Motorcycle Thread

[max16v]

Originally Posted by Turbo Punk

I may be picking up this Honda CB750 Cafe project tomorrow.

Kick ass! Let us know how it goes. What year is it?

I like anything '76 and older - the single OHC bikes as parts are an abundance and they are easy to work on/fix/tinker/modify...etc.

I still have my '73 CB cafe bike that I'll probably be selling after my Enfield is registered. If you need any help with CB specific stuff I can definitely help you out.

My .02 - keep it old school, simple, clean. There are really cool bikes made by Benji and Carpy, but way to flashy for my blood.
The forks are 35mm and clip ons can be found for around $50 bucks on ebay. Strip the bike of blinkers and screw the electric start...those are for pussies.

A word of advice with the electrical: get a set of coils from a super sport (79 and up) that have replaceable plug wires/ends and give a super HOT spark every time. They have a different ohm resistance and will wear the points faster but points are an easy adjustment!
Always, not matter the cost, get Honda factory points, condensors...etc . I've spent loads on electrical parts that don't ever work, even though they are Japanese (Daiitchi...etc)

If you want to go with spoke wheels, try lacing them to 18" as the CB is a super tall bike. I have 19" and no short person dare attempt sitting on it without the chance of falling over.

Shit, this was more like my .04!

Recent-ish pic of my CB

[V8Transporter]

Hey Triple B! I must have finally cleaned my glasses and can finally see through the X. Your bike looks sweet. That tank a one-off?

[bigbeardedbastard]

Originally Posted by V8Transporter

Hey Triple B! I must have finally cleaned my glasses and can finally see through the X. Your bike looks sweet. That tank a one-off?

lol yeah sorry i was trying to post from my work laptop and it didnt complete the url.....and thank you, it is a one off tank, it was with the bike when i bought it as a basketcase. as much as i love the original triumph tanks, this one seems to fit well especially since i repainted all the tins

[Turbo Punk]

Originally Posted by max16v

Kick ass! Let us know how it goes. Looks like I'm picking it up tomorrow. He wanted to fix a couple things before I took it.

What year is it? It's a '78.

I like anything '76 and older - the single OHC bikes as parts are an abundance and they are easy to work on/fix/tinker/modify...etc.

I still have my '73 CB cafe bike that I'll probably be selling after my Enfield is registered. If you need any help with CB specific stuff I can definitely help you out. I'll probably be needing a lot of help but I plan on going slow and taking my time.

My .02 - keep it old school, simple, clean. There are really cool bikes made by Benji and Carpy, but way to flashy for my blood. Simple is the way I plan on going. Nothing expensive here.

The forks are 35mm and clip ons can be found for around $50 bucks on ebay. I'm kind of leaning towards "Clubman" bars.

Strip the bike of blinkers and screw the electric start...those are for pussies. Why do you need an electric start for something that has a kick start?

A word of advice with the electrical: get a set of coils from a super sport (79 and up) I could have sworn he said this was a supersport. I believe it's an "F" model, we checked the vin tag? That's why it came with the mag wheels and double disc brakes up front. that have replaceable plug wires/ends and give a super HOT spark every time. They have a different ohm resistance and will wear the points faster but points are an easy adjustment!
Always, not matter the cost, get Honda factory points, condensors...etc . I've spent loads on electrical parts that don't ever work, even though they are Japanese (Daiitchi...etc) Thanks for the info.

If you want to go with spoke wheels, try lacing them to 18" as the CB is a super tall bike. I have 19" and no short person dare attempt sitting on it without the chance of falling over. I'm going to keep the mags for now. I may eventually paint them black unless I can score some nice spoked ones later. I want to keep this as low budget as possible.

Shit, this was more like my .04!

I'm thinking of changing the tank as well. I really don't care for the one that's on there. I've found a fw on ebay that I like but need to find out if they will fit. Is there anything I should look for or take into consideration?

One major question... Is the oil filter cover held on with a bolt or a stud? The previous owner to the guy I'm getting it from welded the nut on. don't know why? Looks like I'll have to do some carefull grinding and then some Quality repair.

Recent-ish pic of my CB. Nice friggin bike!!

.

[fungus]

Thanks for the advice max! Any info definitely helps.

And by the way, your bike is killer.

