Topic: New project 74 750 cafe..........strange carb problem. Anyone seen it before?

[BR]

Started the new project bike yesterday. I'll do my best to get this one a little better in pictures than the last one.
When I bought this bike last week I was thinking restoration............but it's gonna be a cafe instead. This one looked real good when I went to look at it but after it followed me home there were  quite  a few things not quite right about it. Once I got the carbs cleaned out a little it ran real good. Motor was very quiet and that stock exhaust sounded pretty good. The right side had a couple of holes but not too bad. I need to decide if I want to sell it off or hold on to it for a future restoration. So I just want to say I am NOT butchering up a perfect resto candidate to those who care.   I will have a few parts for sale in a couple of weeks after this gets well under way. I have a big box from the last one also. 
Day one of the tear down and the camera batteries were dead after it was  mostly apart. This was the last day of no daylight savings time and only being able to work on it for a couple of hours after work, so I hope to get a real good jump on the bike this week. This one's gonna need the top end gone thru due to a couple of little oil leaks and a broken and bent fin.  So day 2 the bike tear down got finished laid it over on it's side and pulled the motor, putting it on my little cart until I get my engine stand here. I'm gonna try painting this one with the House of Kolor rattle can spray, the last one came out good with the Rustoleum metalic Blue, but I want this one done in Tangerine, I wish they had the Big Daddy Roth rattlebomb metal flake in Orange or Tangerine but they don't yet. Enough talking here's some pictures.

[BR]

And after the teardown pics.

[Free Booter]

Hey, always good to see another CB750 project starting. Looks like you're starting w/ a pretty good bike too.

[BR]

Well FB looks can be deceivng.......well kinda.
My last build looked like well you know what but actually I think the motor may have been kitted at one time, ran waaay good. http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=82100.0    This one had a small oil leak and from years ago memory rubber nickles was probably the cause.........yep it was after it came apart, one had deteoriated to the point it had a hole in it. So this time the engine had to come apart......and today it did. Gasket kit was already ordered, rings will be ordered tomorrow, now if I can find my hone after 20 plus years in hibernation I'll have it made.  Lots to clean  up, this engine had sat for quite a while at one point in it's life.
Here's the pics ya'll like.

[BR]

Great weather today, I'm glad I don't live up North, my fresh air shop might not be so practical 
More pics and a shot of the broken fin. I'll hopefully be posting the repair in a couple of days. The top 2 fins were bent down on it, I was able to heat the fins with a map torch to the point of getting them bent back with little distortion.

[BR]

Well, I spent my computer time this week ordering parts so instead of the days work I will show ya'll the weeks work.
I think I sourced all the parts I need this week, quite a list of suppliers, Cycle Re-cyle II in  Indianapolis (they used to be the competition lol) Dime City, Cycle X, Hotwingglass, RustyRiders (nice little Ebay find this company is, They even have a 60 pc stainless 6mm hardware kit for less than $10 right now.), and Bike Bandit. That was  a lot of searching for the best prices on what I needed......... rings, gaskets, hardware, clipons, tires, throttle, cables, paint, steering bearings, levers, cafe seat and a whole lot more.

OK got this week I got the engine painted, steering bearings in, frame and associated parts cleaned, stripped, and painted with POR 15
Got the tires off the rims on my high end tire machine LOL and most of the hardware cleaned and ready to reinstall. Tank stripped and primed, and the side cover drilled to stop any more cracking and then repaired by plastic welding and adding more material to strengthen it.  Ohh and I mad a damn hole in the tank when removing the emblem mount so its out at at the welders right now to get repaired, I'm not anywhere good enough to fix that.
Here's the pics

[BR]

You noticed my nice engine workstand in the last pics  also known as a hitchhaul. The good ol Bronco is serving as my painted parts storage locker, work bench, paint storage area etc......and finally in the next set of pics the holes in the rear bumper for hitch mounts serve as my "vice" while driving off the steering bearings on the tree.  Couldn't find the pipe bearing installer I used some 20 years ago but I did figure out that a fence top post is the exact right size for driving  home those bearings. That is quite a nice kit, I don't think way back when they had all the seals and sizing washers with the kits we used to put in, we just had to make do with what we had on hand to make them fit properly.
More pics

[BR]

More Pics

[BR]

And finally,

Ya gotta love a guy that would buy a new tire and tube then apparently not be able to afford a new rim strip.......

