79 CB750 Limited Cafe/Streetfighter style buildup

[booligan]

Hey guys, new member here, figured I would post up my recent build. 1979 CB750, based on the 10th Anniversary model. Loads of changes from stock, reshaped and recovered seat, paint, new lighting package, etc.









Build photos and details are here: http://retrostreetfighter.tumblr.com/

[shinyribs]

Welcome to the forum! I love the seat on your bike! And the white,thats one clean looking bike!

Looking forward to checking out your build link when time allows

[cdaiscool]

Agree, this bike makes me want a white bike now.

Would go good with my other white vehicle.

[booligan]

Thanks for the warm welcome. The seat wasn't too bad do to, just hacked away at the foam with a carving knife until it was the general shape I wanted, then sanded it with an angle grinder. Lots of trial and error, but I got it where I wanted it to sit. You feel like you're in the bike instead of perched on top of it. Had a local upholsterer make a new cover with a thin foam lining to smooth out any defects in the foam from my hackjob.

I'd always liked the look of white bikes, but they are pretty few and far between, so I had to do it myself, haha. Local body shop gave it a proper primer/base/clear using Honda S2000 white paint. I'm waffling on doing a vinyl package on it, but at the very least, I want to make small CB750 emblems out of vinyl to cover up the mounting holes on the side panels. One panel is the proper 10th anniversary panel, and I have the emblem to match it, but I don't think the old regal style emblem would fit the look of the bike. The other one is a standard K panel, so the anniversary badge wouldn't fit with the mounting holes.

[TOOLS1]

Nice looking bike. I also really like the seat. What are the taillights, and where did, you get them?
TOOLS

[booligan]

The taillight is this unit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIVERSAL-MOTORCYCLE-DIRT-BIKE-LED-BRAKE-TAIL-LIGHT-W-LICENSE-PLATE-MOUNT-BLACK-/290695229980?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item43aec9321c#ht_3805wt_1139

Bright LEDs, two stage illumination for the brake light. Issue is, no red reflectors, so I used reflective plate mounts to keep it legal. Blinkers are LED units all around with a new flasher relay to let them work. No rapid flash, they blink perfectly.

The taillight mount that I fabbed up comes off of the rear fender mounting holes. In the pictures I posted, the plate mount/taillight sat underneath the nuts for the blinkers. The issue is, I hit a nasty pothole which bounced the whole assembly down onto the tire, rolling the plate and bending the mount. I redesigned it so that it fits above the blinker nuts now and can't drop down to hit the tire. This raised the taillight assembly enough that it was blocked by the seat. I fabbed up some quick seat risers for the rear bolt mounts so the seat sits about 1.5" higher at the rear, letting the taillight be seen easily. I'll take updated pics this weekend if it stops raining at some point up here, haha.

[Half-Caf]

Nice! I typically hate the look of the factory side covers, but you're rocking them with style

I think it's the seat that pulls it all together -like others have said, very clean looking bike.

[booligan]

Thanks for the complement. The thing I like about it is that it doesn't look like a 79 model to the untrained eye. I've had people comment that it looks like a Triumph (they must have missed the big Honda side emblems, lol), a newer CBR with a naked front end, etc. Everyone who has asked me about it who doesn't really know CBs thinks it's a 90s-00s model of something, they can't believe it's as old as it is. I wanted to kind of take various flavors of bikes out there, cafes, streetfighters, etc, and put them on something that has little hints of all of them.

All the credit for the seat cover goes to www.lonepeakupholstery.com, Andy over there did an amazing job making a clean looking cover for my reshaped foam and pan, and he did it damn fast too. Less than a 48 hour turnaround, and only $75 for the job.

That being said, it's not 100% done, still a few little tweaks need to be done before I'll call it completed, but it's 95% there. I think it turned out okay for my first custom bike build, haha.

[Half-Caf]

Also, what type of rear shocks are those? Just factory stripped down, or custom?

[booligan]

Rear shocks are stock 79 Limited pieces I believe. They look the same as other Limiteds that I've seen. I'm debating throwing some similar vintage CB900 remote reservoir shocks on there, but for now, these work just fine.

[booligan]

Quick question, anyone taken apart the gauge package on one of these to fix the trip odo? It resets to 80-90 miles when you push the button, otherwise it works great. Any clue on how to fix that?

[shinyribs]

I took an older set of gauges apart,but never a set like yours.Pretty fragile stuff in there. Any chance your know is pushed/screwed on too far and you just cant get full movement out of the trip button? Just a thought

[booligan]

Possibly. I'll be taking a better look at it this weekend to see what I can figure out. If nothing else, it's consistent with the mileage it rolls to, so I can do the mileage math if I'm not able to fix it.

[Stig]

Wow i really like that bike. i just got a 79 limited myself :) need to fix the cylinder 3 not firing issue. but hey i got it for 375 dollars and its very clean. so i cant complain. I really like how you just recovered the seat. kinda cool if you ever want to 2up on it.

[booligan]

Thanks. I'd need to mount up rear pegs for 2 up, but otherwise it's pretty much ready to go. I pulled them off during the buildup. The stock ones I have are a little loose, probably just need to clean them up and see if the inner spring is still good. I'll probably never do 2 up on it, mainly because my wife has no desire to ride and my kids are too young, but I did want to keep it able to be easily set up for it if I decide to sell the bike.

[Stig]

what exhaust you running on there. i was looking at kerker and they dont have an exhaust listed for the 79 limited. wont the k model exhausts up to an 83 work on these bikes ?

[booligan]

It's a Vance & Hines pipe. Came on the bike when I bought it, so I'm unsure of it's lineage. I've revised the mount and snugged it up a bit more since I took the most recent pics. I really need to take it for a ride somewhere decent looking to get some new pics.

[booligan]

I've been debating doing a vinyl package similar to this:



Either that or some small vinyl CB750 logos that I'd design. Not sure if I want to go with the full vinyl, the white looks so good.

Any thoughts?

[shinyribs]

It looks so good now I dont think I would change a thing! I understand you wanna cover those little emblem mounting holes.Probably a small decal like you mentioned would do the trick. Like I said,it's lovely as-is!

[Piute]

  I think if yo bike had more blk.besides the tin/plastic would help ,It's wht. N plain,I'd do what I could to put your own signature on it and the road.Take some cheapO markers I meen cheap like dollar store cheap ,and start drawing on yo wht ,IT WILL COME OFF very easy,go crazy ,copy something thats not been used or just tweek it like I did with the stk scallop.and to me I like it/this best,
                "O" remember to have fun,I use can and can always try something diff.later
                                                                 Fender