Author Topic: My 78 750K Build......An Almost Stocker (Read 7925 times)

Desert-SOHC · « **on:** June 13, 2015, 03:58:07 PM »

Picked her up this morning in Indio, CA....it was 105* at 11am. Fired her up, she wont idle and smells of raw fuel, the engine sounds good, no weird noises. So I let her warm a bit feathering the throttle to keep her running with occasional blibs while listening with a stick to the top and bottom ends. After 5 minutes I'm satisfied that the engine is in good condition. Without a seat its none to comfy to sit, so my "ride" was short to make sure the gears and clutch work, then I loaded her up on the trailer and got her home. I probably paid to much ($1,000.00) but it was close, and a running project is what I wanted to start with and it had the original exhaust......that was important to me. To me the 4 into 4's are one of the most beautiful part of the SOHC's and since I bought a 78 brand new in 78 this model and year are near and dear to me.

I have always had a vision of what I wanted to do to my 78, but being young and having no $$$ most of the time, it never got done. Life went on and it got sold.......yada, yada, yada. So now I have one to fulfill my 30+ year old vision.

Here is my take and vision; I've been a Harley guy, pretty much forever and bought my 78 to use as my "around towner" while my 58 Pan was reserved for styling cause it was a Bit$h at heart and not a good everyday bike. The more I rode the 750 the better I liked it..................so I want to combine the 2 in a sort. I really like the 4 into 4's look and the sound of a SOHC exhaust note is awesome, as for the rest of the styling its rather vanilla IMO.

So I want to kinda make a 78 Honda Wide Glide. Stretch it out with a 28 to 30 degree rake, drop the butt down, maybe go a 21" on the front 16" on the rear. Pull all the crap from behind the engine, make a custom oil bag/battery tray and drop the tubes above them down at an angle to make a more "sitting in the bike" position with a bobbed painted HD style fender on the back with a matching painted bobbed fender on the front. Keeping the factory tank, gauges, and 4 into 4's and going with forward controls to get that lazyboy chair position for cruising.

Here is my starting point.

What do you think? I'm and old guy and not a canyon carver anymore.

madmtnmotors · « **Reply #1 on:** June 13, 2015, 06:17:52 PM »

Sounds like a plan! I liked the one pictured below the first time I saw it and hope to do something similar:

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #2 on:** June 13, 2015, 07:44:58 PM »

Nice bike, but I think mine will be a bit more modified

madmtnmotors · « **Reply #3 on:** June 13, 2015, 07:53:30 PM »

Some more inspiration:

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #4 on:** June 13, 2015, 09:01:23 PM »

That's definitely something you don't see everyday (the inspiration bike). Nice donor pick-up. $1K for a running titled bike is not bad at all for Southern California.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #5 on:** June 13, 2015, 09:35:35 PM »

Quote from: madmtnmotors on June 13, 2015, 07:53:30 PM

Some more inspiration:

Have a build thread for that? That's getting closer although I think I'm going to use the stock tank.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #6 on:** June 13, 2015, 09:38:42 PM »

Quote from: CB750 Cafe Racer Fan on June 13, 2015, 09:01:23 PM

That's definitely something you don't see everyday (the inspiration bike). Nice donor pick-up. $1K for a running titled bike is not bad at all for Southern California.

That's what I was thinkin, I really didn't do a lot of leg work on this one. He wanted $1600.00, but it needs a lot of work.....the newest tire is 28th week of 94 and he was riding it till the carbs messed up.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #7 on:** June 13, 2015, 10:02:34 PM »

Now this is getting close

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #8 on:** June 14, 2015, 08:22:20 AM »

OK, more research is done and I've found that the above bike has been "Konged". While I love the look, the lack of bracing in the frame concerns me, so I plan to do a modified Konging of the frame. I want to use the stock tank and 4 into 4's but would like to sit down into the bike rather than on top of. So I think that if I just modify this one area it will work.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #9 on:** June 14, 2015, 09:06:18 PM »

OK...let me first say that I'm HORRIBLE at Photoshop so a little slack

This is the end goal with a few changes; black engine, bobbed front fender painted, and forward controls.

Restoration Fan · « **Reply #10 on:** June 15, 2015, 04:45:07 AM »

Not a bad look but one consideration you're going to have to think about is the battery box. If you cut out some of the triangle there and lower the seat into the area where the battery box usually sits, you have the battery, solenoid, regulator, rectifier, breather/air recirculator (on your 78K model), flasher "winker", and all the wiring harness connections that go with those which will all have to be relocated. Essentially, you're going to have to relocate the electronics like you would if you were trying to do a cafe build.

I like the look though. But I just wanted you to be aware that there's a bunch of stuff there that will need to be moved.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #11 on:** June 15, 2015, 07:50:46 AM »

Yup, I'm aware of that, fab new or get an aftermarket oil bag with a spot for a battery. I was going to go with the "all in one" rectifier/regulator units that are on the market now and I will most likely build an electrics box for the rest and go with aftermarket air cleaner to make some more room to move stuff around. That's if I get to do what I want......the wife is wanting me to resto-mod it without changing the frame, which is a possibility, time will tell. But for right now I have some serious work to do to get her back on the road. The ignition switch is toast and now it is having some electrical issues. Not really a big deal since electrics and I speak well of each other. Right now I'm waiting on parts to arrive so I can get it running the way its supposed to.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #12 on:** June 17, 2015, 01:25:10 PM »

Parts are starting to arrive;

So far I've got some gauges and the dashboard and handlebar clamps. Still on the way is; carb rebuild kits, tach and speedo cables, handlebars, seat, and fork rebuild kits. Not going to do any big changes for now I'm more concerned with getting it running and driving decent to see what else it needs before I go in a direction...still not opposed to a resto.

