Bagger John
CB750 Member
This post might get a little long, so apologies beforehand:
August of this year marks 52 seasons in the saddle; over 40 on street bikes. About a year and a half into the street bike phase, my first 750 SOHC (a '70) came to reside in my garage. It was in need of some work, and being a fledgling mechanic I began to teach myself all the tips and tricks associated with the bike.
A year later, a '75 showed up - bought from a friend. I combined parts from the two along with a Wiseco 836 kit to build FrankenBike. It had a loud 4-1 collector setup that was always getting banged on something due to low clearance. Think of the Honda version of a Norton HiRider and you'd be pretty close.
Fast forward a couple of years and I was introduced to a gent who had a whole garage full of SOHC parts and a couple bikes themselves. I helped him get a '78 running and in turn was given trunk full after trunk full of parts. Among these were better ignition systems. carbs, chrome goodies...and a Windjammer. The latter was a turning point in my riding adventures because until then, I did not ride with a windshield of any sort. A swap of a swap-meet-purchased Harley FX saddle for a set of Shoei SB-2s at an area shop added luggage capacity and gave rise to my "handle".
Long about then I yanked the top end of the motor and restored it to 736cc, and shortly thereafter began working at an area cycle dealership. With access to parts at roughly cost and with another cycle outfit in the area sourcing other needed aftermarket stuff, I began revamping the machine. A set of MAC 4-2 turnouts replaced the 4-1, a touring saddle was added. A Lockhart oil cooler was installed. Located a Windjammer V plus lowers and a Cycle Sounds radio mount. The bike always handled funny (pulled to one side) and I suspected frame troubles. A donor frame fixed that. Time from start to finish for a complete teardown and rebuild was ~12h; done in time to pick a gal pal up from work. (I got to be pretty good wrenching on this machine...)
The 750 gained a stable mate in the way of an '83 Aspencade in the early 90s. Both were actively ridden, though I preferred the 750 for cool/cold/wet weather - I seemed to stay warmer and drier behind the Windjammer. I put a LOT of miles on the 750 in that iteration. More 'Wings began showing up in the garage and eventually the SOHC got parked. Then Valkyries followed. Along the way I became friends with one of the Ohio VRCC crew and sold him my entire CB750 inventory (several bikes and an entire 14ft U Haul full of parts).
Nowadays I ride a few Valkyries and a couple 4-cylinder touring missiles - Concours 14s. Over morning coffee I pondered the 750 SOHC yet again and wondered what in the way of parts are still available. To my surprise, a huge amount from a number of various vendors. (One of the reasons I don't ride the GL1100 series any longer is a serious lack of parts; if Honda would continue to support that model I would have stayed with it and bought an '83 Standard to boot.)
I'm now thinking another SOHC is in the cards at some future point. A '78, owing to the larger tank. Or an earlier K model with a tank swap. Windjammer is a must...as are some sort of saddlebags. One thing I never did get around to implementing was dual front discs, though I'd gotten a lot of the parts needed for the conversion. May also build a spare motor up and bag it against the day where R&R is required.
Lots of good memories from those days. Fall rides were always enjoyable on that bike.
August of this year marks 52 seasons in the saddle; over 40 on street bikes. About a year and a half into the street bike phase, my first 750 SOHC (a '70) came to reside in my garage. It was in need of some work, and being a fledgling mechanic I began to teach myself all the tips and tricks associated with the bike.
A year later, a '75 showed up - bought from a friend. I combined parts from the two along with a Wiseco 836 kit to build FrankenBike. It had a loud 4-1 collector setup that was always getting banged on something due to low clearance. Think of the Honda version of a Norton HiRider and you'd be pretty close.
Fast forward a couple of years and I was introduced to a gent who had a whole garage full of SOHC parts and a couple bikes themselves. I helped him get a '78 running and in turn was given trunk full after trunk full of parts. Among these were better ignition systems. carbs, chrome goodies...and a Windjammer. The latter was a turning point in my riding adventures because until then, I did not ride with a windshield of any sort. A swap of a swap-meet-purchased Harley FX saddle for a set of Shoei SB-2s at an area shop added luggage capacity and gave rise to my "handle".
Long about then I yanked the top end of the motor and restored it to 736cc, and shortly thereafter began working at an area cycle dealership. With access to parts at roughly cost and with another cycle outfit in the area sourcing other needed aftermarket stuff, I began revamping the machine. A set of MAC 4-2 turnouts replaced the 4-1, a touring saddle was added. A Lockhart oil cooler was installed. Located a Windjammer V plus lowers and a Cycle Sounds radio mount. The bike always handled funny (pulled to one side) and I suspected frame troubles. A donor frame fixed that. Time from start to finish for a complete teardown and rebuild was ~12h; done in time to pick a gal pal up from work. (I got to be pretty good wrenching on this machine...)
The 750 gained a stable mate in the way of an '83 Aspencade in the early 90s. Both were actively ridden, though I preferred the 750 for cool/cold/wet weather - I seemed to stay warmer and drier behind the Windjammer. I put a LOT of miles on the 750 in that iteration. More 'Wings began showing up in the garage and eventually the SOHC got parked. Then Valkyries followed. Along the way I became friends with one of the Ohio VRCC crew and sold him my entire CB750 inventory (several bikes and an entire 14ft U Haul full of parts).
Nowadays I ride a few Valkyries and a couple 4-cylinder touring missiles - Concours 14s. Over morning coffee I pondered the 750 SOHC yet again and wondered what in the way of parts are still available. To my surprise, a huge amount from a number of various vendors. (One of the reasons I don't ride the GL1100 series any longer is a serious lack of parts; if Honda would continue to support that model I would have stayed with it and bought an '83 Standard to boot.)
I'm now thinking another SOHC is in the cards at some future point. A '78, owing to the larger tank. Or an earlier K model with a tank swap. Windjammer is a must...as are some sort of saddlebags. One thing I never did get around to implementing was dual front discs, though I'd gotten a lot of the parts needed for the conversion. May also build a spare motor up and bag it against the day where R&R is required.
Lots of good memories from those days. Fall rides were always enjoyable on that bike.
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