My latest personal project thus far...another bike - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

HardcoreZ28 · 12-17-2012, 08:14 PM

Wasn't sure where to put this but since I've been making a lot of the parts and doing so much welding and such I figured the resto/fab section may be fitting.

This bike started out as a beat to heck 1977 CB750K that I took as a trade on some work about 2 years ago. It sat in a corner of the shop for over a year before I had a plan for it. Last Christmas I ordered a Tigman hardtail kit for it and started gathering other bits and pieces over the next few months. Finally started on it this past summer.

Tore the whole stock bike down, cut the frame up, and welded the new hardtail section in to give me my starting point. Sorry no pics of the hardtailed frame for some reason.

HardcoreZ28 · 12-17-2012, 08:21 PM

After welding up the hardtail I got my wheels and tires straightened out....ditched the stock 17" rear for a drop center 16" Harley wheel laced to the stock drum hub. The wheels are gloss black powdercoat with copper plated spokes that I cleared after plating.

I also got a handmade copper ribbed, ductailed fender from 7 Metal West. I cut it down to the length I wanted and made the mounts for it. Eventually made some solid struts as well.

Solo seat was also installed.

Keeping the stock front end just with an aftermarket triple tree that eliminates all the stock mounts, bungs, etc. Also using the stock headlight.

I also ordered the parts to build a domed oil tank including the fittings and internal tubes. The pipes are aftermarkets built for the CB750's

HardcoreZ28 · 12-17-2012, 08:34 PM

I decided I wanted an ultra clean look for the entire bike so I began minimizing where I could. The battery and all of the electronics are housed in a box under the oil tank. I also made an entire new harness that is a basic chopper setup with no frills like signals or a horn to worry about. There is very little wiring exposed on the bike...just 1 main harness running up the backbone and a small one to the tail light and brake light switch. I had wanted to run flame throwers out of the exhaust but there is no good spot to hide the controller or coil and I don't want it hanging out in the open.

I also wanted the front bars to be completely clean which meant no switches or levers.....which has made my life very difficult so far. It means making a unique set of controls for the entire bike that may be a bit confusing when I'm done. I don't trust just a rear drum to stop the bike so I have to keep the front brake...but didn't want the master or lever on the bars.

I'm running a right side internal throttle and a left side internal clutch setup, however the internal clutch side is actually operating a very slick cable operated master cylinder....which is hidden between the backbone and gas tank in the tunnel. So a twist of the left grip will work the front brake. The rear brake is the normal right side foot operation. Now's the trick/cool looking part. I'll be using the left side foot control as a clutch as soon as I finish designing it....and I made an actual shifter that comes up from the motor next to the gas tank that'll be hand operated. It means taking your hand off the bars to shift but since it's so close I'm ok with it. Only issue I need to finish addressing on it is the weight....with the shift ball I got today it's so heavy it tries to pull to the downshift side. I'm going to devise some sort of centering spring for the lever.

The gas tank is an extended Harley peanut tank...very long and wide and modified to cover the hidden master cylinder. Bars are literally just straight pipe. Forward controls are from TC Brothers and will be adapted for the foot clutch.

Hoping to finish all of my fab by end of the year and start tearing it down for paint, plating, and powdercoat.....which is going to be pretty unique as well.

chrisfrom nj · 12-17-2012, 09:06 PM

that bike looks great

WayFast84 · 12-17-2012, 09:28 PM

Sweet project!! I'm looking for a bobbed CB as we speak. I almost bought one a couple weeks ago off craigslist but the guy never responded.

sweetbmxrider · 12-18-2012, 07:37 AM

Coming out awesome as usual, Paul. Hey, any interest in a free 82 silverwing GL500? It was tossed around in Sandy down in Mantaloking and definitely needs a lot of attention.

HardcoreZ28 · 12-18-2012, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

Coming out awesome as usual, Paul. Hey, any interest in a free 82 silverwing GL500? It was tossed around in Sandy down in Mantaloking and definitely needs a lot of attention.

Thanks for the kind words....I can't wait to finish fab and get it all prettied up for spring.

Unfortunately I'll have to pass on the GL500. I'm swamped with customer and personal projects and if I bring anything else home that requires me spending money I may end up in divorce court haha. Thanks though.

HardcoreZ28 · 12-18-2012, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WayFast84

Sweet project!! I'm looking for a bobbed CB as we speak. I almost bought one a couple weeks ago off craigslist but the guy never responded.

Be careful buying bobbers and choppers that others have built at home. I've seen some scary welding work on frames and misaligned drivetrains on peooples projects. Depending on your budget I may be able to build you something nice or atleast get you a roller that you can finish yourself for some personalization.

B4C · 12-19-2012, 11:36 PM

This thing is bad ass, too cool.

z28camaro94 · 12-20-2012, 08:15 AM

Sweet project!! I have a '74 CB750K Im working on restoring. The bike only has 9k original miles! Got a couple things to do, the stock 4 pipe exh is rotting in the mufflers, some minor surface rust all over the bike and inside the gas tank.

Im digging the pipes on that. Im undecided on a 4 into 1 setup or what you are running, or resto'ing the originals.

I like the direction your taking the bike. Im going to be keeping mine as original as possible

HardcoreZ28 · 01-16-2013, 10:10 PM

Ok I finally got some time to work on the bike the past few days....added a spring loaded chain tensioner to compensate for the stretch in the frame and subsequent chain slap.

I also went through hell the last several weeks with the hand shifter assembly. The previous one was too top heavy and had tons of slop. I tried several spring and bracket setups to try and make it stay centered and not bob all over the place when I rocked the bike but couldn't come up with anything I liked. So I redesigned the whole thing to a tank style shifter with pivot points throughout to cut down on the leverage the shifter arm had. I'm finally thrilled with what I came up with....no more jiggling around and the shifter throw is only 1" in each direction.

Firehawk441 · 01-17-2013, 04:38 PM

Nice job.

donnj · 02-11-2013, 06:51 AM

any updates? just a few pics for inspiration. not mine but a clean simple build that caught my eye

HardcoreZ28 · 02-11-2013, 09:46 AM

No real updates to show. I finished up some last minute fab work on it yesterday...just the kickstand and a bracket and routing for the choke cable. I will hopefully have the bike all apart this week and begin getting everything painted, powdercoated, and copper plated. With any luck it will start being reassembled in about a month. I won't really have many updates until then but I'll get some finished pics up at that time.

WayFast84 · 03-26-2013, 09:43 AM

This shifter is bad ass! I'm back to looking for a CB750 to thump around on to save some gas this summer. You should check out CB750cafe.com's 4 into 1 exhaust. It sounds so sick.

HardcoreZ28 · 03-28-2013, 07:50 AM

Thanks Matt. I have the bike all torn down for paint and powder. I actually just finished disassembling the complete engine last night. It looks like some new rings and maybe a fresh set of bearings is all it will need.

As for the exhaust....this should sound great. I love the 2-1 design with the sidepipe look and last week I was able to completely remove the baffles so it should have a mean sound to it.

The frame, motor cases, and forks should go out for powder to the guy who does my bigger stuff next week that I can't do in house. And the exhaust is gonna be ceramic coated by the same guy.

I'll get cranking on all of the smaller parts and get the engine back together.

I also got my copper parts back but I need to clear them with something. I wanted to use POR's Glisten PC but I've heard it's tough to wetsand and polish and it also isn't completely clear and may dull the look of the copper a bit.