73 CB 750 Cafe Racer Project OCR / BCR Style

[bgfootball67]

After being a member for quite a while and becoming more familiar with photo bucket and this blog, I decided to start a thread to cover the rebuild of my 73 CB 750.  I have owned this bike for 17 years now, got it by trading a cement saw (I found on the side of the highway) for it.  This rebuild started on 9/12/06, the bike was a lip stick stocker (orange paint ghost flames) with a bit over 17,000 miles.  I had hoped to get it completed by Mid - Ohio Vintage Days 07, but between getting hitched in January, riding this summer and getting ready for our first child (due 12/15/07) the time to complete this build is slim.  At this point all I have to do is put everything back together, so I hope to have it up and running by this years Vintage Days..  Since everyone loves pics, I will go through and show you what I have done over the last year!


Starting Point 9/12/06

Left Side 9/12/06

Rear 9/12/06

Starting De-Construction 9-30-06

Can you say a few holes 9/30/06

Tear Down 10/23/06

[Sweep]

Good deal.  As a new father I have a word of advice.  Get as much done before the baby comes and good luck with both. 

[bgfootball67]

More Pics:



Benji's Tank and Seat Combo, Rough Fit 10/26/06



Engine out of Frame 12/3/06



Brackets cut and smoothed on Frame/Swingarm 12/10/06



Engine on Rebuild Stand 12/10/06



Engine Covers getting ready for new chrome 12/10/06

[bgfootball67]

And more pics:



Rear Hub (notice wear marks) 1/24/07



Rear Hub Sprocket Carrier 1/24/07



Engine Rebuild 1/24/07



Engine Rebuild 2 1/24/07



Engine Rebuild 3 / Fresh Chrome 1/24/07



Fresh Chrome (Blakley's Polishing, Dayton, Ohio) 1/24/07



Fresh Chrome 2   1/24/07

[bgfootball67]

A few more for this evening:



Polished Rear Hub, Wear marks fixed, Big Thanks goes out to Greg from Ohio Cafe Racers for his help!  4/3/07



Polished rear hub 4/3/07



Polished Front Hub, getting ready to replace bearings (ALL BALLS) 4/3/07



Fresh Engine, 836 Kit with all the goodies!  4/3/07



Top of Engine 4/3/07



Rear of Engine 4/3/07


I am off to bed, I will post more pics tomorrow evening.  Hope everyone enjoys!

[ethos42]

Wow, great pics man.

I'm just starting my teardown phase and have been trying to figure out where to mount the bike during the disasembly. I'm pretty new to motorcycle wrenching and have not cracked an engine open yet, but I look forward to the challenge 

I bought the full gasket set to rebuild mine, and have been thinking about doing the 836 kit in the process.

Looking at your workbench in this pic:


how are you holding the bike up? I see 2 straps and a centerstand.

Also, how did you polish your rear hub, it looks really good? I've been trying a ton of different methods to see which one gives the best results.

Keep the pictures coming 

[754]

Rubbing my eyes

I am seeing a 72 motor with a 75 & up shifter cover in a 73 frame.. is that correct??                             

[ohiocaferacer]

Keep up the good work Ed........cant wait to see this baby out on the road!!!

Later,
Greg

[bgfootball67]

Sweep, thanks for the kind words, everyone keeps telling us that.  At this point the garage is my escape, a place where I can keep sane.

Ethos42, I will be posting some more pics this evening.  Per holding the bike up, if you look closely on the front of the bike, there is a metal T-bar under the frame neck (the kind of bar used to drag a floor motorcycle jack around).  It killed me to spend the $80 for one of those small lifts.  Per polishing, take it to a professional.  I did the sand paper route, with the buffing wheel and was not able to get anywhere close to the professionals.  I only ended up polishing the smaller items.  It would have driven me nuts if I did not get it looking better...

754, it is a 73 motor (CB750E -2245339) in a 73 frame to my knowledge.  I did purchase and extra set of motor covers, one to polish and one to chrome.  I ended up sticking with the chromed pieces as the look the part for me (75 cover??).

