A project for next year, it's been standing for way too long!!

[Bubbadel]

Hi, new to this site but not new to owning the CB750 sohc. Got my first cb750 about 1980, had an 810 kit, got another one from a friend in 1986 for £250. It's an F1 P reg. I soon started updating it, first was F2 tank, forks etc and comstar wheels and CBX1000 discs/calipers (I used to visit the breakers on a regular basis, we all like a bargain)
This is how it looked in 1989 in the south of France

This is blasting round the Paul Ricard circuit in South of France

Then a year or 2 later it had it's major makeover, while in allbike spares I spotted a Seeley petrol tank, brand new and they only wanted £25 for it...done! had a bit of messing about to do to get it to fit, also got VFR750 17" wheels and brakes, dug out my old original Yoshimura pipe with home made baffle. I also did a lot to the engine, 823 yoshi kit, gas flowed head (early head with larger valves), lightened/balanced crank with aftermarket con rods, i think they were action 4's, also high lift cam and stiffer valve springs, also got a set of GSXR750 flat slide carbs which were a nightmare to get the jetting right, trial and error for 2 months!!
End result was quite remarkable,it now revved to over 10,000 rpm and i saw 145mph many a time,(probably would have pulled 150 i'm sure) but the speed it accelerated, nothing could touch it up to about 90, thats blades, zzr11's gsxr's...it was hot! I shocked a lot of people at bovingdon aerodrome!!

And it even handled now with the 17 inch wheels and radial tyres
It wheelied like a nutter too, i had to put the original swing arm back on because the braced JMC i had cracked around the chain adjuster!!

But as i said earlier, it has been standing for about 13 years!!!

Bit of a sorry state, but I am determined to do something with it next year, there was something really enjoyable about beating new bikes that it simply should not have done

[K2-K6]

Really interesting, it's good you got some pictures of it over the years and those Yoshimura pipes have the best looking shape of anything available for the 750SOHC.

Like the Jeans and trainers on a racetrack too!! what style.

Are you going to try a build up as in it's heyday?

[UK Pete]

Hi Welcome to the site,Nice photos, and story, this bike has to revived especially with all the history you have with it, i do hope you get stuck in and document your progress on this site.
Pete

[Read Replica]

Super nostalgic pictures. Love the transformation.
The bike definately deserves a bit of TLC now.
Should be fun
Andy

[SteveD CB500K0]

Welcome to the club!

Allbike are my "local" spares and engineering emporium (ie they know Hinckley Triumphs inside out and are withing walking distance of my son's flat in Greenwich).

Where are you?
Put your location in your profile so that we can see it and won't keep asking 

Steve

[Bubbadel]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, yes my intention will be to hopefully get it back to how it was in it's heyday, reason it came off the road, a black cab driver decided not to let me filter through the west london traffic, so he clipped my back end sending me and bike onto raised kerb in middle of the road, that caused some damage to the tank, front mudguard etc. That was the start of her decline, running open bellmouths meant the rings only lasted 20,000 miles! was burning a lot of oil at the end...Swing arm cracked, when i adjusted the chain one day i saw light around the left hand side eccentric adjuster, only about 1 inch was still actually holding together, i think i was very lucky!!
Front forks were also shot, bushes worn...Yes it was time to call it a day But one thing i knew was, i was never going to get rid of this bike, so many people have said "why do you keep it" they just don't understand! I have just finished doing my FZR400 Hybrid, well almost, and i look at my old cb and know i have to do it, i may even start this year and do most over the winter, but not sure if her indoors will have all this again!

Going to need new Yoshi piston rings/head gasket front forks, wheels will need to be stripped as the powder coating is coming off, yeah the yoshi pipe certainly was good quality, after all those years out in the garden the chrome is not too bad at all....But yeah i got a lot to do, i have rebuilt these engines so many times i think i could have done it blindfolded!!

[Yoshi823]

Aha...a man after my own heart. I used to eat/breath/sleep CB750 until my rather large smash. I'm sure that I would still have my one if it hadn't of been written of after a head on with a car near Brands Hatch.

The Seeley designed tank reminds me of my part Phil Read Replica/CB750SS, but my one had to be made especially for the modified frame. Luckily John Pearson...who made the tanks for Colin Seeley...only lived & worked near Gravesend , so it didn't take too much to have one made specially.

I had wanted to go the 812cc direction, but when I had visited Dixon Racing down in Godalming back in 1980 to buy the kit, they didn't have any in stock...so I bought the 823 kit...hence the site name. I still have some brand newunused 823 rings in the shed in safe keeping if you're interested?

Anyway, have a good look see at UK Pete's restoration of his CB750F2 & hopefully this will spur you on to better things.

By the way...good to see the engine spread all over the floor...my girlfriend at the time of one of my many rebuilds (now my long suffering wife) didn't really appreciate bumping into the table holding my frame at the bottom of the bed when getting up in the middle of the night...but she got used to it.

[Bubbadel]

Aha...a man after my own heart. I used to eat/breath/sleep CB750 until my rather large smash. I'm sure that I would still have my one if it hadn't of been written of after a head on with a car near Brands Hatch.

The Seeley designed tank reminds me of my part Phil Read Replica/CB750SS, but my one had to be made especially for the modified frame. Luckily John Pearson...who made the tanks for Colin Seeley...only lived & worked near Gravesend , so it didn't take too much to have one made specially.

I had wanted to go the 812cc direction, but when I had visited Dixon Racing down in Godalming back in 1980 to buy the kit, they didn't have any in stock...so I bought the 823 kit...hence the site name. I still have some brand newunused 823 rings in the shed in safe keeping if you're interested?

Anyway, have a good look see at UK Pete's restoration of his CB750F2 & hopefully this will spur you on to better things.

By the way...good to see the engine spread all over the floor...my girlfriend at the time of one of my many rebuilds (now my long suffering wife) didn't really appreciate bumping into the table holding my frame at the bottom of the bed when getting up in the middle of the night...but she got used to it.

Yeah i really want to get it back on the road now, i know i have  a lot to do and many parts to find, i'm already looking on ebay but not got the money right now, need a holiday!!
As for the 823 rings, yes i'll be interested in having them off you, and if you got a head gasket for the 823 then even better, that should be all i need for the engine apart from the usual gaskets, and i know i have a couple of threads that will need a helicoil, but thats not major..
I wanna get the engine out now

[Rozabikes Tim]

One excited puppy!!!!  Welcome to the site.


Tim

[Bubbadel]

Really interesting, it's good you got some pictures of it over the years and those Yoshimura pipes have the best looking shape of anything available for the 750SOHC.

Like the Jeans and trainers on a racetrack too!! what style.

Are you going to try a build up as in it's heyday?

In the good old days, the monday after the Bol D'or you could pay 50 francs (a fiver) for about 20 to 30 minutes of track fun, though i really didn't want to stack it 700 miles from home!!
I did cane it though, and with every lap my speed down the long straight got slower and slower, started off at 125, after 15 minutes it was down to less than 120, i decided to restrain from using full throttle down the straight after that... I didn't want the cam to seize!! Been there got the T-shirt...lol