Newbie from Dorset

[DY85262]

Hi all, I must say I have been trawling this forum for the past few weeks. Of course it is with intent, of which the end product in my mind keeps changing.

After picking up a Honda SP1 a couple of years ago now I realise that I am not cut out for the type of riding that bike deserves. A few reasons; first the UK roads, well around the south here in Dorset, are only ever slightly free in the winter and that's not conducive with the sort of rider I seem to be now  . Secondly I don't feel too at home not being able to see and work on the engine of the machine I ride, like most of us I expect, I like to tinker. Not too often! But being able to play around with what you ride is a good feeling. Finally I am not getting any younger and yeah it can be hard work sometimes.

I thought about buying a trail type bike such as the BM GS but when I visited the local dealer I realised that I probably would need a UFO licence to ride / fly one. They are so huge. I came away from there feeling a little lost but inside I felt I knew where I wanted to go. Café racer  Well in my time I have owned a few similar orientated bikes. FS1E, RD125LC, RGV250L, GSXR750L, a couple of Tritons, Ducati MK3 done like the Desmo,  it goes on!

So I started trawling the net and fell in love with the CB series, first I looked at 350, then 550 but at the moment I am swayed to the 750K (I think). You see I never owned one but think it can get me where I want to be. Completing a conversion will satisfy my tinkering need without doubt.

I am of the opinion that if I am going to do it, I may as well go all out. That's kind of been my approach in life, no half measures.

Anyhow I have lots of questions to ask, books have been ordered and I thank you all in advance for the very interesting articles I have read to date.

Cheers
Clint



 

[Moorey]

Welcome to the forum. Plenty of café racers have been built on here. No doubt all questions will be answered by someone. First enjoy the hunt for the bike.

[Nurse Julie]

Welcome to the forum and I hope you find what you are looking for. Books, some find, are a useful, others use them to light the fire after a few days. Many of the books relevant to these old Hondas were printed many, many years ago and one good thing about the Tinterweb, is that the knowledge that is now being shared is up to date, unlike many of the things you will read in the books.

[jon stead]

Welcome Clint, A’s has been said, enjoy the hunt for the bike. Do you intend to look for a genuine UK bike or a US import?

[DY85262]

Thanks for the welcome all. Regarding the bike,  I sit on the fence. If costs are higher for a UK model then I am not averse to an import. To date I am in awe of this beautiful  creation.https://youtu.be/PDwWdXDZzcE i think its a CB750F0 or F1 with some frame mods, particularly around the foot peg area. Does anyone understand his Portuguese? I will start another thread somewhere regarding thus bike. Are there many pros and cons with import versus UK bikes?
Cheers.

[Nurse Julie]

I think if you are going to do a custom job of some sort, it would make sense to buy a USA import. UK bikes always cost more than USA model, your model choice on a CB750/4 K is vastly increased with an import as we didn't get all models here anyway. Also, it would be a great shame to café a UK bike, they are getting very rare and best left as is in my opinion.

[DY85262]

I'll agree with that Nurse Julie 

[Laverda Dave]

Welcome to the forum Clint. Have a look a the Bike EXIF website for some CB750 cafe racer / bobber ideas, plenty on there. Good luck finding suitable machine, D&K are probably a good starting point.

[Rob62]

Its a great shame to cafe any good original bike, usa or uk or anything else...an original honda is an original honda. But you can def pick up a tidy non rusty usa project up from somewhere like dk... good luck!

[bucksfizz]

I'm a newbie here myself, but welcome nonetheless.
I buy all my project bikes from the US, as there's a huge price differential.
Even allowing for a poor exchange rate at the moment (£1 = ~ $1.30) plus shipping, it's still worthwhile.
I recently picked up this 1973 CB750 K3 from Illinois for $2000:

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It should be arriving today (4 May 2019), but I'll have to wait a few days for it to be processed at the docks/customs.

[Spitfire]

Welcome to the forums, you will find lots of helpful people and useful info here, certainly helped me when I rebuilt my bike, reading what you said about tinkering I was always of the view that if you ride it you should be able to fix it and the CB750 is very user friendly.

Cheers

Dennis

[SteveD CB500K0]

It should be arriving today (4 May 2019)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jon stead]

Welcome to the group