Hi everyone, I am a first time poster and am really glad to have found this site! I rode a lot from 75-86, but a couple of very close calls over a three week period involving 4 wheeled idiots running stoplights and just missing me convinced me to stop. Now that I have an 18 year old son who really wants to get a bike in the next year or so, I am planning on bring my old friend back to life so I can teach him how to ride safely. I have a 1978 CB750F Honda that I bought new and have had stored in my garage for the past 28 years. It was properly put into storage, i.e., I ran the engine with the fuel petcock off until it ran out of gas. I drained the float bowls of all the carbs, I removed the battery and put fresh oil in the case and tank and also a new filter and put a few tblsp. of oil in each tappet hole and cylinder. I inflated both tires and put the bike up on the center-stand and then covered it.
I am bringing the bike out of storage and have cleaned the tank of old fuel, polished everything on the bike, installed a new battery, dumped the oil from the case and tank and put fresh oil in along with a new oil filter. I will install new plugs in a day or so and be about ready for a test fire of the motor. I still have to buy and install new tires and tubes. Thus far, I am only having a couple of issues of note. When trying to pull of the right side cover it cracked in multiple places. 37 year old plastic gets really brittle so I will have to source and replace it. A more serious set of concerns are when I turn on the ignition, I get the headlight on, but the tail light is not on. It does come on when applying either brake so it does have power. I still have to check the bulb, but I think it was working when I put it into storage. I plan to take a look at the bulb tomorrow to cross that off the list. The turn signal lights work (they come on and flash). The signal beeper didn't work the first two tries, but then started to beep every time I turned the signals on fully with the switch locked on. The more serious issue is with the brakes. The front master cylinder has very little lever movement. I was trying to bleed the brakes, but I get nothing coming through the brake lines at the calipers as the lever action is very minimal. When removing the old fluid, it was obvious that it had gone way bad! It was very dark and there was a lot of gunk around the outside of the lever area and inside the reservoir itself. I removed all of the old fluid and cleaned out the gunk as best I could, but I think the master cylinder may be shot. Is is necessary to replace it or is it pretty easy to rebuild one? I want to take it off and take the line off at the T splitter and see if I can get any fluid to come out of the end of the brake line. I think the piston is likely gunked up and frozen. I would appreciate any thoughts on these issues a great deal. I have always done all my own work on this bike, having added Triple-A case savers, a Martek 440 electric ignition, K & N filter, a Luggage rack and sissy bar and a Shoei sport fairing/windscreen so I would like to continue to figure this stuff out if I can and do it all myself. Now that I am getting older though, some things are tougher for me than they used to be, but I want to keep trying!
I am bringing the bike out of storage and have cleaned the tank of old fuel, polished everything on the bike, installed a new battery, dumped the oil from the case and tank and put fresh oil in along with a new oil filter. I will install new plugs in a day or so and be about ready for a test fire of the motor. I still have to buy and install new tires and tubes. Thus far, I am only having a couple of issues of note. When trying to pull of the right side cover it cracked in multiple places. 37 year old plastic gets really brittle so I will have to source and replace it. A more serious set of concerns are when I turn on the ignition, I get the headlight on, but the tail light is not on. It does come on when applying either brake so it does have power. I still have to check the bulb, but I think it was working when I put it into storage. I plan to take a look at the bulb tomorrow to cross that off the list. The turn signal lights work (they come on and flash). The signal beeper didn't work the first two tries, but then started to beep every time I turned the signals on fully with the switch locked on. The more serious issue is with the brakes. The front master cylinder has very little lever movement. I was trying to bleed the brakes, but I get nothing coming through the brake lines at the calipers as the lever action is very minimal. When removing the old fluid, it was obvious that it had gone way bad! It was very dark and there was a lot of gunk around the outside of the lever area and inside the reservoir itself. I removed all of the old fluid and cleaned out the gunk as best I could, but I think the master cylinder may be shot. Is is necessary to replace it or is it pretty easy to rebuild one? I want to take it off and take the line off at the T splitter and see if I can get any fluid to come out of the end of the brake line. I think the piston is likely gunked up and frozen. I would appreciate any thoughts on these issues a great deal. I have always done all my own work on this bike, having added Triple-A case savers, a Martek 440 electric ignition, K & N filter, a Luggage rack and sissy bar and a Shoei sport fairing/windscreen so I would like to continue to figure this stuff out if I can and do it all myself. Now that I am getting older though, some things are tougher for me than they used to be, but I want to keep trying!