Topic: 1975 CB750 K5 "Rhonda the Honda"

[evanphi]

Still haven't had time recently to get things repaired.

Still??

STILL!

Mondays are going to start being my shop nights. I am starting BMQ for the reserves next weekend, so it is going to be lots of full weekends for the next several months.

[evanphi]

So I'm finished basic training (top candidate for the course! woo!), and everything finished up before the Easter long weekend.

So guess what I did yesterday? FINALLY put all those parts on!

So because the front RIGHT blinker/marker got broke, I took one from the rear and put it up front, and I bought new two filament ones for the rear. Sure, they don't match now, and the rear ones are plastic instead of metal... but they are brighter and look pretty cool.




Then I replaced my front brake lever with a normal one instead of dogleg, and I have a clutch lever coming also. Replaced brake fluid res cap. Replaced handlebar, grips, mirror, and throttle tube as they were all damaged in the accident.

Mid-progress pic.


Then the nice shiny piece went on...

Old:


New:


Nerd:



Then just general cleanup and tweaking back to normal... Cut some slots in the end of my muffler so it would clamp better. Ran a new clock (+) line for my speedo straight to battery. Loosened my lower tree pinch bolts, shook the front end around a bit to verify everything straight, then re-tightened to 35#.

So the muffler is still dented, and there's still scratches on the paint... but hey, it runs. She's a brute.

Now the waiting begins, again. I have to take it in to a shop to get it "inspected" and then I can go get it re-registered once deemed road-ready. Insurance bull#$%*. Have to wait for a bit warmer weather... maybe next weekend.

BUT I'M HAPPY. I haven't heard Rhonda sing since September 2017.

[evanphi]

Bought Rhonda some paint!

That second tank and side-cover set I got from Rafi will be getting stripped and re-painted. If the tank is not salvageable (possible big dent on left side, Kreem liner to remove), I will re-paint my current one. Plan is to do the Dupli primer, base and clear, let cure for a week, a quick scuff w/ 800 wet-dry, then two coats of 2K Spraymax Clear for fuel resistance.

[evanphi]

New tach bracket in the works...

[evanphi]

Got my tach all back on and mounted on the new bracket... pics to come...

Still not sure about that repro tach, though. Reads high, and last time it was wobbling all over the place, still!


Anyone have an original tach that is even NON-FUNCTIONAL that they want to send/sell me? I'll happily restore it or transfer the guts from this one.

[evanphi]

calj737 is my savior!

Sent me an original gauge set so I could have a working analog tach.

It looks great, and it functions flawlessly. I like the custom decal, but I think I will swap out my green one that is on the repro (which is for a 750F with a 9500 redline).

I love the "40th Anniversary" look, so I think for next year, which will be 50 YEARS of the CB750, I'll do a small white/clear decal to commemorate 50 years.

Thanks again Cal. You're the best!

[calj737]

Those gauges have traveled the continent of NA. They were Dons, he gifted them to Springer, I inherited them as part of his build, then inherited that project. Now they’re off to a new home and finally to be installed. So, gratitude belongs to Don, not me for their origins. 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

That's funny.  I was thinking they looked a lot like my old gauges.  Glad they are being put to good use.

[evanphi]

Thanks Don!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Thanks Don!

No worries!  Cal, myself and many others try to donate useful parts to other members.  I think it fosters the "community" here on the forum.  Cal made a great suggestion that donor recipients can show gratitude by making a donation to the forum to help keep it running.  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?action=treasury

[evanphi]

Thanks Don!

No worries!  Cal, myself and many others try to donate useful parts to other members.  I think it fosters the "community" here on the forum.  Cal made a great suggestion that donor recipients can show gratitude by making a donation to the forum to help keep it running.  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?action=treasury

That is exactly what I did!

[evanphi]

Here she is. Officially ready and on the road.

We have record-high flood levels here in NB this year.

[evanphi]

Swapped my crummy dust boots that cracked after one riding season, to heavy honda repros.

[evanphi]

Jut did this today... maybe it'll help someone else out!

I noticed that when I was riding to lunch I was getting a rich stumble. When I pulled in and shut off my petcock, there was a puddle of gas under the bike from my #4 overflow tube, confirming my suspicions. This has been a problem before where it is just a small piece of something-or-other that gets trapped in the float valve. Normally if I was home and I saw this on startup, I would take the bowl off, dump the gas, flick the float up and down a few times and reattach the bowl. This would normally get me all dirty and smelling like gas, but I had to be back to work very soon and not smelling like gas.

Today I had an idea: Drain the bowl of fuel, then refill, allowing the quick flow of fuel to rinse out the float valve. How to do this without spilling gas everywhere? Let the bike run out of fuel while riding! I did this twice on my ride back to work (very empty roads) and it seems to have done the trick.

Hope that helps if you get a random stuck float. Of course this won't fix it if it is happening ALL THE TIME to you. You should be diagnosing your issue further up the pipe.

OH and of course don't do this on a highway or something. That would be dumb.

Also here's a new pic of Rhonda:

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Still looking good!

[evanphi]

Caught that pic near sunset so extra nice!

[Snoefy]

I named my red Honda Rhonda! 

[jgger]

Looks good for a bike that was "totaled"!

[RAFster122s]

She looks no worse for wear after your work to get her back on the road.

[evanphi]

Thanks. She's a joy to ride, as always.

[evanphi]

So it has been almost a year of problem free riding... just the regular stuff...

Got back from a nice long trip during which I noticed lots of fork oil leakage. YES I USED AFTERMARKET FORK SEALS. So yesterday I called my local and ordered two new Honda fork seals. They'll be going in ASAP. I'll be using the same methods I did the last time.

[RAFster122s]

Evan, glad it has been a good year of riding! David

[evanphi]

Evan, glad it has been a good year of riding! David

Thanks David!

I hate to possibly take time away from riding/family time... but work has to be done!

[evanphi]

Changed my fork seals on Saturday. Very easy to do without a complete disassembly.

Jack up the front end
Remove front wheel
Remove speedo cable
Remove brake line
Release fork bolts from bottom of fork lower with Hex wrench (HERE COMES THE OIL! Have your catch pan ready!)
Gently pump fork lowers + fender up and down a few times to clear out the oil
Remove fork lowers (Uppers will continue to drip as you do the seal replacement!)
Remove old fork seals
Reinstall new fork seals
Reinstall fork lowers
Reinstall fork bolts after replacing or annealing copper crush washers (torque to 15#)
Replace wheel (torque pinch bolts to 15#, front first, gap to rear)
Replace speedo cable
Replace brake line (good time to rebleed brakes to remove air)
Loosen top triple's pinch bolts
Remove fork caps ONE SIDE ONLY (carefully!) You may have to remove your bars for this step
Fill with 150ml of ATF or fork oil of your choice
Replace cap to snug and proceed to other side
Re-torque top triple pinch bolts
Replace bars if required
Double check torque for all fasteners
Bounce forks up and down a bunch to get the oil flowing and to check for leaks. Now is a good time to see that your copper washers didn't seal and you're leaking fork oil rather than 10K down the road!

Done!

Changes noted: ATF will be my go-to fork oil from now on. Much faster on the quick small bumps we have around here (lots of road repairs/patches and potholes). Previously used 10W fork oil.

I changed the nuts on the axle pinch bolts to Nylocks + reg washer rather than the spring washers. When I was loosening them they were alarmingly loose. Those split spring washers were quite tired and NOT doing their job.

[evanphi]

I've got a screw loose!

Time to disconnect the tach cable until winter arrives and I can take that guy apart.