CB750 Cafe Ricer

First a little history (copied from a previous thread)

About 11 years ago (before cafe racers were hip ) I bought an old ratty 750 to build into a cafe racer.

When I got it the poor thing had been covered in leather everywhere...the seats, fenders, even the turn signals!

With a bit of work I turned it into this:

I added an early tank, fairing, Kirker 4-1 exhaust and had it painted up really nice in British racing green. I rode it around college for a few years. My girlfriend (now wife) thought I was hot E36 M3 on that thing. I sold it to fund another project about 9 years ago and have regretted it ever since.

I was telling a coworker my old bike a few weeks back and he told me his uncle had an old 750 that he was looking to sell. It needs a little work, but the price was right.

The ignition switch was bypassed because it's gummed up, it has a later style tank which is a bit longer and doesn't fit with the stock seat, and the clutch is stuck, but it starts right up and runs great. It even has new tires.

$800 later and this fine piece of Japanese Engineering was Mine!

I hauled it home last night and set to work.

First up was the ignition switch. The PO couldn't get the ignition to turn so he bypassed it with some wire cutters and crimp on connectors.

The keys are copies and don't turn the switch very well, but if you wiggle it the right way it works fine. I will order a replacement key. I unplugged the remains of the ignition switch wiring at the plug 3-inches away () and soldered it back together.

There are still a few un-plugged wires I need to trace, but at least I don't have any dangling exposed wires now.

Next up was the stuck clutch. No amount of shoving, rocking, or kicking over the bike with the clutch in and the transmission in gear would free it, so I set to pulling it apart. The clutch cover fought me for an hour or so. It's held in place with a bunch of Philips screws which didn't pose a challenge my fine Chinese impact screwdriver, but the cover is also aligned to the case with a few dowel pins and the kick starter shaft. After much wiggling, tapping, wiggling, breaking finger nails, and more wiggling I got the cover off.

I removed the lifter plate and the clutch nut. I just happened to have the special Honda tool for the clutch nut from the last bike...and I was able to find it!

Out came the clutch plates.

I freed them up and put them back. I considered sanding the plats, but didn't want to risk getting any grit into the engine oil (these are wet clutches). A bit of riding should clean them up just fine.

Everything was ready to go back together, but unfortunately the cluch cover gasket looked like this after removal:

Hopefully I can track another down today.

Looks awesome. Love what you did with the old one, do you have different plans for this one or going for close to identical?

Cool!. I love those old bike project. They have a very good effort-to-satisfaction ratio.

Making another Cafe Racer?

They do give a great effort to satisfaction pay off. These old bikes are so simple it almost feels like cheating.

I'm planning for a similar cafe style, but with no fairing, a different seat and a different color. On my last build I used a standard cafe seat which made riding two-up difficult. For this build I am thinking about using a removable Triumph Thruxton seat cowl and modifying the stock seat to fit with custom upholstery. This will give me the cafe look, and still let me carry a passenger. The shape of the Thruxton cowl matches the shape of the later tank on the bike:

Pardon the poor MS Paint rendition, I don't have photoshop at work.

If that fails I will probably go with a bolt on 750 cafe seat that is offered now. It uses the original latch and hinges and should be way easier than making custom mounts like I did last time. The shape of it seems to go best with the early style tank.

I have an email out to this fellow to see if the general size and shape of the triumph cowl will fit the honda seat.

Nice, gotta love some SOHC CB750!!! The 750 was pretty much my definition of 'motorcycle' as a kid.

To all of the young guys here, learn from us; if you have something cool, don't sell it!!!

I ordered up some goodies:

Budget:

Bike: $800 Misc. Parts: $64.16

Total so far: $864.16

I found a gasket locally right after I ordered the other one...doh. Oh well, it's worth $4 for a spare. I can't get it until tomorrow, so I decided to swap out the comfortable tall handlebars with the clubman bars that came with the bike.

Nice and stylish and uncomfortable!

Unfortunately they don't fit with the huge stock turn signals. So I mounted them upside down for now.

