Back on the saddle again

[ZephAD]

 I just got my 78 CB750K out of storage and I'm ready to bring her back to life. It's gonnna be alot of work but she is a bute. I will be needing alot of parts, so if anyone has any advice on where to find hard to find items please let me know. I currently need a new throttle cable to begin with. Now I know many of you may cringe at the sound of this, but my bike has been stored for three years with all the fluids still in her. So if anyone has advice on where to begin with the restoration, well, I'm all ears.

[Doc Lisenby]

Glad to hear you are getting back into the game.  I'd start with a good flush of the fluids but I suspect you have already done that.  I wouldn't trust the tires either.  They are "live" and die of old age.  I heard that there was a move to require replacement of tires every three years regardless of wear.  Anything of rubber should be replaced before it fails and all rubber items have a limited life.  Chains should be cleaned of dried lubricant periodically.  Notice I said cleaned not just lubricated.  I use DuPont dry lubricant on my chain.  I don't believe they had permanently lubricated chains in '78 but I'm not sure.  The seat has probably stiffened inside.  Foam dies just like rubber. Chrome may have begun to rust under it but nothing can be done but re-plating.  Paint should still be good except for scratches which may be rusted.  Touch-up paint should do the trick.  Make sure the brakes still work. Lubricant in the cables is probably dry and the cables will wear as a result.  The periodic maintenance schedule in your owners manual is a good guide to see what the manufacturer suspects will go wrong as mileage (time) builds up. Be alert for any strange noises when you start her up.  Any old mechanic told me that any bike will give you noises before it starts to have part failure.  Hope you have good luck and have it ready to ride safely in time for Spring.  It was a good bike and still is.  Happy trails!

[ZephAD]

Thanks for the reply. As I started cleaning up the bike and inspecting it's condition I discovered that an old minor oil leak turned out to be a rather large problem. I found a quarter sized hole in my transmission case which was quite disappionting to say the least. So I went ahead and purchased another 78 CB750K. I kinda have a thing for the older CBs. If anyone out there is in need of spare parts for your CB I may be able to help if I haven't already taken the parts for my new bike. I plan on building a cafe racer out of the two bikes and some other parts of course so if anyone has some advice just dish it out. My first few steps will be to get a new seat, replace the old airbox with individual pods, and to increase the jet size to compensate for the newly introduced air flow. I would also like to purchase a big bore kit but that may be a little way down the road. Well that's alot to chew on but if anyone wants to chat I'm here.

[Doc Lisenby]

I know what you mean about getting older bikes and fixing them up.  The only probllem I have encountered is finding the parts for them.  I always wanted to build a bike from the ground up and hybridize it with parts which have proven to be more reliable and have and still are being made.  Some guys are real good about adapting newer parts to the old bikes.  There seems to be several of your type bikes on Ebay and the prices aren't that steep.  I got to thinking about some of the bikes I have had in my lifetime and most of them would still be running and doing well if I hadn't got a hair up my butt and switched to newer or different make bikes.  An old Square four Ariel would still be zipping along, a wartime military Indian I got for $55 was not something I should have traded in for a Harley "45".  I didn't gain a hell of a lot by buying newer motorcycles. They all were satisfactory and the improvements like electric start, foot shifts, electronic iignition, etc. didn't REALLY give me much advantage.  They all got me where I was going at the time.  Just watched "The World's Fastest Indian" where Burt Munro modified his 1920 Indian Scout for 44 years.  But there are aren't many Burt Munro,s around anymore and I certainly never came close to having his genius or talent.
Hang in there with your '78.  You don't really need anything else.  There are people who could use those parts but they probably don't own a computer or ever heard of Nabble.  Good luck!

[hotelking]

Hello im new to this forum and just wanted to say good luck and i hope you are still working towards bringing the 750 back to life...

[Piute]

  Hey Zeph AD ! ? been a couple years have any pictures to share of this bike now or when it was done,
  Like me there never Done>>>Piute<<<