super newb from NY

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:45 pm

Greetings. My name is Chi, I turned 44 this year and I'm finally getting off my butt to take the MSF course and get licensed after dreaming and yearning of riding a motorcycle for much of my life.

I have an 80 year old friend who has offered to give me his 82 cb750k with windjammer fairing and luggage rack for free. Bike has only 3900 miles and has been garaged/stored it's whole life. Last time on the road was 2 years ago.

I need to go rent a uHaul and take it the 5 miles to my house and start working on the bike to make it safe to ride. I was originally going to buy a new Kawasaki Versys as a starter bike and even have the loan in my hand to buy a green one. Now I will hold off and see if I can get this running first.

I've wasted much of my free time the last 8 years keeping my old Audi running so mechanical stuff is not exactly foreign to me (she's got 198k miles now). Had a honda shadow for a few months 12 years ago and figured out how to change the rear brake shoes on it but was too scared to ride it very far with only a learner's permit so I sold it when the first kid was born.

I realize the 750 is not a good starter bike, but the prospect of customizing this older UJM appeals to me more than a new UJM in the form of the Versys. I'd like to have both, and still may end up that way, but we'll see.

Ultimate plan for the 750 is to update the look and someday add some "cafe" styling to it...

On a roll Joined: Apr 02, 2009 Posts: 168 Location: Maine

congrats on the bike, I'm willing to buy it from you for 1000 if you want.

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:12 pm

that sounds very generous, but I've been getting excited about my 750 project so I'll pass.

I plan on taking off the fairing and painting the bike flat black after I get her running. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions along the way.

I've already got a plan of attack
-drain the gas tank + inspect inside
-add inline fuel filter
-clean carbs
-charge or replace battery
-try to start
-remove fairing
-find dual headlight setup
-find turn signals (not sure if I need these, will need to see the bike again)
-replace tires
-check brakes
-check suspension
-drive

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:17 pm

welcome to the site.

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:26 pm

Welcome to DOHC Customs.
If the paint is in good shape on your bodywork, don't fuck it up by painting it flatblack. Sell it and buy some shitty stuff from ebay that will need paint.

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:19 am

An all original bike like that will bring some good money with those few miles. Sure you want to go cutting on it?

Good luck finding a dual headlight set up. You might be able to fab one up and then you have the charging issues on the bike trying to keep up with TWO headlights. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:18 am

Welcome to the site pickandpray ... Smile

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:00 am

drive a car. ride a bike

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:18 am

No one noticed that he also needs to check the valve clearances? While you're at it replace all of the fluids, motor oil, fork oil.

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:27 am

Don't paint it black and rip it apart if it truly is a garaged bike with 3900 miles. If you do, the classic bike gods will get you.

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:55 am

if you want a set of body work to paint flat back, get ahold of me

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:23 am

OK points taken. I will not paint her flat black. I'll post some pictures of her after I get her home and cleaned up.

I do want to remove the fairing though.

My first order of business is getting her running safely and having something to ride.

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:50 am

Quote:

My first order of business is getting her running safely and having something to ride.

In that case , read this thread :
http://www.cb750c.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=68384#68384

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:52 am

Don't let us bully you around. It's just that finding one of these gems with low miles in excellent condition is rare so it seems a shame to whack at it. If you like the flat black look, get extra bodywork. I'd say leave it alone and see if it grows on you and then if it doesn't, it's your bike to do with as you please. But as you say, get it going first.

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:02 am

Super Newb,
If that bike was mine I would keep it as original as posible. Just Ride It. You may not like it and end up with a new bike, after you have destroyed a true collectors item. Idea

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:49 am

Actually, I wasn't sure if this was a collector's item. I thought the production numbers didn't make these that desireable, but if you folks are telling me this is desireable and a potential collector piece, I will not molest it.

My old Audi is one of 1,700 ever made and it's NOT considered a collectible but I treat it like one, so I understand where you folks are coming from.

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:59 am

Perception . 8)

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:22 pm

The previous owner (Bob) gave this to me. He rode it 1 season and put it away until 2 years ago and got it serviced by a shop inorder to get it registered then he rode it 5 miles and it has parked ever since.
I rented a uHaul 14' truck today and roped 2 relatives into helping get the bike home roughly 5-6 miles.