I don't fully understand the appeal of cafe racer style builds, but I've had several Jap bikes from the 80s, so I'm entertained If I were to get another bike from the 80s again, I'd get the same style of Yamaha 850 Special that I sold before I left Florida. 850cc of Japanese triple cylinder with shaft drive and a back up kick starter! I bought that bike for $400, rode it for a few years, and sold it for $400 in much worse condition than I first got it in. It was my sole transportation for 6 months when I was too poor and lazy to fix my 4Runner.

Sweet! I love cafe racers! I don't even know how to ride a motorcycle, so I'll live vicariously through you!

Cool. I had a string of bikes in the 70's including several Cafe Racers. I even had a 1977 Harley Cafe Racer. My buddies and I would cruise the AZ roads. What a blast.

Have fun with your project.

It works! Here it is before it's first ride around the neighborhood.

I got some different bars at the shop when I picked up the gasket today. They don't quite look as cool as the clubmans, but are much more comfortable.

Some friends are going on a breakfast ride tomorrow. I threw some mirrors and rear turn signals on to make it legal. Need to call insurance tonight...

I put 85 miles on it this morning. Only issue was a weeping fork seal.

I made a decent photochop of the look I am going for.

Today I sanded and re-primed the side covers. The previous primer had a few cracks, I think from the primer going on too thick and shrinking as it dried. Most sanded out, but I used some spot putty on two larger ones. I then tried sanding it before it was fully dry. I'll fix it tomorrow and hopefully lay down some color.

This thing is so cool. Someday I will learn how to ride and will have something just like this...

What year is this bike?

It's a 76 with a 77 fuel tank.

It's looking blue!

I was lucky, the previous owner was a professional painter and had done 90 percent of the prep work. I finished fixing my spot putty screw up from yesterday and hit the side covers with another coat of primer (or "primus" as my son calls it)

I masked up the nice black bottom of the tank...

...and started laying down color

So far so good, but a bit orange-peely.

Budget update: the paint and supplies set me back $25.75 New total: $881.91

My box of goodies arrived so I threw them on the bike while the paint cures.

I also found a cheap set of case savers on eBay that are on the way.

Still waiting for the paint to cure so I sorted out the electronics last night. Hooked up the new horn...no joy. I took the switch apart and it was all cruddy. After a cleaning it still didn't work so out came the wiring diagram. Ah, the switch grounds to the handle bars, and they were not grounded thanks to the new painted bars. A little sanding and di-electric grease and it honks like an angry goose.

Next up was the turn signals. When the switch was operated the front turn signal on the selected side would go from being on as a running light to off, and the turn signal buzzer would make a loud obnoxious noise...that's it. Back to the wiring diagram and I followed the hot wire. I had power to the turn signal relay, but not out of it, so I bypassed it with a jumper. Up to the switch and no power there...hmmmm. I pulled the headlight and found that the connection between the main harness and the switch was not connected. Bingo! Now I have light, but no flash. It looks like the winker relay is dead. I tried taking it apart, but the plate inside doesn't seem to warm up and flex like it should, so I will replace it.

bgkast wrote: It's a 76 with a 77 fuel tank.

I'm pretty sure Honda only went dry sump for a few years, like 69 - 71 or so. If it's a 76, then you have an earlier motor in it.

All of the single overhead cam bikes (69-78) except the automatics were dry sump. In thr later ones they just hid the oil cap under the side cover. You can see the later style oil tank in the first photo of the thread on my old '77. I think the sticker on it said "no whining".

I don't understand what people who build 'cafe racers' have against front fenders. They do have a purpose-to keep water and dirt/mud from spraying you in the face. They don't add enough weight to make a difference and they look good to me. Your build looks good otherwise.

On my first one I had a fiberglass fender painted to match the rest of the bike, but never got around to mounting it.

This bike came with a loose front fender, I just need to rustle up some bolts to mount it.

A new flasher relay set me back $9, so the new total is $890.91. I splurged for the more expensive solid state "long life" relay that should work with LED signals if I ever upgrade.

The regular electromechanical version cost $3.50