[tequilla]

Max16v....... Damn I wish I had money...... I'd be on your Cafe 750 like stink on shit if I wasn't so broke. I bought a Ironhead short chop that's sitting in my garage non opped because I can't afford to get my motorcycle license and pay to insure it right now........ But I want a Cafe bike so bad......

[fungus]

Took my XL100 engine by the shop today, no cam wobble at all. PO must've stayed on top of oil changes. Right now I'm in the process of pulling the top end off to hone out the cylinder a bit and check the oil ring end gap.

I'm having some trouble finding TDC on the firing stroke (that's where he said to remove the cam gear ) but hopefully I'll figure it out. Any advice?

Here's a spanner I made from the remains of a baywindow bus e-brake handle. Bolt it to the sprocket in place of the retainer, then you can turn your engine over.

[max16v]

@ Joel and Fungus: I bought my Honda from fellow v-rodder p-nor. It was in pretty bad shape when I picked her up, but now is extremely reliable, and a 1 kick bike


Turbo:
Why do you need an electric start for something that has a kick start?

When Honda came out with the electric start, people were weary of the reliability, so Honda kept the kicker in an event that the bike will not start. There are kits to delete the starter all together. Expensive, but it saves weight (a 500 pound bike needs a diet), and who needs a button anyway?


I'm thinking of changing the tank as well. I really don't care for the one that's on there. I've found a few on ebay that I like but need to find out if they will fit. Is there anything I should look for or take into consideration?

Depends on the style you want. You can retro fit damn near any tank to work on a Honda, just depends on what style of tank and if the stock seat will work with it.


One major question... Is the oil filter cover held on with a bolt or a stud? The previous owner to the guy I'm getting it from welded the nut on. don't know why? Looks like I'll have to do some carefull grinding and then some Quality repair.


It's a bolt. God sakes get that thing fixed! If anyone has to weld on any piece of hardware that keeps oil in the engine... needs a slap in the face. Big no no.

The bolts are extremely cheap and very easy to find as most CB owners over torque them and strip 'em. I found a brand new one for $10. Best to get two just in case. Oh, and never forget the o-rings when replacing the filter.




An exploded view of the oil stuff. I linked it as the size is HUGE.


Nice friggin bike!!

Thanks!

[fungus]

Uh oh, is the starter integrated into something else? (Like the generator/alternator on ACVW's; it's the pully/bearing assembly for the fan.) I was planning to bypass it, but I thought it was just an external starter motor I could hog out a blockoff plate for...

Tried searching for a starter delete kit, but I couldn't find one.

[RichG]

Another good honda site with tons of tech:

http://www.hondachopper.com/garage/garage.html

[max16v]

Originally Posted by fungus

Uh oh, is the starter integrated into something else? (Like the generator/alternator on ACVW's; it's the pully/bearing assembly for the fan.) I was planning to bypass it, but I thought it was just an external starter motor I could hog out a blockoff plate for...

Tried searching for a starter delete kit, but I couldn't find one.

Damn. I got it wrong. Cycle X sells a new charging system ($449) that eliminates the starter with a plug and a seal. I'm sure if you wanted to eliminate the starter, give them a call to see if it can be done easily and reliably with the block off parts for the starter that they already have.

[fungus]

Originally Posted by max16v

Damn. I got it wrong. Cycle X sells a new charging system ($449) that eliminates the starter with a plug and a seal. I'm sure if you wanted to eliminate the starter, give them a call to see if it can be done easily and reliably with the block off parts for the starter that they already have.

Sweet, I'll see what I can find out. Of course, I can see first hand once I get one. I'm just antsy. Going to a different college next semester, so I need better fuel mileage and cycles get MUCH better (and cheaper) parking.

Free Honda manuals! In PDF format.

http://www.honda4fun.com/man_officina/man_officina.html

Good luck finding the ones in English.

[Scott H]

[Bama Bill]

I just sold these this year.

[ThrasherBill]

Went to this on the weekend:



Many many photos here : Vashon August 29 2010 pictures by digitalbill2 - Photobucket
and here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...2&l=d4f2adc71b

A few of my favourites:

[Turbo Punk]

Originally Posted by ThrasherBill

2/

I love you too Bill.









Looks like you guys had an awesome time.

[fungus]

Looks like you had a good time Bill. Thanks for the pics!

