CB750K Builds

[StealthCB]

Ah, no love for the "cafe" style!? See I am more drawn to those simple but elegant lines. However, my preference is probably the brat, scrambler and tracker kind of look. I like the bars a little higher like a motocross bike.

[TOOLS1]

I hope you do better than to just follow the crowd. Let's see some imagination and fabrication.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

It could be said the building choppers and bobbers is following a certain other crowd...

I love motorcycles. All of 'em. Cafe, brat, bobber, choppah, muscle, sport, sport/touring, touring, ADV, dirt, trials, dualsport, vintage, modern....anything but cruiser. I say build what feels fun at the time and see where it goes from there. If you wanna cafe, build a cafe. If you decide you don't like that cafe later on down the road, tear it down and make something else out of it. The only thing you can do wrong is never let it get dirty.

That said...building a cafe on a DOHC platform is not an easy task unless you have some pretty decent fab/bodywork skills. Especially on a F model, since their tanks are shaped like they are. K's and C's aren't too bad, but resist the urge to dick around with pods. All CV carbs become grumpy with pods on them. Honda CV carbs are especially grumpy with pods on them. Honda gave us solid aluminum pistons inside the CV carbs that make the carbs extremely reliable and damn near impossible to wear out, versus the rubber diaphragm equipped carbs everyone else uses. The heavy piston is why Honda CV carbs hate pods, and you will too after a while. If I sound like an internet alarmist, or a purist and you are rolling your eyes at me...that's perfectly fine. It's the same thing I did when people told me. But looking back, pods only work on mechanical lift carbs. Period.

Anywho, break out the wrenches and get cracking. Riding season is upon us!

p.s.- for $350 I woulda rode the sh!t outta that Maxim and loved it. Any bike that gets you on the road for $350 is a good bike!

[TOOLS1]

"It could be said the building choppers and bobbers is following a certain other crowd."
Could be, but there is no set formula for these bikes like there is cafe, scrambler, and brat. With those, you just change the handlebars, take off the fenders, and add a thin uncomfortable seat. Building a chopper/bobber requires a lot of imagination, engineering, fabrication, and personalization. That is why I hope he does better then the crowd.
TOOLS

[StealthCB]

This is a great discussion! I appreciate both of your comments and views. I definitely have my own style which I plan to incorporate into my designs. I am drawn to clean and simple and mainly functional designs. As far as the pod filter thing goes, I have definitely heard that they can be a pain to dial in properly, but I know it is possible. With the proper Jets and or Air Flow Restriction over top of the pods, you can get it dialed in well. However, I am tempted to just keep the stock air box, as it keeps out a lot of crap and is specifically designed for the bike. Plus, I kind of like the stock side covers.

I'm excited to get up to the shop again hopefully soon! Oh, and I'm pumped to buy another bike or two here shortly!

[TOOLS1]

"As far as the pod filter thing goes, I have definitely heard that they can be a pain to dial in properly, but I know it is possible. With the proper Jets and or Air Flow Restriction over top of the pods, you can get it dialed in well"
You are too funny.
TOOLS

[StealthCB]

Oh, come on Tools! You've got to give me more than that! Do you think it's totally undoable? I've seen others do it pretty successfully, however I know that doesn't mean the engine is running at its peak.

[TOOLS1]

Shiny has a pretty entertaining thread where he tried and tried and tried to get pods to work. He eventually gave up. Also, I had a friend that swore he would get pods to work on his CB 400 twin. He worked and worked for 4-5 years on it. He eventually became so frustrated that he has quite doing anything involving motorcycles.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

Pods are one thing, but pods on Honda CV's with aluminum slide pistons are a matter all their own.

Can you make it run? Of course. Can you make it run dependably? Sure. Can you make it run correctly at all rpms, throttle positions, and temps? No. Just, no.

Jetting is the absolute least of the concerns in this situation. Getting the vacuum signal to the pistons is the tricky part, and shoving bits of foam inside your pods isn't a cure. And wrapping electrical tape on the outside of a pod is LITERALLY a bandaid cure.

[TOOLS1]

I wish we had a "LIKE" button.
TOOLS

[StealthCB]

Ok, well said! I sure do love the look of pods and the fact that the airbox is gone, providing a lot more room for things, though!

[TOOLS1]

Well, go on and do pods. You will have a good looking bike. Will run like crap, and not be fun to ride, but will look good parked at the coffee shop. If you notice, a lot of people put pods on bikes, but you never see these bikes being ridden.
However if you really want to have pods, and still be able to ride the bike, I have a set of Mikuni flat slide carbs I would be happy to sell you.
TOOLS

[StealthCB]

I may take you up on that at some point. I'm going to have some fun taking apart my nasty carburetors but I have a feeling that they are probably completely shot!

So I literally just found a pretty rare bike that I will most likely pick up, as it's just too hard to pass up! It's a Yamaha sr500 in pretty decent shape! It was the guy's dad's bike that has been stored for a while. 18000 miles on it and is apparently just missing the ignition switch and key I might be able to pick it up for a mere $350! I'm sorry, this is a vintage Honda forum, but I really like you guys!

[TOOLS1]

Yamaha sold that bike in the US for 11 years. They are becoming rare because there are not many left. The electronic ignitions go bad on them, and they are impossible to find, and expensive if you do find one. Also, they are popular with customizers. Ther are even companies selling kits to turn them into bobber and crapfe racers. So make sure that the ignition is good on it. Make sure it runs long enough for the ignition components to heat up. That is when they will quit. However, I would recommend that you put your money into one project and finish it, rather than starting a collection of projects.
TOOLS

[StealthCB]

11 years? I thought what I found said they made them from 78 to 81? And, okay great advice, however I'm not sure I can get it started without the key, can I? And, I know I know, I am just a sucker 4 finding older, unloved motorcycles that need to be worked on and put back on the road!

[TOOLS1]

I take that back. It was manufactured till 1999 but only sold in the US for 4 years. I would make sure it runs before putting the cash-out. If the CDI is bad, you will spend a LOT of time and $$$$$$$$$$$ fixing it.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

StealthCB wrote

Ok, well said! I sure do love the look of pods and the fact that the airbox is gone, providing a lot more room for things, though!

Everyone should run pods at least once in their life. Do it!

I had a '76 CB750F that had mechanical lift carbs ( called roundtops around ehre) that are notoriously easy to make pods run good on. I put thousands of miles on that setup without any real complaints. Then one day I stuck the airbox on the bike and it had TONS more bottom and midrange power. Go hard with the pods and give it your best, just don't get rid of that airbox til all the dust settles.


Oh, and don't let Tools give you too hard of a time about the cafe thing. The next time he gets fired up over cafe's, ask him about the one the built and owns.

[StealthCB]

So, in short, it's almost like the cold air intakes for cars. They look cool and can be tuned right, but the stock air box is still usually the best. Makes sense!

Yes Tools, do tell about your Cafe racer!

[TOOLS1]

My Cafe Racer?
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

TOOLS1 wrote

My Cafe Racer?
TOOLS

Don't act like you can't remember.
http://vintage-and-classic-honda-s.456789.n3.nabble.com/Just-what-the-world-needs-What-some-of-you-have-been-waiting-for-td4027361.html