Topic: Late CB750 K0 Mold to Gold, the nugget.

[PeWe]

I have seen and heard a gang of riders twisting the throttles on their Victory's.
Impressive!

[BenelliSEI]

I ordered a set of sandcast repro shocks from Z1parts. They show the correct number of exposed coils which I think is 7. Anyway more than 5 like many shocks you can buy. They have the black top and black sleeve inside the spring. I plan to try to swap out the adjuster which appears to have more than three settings. Depending on quality I may get another set for the diecast restomod which is sporting the dohc shocks.

Don..... anymore impressions on these? When you get a chance, like to see a photo. May need a set for my K1. Thanks!

[Terry in Australia]

Terry, you got an ironhead too, right?  When you get around to working on this, have a look at the combustion chambers compared to your evo.  You will see how much work harley did between the two for surprisingly little result.  And i certainly dont understand what is so adult about trying to go fast on a farm
 tractor.  Fun yes, adult no.

Which model Sportster head combustion chambers are you talking about Sean? The combustion chambers on my early Evo are the same as my iron head's, whereas the later (2004 and onwards) "Buell" heads had "bathtub" chambers. which, with higher compression pistons, better cam profiles, fuel injection etc, produced way more power than mine. If mine had a 2004 and onwards engine, I'd be looking at more than 25% power increase over my old 1994 Evo. 

Your point makes me laugh though, when I think that Honda spent a huge amount of money on the F2, changing the combustion chamber shape to accommodate bigger valves, changed the valve angles and used heavy duty springs and a lumpier cam to gain a whole 4 BHP power increase? And all that wonderful engineering made the F2 the most fragile of all CB750's. Not a total failure like the VF750 etc, but if you want to compare apples with apples, you don't need to look past Honda for embarrassing failures.

As far as going fast goes, the legendary XR750 was based on the sportster engine, and The XR-750 went on to win the most races in the history of American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) racing. Not too bad for a "Tractor".........      

[Don R]

 My neighbor kid had a stripped down ironhead bike. I helped him build a set of straight pipes for it. After that he assumed I needed to hear him every time he drove past.
 I will report on the shocks when I get them. All they will get beyond appearance will be a bounce test however, the back garage is snowed in and the street is salted. 
  I don't think I know any race car guys with a shock dyno but a comparison test would be awesome.

[Terry in Australia]

How much were the shocks Don? I bought some cheapies for the K0 while I (eventually) restore the old black Koni’s that came with it, and they’re surprisingly good. If anything maybe a bit harsh, but way better than tired 50 year old OEM shockers.

[seanbarney41]

I think you are mostly right Terry about those heads, although I don't know of anyone that considers the post 2004 heads to have much to do with Buell.  The really good ones came a little later on Buell XB models only and were Eric's own casting design based on Evo sportster architecture...the 900 was right around 100hp and 1200 was of course more.  Still, when I see a 1971 750cc motorcycle that really puts up a valiant fight against an '80s 1200 twin, one of them is looking kinda sorry.  AMA flat track rules writers was basically the Harley race department, most bikes that beat the XR750's got banned.  ...or we could have a look at Harley's performance in European grand prix's where rules were not written in Harley's favor?...here Harley's spent most of their time oiling down the track.  Or how about AMA superbike in the 90-2000's where Buell could not win a race and often did not finish.  Lead to EB giving up on Harley altogether and resorting to Rotax engines...literally a maker of lawn mower engines...but hey, you just reminded me to decide on whether I would rather have a Buell or an Ironhead street tracker/road race thing.  Ironhead's and carbureted Evo sportsters have finally gotten low enough priced here to be decent buys...or should I hold out for a Buell?

For sure we should stop jacking up Don's fine thread!  Sorry Don...

[Don R]

 No worries, glad you stopped by.
These shocks were just under $150. I'll check in and see if I got a tracking number.

 Aw jeez, they just shipped hours ago and are at usps in San Diego, that means they will go through St. Louis where many of my orders are treated to an all expense paid two week vacation until usps hires a vendor to haul the semi load of back log somewhere else, then it goes to Chicago, then Champaign and finally here. This hits the four corners of Illinois.

[Terry in Australia]

No worries Sean, I love my CB750’s as much as my Harleys, but having owned both, can never understand the haters, especially among those who have never owned one?

Erik made a terrible mistake with the last of the Buell’s, Rotax (who make some of the best aircraft and motorcycle engines in the world) built a great engine, but the bike looked horrible, and there were multiple electronic failures which cost Harley a fortune in recalls and warranty replacements, so it wasn’t surprising that while Buell sales were falling thru the floor, and Sportster sales remained healthy, Harley dropped Buell almost as fast as Polaris dropped Victory to concentrate on their new Indians.

If Erik had built a more conventional bike, maybe like a Sporton (Sportster engine in a Norton frame) he’d be making a fortune, like Royal Enfield are with their new 650 twins, that while not particularly good at anything are very popular with the retro set. I’d buy one.

[Terry in Australia]

No worries, glad you stopped by.
These shocks were just under $150. I'll check in and see if I got a tracking number.

 Aw jeez, they just shipped hours ago and are at usps in San Diego, that means they will go through St. Louis where many of my orders are treated to an all expense paid two week vacation until usps hires a vendor to haul the semi load of back log somewhere else, then it goes to Chicago, then Champaign and finally here.

Bloody hell Don, that sounds like the fuel cap and petcock for my K0 tank that I ordered while I was painting the tank 3 months ago? Supposedly they arrived in Sydney 25 days ago? I reckon I could walk to Sydney in 25 days? It’d be just my luck to arrive, sunburned, sweaty, and with worn out Nikes, just to find that they’d left Sydney that morning.......

