"Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer woodgrain paint. Done 4/15!

Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Looking good, that chrome powder looks pretty sharp!
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

I, also, am still reading........and what great job...............

If only I had the gumption to get out in that cold azz garage. I might be able to figure out how to get one of my bikes operational.

This is the first Saturday I've had off in over a year.
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Looking great! Fantastic even! :D

I tried to tell someone on here before that to get a chrome-like-polished finish on metal parts , you HAVE to sand to at LEAST 1500 in order to hide the sand scratches and get a mirror buff job out of it. I was told I didn't know what I was talking about. But you know what? What you just put together is one the CLEANEST engines I have seen on this entire forum!!! Nice work! I've said it a thousand times to a thousand people "Your prep defines the finished product, and your results will only be as good as your prep." Your engine is the perfect example that spending that little extra time and materials in the beginning, adds up to a million bucks in the end. Good for you for your persistence and hard work! As I know personally sanding engine covers makes for some very sore fingers and long hours.
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Thanks for the compliments y'all and I'm really glad somebody is still following along. High On Octane, Yes Polishing is quite a laborious process! I've polished out quite a bit of parts in the past but was able to only go to like 600grit to get a perfect shine. At that point I had access to a real industrial sized buffer not my little dinky bench grinder one. Oh well, the result is the same even if it took twice as long!


I've gotten the carbs, throttle cables, and clutch cable installed and I've finished the work on the swing arm as well. I'm at a little bit of a stand still until the rear wheel is squared away.

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The factory swing arm uses a press in zerk fitting that must have fallen out in the kiln during the powder coat process. I did like others have done and drilled and tapped and installed a 1/4-28 zerk. I finished by blowing it out with compressed air and pressing the collar in.

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Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Been lurkin' here a while and this is one of the nicest builds I've seen on dtt! Are you still keeping the budget reasonable or has it already dried your wallet? For ex-Kawasaki dude like me (had a few in the past, now 14yrs four-wheeling and still blaming wife and kids), this has changed my mind what will be my "future" project. I stop chasing for similar '83 Z1000R Eddie Lawson replica like my last ride was. Those are really hard to find here in Finland anyways :D
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

If you happen to read this before installing the swingarm, do you think you could do me a favour and measure the inner diameter of the brass bushings & outer diameter of the collar?
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

FIN69 said:
Been lurkin' here a while and this is one of the nicest builds I've seen on dtt! Are you still keeping the budget reasonable or has it already dried your wallet? For ex-Kawasaki dude like me (had a few in the past, now 14yrs four-wheeling and still blaming wife and kids), this has changed my mind what will be my "future" project. I stop chasing for similar '83 Z1000R Eddie Lawson replica like my last ride was. Those are really hard to find here in Finland anyways :D

Thanks man. It's really hard to do something new with a cafe cb750 but I'm trying my best! I love the factory look of these bikes too and I didn't want to get too far away from that either.

Bootsey said:
If you happen to read this before installing the swingarm, do you think you could do me a favour and measure the inner diameter of the brass bushings & outer diameter of the collar?

Man I have no idea where my calipers are. I either lent them to somebody or they're lost in all the boxes packed in my garage. I could measure with a ruler but that'll be no good LOL. The tolerance should only be a thousandth or so? I had to throw the collar in the freezer for 20 minutes to make it go in easier.
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

FIN69 said:
Been lurkin' here a while and this is one of the nicest builds I've seen on dtt! Are you still keeping the budget reasonable or has it already dried your wallet? For ex-Kawasaki dude like me (had a few in the past, now 14yrs four-wheeling and still blaming wife and kids), this has changed my mind what will be my "future" project. I stop chasing for similar '83 Z1000R Eddie Lawson replica like my last ride was. Those are really hard to find here in Finland anyways :D

Oh, and I'm definitely not on a tight budget any more. At this point I'm probably around the $4-5k mark.
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

The rear wheel is now squared away and I got the rear end back on the bike. I also ordered a host of stainless hardware since I will need that before I can make much more progress putting bits back on. Before that gets here I hope to have the oil tank installed with new 3d printed clamps and some other odds and ends.

Sorry that my photos in the garage are blurry but you get the idea.

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Just shot with some epoxy primer and whatever base and 2k clear I had

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Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

A little more progress...

