• Enter the March CB750 Supply gift certificate giveaway! It's easy... Click here, post something, and you're entered into the drawing!

CB750 K5 Restoration

Wow, that looks great!
I guess there is a deal for a used truing rig out there now eh?:wink2:

I'm keeping it for sure! I will use it again when I mount the tires and balance them. I think I'm going to do all my own tires now, it's a matter of having the right tools and I have them now. Local bike shops around here charge a lot more for tires that what I can pay online, like on bikebandit.com. Then they charge at least $25 per wheel for mounting and balancing.

Nice Job! The first one are always the hardest, All the D.I.D. rims I worked with had that wobbly spot at the weld as You said.

Yup, like anything, it's always hardest the first time. I've read the cheepo rims you can get from www.davidsilverspares.com/ are a lot worse on that weld wobble than the D.I.D. rims. I did a bit more fine adjustment last night, I have them within 1 mm. I think I'll be good, it's not like this bike will ever see a track, or even the freeway that much. Most of the riding my wife and I do is under 65 mph.

BTW: I'm building the bike for her. The plan is for the tins to be painted silver with Japanese Cherry Blossoms painted in the shape of the stock decals.
 
The paint scheme You decribe sounds neat, If You have the wheels within 1 to 2 mm. and a good balance job Your good to go full tilt, Not that I recommend it, Had mine up to 90mph just for kicks, The helmet strap almost choked My head off:D
 
Got a few more hours in last weekend and worked on the electrical. Mounted the turn signals and started on the Rainbow Spaghetti in the headlight bucket.

20140413_141346_zps54mhbl8z.jpg


My Haynes and Honda Service manuals were some help, but it's frustrating. I have an after market replica wire harness and after market replica switches. For the most part the colors match up, but not 100%. e.g. Light Blue with the White Tracer is actually Light Blue with a White tape at the tip on the harness.
Also a color diagram is nice.
CB750(K3-K7).jpg

Not a K5, but this is a neat interactive reference. http://oldmanhonda.com/MC/wiring750K1.html

After messing with it for a while, I decided to work on something else to clear my head, so I mounted the exhaust. Yeah, I know it's not stock, but a decent set would break the budget. My wife likes the look of the 4 into 4 and 4 into 2 systems, and several months back I got a good deal on some mac turn outs. Some people just hate these and think they are super ugly. Well, not my favorite, but a good price and period correct for that 70s look.
20140413_194821_zps2c1xkptu.jpg


Note the Chair on the bench in front, sat there for quite a while scratching my head.
20140413_194802_zps7pmkzkna.jpg
 
I know the spaghetti appears to be daunting but once you get all the commons done it becomes a simple right left thing. It took me about an hour to come to grips with what I was looking at but as soon as you understand the logic it isn't too bad.
I didn't start from scratch but was tracing down shorts from sitting in a barn for 35 years. Not really sure which is worse.

Not a lover of those pipes dude but you are period correct...and a deal is a deal for sure. She will love it.:wink2:
 
Big day today, got the Pamco all the way wired up, hooked up a temporary gas tank and tried to fire her up.
Lots of fine tuning to do yet: valves, timing and carb adjustments. The good: it's charging and not spewing oil.
 
Well that will get you going if nothing else will. It started nice and smooth.
I didn't even notice any smoke coming out anywhere.
GREAT JOB!
 
Well that will get you going if nothing else will. It started nice and smooth.
I didn't even notice any smoke coming out anywhere.
GREAT JOB!

The very first was a little rougher as I put some oil in the sparkplug holes a while back. This was the second time, after I ran up to the house and excitedly got my wife to check it out, she shot the video with her phone. I was happy to see it was not burning any oil or leaking anywhere. Seeing the volts climb when I reved it was a real bonus. Sure I tested all the charging components, but your never 100% sure till you see it actually work. I really need to reset the cam chain, set the valve lash and timing, the top end sounds like an old sewing machine.
 
Little tweaking here and there and you will be set.
Have you got all the spaghetti worked out yet?
She's gonna have to fight you to ride that thing when you get it finished.:cheers:
 
The 750 will always sound very "mechanical". So after you adjust everything dont be surprised if it still sounds noisy. They only get noisier with bigger cams:D
 
Have you got all the spaghetti worked out yet?
Not 100% yet, but I'm close. Gotta figure out why the neutral light isn't coming on.

I got new gauge faces from cb750Faces in the mail last weekend, I already got the bezels powder coated. So the other night I put the clocks back together.
20140430_063813_zpscagsvi2n.jpg


They look much better in person, I did scare the crimp rings a bit putting them back together. Oh well..
 
Hmmm. The red line is actually red? Who knew! Mine were orange back in the early 80s when I started riding mine.:laugh:
 
Hmmm. The red line is actually red? Who knew! Mine were orange back in the early 80s when I started riding mine.:laugh:

Crazy huh.. and there is a red dash at 70 mph, that was totally faded on mine. I also painted the needle tips with orange craft paint.
 
I need to check for the 70 mph dash. It hasn't popped out at me. I think it's pretty funny that my 82 KZ1000 speedo only goes to 85.
 
Baby got a new pair of shoes today!
20140512_194555_zpspplzznhl.jpg

20140512_194625_zpsojrjqmgb.jpg


These are Dunlop K70s. 18-4.00 rear, 19-3.25 Front. I know these are not the best tires out there, but this will be an occasional rider and the price is right. I love the old school tread pattern. I've run Dunlops, but not this one, on a few bikes and always had good luck with them.

I really like ordering tires from http://www.bikebandit.com/. Great prices, free shipping if you spend over $100. I ordered these on Friday and they where at my door step Monday. According to the UPS Tracking, I should get the tubes in the mail later this week.
 
After struggling a few times only to find that I put a hole in the tube, I resorted to taking the wheels to a local guy who has the proper tools and know how. He mounted each tire in about 5 minutes. I ended up paying more in replacement tubes than paying the guy to do both wheels. Sometimes learning your limits is a tough lesson.

20140524_104338_zps74csblae.jpg
 
Inspiration for sure! Next winter I will get started. This riding season I've got enough maintenance to do on the other bikes to keep me busy between rides and track weekends.
 
Getting Oh So Close.
I need to clean out the tank (Will get professionally painting this winter)
Adjust Cam Chain, Valves, Timing.
Fine Tune Carbs
Finish getting the electrical right. Got her to start, but neutral light, buzzer, clutch safety switch not hooked up right.
20140623_220608_zpsqtqssj5e.jpg

20140623_220620_zpsu1wiszia.jpg

20140623_220630_zpsfhiynjb8.jpg

20140623_220637_zpsizdp2zan.jpg

20140623_220650_zps2zuivhqn.jpg
 
Yes she will, especially after it's painted. She likes to ride with a fairing, so I picked up this 70s beauty at a swap meet for $8
20140608_183653_zpsgwbmtnt7.jpg


One more thing on the list is new shocks. The old ones are on there, I want to see how close they are for her to stand flat footed on the bike. She will need shorter shocks, but I want to get some that are as tall as possible.
 
Back
Top