Down but not out: my cafe comeback

I'm 31 and live in Scottsdale AZ with my wife and son. I own a botanical company in Scottsdale, also do work with addicts in recovery and occasional media and lobbying for addiction and botanical issues. Ive been riding and building for 9 years. I took a break from building after a VF750 project unraveled due to life constraints and the complications caused by merely losing the only key...carbs destroyed by metal flake from drilling out gas cap and wiring problems. It was a long, inspired build that ended in a non functional bike I no longer had time or money to commit to...I've had many friends die untimely deaths; it wasn't anywhere near losing a friend but cut surprisingly deep because of the almost paternal emotional investment. I took a few years off.
I regained my fire, started plotting in 2013 and in early 2015 I bought what I'd always wanted, a CB750. It's a DOHC and was stock, I began work immediately but it's been a lengthy, technical custom. It's nearly time to street it, it will be a gorgeous bike and has many deep physical changes.

2 weeks ago, I was pursuing C-list to get a bike for my wife before mine comes home from finalizing work in a shop. I was just looking, no intention to buy now. I hit refresh and watched an unreal SOHC bike pop up. I immediately messaged the guy and woke up early to be the first at his house to see it. It was literal treasure, the situation we all fantasize about...wealthy and prolific collector sells bikes just to clear out garage space, lists professionally maintained bike with low miles for cheap because it makes no difference to a millionaire. He just wants a good home for it, gives away extraordinary machine. It's a 74, customized in the late 70's and collection kept since then, totally period genuine cafe bike (brat) complete with psychedelic flake paint job intact and 12k miles. It's already beautiful, doesn't need a thing and that's why I got it. It was the only circumstance in which I'd of gotten another bike now. I tricked my wife into thinking I lost out on the deal, hid the bike and gave it to her for Xmas. The thing is a time machine and utterly precious, dream come true...a bike that doesn't need my customization to be emotionally valuable to me.
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I'm looking forward to joining the community and getting back on the road.

These are old progress pics of the DOHC, it's farther along now.
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Hey mate that's an inspiring looking ride you got there, and a great story on how u picked up that other bike for your girl - my wife ever reads that and she's gonna be holding out for a surprise in the garage as well!

I'm having a ton of fun working on my '81 CB750, everything I do to it is for the first time so it's a real learning curve. Feel like this is what I should have been doing with my life for the last 25 years but hey you gotta start somewhere. This forum has been a huge help for me, not to mention inspiring and encouraging. Looks like you've got plenty of skills in the mod dept and yeah, one step at a time. I woke up this morning thinking about Rhonda's front wheel assembly. I should probably get out more. But if I was out, I'd want to be in, going bat-shit crazy with some brake cleaner and a torque wrench. I'm hooked.

Welcome!



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Yes it sure is refreshingly addictive huh? I know what u feel about regretting not doing it sooner. Although I had done mods before (never a true BUILD before now) that few years off I took, there was a sort of religiously unfulfilled emptiness where my favorite past time had been but I was busy starting a family and I'd taken quite a hit with the VF750 so perhaps it was right to rest for a time. Besides, now bikes are even more exciting than brand new to me as I've had years to crave them and know what I'm missing.
Hell, now I'm just waiting for HEADER WRAP and I can put the pipes back on the 74 and fly away, I'm stupid with anticipation and it's finally come time where I have rideable customs in the stable. You should get your girl riding, it's more fun as something you can both talk about and enjoy. My son is next, he's 6 and I'll be getting him his first 50cc later this year.


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I was 11 when I got my first bike, a 50cc go-getter that my brother and I would sail over sketchy ramps we built in the driveway. The old man had access to this big old field out back with really tall grass - he'd mow this crazy track inside that grass and we'd make out like bandits. All fun and games until I chucked the thing into a drainage ditch and me and bike got smashed up pretty good. Still, the band aids hadn't come out of the box before I was begging my Dad to fix the bike up so I could get back on it. I think he took one look at me and sold it there and then. Can't say I blame him.

