First Motorcycle - From Charlotte

[peez]

Howdy; apparently I made a username years ago, before I ever owned a bike! I've been big into cycling (road and mountain) and always thought how much more fun riding would be with a throttle. I sold one of my pedal bikes and decided to go all in on a motorcycle. I bought this 92 CB750 Nighthawk that "just needed new plugs and a battery" with intentions to make it a cool backroads/cafe style ride. I live just outside Charlotte, NC in Harrisburg. Really looking forward to diving into this bike and learning new things along the way.

Currently I took the carbs apart for a good cleaning and just waiting on parts to rebuild them. Once I get it up and running (hopefully) The next set of plans is to shorten the fork, clip ons, do something about the rear seat, maybe a brighter headlight. Oh, and maybe get my motorcycle license?!

Day 0, with my oldest.

And where we left off.

In highschool I was big into tuning 92-00's Hondas, motor swaps, turbos, blah blah blah, but then I got away from it and into cycling. So not a noob at turning wrenches, well I guess minus carbs, but turning them on something completely different!

 

[Maritime]

Welcome. that is a dead reliable bike and should be an easy to get running machine with some basic maintenance like you are doing. I am not sure you need to lower the forks. I'd try sliding them up the triples first and see how it feels before the internal mod. I think there is a build thread on here for the same machine someone did up as a cafe that you could read through and get some ideas etc. good luck with the build.

 

[peez]

Thank you! I like that idea as well, at least it isn't something permanent!

I just re-looked at the photo and it does seem like its pretty tight to the frame already. Maybe just some different handlebars will achieve what I'm after!

 

[Tim]

Welcome to the site! I bought a bike in Charlotte just a few months ago. I live in Toronto but am working near Hilton Head SC.

 

[pidjones]

Welcome from East TN. A good solid rider. If you are new to motorcycles, I'd wait until riding a season or two before suspension changes. Be patient and pay attention to details on the carbs, and they should work out well.

 

[Ride/Hike]

Welcome from north of CLT at Denver North Carolina! Nice looking bike and fun project! Please let me know when you're ready to ride the NC mountains, know plenty of roads from Morganton to TN.

 

[Bama704]

Welcome, enjoy the project! I live in Charlotte.

 

[peez]

Thanks for the love guys! I may have been quiet here, but busy on the bike.

I rebuilt the carbs, threw in a new battery, and with some starter fluid, got it running and after some warming up and possibly passing some bad gas, she runs pretty good in the garage! Revs well enough, I think. Seems like everything else should be easy from here on out, right?

Threw these clip ons on the bars and lowered the fork two inches on the top, I think it looks pretty good. Since I won't be taking my safety course test until March 19, I have plenty of time to refresh this thing. So, things on the to do list, in no order:

Fork seals (has tons of old dried oil on the back of one leg, so they have to be toast, right?)


Put a 1" spacer (I think) in the springs to stiffen up the ride.

Some sort of shorty levers?
I'm not in love with the choke and kill switch size, so I'm hoping to replace them with something a little more low key/minimalist. I found some stuff on dime city cycles, anyone else have any good ideas?

 

[peez]

And at some point after all that, I’ll dive into cutting the rear so i can put a two seater cafe style on. Looks like it will swoop up, which is kinda cool i guess?

 

[Maritime]

When it comes to levers you want name brand trusted stuff. The cheap knock offs can come apart, or get stuck and you can be left without a clutch or brakes or worse have you brakes lock on you. Glad you're doing the MSF, that is the best way to learn to ride and get licensed IMO. Best $400 I spent when I did mine 10 or so years ago.

 

[peez]

Makes sense to me, it sounds like the CRG spectrum levers are a good starting point lever? Not looking for amazing stuff, just don't want to shatter under regular usage!

Man, I think the safety course here is $200 or so! I'd like to spin around the neighborhood to make sure my bike works before I ever go, but it seems like the best money I can spend on motorcycle stuff.

 

[canyoncarver]

That's a great bike to start on as a first motorcycle. We are all about chopping up bikes here on DTT but just a thought for you to consider. Since it's your 1st motorcycle, get your license, and do the necessary standard maintenance to make it rideable and safe but definitely wait on the modifications until you have a base line to compare your changes to. Get comfortable on the stock bike for a season before you make those big changes. Clip-ons with standard foot pegs tend to be uncomfortable and decreasing the travel in the front suspension will make the bike handle differently, maybe/maybe not in a good way.

 

[Luugo86]

Welcome Peez. Congrats on scoring that bike.. It looks like a really clean bike man! Do The Ton is 100% the best resource I have found regarding anything motorcycle. I have been a member since 2012 and have learned so much from the people on here. If you have a shop manual and the good graces of the gentlemen on this forum the amount of knowledge to be had is limited only by your willingness to take it in! I will definitely be following your project man.

One simple little shop etiquette habits I picked up when I first got started tinkering on bikes was label everything you take off of the machine, and take pics of what it looked like before you removed it. It was just something that helped me stay organized when I was still learning, helps with losing crap too haha, good luck!

 

[peez]

Besides the fork and clip ons, I don't see changing tooooo much that would make the ride feel much different than stock, A lot of the other changes I want to do are mostly cosmetic (clutch/brake reservoirs, levers, etc. At least I know I can go back to stock with about 30 minutes of work removing the clip ons and raising the fork back up. I too am afraid to make any drastic changes, the ones that are reversible are the best at the moment for me


I was pretty good with the organization during the carb rebuild, I think I used 20 or so SOLO cups, was SHOCKED when I put them back on, that they worked!

 

[pidjones]

I agree with canyoncarver. Most accidents happen in your first 5000 miles of riding. Stock bikes are designed to be easy to ride and safe. Being more upright helps you see the other guy - who is targeting you. Changing the steering geometry (shortening forks decreases rake and trail) can make the bike much less stable.

BTW, MSF courses in some states (in Tennessee, I know) are subsidized by the state, cutting the cost to the riders.

 

[peez]

Would a better option be to leave the fork at the same height, and put the clip ons under the triple clamp? Right now I just dropped the forks in the crown 2" to put the clip ons, on top. Not sure what is the better option! I put the seat back on and it feels relatively comfortable as is, in the garage, not riding it.

 

[peez]

Pardon my mess, but in the meantime, I'm looking at cleaning this up a tad. Thinking of going all black things.

High/Low beam Switch - These look pretty rad, not sure where I would use them, or if I could use one for the headlight, and one on the right side somewhere? https://www.pazomaracing.com/produc...-switch-for-7-8-1-bars?variant=20817455382639

Blinkers - (currently doesn't have any, but I'd like to add rear blinks at the minimum. Maybe a headlight with the blinkers installed in that may be in short order)
Horn - ???
Choke - This one from dime city looks cool and no frills, love that its small. https://www.dimecitycycles.com/univ...hgXF1n_ElDL10Dg6TuJHSQFmPLE7qnThoC5s0QAvD_BwE

Gauges (will leave them alone for now)

Brake Reservoir - I'd like to redo everything from the caliper up, with a stainless line. Starting from scratch, what would you do for that minimalist, function over form look?
Kill Switch/Start Button - ???

Grips - as a mountain biker, I know how much these can be personal preference... but any suggestions?

 

[canyoncarver]

...
Man, I think the safety course here is $200 or so! I'd like to spin around the neighborhood to make sure my bike works before I ever go, but it seems like the best money I can spend on motorcycle stuff.

It is!