[BR]

I've decided to paint this one House of Kolor Candy Tangerine over a gold  base, my question is the stripe. I plan on putting a standard "racing" stripe on the tank and tail one wide with two smaller outside stripes. What I don't know is if I should use gloss black or gloss black metallic?? any thoughts?

[mrrch]

Duct tape for a rim strip is pretty common in the motocross world. It stays put when installing the tire & tube.

[BR]

Well, I took a couple of weeks off from working on the bike, busy at work then up to Kansas to see my son play some baseball. Then of course I spent a little time working on the books for the tax man.
I spent a couple of hours earlier in the week putting the top end back together on the motor after I honed  the cylinders and put in new valve seals. That all came back to me like I put one together last week.  Yesterday I put the shocks back together after a quick clean up. I didn't have any spring compressors so I called a friend to borrow his, he sent me home with 3 spring compressors (aka hose clamps). Got the tires mounted on my high quality mounting bench. Then today I got to polishing. Valve cover, top triple, fork legs, rear brake plate, sprocket holder, front brake parts and misc. other pieces. Still got the rest of the engine covers to do but that will happen later in the week. I got the rims bolted back together with all their add-ons so tomorrow or Monday I will put the engine in the frame and have a rolling chassis once again. Oh yeah and I finished the  body work and sprayed the silver met. base coat then the tangerine HOK top coat. I will let it dry for about a week then clear it, hopefully it will turn out as good as it seems to look w/o the clear on it.
Ok here are the pics.

I was actually gonna spring for some nice rim savers but that was the only peg at the store with nothing on it soooo it's nothing an old garden hose won't do quite nicely.

[BR]

More pics

Including a shot of my tightly packed storage area.

[BR]

More pics including some of the paint. The fin repair came out pretty good on the motor, I will try to get a closeup of that next time I take pics. The little tail light I ordered came in today too. Just waiting on the stickers for the tank and got to order some turn signals and mirrors.

[BR]

And of course I had to do a quick look see, just because I am not satisfied until I put some kind of mark in the new soft paint. LOL

[BR]

Had a little time to do some work on Sunday and again today. It sure makes it easier when they are a "roller". Used the tried and true method I found on here of laying the engine on it's side and dropping the frame around it. Sometimes it's a disadvantage to working alone but you have to use your ingenuity to solve problems. It is really not a 1 man job to manuver the forks, swing arm and rolling stock but it can be done. This time I remembered it's a LOT easier to put the rear brake shaft/spring on before the swing arm, last time I used many, many expletives while getting the spring in place.
I drilled and tapped the stops on the lower triple tree since I put clip ons on this one. The picture shows too long screws as I have not gone to HD to pick up the proper length stainless ones yet. I reversed the forks on this to allow the front brake to be behind instead of in front. I got the gauge mount planned out and put the front end together today. Used the chrome P-trap on the upper forks again to cover some of the ugliness. Got the battery box and oil tank back on today. I still have to polish the rest of the engine covers but that's one of those jobs you have to be in the mood for LOL. Maybe later in the week.    It seems my tank decals are lost in the mail  so no clearcoat till they ship them again. Hoping by next week to be riding. My definate goal is to be totally done with it in time for the Dime City grand opening, that should be doable since it's still a month away.
Here's the pics, didn't get many but at least I got some.

[BR]

More pics

[BR]

Well time has been at a premium lately. Just a little new work, but i hope to have it fired and running by next weekend. Just a few more parts on order. I did spend pretty much the entire day today polishing the rest of the engine covers so I can button the engine up tomorrow hopefully.

Just a few new pics for ya'll.

