen anything I've cared for so I figured I'd take a shot at building my own. I shortened the seat pan and started getting ideas for the foam. The seat pan will be ground down and repainted and I ordered a yard of seat vinyl. (Apparently fabric stores use a much bigger yard stick than I imagined!)

[Cam]

I took off a few rusty parts while I was waiting on new stuff I ordered and started grinding and painting. All four foot pegs, kick stand, and clutch lever. I bought new shocks to try to give it a little updated look and have the chance to adjust height. I want to raise it a little in the back.

[Cam]

Parts came in so the carb rebuild began.

[reddyvv]

Nice going!! I like how well your rims shined up and also the work on the carbs.

Can you give me some more details on the gauge face replacements, source for parts, and how comfortable you felt with doing the job? I'm restoring a '75 550 and am toying with the idea of refacing the gauges as they have developed oil stains around the screws. I'm afraid of breaking something and then hunting around to find new gauges.

[Cam]

Installed the carbs, all lines and pod filters.

[Cam]

Nice going!! I like how well your rims shined up and also the work on the carbs.

Which size Bridgestones and what make are the shocks?

Can you give me some more details on the gauge face replacements, source for parts, and how comfortable you felt with doing the job? I'm restoring a '75 550 and am toying with the idea of refacing the gauges as they have developed oil stains around the screws. I'm afraid of breaking something and then hunting around to find new gauges.

The Bridgestones are Front: 100/90/19 and Rear: 120/90/17. The shocks are from ebay. The brand is NET and I just searched cb750 shocks and they were about $90. The gauge faces I also got off ebay. I can try to find info on the seller and send it to you. The same seller sent my faces and led bulbs. Great products and quick shipping. The install wasn't too terrible. The seller even sent how to take apart the gauges in the package. Just take your time and remember where everything goes. The only issue I had was the faces are a little thicker than stock so the needles hit the screws. I just bent the needles the slightest bit up and they cleared. The bend isn't noticeable once they are back together.

[Cam]

I tried to add as many pics of the carbs as possible because I know how scary rebuilding carbs can be and it doesn't hurt to show someone what they're getting into or being able to look at something to reference when rebuilding. I'm terrible about taking pics of stuff as I do it because I get started and just keep working!  I will try to post as many pictures as I can for now on to help out and I'll try to answer any questions I can. I can already tell this bike will not be the only build I do. It's safe to say I'm hooked!

[reddyvv]

Thanks for the info.

Try to post slightly larger pics so we can appreciate the work you are doing. These ones are really small.

[Cam]

I just realized how small they are and now I'm bummed haha It wouldn't load them large so I chose the smallest size. Hopefully medium will work from here on in.

[jeff kushner]

 Looking sharp, especially for a plebe....well, not really with your car experience. I know the feeling of the first time that you remove a motorcycle headlight....it was a "that's where they hide everything" moment! I laughed out loud when I saw the pic of the vinyl darn near covering the whole bike. I want to order from them, they send you your money's worth, that's for sure!

I always get a little concerned when a "new guy" to bikes get an old machine. Most young guys, and some old ones too just want to ride so badly that they do the visual stuff but don't take the time to go through the brakes and wheels & tires. Being a former road-racer, I REALLY value good brakes and the ability to use them to their max effect so I cringe a little when I ask that new guy about the tire date codes or if he checked the rear shoes for delamination and I get a "duh" in response but you're doing a thorough build and it shows. I really like that forward stance of the bike caused by the older tank, combined with the drag bars it give it a B-A look.

For the pics, I take mine at 8MB then edit them in MS Picture Mgr and resize them to 25 to 50% and they come out fine.

Jeff

[70CB750]

Job well done!

Any chance you will be ready and willing to participate in the World Tour 2013?

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?board=168.0

Shameless plug, I know 

[Slain569]

Looks great! I wish I had chronicled my process with the 550 I picked up... All I have left are Instagram photos and poser shots  Oh well. Keep up the good work!

Steve

[Cam]

Thank you all for the kind words! I will try to make the pics bigger and probably go back through and try to make these bigger. As for the world tour thing I will have to figure out my schedule but I'd love to join. I work 2 jobs and go to school so I won't get free time to ride like I'd like.

As for the bike I'm going crazy wasting these nice days waiting on parts! Right now I have a new petcock on the way due to sending back a cheap leaky one. Bar ends and tank emblems are also on the way and I'm planning on doing some work to that seat tonight. So more pics soon.

[deafcaferacer]

What color and brand paint did you use on the footpeg? I love the look.

[Bankerdanny]

Personally I use IRFANview for editing pics for this site and other boards I belong to.

I take the pics in high res on my phone transfer to my computer via cable or dropbox, then resize to 1200x800, which typically gets you a 220kb photo size. Small enough to include a buch of pictures without hitting the cap, but large enough so that the pics open to a really nice size.

[Cam]

What color and brand paint did you use on the footpeg? I love the look.

Here is the paint I use. I bought it from Autozone. I just take apart the items and grind them down to bare metal with a wire brush on my bench grinder and hit them with a couple coats of this stuff and it all looks great. I've used it on car and bike parts and people can rarely tell the difference. Like I said it isn't a show bike by any means but it looks great for a budget build IMO.

Here is the kickstand I showed earlier that I forgot to post finished.

[Cam]

Alright minor update! My Honda petcock came today and wow. Always spend the extra on a genuine quality petcock. From first glance you could tell its quality over the Alfa I had been sent before. Hooked it up and no leaks at all. That Alfa was like trying to hold back the ocean with a broom!   

I also took a quick pic of my gauges lit up. I know there were some questions about them before so I decided to show them at night. The white led lights kinda show light blue but they're still a huge improvement over the old ones IMO.

Also, the images are now bigger if you click on them!

[SKTP]

watch out for wheel clearance with mounting your taillight like that. I did mine in a similar fashion and its VERY close to getting smashed by the rear wheel and a big bump...

[Cam]

watch out for wheel clearance with mounting your taillight like that. I did mine in a similar fashion and its VERY close to getting smashed by the rear wheel and a big bump...

Thanks for the heads up. I was hoping with the angle I'm trying to accomplish and adjusting the rear suspension up a bit and the dampening a little tighter it won't hit. I wanted the rear to rake a little to give it a street fighter type angle and I as hoping with that in mind it doesn't touch the wheel. If anyone has comments on this I'd love to hear them as I've never tried it before.

[Cam]

So I was having some running issues today after getting the bike to fire and run and upon looking into electrical issues I found this hiding on my bike. I swear I looked at the ignition system back when I first started messing with the bike but I certainly don't remember a Dyna S ignition so it must have been a dream haha Anyone know the pros and cons of these things?