[BenelliSEI]

Don..... I went on the Z1 site to look at their K0/K1 black top shocks. They do look good. While there, I noticed the original, red, K0 gas tank in their “used inventory” list. Looked so good, I past on the shocks, and bought the tank! Thanks for the lead......

[Terry in Australia]

Good pick up John, I’ve got a very tatty looking tank on it’s way from the US that will need some dent removal and new paint for my K1 project....

[Don R]

  !!!   I gave that tank a hard look myself. Since I just got the gold set I moved along. I should have told you guys about it but then someone else might have grabbed it. lol.   

[Terry in Australia]

No biggie for me Don, it’s good painting weather here for another few months so as long as the tank arrives in the next few weeks, I’ll be happy. I bought new headlight ears from Yamiya and have more of the candy red I used on the Ko, so am almost looking forward to painting it.

[Don R]

 I got another set of FB sidecovers, I'm going to try painting candy red with a yellow base to match the fade on my sandcasts tank.  It's more tomato red than ruby red.

My buddy that had a Buell loved riding it except it usually lived in the shop being repaired under warranty, he couldn't imagine owning it out of warranty and sold it back to the shop he got it from. The swingarm bushings went out right away and it took months to get new ones, I'm not sure what else was wrong.

[Terry in Australia]

I couldn't help myself Don, I went to the Z1 Enterprises site and bought some "bargain bin" bargains, plus a wiring harness for the K1.

My mate Jeff at Ace Motorcycles had one of the very first Buell's (handmade by Erik himself) in his shop for new tyres. I spoke with Bob, the owner, who had ordered it by phone and collected it from Erik's workshop, and had a pic of him and Erik on the day etc.

He's ridden it around Australia several times (he's retired, but very sprightly, an old hippie type) and the Sporty engine had received some mods including a Bassani pipe like mine, and a better carb, cams etc, and was a pretty quick old ax. Of course I asked him if he'd sell it to me, and he said he'd leave it to me in his will, but I suspect I'll fall off the perch before he does....  

[Don R]

Z1 enterprises and Z1 parts are two Kawasaki specialists that both also sell CB750 stuff. I've been known to stock up on a few non critical parts like brake hoses, seals and M/C kits. lol.   
 Currently shopping for rear turn signal cushions, I recollect making something close on one of the bikes.
   
   4into1 used to have the short cables and top brake hose that fit the K1 euro bars. I put those on the bike I sold to David Silver, along with a couple thousand dollars worth of his other stuff.  My next move down the road a bit will be to recreate that bike with it's 2013 accord tiger eye pearl brown and K2 black/gold/ pearl white stripes.  It was stunning. That's probably where all of my hot rod stuff will end up.
 
   Funny story, that K1 had a DSS / Yamiya 4-4 set, it came with two no. 2 pipes and no no. 1. David had Yamiya send me the missing pipe. So 3 of them came from japan to England to the DSS warehouse in Pennsylvania and to me, the one missing pipe came from japan the other way through California to me in Illinois. Then I sold the bike with a DSS seat, bars, aforementioned 4-4 and a load of DSS small parts to David and it all went back to England.  Counting the first trip here pieces took two Pacific and two Atlantic crossings plus where the exhaust was made probably including the Indian ocean and surely something was from China.  And I rode it over the Mississippi river. 

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, Jeff, who owns/owned Z1 was a member here years ago, and Clyde Ikin from Sydney convinced him to start selling CB750 parts. He's a great guy, sent me some Z1 carb parts for free a few years ago, so I buy from him whenever I can.

[Don R]

 Why did you box up your motorcycle parts Papa? Asked my granddaughter as she spun the gold gas tank in a swivel/rocking chair.  I was sure the spare bedroom was a safe place to keep them until assembly time and the upholstered chair seemed off the floor enough. No harm, I gave them my Les Paul guitar to play with in another room.

[Don R]

 The Z1 parts shocks arrived today, they look good and the chrome is nice. The one cover feels like there might be a pit or nib in the chrome.  They do have 5 notch adjusters, that's unfortunate. I'll try to swap the 3 notch adjusters from the shocks that are on it.   

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/8T6Jsnx7A2XVzZg6A

[Don R]

 I realize my spring compressor for car coil overs won't help me with these. Research is the key here.

[Terry in Australia]

I made my own many years ago Don, I can take a pic and post it later if you like?

[754]

're the Sporty..
 The day we got my buddies 883 , to run 12.7 at the drags with less mods than it takes on a cb 750.. I went hmmmm , pretty easy to wake this thing up...

[Don R]

 Sure Terry, I'm always ready for an idea. I have a 20 ton HF press so I'm thinking that might be of some use. The spring cover is what keeps my car spring compressor from working.  I only have one set of three adjustment setting shocks and need two, still some planning to do.
  I'm compelled to upgrade my diecast whenever possible and it's sporting a pair of dohc shocks which work great but look wrong. My brother sorted out some parts he bought and left them laying in his driveway. Months later, I pulled them out of a snow drift, I'm always saving orphan parts. I saw a set of $76 dollar shocks on ebay, I'm tempted to buy them just for the covers and springs.

 I'm wondering if I hole saw and sand a piece of 1" plywood to fit the top of the spring cover, invert it and press the bottom of the shock until the locks come loose?

[754]

 A Harley clutch plate from 4 speed I think will push the shock collar down..
 If you have a lathe, I can show you a cool shock tool I made for that..

[Terry in Australia]

Here you go Don, I made this thing from what scrap I had around my garage 20 or 30 years ago. If I made another one, I'd have just used a couple of lengths of threaded rod on each side and I wouldn't need the bolt underneath it. I've used it on heaps of rear shocks over the years, and it works well, and is safe. (something that I'm not all that familiar with......)

Shock compressor by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Shock compressor 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr