CB77 Super Hawk

Hi, I’m Tom and I’ve been reading along here on this site for a couple of years. I finally took some time to start uploading a few of the projects I am working on.

First a little background, I got my first motorcycle when I was 6 years old and have been riding ever since. In my professional life I worked with computers, first, starting with the government at DARPA when I was 18 and then later in the private sector as CTO and part owner of a small, 70-person technology company is Washington DC.

One day, late in 2002 a larger outfit offered to buy us out and my wife and I sold our share of the company and everything else we owned (except my bikes) and left the U.S. on our 40-foot catamaran. We had planned to cruise around the Caribbean for a year or two, but that estimate was a little off. In 2016 we returned to the U.S. after 15 years afloat and decided to park the boat and re-enter a more normal adult life.

Through all this time I've had a couple of motorcycles spread out between my father’s house and my brothers place and between the two of them, they managed to keep them running and in good repair. When the WifeUnit (Amy) and I decided we were going home and buy a house, I started putting out feelers for a new project to keep me busy.

Around the time we reached the Bahamas on our way back from Central America I got a line on a guy who had enough pieces and parts to put together 2 or 3 mid 60's Hondas. The bikes were in pieces in a barn in rural West Virginia about 200 miles away from my Dad's place, but with the cunning use of a mail order case of Jack Daniels, I convinced him to drive down and load everything onto a trailer and his pickup and store it for me until we returned.



Fast forward 6 months to the summer of 2017 and my wife and I were living in my brother’s house in the guest suite with him, his wife and three boys. He is an actual adult and as such works for a living in addition to being a parent, but over the next four months he and I pieced the first bike, a 1968 Honda Dream, back together.



Eventually we got it sorted and road worthy and while it'll never be a daily driver it's a fun little bike to take out on Sunday mornings on the local backroads. It's mostly stock except for handlebars and the custom seat. I didn't think to take a bunch of pics while we were putting it back together, but here are some shots of it mostly done.

Once the Dream was more or less completed, I started working on a second bike, this one a 1966 Honda CB77 Super Hawk. It too was completely disassembled with some parts missing to make it more interesting.

It was never going to be a show bike as that’s just not my thing, so after some talking and napkin doodling, I decided to head with a retro racer \ cafe style rebuild.

I've been keeping a log of sorts since work commenced and over the next couple of days I hope to upload it here. Thanks for reading along and as always, all comments are welcome.

Welcome to the forum. Cool story and nice bike!

So around September of 2017 I had gathered up all the Super Hawk parts and made a list of what was missing. To start off, I sent the frame out to be sand blasted, but sand blast guy said it would be better to acid dip it instead. After some discussion I gave him the green light and 24 hours later the frame looked brand new.



Once the frame was back, I ground off the tabs I would not be using, cut off the stock rear end and bent up a rear hoop. In truth I had to do this twice as the first one was not far enough back and did not provide adequate clearance for the wheel assembly under suspension compression. Live and learn I guess.

So the infinite pile of parts and pieces sourced from the backwater of West Virginia did include an original CB77 gas tank, but unfortunately time and the elements reduced the interior of said tank into a rusty gooey mess. I liked the lines of the original toaster style tank so I used the power of the Googles to acquire a replacement. $55 dollars and a week later we were making forward progress again.



While I had the frame up on saw horses I made a couple of tank mounts to mate the tank to the frame. I also wrapped the new tank in Saran Wrap and used it as a template to lay up some fiberglass that I will eventually use to make the seat and rear hump. I can't remember, but I think I picked up the Saran wrap tip here on this site, so thanks to whoever that was.

So the acid dip / sand blaster dude didn't mention it and I probably should ave realized this by myself, but the freshly cleaned frame began to flash rust almost overnight. To combat this, I sprayed it with a layer of primer and then some orange that we had laying around. Not sure if this will be the final frame color selection, but it is keeping the frame from rusting so onward we go...

Haha. A case of Jack has been known to buy some pretty large favors.

Welcome and keep the pictures coming

I remember the first magazine adverts for the CB72/77 way back when and fell in live with them. They were so compact and compared to British bikes of the time were so technologically advanced. Since then I have managed a couple of original restorations, and a handful of race bikes. They are easy to work on. They don't handle all that well if you push them. The swingarm is like a wet noodle and needs to be braced and so does the frame.

Here's the one I raced for years. http://pinkpossum.com/CB72/index.htm

That CB72 is awesome. And I agree the bike is never going to be up to "modern" standards as far as stiffness and handling, but for the type of riding I'm envisioning, I think it will be adequate. My wife tells me I'm too old to go fast anymore anyways...



Speaking of handling, by last September I had gathered a set of new aluminium rims and spokes from MikesXS. I had never laced and trued a rim (or two) before so that was a bit of a learning experience, but in the end it got sorted.



I also found enough pieces from three different setups to put together one complete front end. A few seals, some springs and a new set of All Balls and we had a front end that bolts up and almost looks like it belongs.