Restoration Fan · « **Reply #13 on:** June 17, 2015, 01:35:21 PM »

Very smart move. If it were me, I'd rebuild the carbs and put them on the bike. Then see if it will fire and run.
Put the seat on it...ride it. Then one weekend, remove the forks and rebuild them. But take one system at a time and work on it. That way, you have it available to ride most of the time and only take it down for short periods of time to upgrade various systems.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #14 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:31:36 PM »

Yup, that's the first thing on my list, it does run and drive now, but not very well!

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #15 on:** June 19, 2015, 09:20:51 AM »

Well the ignition switch is not savable (big surprise) and doesn't supply power to the bike. Its a good thing I ordered a new one. More parts are dribbling in every day and I should get most of them today. Its been 100+ for the past few days so I put a shade cloth tarp over the "work area" while doing this yesterday I dropped my screw gun.........you guessed it, right on the top of the formerly perfect tank

. Today I will start the tear down to get the carbs off for rebuilding.

Restoration Fan · « **Reply #16 on:** June 19, 2015, 09:28:51 AM »

Aw man, that sucks. Been there, done that. I feel for you.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #17 on:** June 19, 2015, 09:32:10 AM »

Quote from: Desert-SOHC on June 19, 2015, 09:20:51 AM

Well the ignition switch is not savable (big surprise) and doesn't supply power to the bike. Its a good thing I ordered a new one. More parts are dribbling in every day and I should get most of them today. Its been 100+ for the past few days so I put a shade cloth tarp over the "work area" while doing this yesterday I dropped my screw gun.........you guessed it, right on the top of the formerly perfect tank . Today I will start the tear down to get the carbs off for rebuilding.

Bummer about the tank. The only worse thing is doing it to a freshly painted one.

I'm not sure if you are replacing the ignition switch with a stock or EMGO reproduction. The repros are not as good quality wise as to the key action. If possible, you may want to save the actual original key switch and just replace the connector/harness that is usually the electrical culprit.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #18 on:** June 19, 2015, 09:37:34 AM »

Havent really got into the switch yet and it is an emgo, didn't know you could get a new one.....we'll see how it works. The present one is zip tied together, its falling apart.

And the paint was pretty good on the tank.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #19 on:** June 19, 2015, 10:04:54 AM »

Quote from: Desert-SOHC on June 19, 2015, 09:37:34 AM

Havent really got into the switch yet and it is an emgo, didn't know you could get a new one.....we'll see how it works. The present one is zip tied together, its falling apart.

And the paint was pretty good on the tank.

You can't buy a NOS one, but if you need the tumbler only, you might buy a used one. The EMGO is notchy -- not the best build quality. Usually it is the harness clip that goes on the stock ones. You can use the EMGO clip to replace it.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #20 on:** June 19, 2015, 10:20:58 AM »

Got the headlight bucket off and all the wiring exposed. I found the ignition switch problem, there is no plug, the wires are just plugged into the switch. Is there a pigtail for the ignition switch available without having to buy a new harness? the rest of the harness appears to be in decent shape or its at least repairable.

Bit the bullet and just ordered a new harness from parts-n-more, there are other issues with it.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #21 on:** June 19, 2015, 01:53:33 PM »

So its apart now, I pulled the clip-ons off (waiting for the stock bars) and put the forks where there supposed to be, stripped the wire harness out and removed most of the electrics.

Didn't notice this off the bat, but the guy was driving it this way, and the front tire has got dry-rot cracks everywhere.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #22 on:** June 21, 2015, 10:35:53 AM »

Assembled the gauge pod pieces that came in and made sure the tach/speedo worked with a drill. Then went to put them on the bike.......its the wrong mounting piece

the mounting studs are to wide for my top triple tree, also the gauges have faded at a different rate. I have found replacement gauge faces in Europe at CB750faces.com....maybe in the future. I ordered whats to be the right gauge mount for my bike, we will see when it comes in. Still waiting on the new wire harness and have spent a small fortune on parts so far.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #23 on:** June 22, 2015, 02:12:41 PM »

Parts keep dribbling in and slowly it starts to look like its can be ridden. A set of stock handlebars with end weights and a stock seat. The seat cover is torn up, but the pan is decent and the foam is good, I will get a cover for it and it will work for a bit till I find the direction that I will go with it.

But for now the push is to get it on the road and reliable first.

Desert-SOHC · « **Reply #24 on:** June 24, 2015, 02:25:47 PM »

I have decided to wait on the "mods" that I have planned and return her to "stock-ish" till this winter when I wont ride as much, after all I do live in Socal. Till then the push is to get her back on the road for the summer if that's possible. I got the carb rebuild kits, but will wait on that till I get the new wire harness installed and operating. The adjustments on the carbs appear to be off right now and it did run decently, but didn't idle, so I will see if I can get it to run as-is for now. I will clean up and paint what I can now to stop the rust that has started in places.

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Author Topic: My 78 750K Build......An Almost Stocker (Read 7925 times)