Greg do not worry brother, I am going to need more help soon enough.  I am going to throw the engine in the frame on Friday hopefully, call me if you get a chance.  Pretty sure you do not have to work do you?

More pics tonight....

[Jerry Rxman Griffin]

Let's see. Got hitched in January and a baby coming in December  . Thats quick work  . Now that you have that out of the way you should have more time for the bike. For a month anyway! So much for the cash aspect too. You'd better get busy (on the bike that is) because mothers are more demanding than wives or girlfriends  .

It's looking good! 

[ohiocaferacer]

You'd better get busy (on the bike that is) because mothers are more demanding than wives or girlfriends  .

Not his.........the dude has the coolest wife i've ever met!!!

Too bad my ex wasnt more like her......guess she wouldnt be the Ex   You believe that Ed......she actually said that was one of the reasons she left........dont let the door hit you!!

[andy750]

Great photos and the engine is looking excellent with the new chrome - very nice!!

More!!

cheers
Andy

[chopstar500]

Looks great - top notch work! Just curious - what was the cost of the chrome plating? It looks titties! 

[Spikeybike]

looks great so far .. i also tryed to build a bike and have a new baby at the same time,... lets just say i did more of the latter, and the bike ended up takeing 8 years.
so chop chop

also are you gonna go with clubmans and rear sets or something else.


(dosen't polishing hubs suck? did you polish in the fins too, thats the hardest part)

[Mossy21]

That's great stuff.......Keep it coming.   

[bgfootball67]

OK more pics before Turkey Day!

RXmanGriff, we dated for eight years, it is not as bad as it sounds.  The hardest part of the pregnancy for the wife has been not being able to ride her bike all summer (including our annual trip to the Smokey Mountains, Tail of the Dragon).

Greg thanks for the kind words.  Connie said that, that is hard to believe?  Really, she could have had so much fun if she would have just hung out with us more often!

Chopstar500, I had quite a bit of stuff chromed and then a few peices polished for a bit over $550.  Reasonable prices compaired to everyone else I checked with.

Spikeybike, hopefully it will not take me too long.  All I have to do is put it back together, still need to get the tins painted.  Originally I hoped not to spend too much on the rebuild, but at this point I am probably going to splurg for top shelf crazy paint job...

Mossy21, ask and yea shall recieve:

[bgfootball67]

Test fit BCR tank/seat and oil tank combo 3-25-07



Left Side BCR Combo 3 -25-07



Seat and Tank, BCR Combo 3-25-07



Front BCR Combo 3-25-07



Rebuilt front shocks (works performance springs) and new rear Works Shocks 5-11-07



New Rear Shock / Old Shock 5-11-07



New Top Triple Tree / old cracked Triple Tree 5-11-07

[754]

Well that is odd..your bike has 4 round bars cast into the head.. side view..

Pretty well every 73 I have seen has three bars that are longer  (not round).. between the fins... front edge of the top fin is different between these 2 types as well.

This is how I tell at a glance whether a modded Honda is pre 73 or later . My 73 Serial# is in the 21,000 range and yours is 45,000..I assume yours was made after mine..

The 75 and up cover has the shift pattern cast in.. that and signal lights usually tell me 75 and later when IDing.

[Spikeybike]

that is a sweet triple clamp   

[bgfootball67]

754, to my knowledge this bike was/is a two owner bike, with me being that second owner.  When we cracked the engine open for the rebuild it looked like everything was stock?  I guess it could have been changed along the way?  Never really paid that much attention to the differences, good eye!

Spikeybike, Wait till you see it powder coated gloss black.  I will take some more pics this afternoon.

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A FUN, SAFE TURKEY DAY!  MAKE SURE YOU PAY THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR BLESSINGS TODAY. TO OUR MEN AND WOMEN SERVING IN IRAQ (ANY WHERE/TIME), THANK YOU!

[jdawg]

Looking good. Love the Benji combo.

Who's top clamp is that?

[Mossy21]

You know, it's people like you that make this a great site.   Thanks

[754]

Does that top clamp/tree lower the forks by an inch??

where is the other cracked??

[PhotoGeek]

I'm drooling! 
-peter

[ProTeal55]

Your build is looking great !
Stay motivated and keep up the good work !