Out back, I traded a refurbished laptop to a guy for a new in the box set of shocks that he bought from Dime City. They are almost an inch taller than stock but I think they are close enough to get the machine to the roller stage.




Next up tires on the rims, wheels on the bike and then having my brother push me around the driveway while I make motor noises....

As I recall,early in October, Brown Santa (UPS Truck) showed up with a set of Avon Road Runners. We spooned them on, selected the correct front axle from the 9 or 10 we had lying about and then suddenly we had a roller.


Progress slowed for a couple of weeks as a neglected and homeless KLR 250 showed up in the back of my pickup one day.


My brother and his boys have this predilection for dirt bikes so the KLR got to jump to the front of the line. It wasn't running when I picked it up but the problems were not too serious and within two weeks we had her running and painted only waiting for me to get out my sewing machine and make a new seat cover.



With the KLR road/dirt worthy once more, the CB77 went back up on the work table. Next up we start looking at the power plant.

Odd. The pictures were there earlier on and now are not there. Must be some sort of cookie issue or something.

Interesting forks. At first I thought OK they are late model alloy legs and then I spotted the external springs which were not used on CB77 forks that I recall. Are they early model CB350 forks by any chance?

teazer said:

Here's the one I raced for years. http://pinkpossum.com/CB72/index.htm

Click to expand...

Wow, very nice!

Teazer, good eye. The fork assembly is in fact from a 68-71 cb350. It was the most complete option I had out of the all parts that came with the bike so I decided to at least put it on for now and see where we are when the bike can move under it's own power.



As for the pictures they should be present as I verified them from another machine on another network. Hopefully they are visible to others and maybe someone down stream on this thread can confirm.

Thanks,
Tom

All there and accounted for.

By mid November 2017, the holidays were beginning to loom large. Being that we'd missed the last 15 years worth of Thanksgivings and Christmas' we had a full schedule that kept us traveling up and down the eastern seaboard. The last two weeks in November were spent in Maryland visiting family and all of December was spent in Florida hiding from the cold.





Needless to say not a lot of work got done on the bikes during this time. I did however get to test and refine my new long board design on the pedestrian filled streets of Daytona, so I guess that's something. I also drug my hand made rear seat section with me on the trip and spent countless hours filling, shaping and sanding. If I'd known ahead of time that it would be so much work I might have considered an off the shelf model...

Pics are back again. Not sure what happened there. Good choice of forks in as much as the used the same top triple clamp stepped mount. They look good with external springs, but not the best for damping. You can always try something better later on.

Longer shocks are a good idea. Stock the rake is a little much. And stock hard bits like the gear shift linkage drag on the ground, so a little more clearance will help there too.

And so that brings us to the current year. 2018 started with the purchase of a new (to us) house in the metropolis of York PA. The house is in the city and walking distance to most things which after fifteen years abroad, we both wanted. More importantly, it has a detached 2.5 car garage at the back of the property that I was able to claim as my own.





It took a couple of months to handle moving in and settling into a typical, normal person life pattern, but we managed. I spent a good deal of time laying out the garage to accommodate my motorcycle addiction and the multitude of house projects that lie ahead. It would have been nice to have another 1500 square feet of space, but I'm happy with what I have.

In addition to setting up shop in the new digs I slowly gathered up the bikes I had been storing at my Dad's place as well as my brother's. The AmyUnit even got in on the action when we picked her up a little Honda Metro to zip about the city.



I also took time out to build a roll around table as I am getting too old to get down on my knees any more.





The rest of the summer and early fall was spent making trips back and forth to North Carolina to work on getting our sailing cat ready to sell. The only upside to all that travel is each leg down and back (1000 miles) I was able to ride a different bike so at least I got plenty of time in the saddle.

And that pretty much brings us up to now. In recent weeks I've assembled the Super Hawk's engine and gotten it installed. I'm midway through working out the carbs and hope to try and start it sometime in December. It's gotten cold here (snowed 6 inches yesterday) and I'm glad I took the time this past fall to install propane heaters in the work shop. Stay warm.

More to follow, end of line...

Can't wait to see the end result on this! Lookin good.

Just a quick update. I sorted through the 10 pounds of carb parts that came with the Super Hawk and after cleaning, organizing and cleaning again, I managed to assemble 5 complete units, three lefts and two rights.



I selected a set and then synced the slides, the throttle cables and the choke gates and then bolted them on the bike. Does anyone know where the throttle cable was originally routed? I went under the tank, through the two frame braces, under the coil mount and then out the front on the right side of the forks. It looks like it should work, but any input is welcome.

Also, does anyone have an idea on a good source for coils and plug wires for the CB77 305? I've got a few for the CA77 but they aren't the same as the Super Hawk. Thanks.

Just a quick update. I had the sewing machine out for another project and decided to whip up a quick perch for the Superhawk. Its not perfect, but it's good enough to get started with testing the height and control position. Now if the snow would just go away and spring would arrive....

Despite my best efforts, progress is still being made....