LMCol
New Member
Hi Guys, although i made an account here a canny while ago, i havent been an active member. I'll be changing that.
Picked up an '81 cb750 a couple of years ago now, stripped it and chopped the back end of the subframe off. Then life got in the way and i didn't even look at it until this summer.
When I first got it:
To be honest, the bike was fairly nice when I got it, but the devil is in the details and it was just a bit rough around the corners. The previous owner had made shortcuts that I wasn't a fan of.
After a move, which meant I finally have a garage to work in, I've actually made a fair bit of progress in the last few months.
first job was to sort the back end out. I've taken a cheap ebay seat and gave it a little trim so it matches up with shock mount hump. With that lined up, I could then measure up the rear hoop to suit.
Before welding the lot together I cut a slot for an integrated rear light / indicators (yeah I know, overdone).
I wanted to have a few mounting points on the back end for a removable rack and/or hump so I drilled and tapped the old M6 bosses to M8, plated the top of the hoop and added another couple of M8 weld nuts. While I was there I ground off the side cover mounting tabs and a few other bits.
Grinder and paint make me the welder I aint!
I do plan on stripping the bike back down to the frame at some point and getting the whole lot powdercoated, but that'll have to wait. For now I've just truck bed linered it.
Next is the electrics. I've stripped back the loom and managed to move things around enough to fit most things into a small tray under the seat. That and the battery box have been my first tries and manual metal forming, so they're a bit rough around the edges.
I've shortened the loom in places, but replaced anything ive cut off with new OEM connectors. Except for the fusebox, which ive replaces with a bunch of inline mini blade fuses.
Front end next. Stock forks and wheel, just tidied up. I've replaced the headlight with a slightly smaller bates style one. Fabbed up a little bracket to bring it as close in to the forks as possible. Done the same with the indicators. Top yolk has had all extraneous taps cut off & smoothed. Ignition relocated to under the seat. For clocks I've just gone for a small analogue speedo and an array of LED warning lights for high beam, neutral, indicators and oil pressure.
Now i'm at the point where I've got the majority of the mechanical / aesthetic stuff ironed out and i've just got to get the thing running.
I've completely stripped and rebuilt the carbs, taken back to OEM jets and bench synced. Now's time crank and get the carbs properly balanced.
At some point i'd like to get some better forks and shocks, and when I strip the bike back down for powdercoat i'm tempted to rework it a bit with the odd bit of bracing / lightening. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Picked up an '81 cb750 a couple of years ago now, stripped it and chopped the back end of the subframe off. Then life got in the way and i didn't even look at it until this summer.
When I first got it:
To be honest, the bike was fairly nice when I got it, but the devil is in the details and it was just a bit rough around the corners. The previous owner had made shortcuts that I wasn't a fan of.
After a move, which meant I finally have a garage to work in, I've actually made a fair bit of progress in the last few months.
first job was to sort the back end out. I've taken a cheap ebay seat and gave it a little trim so it matches up with shock mount hump. With that lined up, I could then measure up the rear hoop to suit.
Before welding the lot together I cut a slot for an integrated rear light / indicators (yeah I know, overdone).
I wanted to have a few mounting points on the back end for a removable rack and/or hump so I drilled and tapped the old M6 bosses to M8, plated the top of the hoop and added another couple of M8 weld nuts. While I was there I ground off the side cover mounting tabs and a few other bits.
Grinder and paint make me the welder I aint!
I do plan on stripping the bike back down to the frame at some point and getting the whole lot powdercoated, but that'll have to wait. For now I've just truck bed linered it.
Next is the electrics. I've stripped back the loom and managed to move things around enough to fit most things into a small tray under the seat. That and the battery box have been my first tries and manual metal forming, so they're a bit rough around the edges.
I've shortened the loom in places, but replaced anything ive cut off with new OEM connectors. Except for the fusebox, which ive replaces with a bunch of inline mini blade fuses.
Front end next. Stock forks and wheel, just tidied up. I've replaced the headlight with a slightly smaller bates style one. Fabbed up a little bracket to bring it as close in to the forks as possible. Done the same with the indicators. Top yolk has had all extraneous taps cut off & smoothed. Ignition relocated to under the seat. For clocks I've just gone for a small analogue speedo and an array of LED warning lights for high beam, neutral, indicators and oil pressure.
Now i'm at the point where I've got the majority of the mechanical / aesthetic stuff ironed out and i've just got to get the thing running.
I've completely stripped and rebuilt the carbs, taken back to OEM jets and bench synced. Now's time crank and get the carbs properly balanced.
At some point i'd like to get some better forks and shocks, and when I strip the bike back down for powdercoat i'm tempted to rework it a bit with the odd bit of bracing / lightening. Any recommendations would be appreciated.