The "parked since I was five" Honda CB750 resurrection thread!

So here's the story- in 1970, my Mom bought a candy gold 1970 CB 750 brand new, right off the showroom floor (she was 22). In '71, she married my Dad, and when they moved from Nebraska to Idaho, she sold the bike to my uncle. After that, it was passed around by her brothers, laid down, repainted, different seat, until 1988, when it was parked in Grandpa's barn with a tank full of gas and covered with a tarp.

In 2007, while I was in Nebraska on leave for Grandpa's funeral, I inquired about the old Honda I had found in the barn. One of my uncles proceeded to tell me the story, and then told me the next time I made it out to the farm, I was to bring a trailer and take the bike home with me. Fast forward to 2015, after I got out of the Marines, bought a house, settled into the new job, and finally had some vacation to burn. Out to Nebraska we went, trailer in tow. Here is how she looked after being untarped- first daylight in 28 years..[URL=http://s1165.photobucket.com/user/John_Rharding/media/IMG_0002_zpspumcrt97.jpg.html][/URL]" />

Loaded on the trailer- [URL=http://s1165.photobucket.com/user/John_Rharding/media/IMG_0003_zpskkdmk7m0.jpg.html][/URL]

And home in the garage-

[URL=http://s1165.photobucket.com/user/John_Rharding/media/IMG_0004_zpshug5t2dt.jpg.html][/URL]

More will follow tomorrow!

(Also, if anybody could tell me how to get rid of all the URL garbage so just the photos show up, that'd be awesome!)

Rip Van Winkel rides again!

IIRC, Photobucket now sucks for sharing photos. But, when you click the camera button and paste into the box, remove anything from the URL before < img src and after the />

Oh, and a great bike, worthy of saving!

In reply to pinchvalve: Thanks!

First odor (yes, odor) of business was to drain all the old gas. I smelled like furniture varnish for a week.

Pulled the carburetors: [/URL]

The cleanest one was the one I opened first, and my hopes rose to a high point, before being dashed to pieces when I opened the next one. This required a lot of work.

Next step was to begin the cleaning of the carburetors, which, based on the amount of crystallized varnish I saw, was going to be a monumental task. Have any of you had any experience with Citrol or Big Orange? They're both citrus-based degreasers. Know what else they're really good at? Removing varnish...

Float bowl before-

20 minutes of letting it soak in Citrol and light brushing with an old toothbrush later-

Yes, I promise, that is the same float bowl. On to the carburetors. I left them all linked up, and dunked the whole lot in a tub full of pine-sol. It's strong enough to eat the varnish, but won't wreck any of the o-rings, and more importantly, unlike some types of carb cleaner, won't eat the carbs themselves. I called it "carburetor soup"-

Whilst the carbs were soaking, I attended to other issues with pulling a 46 year-old motorcycle from mothballs. Compression was excellent, nothing was seized, but the oil pan had a significant crack around the drain hole. Off to eBay, where some searching and $10 yielded a pristine piece from a wrecked bike. While waiting for parts, I began the long process of cleaning up 28 years worth of crud. Varnish down the side where it had leaked from the tank, dust, dirt, small furry creatures, etc.

The factory grips were shot, so I sourced a set from a 1988 Goldwing. They fit, and look good on the bike. Also, I found an OEM sealed beam headlight mfg. by Stanley (they still supply Honda's OEM electrics.)

More to come...

A test ride on a bike just like that, is the reason I never bought a motorcycle.

This should be a cool project. The backstory is great.

Those are great bikes and the personal connection makes that particular one even better. I look forward to following this build.

My first brand new bike was a 1975 CB750..This bike got me from dirt riding to street riding, and a decades long love affair with bikes. Go for it, start new memories, I know........ New tires, don't skimp, check brakes,(include fluid change), fork seals, chain, for stretch and bad links, steering head bearing wear, lube all cables, fluid changes etc. Common sense stuff. And as always, ride with your head, not over it. Good luck.

I've many of these 750's. Great motorcycles. I have brought a few back to life over the years. Cool story, keep the progress coming!

I love those cb. Got 2 myself. According to those side covers... are you sure its not a 70? A k0 (70) is worth a lot.. even if its a 71 its worth doing it wright.. I will leave some links for you if dont know them

-Sohc4 forum (awesome community)

-vintagecb750 (for all parts you want)

-cyclex (for more performance )

I may have some tips and parts if you need something. Keep on wrenching, dohc 4 are wonderfull bikes.