Wife's learning to ride, took a course this summer but only got half way. Maybe this year - she loves the smaller 250cc cruisers so maybe I'll pull a you-move and surprise her with one in the garage one day. No riding here in Montreal for a while - it's minus 10 C out there today. Will be removing fork seals however, painting some crap on my beat up leather jacket and going for a skate on the lake outside. Envious of you January riders - keep your rubber on the road pal and scrape a peg for me =)

Oh, totally down with the exhaust wrap - I know when I get to that point on my CB750 that I'm twisting the throttle and on the road...
 
ChroniclyQuickly said:
Yes it sure is refreshingly addictive huh? I know what u feel about regretting not doing it sooner. Although I had done mods before (never a true BUILD before now) that few years off I took, there was a sort of religiously unfulfilled emptiness where my favorite past time had been but I was busy starting a family and I'd taken quite a hit with the VF750 so perhaps it was right to rest for a time. Besides, now bikes are even more exciting than brand new to me as I've had years to crave them and know what I'm missing.
Hell, now I'm just waiting for HEADER WRAP and I can put the pipes back on the 74 and fly away, I'm stupid with anticipation and it's finally come time where I have rideable customs in the stable. You should get your girl riding, it's more fun as something you can both talk about and enjoy. My son is next, he's 6 and I'll be getting him his first 50cc later this year.
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Just make sure you wrap the headers from the end of the exhaust to the cyl head, I see so many videos and how-tos doing it wrong, the PO on my 650 did it wrong and it was all tearing up and coming off. I wrapped one of mine wrong so now I have to re-do it, just had to wait for new stainless ties.
 
steveinwa said:
Just make sure you wrap the headers from the end of the exhaust to the cyl head, I see so many videos and how-tos doing it wrong, the PO on my 650 did it wrong and it was all tearing up and coming off. I wrapped one of mine wrong so now I have to re-do it, just had to wait for new stainless ties.
I was going to do it cyl down one at a time as of course a YouTube video taught me, looked official, it was taking place in a booth at some show but that doesn't make it right. One problem tho, if I wrap from the collector up, how am I going to get the bottoms tucked in on 3 of the pipes? It's a 4 into 1. I cannot do the job without cutting the wrap several times to do pipes individually. I'm going to try it that way and just be tedious about it but if you have any special advice...?


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The Jimbonaut said:
I was 11 when I got my first bike, a 50cc go-getter that my brother and I would sail over sketchy ramps we built in the driveway. The old man had access to this big old field out back with really tall grass - he'd mow this crazy track inside that grass and we'd make out like bandits. All fun and games until I chucked the thing into a drainage ditch and me and bike got smashed up pretty good. Still, the band aids hadn't come out of the box before I was begging my Dad to fix the bike up so I could get back on it. I think he took one look at me and sold it there and then. Can't say I blame him.

Wife's learning to ride, took a course this summer but only got half way. Maybe this year - she loves the smaller 250cc cruisers so maybe I'll pull a you-move and surprise her with one in the garage one day. No riding here in Montreal for a while - it's minus 10 C out there today. Will be removing fork seals however, painting some crap on my beat up leather jacket and going for a skate on the lake outside. Envious of you January riders - keep your rubber on the road pal and scrape a peg for me =)

Oh, totally down with the exhaust wrap - I know when I get to that point on my CB750 that I'm twisting the throttle and on the road...
You should do that when the opportunity arises, girls don't think to want to ride like men do (with a craving) but get into it all the same.
My son puts on all my gear and rides his little electric trike, he's crazy about bikes after a trip on the 79.' He's the best but he's usually a bit of a frady cat. I thought he'd be terrified. We got to a long, empty frontage road and I gunned it and held it open just to gauge his nerve for riding. First time I've ever seen him be so brave, he LOVED it. It's no modern liter bike but my 79' is mechanically modified and puts out a good 85 hp, it scoots. I couldn't freak him out, it just gave him the itch. Now I'll be buying new kiddy gear every year as his sizing changes, that stuffs expensive if you want it to work.