I've modified the rearset position some and got the linkage squared away now. I ended up flipping the frame clamps around 180* so that the pegs sit further forward and higher also. It feels a bit better and looks better as well. Also today I fitted the exhaust which was quite a job. I'm still unsure of what exhaust this is, maybe an old MAC? but the fitment is not that great and I had to use bolts instead of studs to install it this time to avoid scratching the frame. Unfortunately the bluing on the chrome is there to stay, as much as I've tried to polish it off.

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I'm playing with the cable routing in the front end so there is no snagging and it looks clean and tidy. I've realized that I may have to make some clips to hold everything neatly. The speedo fits in there nicely and is nearly flush with the top of the triple clamp. I ordered a shorter 32.5" speedo cable from a cb400f and I'm hoping my measuring was correct and that it should fit perfectly.

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I'm printing some clamps to hold the oil tank to the frame as we speak, so that should be next on the list. Other than that wiring should be all that's left
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Had some anodized parts that I didn't like the look of. I want to keep everything monochromatic besides the paint work.
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Used the Easy off method and it worked quite well.

Then I mounted the oil tank back to the frame using some simple clamps I printed and painted wrinkle black
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32.5" cb400f speedo cable works perfect

Printed the points cover. I'm thinking I will paint it silver and then the "disk" part on the front I will do the woodgrain effect and paint the relief areas black to match the alternator cover.
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next is the ignition and wiring
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Love the build, my question is how do you think the 3d printed parts are going to hold up with the vibrations etc? Do you Epoxy or Polyester Resin them after you have printed? Soon to be doing some parts with a printer. Im possibly going to try designing a mould then using plater of paris to which you can then pour in molten metal to cast parts.
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Rich,

I have no worries about the durability of the parts. I print at 80% fill and once you get your print settings dialed in well to be sure you have no lifting of layers you will have very solid parts. Additionally I brush the finished parts with a solution of about 60% abs scraps dissolved in 40% acetone which tuns the exterior into a solid shell you can sand and finish etc. This solution also works great for gluing parts together. It chemically bonds them, basically melting them together, and then the acetone evaporates leaving you with 100% abs part. Look up 3d printing ABS slurry online and you can get more tips on that. If you plan to use the printed part as a plug for your mold be advised that it will take a lot of finishing to get it ready without sticking to your mold. Or just cover the entire thing with a few mils of chap stick and hope and pray and do the finishing to your metal part!
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

That kind of looks like one of those Delkevic headers they sell on Ebay???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Steel-Exhaust-Header-Down-Pipes-Honda-CB750K-SOHC-69-70-71-72-73-74-76-/171680577714?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27f8f5b8b2&vxp=mtr

Bike is gorgeous btw. :D
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

FGKouki said:
Had some anodized parts that I didn't like the look of …Used the Easy off method and it worked quite well.

I would be very pleased to hear about the easy method, having done it the hard way several times.

The bike is coming along well, and will be a knockout when finished!

Crazy
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

DesertKZ said:
That kind of looks like one of those Delkevic headers they sell on Ebay???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Steel-Exhaust-Header-Down-Pipes-Honda-CB750K-SOHC-69-70-71-72-73-74-76-/171680577714?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27f8f5b8b2&vxp=mtr

Bike is gorgeous btw. :D

Yeah i ran into that searching around a bit. It looks similar but the head pipes are separate from the collector and mine is all welded together as 1 piece. It looks like the Mac but the pipe out of the collector seems longer. It's gotta be 15 or 20 years old since it's gotten so rusty between the pipes at the collector. Thanks!
stroker crazy said:
I would be very pleased to hear about the easy method, having done it the hard way several times.

The bike is coming along well, and will be a knockout when finished!

Crazy

Thanks man. Just douse the parts in oven cleaner and let them sit in a paper cup for 20 minutes or so, then hose off while you brush with a wire brush. It comes off really easily! Do this outside and wear gloves of course.
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Everything is wired up and the power arc ignition and coils installed. It fired up easily but I have some issues to sort out with the carbs before it's rideable. I'm waiting on a new battery to get here so I can use the starter switch rather than kick my leg off trying to sort this out.
 
Re: "Woody" a '75 cb750k cafe racer with woodgrain paint

Nice project man! Very unique things you are doing here haha. You see yourself grow in expertise while building it.

Cool!
 
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