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So here we go! I am new to cafes and newish to motorcycles, but I grew up building hot rods and racing with my family. I was one of those we didn't take a family vacation unless it involved a car show somewhere kids .
Anywho I asked a question of one of our family friends and 2 months later I ended up with a 1970 CB750. Its a classic barn find type bike. It has been sitting in storage/barn for the past 20+ years and I purchased it off a little old lady selling all her dead husbands collection of stuff for $200. It has very little rust and even that is mostly surface rust. It looks like it has been tipped over though as the clutch controls are broken off and it has a dent in the tank on that side but nothing to serious. Everything else is there and in good shape, motor is not seized, no rust in the tank, the tires even still hold air.
Needless to say I am super excited to get going on things. But enough blabber lets get to the pics. I will be updating as I can but like everyone else I am short on time space and money so can't say how often it will happen.
Great find, looking forward to what you'll do with it.
I take it from your Title and name that you're in Salt Lake City, there are quite a few Utahn's on here as of late. Please let me know if you need any help, tools, motivation..
Great find, looking forward to what you'll do with it.
I take it from your Title and name that you're in Salt Lake City, there are quite a few Utahn's on here as of late. Please let me know if you need any help, tools, motivation..
Thanks JohnGoFast I certainly will. I look forward to meeting some of the local crowd and I really appreciate the offer for tools and help like I said I normally deal in cars so motorcycle specific tools and such I might be light on and I am definitely light on some of the knowledge but I am a research geek so I am trying to remedy that in short order.
I am hoping that I can do a little work on it this weekend. I really only have had time to give it a good look and take the pics but I am going to prod it some more and if possible see if I can get it to run then start the tear down.
One thing I have been curious about. I am planning on making my own seat but haven't decided between fiberglass or sheetmetal. I like the idea of the ease of the fiberglass but I worry about it cracking over time and from use. I am a big dude 6'2" and 240lbs so fiberglass gives me some worry. Anyone have anything to add about my concerns?
Edit: Don't make fun of my Dad with his sandles and socks...He knows not what he does LOL
You can make the fiber glass as thick as you want by adding more matt underneath once you have formed your mold.... working the sheet metal is very rewarding/time consuming but once your there you can make anything
Not really an update but just found something out. I had kind of assumed that my bike was a K0 but after checking out sohc4.net and checking the frame number it turns out that its a K1 but the build date is 12/70 so the first part of the K1. Doesn't really change anything but thought it was interesting info.
So I did a little bit of tear down today. I only went so far because my uncle does a lot with motorcycles and such and is layed off at the moment and needs something to do so I enlisted him to try to get it running before I really tear it apart. I would just feel better if I knew it ran before I did all sorts of work then tried to start it and nothing happened. So all the vitals as far as ignition and electrical are still intact until that point. On to the pics
First I hit it with the pressure washer just to clean things up a bit
Then I took her top off...second base on the first date!
Off go the fenders and guages and headlight and that damn hated sissy bar.
I also started a very broad to-do list I know its incomplete but its just to get me going I am sure it will be added to and added to
Hopefully by next weekend it will be running and then the real work can begin!
We have dealt with tons of non-title cars over the years so not having a title isn't really a big deal. We know the process and what they require and it really only takes about 2-3 weeks here.
So I definitely scored today. I walked over to one of my neighbors who always has sport bikes out and is always working on them and asked about parts he may have laying around. Well long story short I picked up a decent of rear sets for 10 bucks! I'm not sure just yet if I can make them work but for 10 bucks how can I really go wrong.
I also found out he has a complete Yamaha R6 front end that he only wants $40 for. Now since I am new I'm not sure if the conversion would work on my 750. I know speedbump did a cbr front end conversion on his 550 but I am not sure that the R6 one would work or if I would have to do all the new machined hub and stuff like speedbump did. Any insight into this I would appreciate.
Also I am including a few pics of my 41 chevy rat/hot rod that my dad and I built. Its a hell of a lot of fun and I drive the shit out of it, oh and the 500 cubic inch Cadillac in it just makes it that much more fun ;D
nice scores the bike and parts wish you luck!
as far as fiberglass i see alot of people using mat instead of cloth
mat is shit for strength,it is a bit easier to work with if you dont know what you are doing
use cloth and learn how to use it properly with LAMINATING resin when building layers and you will have a MUCH stronger,lighter end product
nice scores the bike and parts wish you luck!
as far as fiberglass i see alot of people using mat instead of cloth
mat is shit for strength,it is a bit easier to work with if you dont know what you are doing
use cloth and learn how to use it properly with LAMINATING resin when building layers and you will have a MUCH stronger,lighter end product
we have a bunch of fabric laying around and we are familiar with how to do fiberglass. Thanks for the tip on the laminating resin I'm not sure of the kind we have but I will definitely look into it.
i learned how to use laminating resin by reading the instructions on the can many years ago
when i was a young boy i remember watching my dad building boats, struggling with the cloth having it squirm all over as he tried to keep it in place with the resin all liquidy and runny
but alas if you just let the resin kick off enuf to where it is like flypaper then you can lay a layer of cloth with clean dry hands
let the resin kick off a little more then fill the glass cloth with a fresh batch,miminal filling
let that kick off till sticky ,repeat
final filling layer of resin is the finishing resin with wax
laminating resin will stay sticky even after it has hardened
the resin you get in most repair kits is finishing resin you cannot have a properly strong lay up with it the wax keeps the next layer from having a sturdy bond
i learned how to use laminating resin by reading the instructions on the can many years ago
when i was a young boy i remember watching my dad building boats, struggling with the cloth having it squirm all over as he tried to keep it in place with the resin all liquidy and runny
but alas if you just let the resin kick off enuf to where it is like flypaper then you can lay a layer of cloth with clean dry hands
let the resin kick off a little more then fill the glass cloth with a fresh batch,miminal filling
let that kick off till sticky ,repeat
final filling layer of resin is the finishing resin with wax
laminating resin will stay sticky even after it has hardened
the resin you get in most repair kits is finishing resin you cannot have a properly strong lay up with it the wax keeps the next layer from having a sturdy bond
i learned how to use laminating resin by reading the instructions on the can many years ago
when i was a young boy i remember watching my dad building boats, struggling with the cloth having it squirm all over as he tried to keep it in place with the resin all liquidy and runny
but alas if you just let the resin kick off enuf to where it is like flypaper then you can lay a layer of cloth with clean dry hands
let the resin kick off a little more then fill the glass cloth with a fresh batch,miminal filling
let that kick off till sticky ,repeat
final filling layer of resin is the finishing resin with wax
laminating resin will stay sticky even after it has hardened
the resin you get in most repair kits is finishing resin you cannot have a properly strong lay up with it the wax keeps the next layer from having a sturdy bond
That is good info. My dad has a lot more experience with fiberglass so I will bounce this off of him and when I actually get down to doing my seat I will document it and update with all my steps and results.
Buy it for $40 regardless of if you can use it or not....if he gives you the entire front end wheel brakes bars forks you maybe able to just change out the stem bearings as long as the stem isn't too short
Buy it for $40 regardless of if you can use it or not....if he gives you the entire front end wheel brakes bars forks you maybe able to just change out the stem bearings as long as the stem isn't too short
Thats kind of what I am thinking as well. I need to find out what year of bike the R6 is before I can get much further but I am thinking I am gonna grab it. If I can't use it then I have a friend who is thinking about a KZ1000 that might use it or if anything else I can sell the parts for probably more than I will pay for it.
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