CB750 F1 Project May 15

[Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP)]

Nice bike but would not be happy with that blue pipe
Cheers
Bitsa

[Coppertop1234]

Completed final service and took both bikes for Mot yesterday Project 1 Red - Project 2 Yellow

Both flew through - No advisories 

Carbs were playing up on way to test but with some tinkering both are running fine on 4 cylinders again

Pete the MOT Tester was a mechanic in the 70's who used to build and distribute Hondas so he was a fountain of knowledge with advise on cable routing etc.

Just got the finishing bits to do a bit of paintwork / chrome / polishing and then find some F1 forks for the yellow one

[Green1]

Glad they passed get out and enjoy them  I'm thinking of throwing my gold one together now so my dad and I can go out riding this summer.

Mick

[gamma]

Both bikes looking great

[Coppertop1234]

Been playing to replace a few parts to original

Pics are not from bike library pics

Left mirror on bike is a Tanaka Made in Japan - looks as i remember mine were in 78 with a recess around the stainless backplate



Bought a new original fro DS for right hand side to match and its different same size no recess on rear stainless backplate





Am I wrong in thinking the tanaka mirror is original to the bike?

[Coppertop1234]

Mirrors sorted I found an original set off a goldwing








The clutch disaster was down to someone previously not torqueing the bolts and they had drifted loose.


All Sorted and working fine

Next project the seat logo
Previously on the last 1 i did in 1996 I used gold leaf as the old logo was gold.
It would seem that some say white - silver should be the correct colour

If its silver I can use silver leaf  but it may tarnish?
Unsure at moment any views ?

[Spitfire]

Just goes to show how your memory plays tricks on you, I would have sworn that my 1976 CB750F (Red) did not have Honda written on the seat but I have just clambered up into the loft and there it was in gold, and verified by my better half as it was very faded. Here she is in 1976 (the bike not the wife)


Cheers

Dennis

[Coppertop1234]

Thanks Dennis - Gold it will be

76 Remember it well bought my first CB750 F1 brand new all nice and shiny
Traded n my 400/4 which i had only done 2000 miles on from new for the super bike of the times.
(Everyone else was buying the K6, so it had to be an F1 to be different -I do like the K6 though )

Like you had the I had trusty Belstaff Waxed Jacket
Who needs body amour  - it kept you dry.

Cheers

Keith Snr

[Spitfire]

Happy to help Keith, this is the one I traded in for the F1 the day before I took it in, my trusty old K1, wish I still had it now, I fitted a 900cc conversion and it went pretty well. The white paintwork came about as the tank was damaged so I had to fill and respray it.



Cheers

Dennis

[Coppertop1234]

A bit more progress made over the winter months

Project 2 The Yellow F1 was playing  up so we changed the head  and rebuilt at the end of summer. Bike ran fine for 50 miles or so then started to leak oil from fins.
Not a bit but a fair drip rate.

We stripped back down over the weekend thinking it may the a poorly seated seal under the cam tower  "pontefract cake" or leaking through the threads of cam tower bolts. We had used standard gasket/thread sealants on all seals, but obviously this was no good in this case.




Sure enough when stripped down the seal "Pontefract cake had distorted/beveled and would seem to be the cause of the issue. I would think the seal had moved slightly during first rebuild and obviously you don't know till you run the engine.





Replaced,resealed and rebuilt started up today no oil leaks and sounding sweet.

We also balanced the carbs and whow what a difference it made to responsiveness of engine.

[UK Pete]

well done coppertop glad you solved it, any excuse andthese bloody bikes leak
pete

[Spitfire]

What a pain in the bum, at least it will be a quick fix

Cheers

Dennis

[royhall]

Usual 750 problem if leaking around the plug area. I usually seat mine in with ThreeBond (HondaBond). Glad to hear your back on the road and all is sweet.

[onethumb]

Hi coppertop, those two bikes are a credit. Seeing them done to the standard you've done almost temps me into not taking a grinder to mine.

[Coppertop1234]

Well I do like the mags I have but fancied  going back to original spokes.

Fortunately for me Keith Jnr had a full set he wasn't planning on using for now,so he can have mags when I have refurbished the spoked wheels.

Started the strip on the front wheel,thought I may as well go the whole hog.
Cut out all the spokes,cleaned up the rim,which wasn't too bad, mainly surface rust and pitting.

Took the rim for re chroming today £75.00 + Vat (Expected back late March early April - bummer) Prestige plating at Mexborough, South Yorks. Never mind plenty to be going on with.

Removed all the old bearings from hub and started cleanup/Polish.There must be a nack to removing the bearings,I just destroyed one to allow me to drift the other one out - it worked for me.

I am thinking of using Zinc plated spokes with stainless ferrels. Any views?
Are the spokes for the K series the same as the ones for the F1?

Seat now has Honda on the rear, I could not find a decent/correct shade of gold they all were more coppery, who would have thought that a simple colour could be a headache -So I went for Silver,looks well enough and like originals were. template worked fine next to no bleeding. "It is straight  its the angle of my dangle when taking pics"





I managed to find the Plastic Inspection cover for the rear disc from the states off a goldwing, fitted straight on another little job completed.



As you can see took bike out yesterday still some cleaning to do

New Bits & Bobs to fit


Cheers

Keith Snr