[BR]

Well I'm getting close now. Spent a little time up in Pensacola last weekend with some friends so I didn't get a whole lot done then, but I've been pluggin away most nights this week.
Got the exhaust cut down, prepped and painted and on the bike. Fired it up for the first time, sounds good. Got the dash  with switches and idiot lights finished up, but did manage to fillet my thumb while doing it, that's what you get for taking short cuts    Got the tail light wires exteneded, and the turn signals came in and the rears needed to be extended also, but at least it's done. The turn signals still were acting funny so I took the switch apart to clean it and low and behold the orange wire's solder had broken. This bike started out looking good, but I don't think there has been a single part that did not have issues. Got the chain oiler hole plugged, chain and sprockets on. I picked up some new old stock chains on ebay, ordered 2 530 chains and 3 630 chains and paid only about $10 each for them, they aren't o ring but that's ok. Not a generic chain they are old KCM chains like we used to sell back in the day.
I had ordered some fireblade tank stickers from extreme decals and they came in the wrong color, so I e mailed them and they apologized and sent new ones, got them 10 days later.........wrong color again. Searched the local area to find someone to make them here..........was quoted between 35 and 45 dollars for 2 stickers.......I just laughed at those shops, got on the horn and found a guy who did them for 15 for the pair.
Hopefully it won't be too humid in the morning as I hope to clearcoat the paint tomorrow. I've also got to remount the seat and raise it up just a little on the hinge side. I found some firm rubber shock bushings at Autozone to use as rubbers for the latch side  as I do not want to use the stock rubbbers since that seat is pretty good. Got a slight dragging issue with the front brakes to iron out and I think I will be done. Hope tomorrow goes well and I should be riding by Monday.   Here's some new pics.

[BR]

These are always so much fun to repair..............not

[mark52]

Hey BR nice build. I have just started on a restore of a 74/75 750. Where are you in florida, maybe we can compare notes someday?

[BR]

Mark 52 I am down in St. Pete. Have you started a build thread on here yet? I've got a few odds and ends laying around if there is anything you are in need of let me know. I am planning on putting some stuff in the for sale section soon.

Ok made some pretty good progress today. Got the seat pad done, I'm not happy with it but going with it at least for now, I'm going to try to ride to the Dime City Cycles grand opening on next Saturday so there's no time to change it. The blue bike I built will also be in attendance.      This seat I purchased from Hotwing glass here in Florida, it had the "tire bump" in the bottom of it, that wasn't easy to work around. I also decided to mount it using the stock hinges and a bolt down lock on the left side.. It took a while to get the right location and spacers made to use the hinges but after a little tweeking I think it's about perfect.   
I love Spraymax 2K makes even a hack like me look like a decent painter.
I think I'm gonna rebuild the master cyl tomorrow, finish up cleaning up the wiring and make a plate for under the seat, then go for a ride.

Couldn't reisist putting on the painted parts so  I could show it to my son who's away in college. He is hoping we can build a couple more of these this summer to get his feet wet in working on bikes. 
Here's some pics.

[BR]

And a couple more.

[BR]

OK no ride for me.
 
Buttoned everything up and noticed  a fuel smell. The back of the #4 velocity stack was dripping. As any good mechanic I took the first route and tapped the float bowl thinking stuck float. Still dripping a minute later. Saw the wetness coming from the main circuit air pilot/inlet.  Pulled off the float bowl and held the float  up and noticed a dripping from the Main Jet      Pulled the carbs off and took them apart. Checked the others and noticed that blowing thru the fuel inlet on 3/4 got a different result than 1/2.  Ripped 3/4 from the rack real quick and low and behold a small pin hole where the fuel inlet and main air circuit meet.  Grrrrr has anyone ever seen this before? Used some somewhat fuel proof epoxy and letting it set over night but I have serious doubts. Trying to find a #4 carb body. Got my request in to a couple of members with stuff for sale. If I cant find it i'll be on the look out for a whole carb set. But maybe I'll be lucky and the fix will hold.

Maybe tomorrow i ride.