My Rickman CR750 Restoration

[SteveCR7]

I started restoring the CR recently and plan to get it running before stripping it down.  Have so far got the electrics working (sparks still to be verified), spare set of carbs sorted, oil drained (no nasties in the oil), oil tank and sump off for clean, cam cover off and top end looks good.

I have not made much progress in the last couple of weeks as I have been playing with diy zinc plating and softening inlet rubbers with wintergreen oil and alcohol (looking good so far).  A few pictures from back in the day and how she looks now.  I will keep you posted.

Steve

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[royhall]

She was a bit of a looker back in the day. What a fantastic project that is, the only way it could be any better would be for it to have a Z1 engine. That comment's going to get me in the s**t.

[SteveCR7]

Well, it was a bit of an impulse buy, I wasn't looking for one but it turned up in my local bike shop Bikewise in leigh on sea and having had a tuned SOHC before, I traded a mint GS1000 Suzuki.  For a while I thought what have I done, but it soon grew on me.

[andy120t]

Looks great - so you've had it for some time then, just not running? Or just picked it up recently?

[SteveCR7]

I have owned it since 1982 and ran it until 1990, when a house move liberated some funds and I brought a new vfr750, which meant the CR took a back seat. I have been wanting to sort it for a good few years but time and funds were limited. Kids have moved out now so it was time. It was also the mrs idea to get a big shed to work on it 😃

[royhall]

Take note Honda, Rickman took the trouble to ensure you could get the head off whilst the engine is in the frame.

[Spitfire]

Looks great , that would have been my dream bike in the 70's, nice to see it being resurrected.

Cheers

Dennis

[royhall]

Still is my dream bike. Had one in 77 with a Z1B engine, superb. Would love another but they are out of my price range now.

[SteveCR7]

Did a bit more yesterday, got the oil tank, filter, sump and hoses cleaned and ready to go back on. Still got to get the pump off and primed with fresh oil.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Also checked out the coils, one has a broken HT lead at the coil end, so swapped a spare one over.  The primary circuit is fine about 4.6ohms, but no reading on the secondary.  I don't know if I am doing something wrong or if all 4 are duff.

[SteveCR7]

My experiment to soften carb inlet rubbers was a huge success. Using a 3:1 mix of surgical spirit and wintergreen oil for 8 to 10 days turned them from rock hard to very pliable. The carb side softened the quickest being thinner rubber so after about 6 days I reduced the liquid level so only the thicker parts of the rubber were submerged. I will have to see if they harden as the weeks go on. The video shows how soft they are.

https://youtu.be/r0GooiUYUAU

[MarkCR750]

That’s going to be a fine machine when done, a closer fitting front mudguard would be the only change I’d make, but that’s just my opinion, here’s how close I got mine btw. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[SteveCR7]

Yes mudguard could be better, but that’s a way down the road yet

[Rob62]

Is anybody planning to go to the festival of 1000 bikes at Mallory in July? I went last year and will be there again this year.... There were some great looking 750's there, not sure if they were replica CR's or original, I wouldn't be able to tell... but they looked great!. These old sohc race bikes look and sound great on track  . Its a great place to showcase these beauties, the paddock is open to the public.

[Laverda Dave]

I'm planning on going this year as missed it last year.

[Rob62]

Good stuff.. if you see an old K4 pootling round at a steady pace that’ll be me