The bike is a 1980 750c and here's a few pictures I took after I got her into my garage. The pictures are meant to record how I got the bike and these are taken within the hour of my possession. It's not pristine, but it's very nice. I'll post some pictures after I clean it up. Shopping list and todo is in progress. I have both side covers in the trunk of my car.

more pics here:

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj128/pickandpray/cb750/

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:36 pm

pickandpray wrote:

The previous owner (Bob) gave this to me. He rode it 1 season and put it away until 2 years ago and got it serviced by a shop inorder to get it registered then he rode it 5 miles and it has parked ever since.
I rented a uHaul 14' truck today and roped 2 relatives into helping get the bike home roughly 5-6 miles.

The bike is a 1980 750c and here's a few pictures I took after I got her into my garage. The pictures are meant to record how I got the bike and these are taken within the hour of my possession. It's not pristine, but it's very nice. I'll post some pictures after I clean it up. Shopping list and todo is in progress. I have both side covers in the trunk of my car.

more pics here:

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj128/pickandpray/cb750/

You are a lucky bastard.

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 8:31 pm

That will make a keeper! Wink

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:01 am

there is no free lunch.

started going thru the bike before first start. Here's what I've found so far:

-2 year old battery drops to 90% charge after 2 days

-brake fluid was 29 years old, tried bleeding it and the first burp of brake fluid out of the bleeder was thick and black. yuck. now the brake lever is not returning, so I've got to check out the small return hole in the reservoir

-gas tank is rusty and the coating that was applied at some point has failed miserably, por-15 kit is on the way

-side stand seems odd, the rubbery foot just sort of lays on the ground, manuals seem to indicate it points straight down

-bike seems to be lowered, front forks stick out of the top clamp by about 3/4" and bike seems to sit kinda vertical when using the side stand (previous owner is short)

feels like I shouldn't be rushing this restoration to be riding this season.

questions:
do you normally leave the top of the brake reservoir off when you bleed the brakes or is it supposed to squirt like it says in the manual?

the key in the gas cap doesn't snap back when I push the cap onto the tank, is there a trick to lubricate the sping mechanism to fix this? Right now, when I push the gas cap on, I watch the key slowly move to the return position.

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:55 am

A few answers / suggestions .

You might think about an AGM battery . They are MUCH better than wet cells .

That stand rubber is suppose to be flexible . Does it straighten when you balance the bike on it's wheels ? The purpose of that rubber is to act as a stand kicker . It should hit the ground before the metal and kick the stand up in case you ever take off without first upping it .

You can easily reset the fork tubes . the tops of the tubes are normally level with the top of the upper tree clamp . When on the center stand , do one side at a time to prevent the bike from dropping .

Take your gas cap off and spray a good amount of penetrating fluid into the key hole . Insert the key and work it a bit . Finger pressure on the cap seal will help .

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:32 pm

Sweet score. I'd lose the fairing but other than that I would keep it as is. You will get a lot of good info on maint. on this site. Smile

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:38 pm

Update:
gas tank stripped using por-15 hd kit. The stripper didn't remove all the Kreem even though I used a string of nuts for mechanical scraping. Wish I had seen that acetone works, I would have tried it before using por-15.

I had some Kreem (actually not sure it was Kreem, the coating was black) left and put por-15 over it. I hope this was not a mistake.

New Kenda Kruizer front tire installed by me (whew, tough to remove 30 yr old rubber)

new front brake pads

cleaned out front caliper

new fork oil and progressive fork springs

new agm battery

Valves adjusted

Oil/filter changed (for the first time ever!!!!)

new air filter

had 2 friends test drive the bike and they say it feels slugish during acceleration and it won't idle, so I need to pull the carbs to clean. Ordered the kit from georgefix

very close now. just need to change the rear tire and brakes and clean the carbs.

I still can't believe how much I have accomplished thanks to this website, and I have yet to ride her. My MSF class is next weekend whoo hoo.

I wonder if I should change the drive chain.

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 8:43 am

The FSM has chain specs .

Smile