To answer my earlier question, no, the starter on the SOHC CB's is not integrated into the sytem in a way that other functions depend on it. The starter motor (a bit over 5lbs!) is located just behind the head in a compartment:



So it's pretty easily removed. The starter clutch could possibly be removed if you could fabricate some spacers; it's sandwiched between the stator and some other necessary parts. Not sure which ones...

I thought that after removing the starter, you could possibly suspend a custom oil tank in the compartment; however, it would be best to leave it external, as that cools the oil a bit more.

A cast aluminum finned oil tank would look pretty kick ass...

[max16v]

I've always wanted to get rid of my starter cause 1) I kick and 2) like you said, it's HEAVY.

Not sure what you mean by an oil tank as CBs have one off the side of the bike under the cover. The battery would need relocating , which would be better closer to the ground for center-of-gravity purposes.

Cycle X mentions "block off plates" and seals when taking out the starter. I might have to pull off the stator cover and see whats happening behind it. When removing the starter, the wiring and magnetic starter switch can be removed as well! Less weight and less spaghetti.

@ Bill, totally envy you. Looks like a good trip.

I'd give my left nut for that Velo! Oh man.... I need to make a trip down to the Isle of Man TT event for some real road racing.

[fungus]

Originally Posted by max16v

I've always wanted to get rid of my starter cause 1) I kick and 2) like you said, it's HEAVY.

Not sure what you mean by an oil tank as CBs have one off the side of the bike under the cover. The battery would need relocating , which would be better closer to the ground for center-of-gravity purposes.

Cycle X mentions "block off plates" and seals when taking out the starter. I might have to pull off the stator cover and see whats happening behind it. When removing the starter, the wiring and magnetic starter switch can be removed as well! Less weight and less spaghetti.

Yeah, it has a stock oil tank, I was just talking about both relocating the oil tank lower in the center of gravity and getting it out of sight. However, it would possibly make the engine too warm, so it needs to be external instead of in the starter compartment. I hope I'm making sense.

As for battery relocation, I think that you can wire in a capacitor to bypass the battery if you're not running a starter... However, I don't know if it'll allow you to run a headlight.

I really don't know why you would need a block off plate, looking at the diagrams from online manuals... Maybe they're talking about custom starter covers? It does have a seal...

Again, I'm not looking at one yet, so I'm just going off of what I read.

[fungus]

Cool! Did some research on the battery bypass capacitor. For most bikes (ones with a 6V charging system), you use a capacitor that's rated around 24V and between 4,000 and 40,000 μF. Quite a large gap, but for each charging system it's different. You connect the negative lead of the capacitor to a ground (the frame) and the positive to the positive battery lead.

Your lights, horn etc. will still function; although, you may want to put an inline resistor to the headlight or switch to 12V bulbs. Once the battery is no longer there to absorb some of the energy of the charging system, it overloads the other functions (headlights, fuses, etc.) Also, if your lights are on while it's just idling, it may be easy to stall. It only affects low RPM's.

Some pretty good posts on it here:
http://www.triumphrat.net/classic-vi...-question.html

Here's one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/10000-uf-mf-25VD...item3a5e27ab59

Although I have a hard time believing that a capacitor that small can handle all that power...

Am I totally wrong? That would save quite a bit of weight/bulk!

[Turbo Punk]

Sweet 1981 yamaha IT 175 with 1981 suzuki gs 250 front end excell rims.

[Palepainter]

That is sweet. It is so refreshing, after having been in the bike industry for almost 2 decades, to see alternative bikes taken to such high levels.

[tequilla]

Originally Posted by max16v

I still have my '73 CB cafe bike that I'll probably be selling after my Enfield is registered...........

Give me a holler when you get ready to sell it...... I probably won't have any money but...... In case I do I would hate to miss out on my chance to get it

[Turbo Punk]

Well, the deal fell through on the 78 CB750 but I did find another one that looks to be in better condition that I'm going to check out tomorrow.



"1974 CB750....pod air filters, 4 into 1 exhaust, recent steering stem bearings replaced, fork seals redone, runs awsome, needs rear tire"

[Turbo Punk]

Welp, I got it!

The rear tire needs to be replaced as mentioned before and I'm definatly going to lose the stupid flame sticker on the chain gaurd and will probably get rid of the Honda stickers on the tank as well.

Once I put some money together, I'll start on converting it to a cafe'.

The sad thing is, it matches my wifes "Lemon"

I think a repaint is in it's future. Maybe keep the frame yellow but paint the rest black.