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Your kid sounds rad - I remember my first ride on a motorcycle too. My cousin, maybe 15 years older than me, took me for a ride on the back of his scrambler. I was about 6. At the time it was the most fun I'd ever had and now, nearly 40 years later, it still is.

Edited to add - maybe skydiving beats it. That's a rush
 
I must have missed something. Why would you want to wrap the pipes on that bike? It is bit of a time capsule with that paint job and the pipes look great.

Wrapping pipes makes zero difference to performance, but does encourage pipe rust. And it looks ugly as sin after after it gets wet or dirty.
 
The internet makes the world very small... I saw this bike on CL when the PO posted it, then thought it was cool to see it posted here by a guy my age living in the same city. Then yesterday after taking a short ride, I return home and see the silhouette of a cafe racer coming down the street you turn in to get to my house. As we pass each other, the psychedelic paint job jumped out at me and I had to chase it down to say hi and see the bike. I can attest IRL; it's a good looking ride! Best of luck man, hopefully we can get some rides in soon!

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teazer said:
I must have missed something. Why would you want to wrap the pipes on that bike? It is bit of a time capsule with that paint job and the pipes look great.

Wrapping pipes makes zero difference to performance, but does encourage pipe rust. And it looks ugly as sin after after it gets wet or dirty.
You would have to stand in front of the bike to see sense in it. I agree it's not terribly high priority but the thing has a bit of a ragged old hot rod vibe going and using the highest quality, black wrap which is 1 inch not 2 and will wrap tighter, it matches the repeating theme of ribbed black items on the bike like the fork boots, pods, finned case covers and seat. If it weren't for those components, I wouldn't bother. But the powder coat black pipes look uninspired and the wrap has continuity to various other aesthetics.
The core of this bike will always remain, but I'm not one to leave it as someone else's, a few minor changes will be made and she'll still be my untampered with bike. Also, these pipes have melted inconveniently designed cables twice in the short time I've owned it. It may be why u see wrap on CB750s so often.


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OlacMot said:
The internet makes the world very small... I saw this bike on CL when the PO posted it, then thought it was cool to see it posted here by a guy my age living in the same city. Then yesterday after taking a short ride, I return home and see the silhouette of a cafe racer coming down the street you turn in to get to my house. As we pass each other, the psychedelic paint job jumped out at me and I had to chase it down to say hi and see the bike. I can attest IRL; it's a good looking ride! Best of luck man, hopefully we can get some rides in soon!

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Hey Tom, small world indeed, I've spotted your 360 half a dozen times in our neighborhood zipping by and occasionally when it's cold out, I can distinguish your specific exhaust note tearing down 86th, Pima or McDonald, I listen to pipes in the distance like bird watchers hear lark songs. It's ironic because seeing you and one other occasional bike that looks like maybe a OEM resto CB450 convinced me that there are in fact isolated cafe (loose term) enthusiasts in the world around me and maybe I'll find a few if I poke around the web. I'm glad u spun back around to say hi, unfortunately that cable I told u about caused a ruckus and I'm back to waiting on parts and need to rethread a bolt socket for those pipes to get registered but I've been patient for a while and can handle another couple weeks before getting on the road. Once my 79 is done, there will be 2 of us (wifey) and there is a cafe club in AZ that's extended an invitation that I'll take up in the near future... As much as riding itself, Im always happy to help with mechanics or receive help, the tinkering is my favorite part. Give me a holler if you need a second set of hands or a tool, I'm around the corner. I have a basic but adequate flux welder if you need to make that exhaust bracket work on your scrambler. I haven't quite figured out taptalk, so if you could send me a pm with your number, I'll text u back mine.
 
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