A couple of Tech questions about '78K model

[Hisvett]

I bought a '78K off of BaT a while back and now have a couple of questions about the differences I'm seeing between bikes of the same year.

1. Front finder; mine does not have a support rod running from the front of the forks to the front top of the finder....no extra holes in finder so it never had a support. I'm seeing on Market Place the same bike and it has a support running from mid-way up the forks to the front of the finder (about 2 inches back from the tip)

2. Speedo; mine does not have the green KM line like many others I have seen. But mine does have the "ND" brand at the bottom so it isn't an aftermarket on.

Any help will be appreciated,
thanks, MK

 

[Old_Crow]

I think only the earlier models had the upper brace. I had a '75 SOHC 750 and it had the same fender as yours. My current '79 DOHC bike doesn't have any braces at all, just bolts to the forks.

 

[dirtdigger]

http://www.honda750expert.com/
The info is here you just gotta scroll through

 

[Hisvett]

Thanks Dirtdigger for the link; just want I have been looking for! Still didn't see this front finder support setup....might be a Unicorn!

Also didn't see the Speedo with the green Km speeds; very common on FleaBay,

I'm guessing that this combo MPH and KM/H is for imports..... I see more of this type than the black face MPH only type.

 

[dirtdigger]

That front support is definitely not factory in any year, honda never put them in that spot on the fork

 

[Old_Crow]

That front support is definitely not factory in any year, honda never put them in that spot on the fork

Yup, on all the ones with the top brace that I've seen, that brace runs down to an ear just in front of the axle. I did an image search for a '78 CB750, and the pictures that came up of stock bikes didn't have the top brace, just like the picture in the first post of this thread.

 

[Hisvett]

After looking back at all the '77-'78 K's that have sold on BaT, it does appear that someone has made a personal mod to the front finder...not sure why.

Moving on to the Speedo; when is the dual scale (Kilometer/MPH) sued over the all blue'ish face MPH (only) scale? I see way more of the dual scale speedos on 750K's than the single MPH scale. I would think it to be the other way around or am I just being picky? Mine was built 2/78, could be because it was later in production? Thanks for all the help.

 

[Qaxe]

All 3 of my K7 and my K8 had mph in white, and kph in green below it, on dark blue faces like the photo above. My K6 has green faces, no kph.

Do you have a photo of the gauges from your bike Hisvett?

I don't know if this is exactly related, or coincedence, but in 1975 the US briefly flirted with changing to metrics. The US Metric Conversion Act, signed by Pres. Ford. I remember my dad being PISSED off because one day, all the gas pumps near our house were in liters instead of gallons. That's not just a story, that's a fact. I don't know what other cities did that. One interesting leftover from that time, is that all our soda to this day still comes in 1 or 2 liter bottles. Before 75' pop bottles were quarts, same as milk.

Doesn't explain why Honda didn't put kph on our gauges until 77. Maybe they were just biding their time until they unleashed their full gambit of changes with the K7. So many changes made in 77' / 78'.

 

[Qaxe]

Oh, and btw, as someone from the wet PNW? Those are some nice headers. Lots and lots of rusty headers up here.

 

[Hisvett]

All 3 of my K7 and my K8 had mph in white, and kph in green below it, on dark blue faces like the photo above. My K6 has green faces, no kph.

Do you have a photo of the gauges from your bike Hisvett?

I don't know if this is exactly related, or coincedence, but in 1975 the US briefly flirted with changing to metrics. The US Metric Conversion Act, signed by Pres. Ford. I remember my dad being PISSED off because one day, all the gas pumps near our house were in liters instead of gallons. That's not just a story, that's a fact. I don't know what other cities did that. One interesting leftover from that time, is that all our soda to this day still comes in 1 or 2 liter bottles. Before 75' pop bottles were quarts, same as milk.

Doesn't explain why Honda didn't put kph on our gauges until 77. Maybe they were just biding their time until they unleashed their full gambit of changes with the K7. So many changes made in 77' / 78'.

Thanks, photo above is from my bike..... I know, strange.

 

[Hisvett]

Oh, and btw, as someone from the wet PNW? Those are some nice headers. Lots and lots of rusty headers up here.

Lots of new parts on this one! Probable the pipes and muffs....been out traveling so haven't seen the paperwork yet.

 

[Qaxe]

Lots of new on my K7 too... because it was a piece of crap! HAHAHA! As you might notice from my avatar, most of what used to be a K7 is no longer on the bike. ...including my engine. I think there are...13? K7 parts left (snicker)

One reason K8/K7 don't have that fender stay in the very front, is that the fender is a few inches shorter than previous years, so the extra stay was not necessary. Of course, your already has the holes in it now. On the K6 and older, that front stay measures 31cm from the bottom (at the base of the fork) to the bottom of the fender (not including the curve on top). If you care, you should be able to find one on Ebay. (That's what I did).

 

[brettp]

Maybe your blue face speedo is from a different bike? Like a 550?

 

[Qaxe]

The dark blue face is the stock color from K7/K8. Could be that the green kph showed up mid-production, or some other reason.

 

[brettp]

Or is aftermarket, or from a euro bike, or from Japan, etc.?

 

[Qaxe]

Nice red line. I can't say I've ever owned a CB750 with an actual red, red-line.

 

[Hisvett]

Maybe your blue face speedo is from a different bike? Like a 550?

Defiantly not from a 550, they have a different gearing than the 750 according to what I have dug out of some manuals....good guess but no. It seems that the '77 & '78 went to a blue background and the later'78's dropped the KM scale.