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My $100 CB750 Bobber build

sLoWnStEaDy

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Picked up a 1980 CB750 for $100. Runs, drives and has a clean title for once. Got it cheap because, well, it was UGLY and the guy lived in an apartment and had no way to fix it up. Had a couple little issues, throttle was hooked up backwards, carbs needed synced and again, it was ugly as sin...

 
Got it to the garage and stripped all the body panels off it, pretty sure they weren't even CB panels. They were all just held on by wire and zip ties. Gas tank had the front bolt through it but the rear wasn't even close to lining up. Anyways, naked...

 
Hacked all the rear shit off I won't be using. I WILL be keeping it a softail, not just welding it solid like 99% of the Bobbers I see, just wanna be a little different. I picked up a nice GSXR1K shock I plan to use on it. Nice adjustable coilover spring and adjustable nitrogen shock, eBay for $15 shipped, can't complain.



the shock:
 
Picked up a gas tank and quickly found out no regular tank would work, so I got to changing that today. I Grabbed some 1-1/2" to extend the main frame neck and then cut the side bars, turned them down and welded them back up. I got a bunch of random chunks while I was getting scrap so I have some nice slugs inside all the tubes I welded. Also drilled about 8-10 holes and plug welded everything I redid, should be better off than it was from the factory.

Here you can just see the main neck that I extended, didn't cut it yet as I am not sure what I want to do back there. I was planning to use a front mounted, leaf spring style seat but as it is a softail still, I don't think I'll need a seat shock too. So, I am thinking about just hacking that off about 12" long and mounting the seat directly to that. Have to figure out a way to make it "pretty" though if I do that.

 
Then, I cut the side bars off...




I turned them down about 90* so instead of going up and running with the main beam, the come out to the sides now. I actually really like the way it turned out, looks much better in person. Could have kept them closer to the tank but I wanted to leave the option for other tanks, this one is 3.3 gallon.

 
Got the harness all stripped down to only what I must have, headlight, taillight and ignition. Won't be running turn signals or any of the dummy lights, horn, etc... Still have to make it look a little nicer on the bike but it's all there and functional. Got the hidden ignition and push button start on as well, really stoked with how those came out but I can't show em as they are "hidden" for a reason. ;-) Also got the shock mounted up to the swing arm, haven't got the top mount done yet but that will be next.

The last "major" thing to do is figure out exactly how I am going to mount the headlight. I got a pair of projector/angel eye, ricer style headlights for an accord from the swap meet for $20/ Hacked em apart and kept the 4 angel eyes as well as the 2 90mm projectors. Hoping to hit the junkyard at some point and maybe get lucky there. I want to keep it in an old school, tear drop style headlight housing but I have yet to find one in decent shape.

 
Didn't do too much, I just shaved the triple tree upper a good bit. Doesn't sound like much but I did it with a hack saw and a hand file. If you see the before/after pics, you can probably imagine it was a bit of a pain in the ass. Nothing feels better to me than doing shit old school though!!












Sadly, I have yet to justify buying a TIG welder, or a spool gun so I can't do aluminum welding. therefore, I gotta take that upper in somewhere and have it welded up. Those cast in risers are hollow and need to go away so I need the bottom side filled in so I can shave it down and do what I want to. Hoping I can get it done tomorrow quickly because my seat and my risers will be in. That would allow me to get final positioning on everything like that figured out.
 
getting frustrated, trying to figure out how to mount my seat. -_-



the seat is meant for a hard tail so it has the front pivot point and rear springs. Obviously, I am not trying to do it that way but am coming up a little short on ideas for mounting it. Well, I know what I WANT to do but I don't have the ability as it would entail bending some 1/4" round bar and I don't have the ability to do that. Anyways, here is another pic, got the risers and bars on, paint is coming along, waiting for my tail lights, gauges and jet kit for the carbs. Hoping to have it on the road at some point this month. Also figured I might as well upgrade the ignition since I have exhaust, pods and the 75/115 jets, hoping it will all work out. LOL
 
Headers coated and wrapped, waiting for them to dry and I'll be coating them again. Pretty happy with the result so far, first time every doing it, took me about an hour each. I think they're sexy. :)

 
Well, I got my headlight taken care of. This is the kind of thing I love, I couldn't find anything like I was looking for at junkyards or anything. I was mowing, hit something and BOOM, there it is, exactly what I have been looking for!! Used some 3M panel adhesive and glued it to the stock projector glass retaining ring. Still gotta finish it up and paint it to match but I am pretty happy with it!




 
Also got my tail/brake lights today, ditched the ugly ass chrome, obviously and got them put on. They fit PERFECTLY in the old fender support holes on the swing arm, coulsn't have made them fit any better if I tried.


 
and the pretty exhaust all coated, wrapped and coated again. Only complaint is that the one header, I couldn't fit the wrap between the pipes so I had to wrap the together for part of the way. Doesn't look too bad but not exactly as good as I was hoping. the other one is pretty much perfect though.
 
I forgot to mention but you can probably see in the pic, I shortened the pods up quite a bit! They're about 3/4" now instead of the 3" or whatever they use to be. I am hoping that will help with vacuum, I have a jet kit just in case... I also need to finish mounting the seat, I just have the front pivot point mounted right now as this is a springer style seat. I will be making solid mounts for the rear though since it is a softail and I won't be needing the springs on the seats. I also switched out the grips, ditched the cheap rubber ones for some nice billet spikes. I got my levers as well which were made for 7/8" bars but after a few minutes with a round file and sand paper, they fit nicely.

the levers I got:

I also raised the bike a good few inches after I took this picture. It was just too damn low, as you can probably see. I already had the spring preloaded as much as possible so I was forced to move the upper shock mount back a couple inches. the upper mount is right about center of where it was in this pic and the seat bolt. Worked out well as that is where the tubes go from the main neck out to those side bars, so there is plenty of bracing there now instead of just being on the main beam itself like it was. The upper mount is simple, consists of a piece of the left over tube I used for the main neck (1-1/2", .125 wall DOM) with a UHMW bushing I had machined to fit snuggly inside it, turned sideways on the neck, welded and gusseted.

I am waiting for my clutch/brake cables to get here, I need to get the front tire off, paint the rim to match the rear and get the new front tire put on. Then I have to wire the headlight and tail lights and finish the seat mount as I mentioned earlier. There is a "bike night" here in 10 days, I am HOPING to have it there. It's only about 1/2 mile from my house so, even if it isn't running great due to the pods, I should be able to limp it down there. If nothing else, it's down hill from me. ;-)
 
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