Dirtydog wrote: (Snip).... New tires, don't skimp, check brakes,(include fluid change), fork seals, chain, for stretch and bad links, steering head bearing wear, lube all cables, fluid changes etc. Common sense stuff. And as always, ride with your head, not over it. Good luck.

This is very good advice, but if you are thinking you'll ride it any kind of distance, I'd put in new fork springs and rear shocks. Don't know what your budget is, but new fork springs, fork oil, and PVC spacers to dial in your preload can absolutely transform the front end of that bike. Glad you're bringing it back to life! I had a CJ360, and a CB450.

In reply to physician: yes, it's a 1970 K0. Numbers matching.

For everybody's knowledge- I've been posting everything I've done starting in 2015, and bringing it current to now, without swamping the post with a wall o' text. I'm loving the info and pointers. Thanks to all so far!

Okie dokie, time for an update! Been busy wrenching on the DD, so haven't had time to post...

After the carburetors soaked in pine-sol for two days, I disassembled everything. Down to the carb bodies and a bunch of small parts... and then scrubbed until the varnish was gone.

New floats, jets, and gaskets were ordered and installed. After the carbs were back on the bike, it was time to tackle the gas tank. Biggest part of the project so far... the amount of solidified E36 M3 in the tank was staggering, and I didn't feel like plunking down the cash required for a new one, or even another used one. Off to google, where a build thread on an adventure bike forum recommended the use of powdered dollar store "oxi-clean". Guess what? It works...

Add the specified amount (one scoop per gal., in this case) to hot water, fill tank, let percolate, shake, rinse, repeat. After six cycles over several days, the tank was clear, with the exception of some die hard gunge that will not go away. It's hard to see, but you're looking down into the tank, and you can see the pitcock mount to the lower right. Everything else is discolored, but clean. (Edit- During the cleaning process I was pulling flakes of varnish out that were over an inch across and up to 1/4" thick. It was bad...)

It should be noted that I have not as of yet had any problems from dirty fuel...

Okay, so- new tires and tubes, fork seals, rebuilt the brakes, new filter and oil in it, battery, and fresh new gas. This is where we wound up at this time last year (2016)- a running and driving bike. The four-in-to-one megaphone is phenomenal, imo...

Anyways, without further ado, the first run in nearly 30 years of my mom's old CB 750.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5RlLUQqweZI

There will be more to follow, as I'm planning on body and paint this summer, along with new carbs to open her up a tad more...

I apologize for the link, haven't quite figured out video for this forum yet...

Recon1342 wrote: I apologize for the link, haven't quite figured out video for this forum yet...

I got your back! Please, in the future though... turn your camera on it's side to shoot videos.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5RlLUQqweZI

In reply to huckleberry- thank you. Will do!

Good for you. It's nice to see the finished product, enjoy the ride. I'm sure your Mom is proud of you. Another hint to cleaning gas tanks. When done cleansing, take an old refrigerator door magnet, keep it full length (Take the rubber seal of it), hold an end and run it around the inside of the tank. This will pick up any loose rust etc.

Could not pay me to want to paint that bike. The story is writ in what you have. Just ride it.

I believe the fork lowers are aluminum. Try some 600, or higher grit, and wet sand the fork lowers smooth, then apply some Mothers polish. It will put a little shine in there. You know with a little time and prep work, you can get a decent rattle can paint job done, if you feel confident. It will make the old scooter look better.

Dirtydog wrote: I believe the fork lowers are aluminum.

They're aluminum, with a lacquer clear coat. The clear coat eventually deteriorates, allowing moisture underneath which then accelerates corrosion of the aluminum. The clear coat needs to be removed first to really get anywhere with polishing the aluminum, it usually comes off pretty quickly with paint stripper.

Good catch, Stuart, forgot that step. Just be careful with the paint stripper, it can get messy in a hurry. On chrome, I've had success with OOOO steel wool and polishing compound.

NOHOME wrote: Could not pay me to want to paint that bike. The story is writ in what you have. Just ride it.

I don't mind the current color. I do mind the bare metal around the gas cap, and the cracked headlight bucket. The new paint will tell the story as well, just in a different way.

The tank, covers, and headlight bucket will be painted gloss white. On the tank, just forward and left of the gas cap, will be centered a rising sun. (Think Japanese flag draped over the tank.) In each ray, I am placing the name of an owner of the bike, from my mother, all the way down to me. It's a way to refresh the bodywork and still maintain the tribute status of the bike.

In the next day or two, I'll get a pic of the new seat put up.

First bike was a $500 '74 CB 750. Great looking bike! (And thank you for your service to our country!). Keep the thread going. It's good inspiration for my current project.