My bike…1974

[shinyribs]

Woo Hoo!  Glad you finally found a frame!  Now go DW!

[MarkPBG]

It's baaaack!
Carbs rebuilt with new floats, new switch housings, front controls + headlight + dozens of other misc. wires redone, melted connector replaced, 4 corroded connections about to short out repaired, front rotor and pads resurfaced and deglazed, new air cleaner boots, new muffler and ceramic coated header installed, fully pressure cleaned. The dyna ignition was wired into the brake light for power, but that too is fixed now. The other shop missed A LOT! They will never touch the bike again, this shop did an awesome job, including the cleaning of the bike. :)



Mac 4 into 1 on 1974 CB750

Yes, I shot the video on my phone in the much hated vertical format. Deal with it. LOL

[shinyribs]

Oooh,look at them yeller wires! The bike looks great Mark. Really,really great

You know,on the diagrams I've seen DYNA instructions call to hook to the brake switch for power. Supposedly it was for the sake of easy wiring. It does seem odd,though.

Time to start on the cafe now

[MarkPBG]

Thanks....and that's just a cell phone pic! :)

As for the wire....they had it hooked up to the brake light wiring IN THE BACK by the brake light itself! THAT was the weird part of the OP wiring job he fixed. LOL

p.s. Did you click on the link at the bottom to HEAR it running so smooth....and it idles now too!

[Butcherblock]

Wow! That bike is gorgeous! And it sounds so sweet too! That is the exact year i want to eventualy get. I think it would be cool to ride a bike as old as i am.

Nice work MarkPBK!

[MarkPBG]

Went for a little ride this morning. Was up and rolling from 10 am to 4 pm non stop, then I stopped for lunch. The bike ran flawlessly, but I did notice it never quite smoothed out. The engine always sounded like it had a little miss, but it might have been due to me being unfamiliar with this bike and never quite having it in the right gear at the right RPM for the road speed. Accelerating and decelerating the engine sounded very smooth, so I'm sure that must have been the problem. It idled at lights so smooth, and doesn't get near as hot as it did when the bad carbs were on it. So many people looking at it and pointing at it! I parked next to a very expensive custom sportbike with chrome frame, extended swing arm, gaudy custom paint, etc. at the bar downtown and more people were stopping and pointing at my bike, obviously remembering their older days.  I could tell the guy looked upset. Thats probably why he moved it down the street 10 minutes later. LOL. It was a great day.

[Piute]

          "O" No
     We got another one for the show room
    Do ya ride them or just park in front of the T.V. ,cause this is nicely done PBG.
                                         

[MarkPBG]

I've ridden it every day after work since it got finished! The threat of rain keeps me from riding it to work, that, and the idiot drivers at rush hour.

[Piute]

           
                   Traffic isn't so bad here
            but a half hr. makes all the differents
                          so I leave early and stop for coffee near work

[MarkPBG]

I rode on the interstate this morning and noticed something. This bike lets a lot of wind hit you because it has no fairings. How do you guys ride these long distance rides with all that buffeting?
I didn't notice it on my head because my helmet is great in the wind...but the rest of me was being pushed around on that seat. How do you guys ride these long distance with all that buffeting?

[shinyribs]

Low bars. Sitting straight up you are a cafe sign going down the road. Bent slightly forward the wind / leaning cancel each other out.

[MarkPBG]

LOL, yeah, I used to lean forward on a bike, then I got lazy and got a belly, so I can't easily do that for long periods anymore. Time to get back in shape! I'm starting my old diet and exercise program next week. Last time I was on it (2004) i lost 102lbs in 8 months and 16" off my waist alone. Now I have a reason....looking better on the bike!

[TOOLS1]

MarkPBG wrote

I rode on the interstate this morning and noticed something. This bike lets a lot of wind hit you because it has no fairings. How do you guys ride these long distance rides with all that buffeting?
I didn't notice it on my head because my helmet is great in the wind...but the rest of me was being pushed around on that seat. How do you guys ride these long distance with all that buffeting?

I don't know about other guy's. But I'm tough!!!! If I was afraid of a little wind, and needed a fairing, I would drive a car!
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

LOL^^^^ I was gonna say ''suck it up,bikes=wind'',but I decided to be nice 

[MarkPBG]

It's not a matter of tough...my idea of a LONG ride isn't 2-5 hours in the seat....it's 8-12 hours of non stop riding, and the way I was being moved around by the wind, I can imagine it would become tiring, even for a tough guy, for that length of time. When I go for a Sunday ride, I'm riding 4-6 hours non stop before taking a break for lunch. I was a bit worn out after my 5 hour ride....but then again, we were having a front move through with 20-30 MPH wind gusts all day long, so that might have had something to do with it.

[shinyribs]

I had similar issues Sunday. Normally the wind I get riding the interstate at 70 mph does not affect me at all. To the point where I cant really understand why guys complain about it.100% non-issue IMO. I ran into a few gusts Sunday that literally felt like they were gonna push the front wheel out from under me. Once the rain started it was even worse. I found myself hunkering down more than normal and adjusting my body/head/helmet positioning to account for the direction of the wind.Certain positions really made a big difference. But all in all,it sucked. Yeah,riding on a real windy day is just no fun.Tough guy or not. I would think that a fairing on a windy day would be worse,but i could be wrong. Especially gusts. A steady breeze is one thing,but an unexpected gust can really catch you off guard and,like you said,can be very tiring. I rode about 450 miles Sunday and it was probably one of the least enjoyable rides I've ever had.

[MarkPBG]

So I rode it to work today, and for a few hours afterwards. No issues what so ever with wind buffeting, so it WAS the gusty, windy day that was doing that! I had it up to 100 and it ran so nice. :)

There are a few things I noticed when learning to ride an old carbureted bike.

1. There's no gas gauge, you will forget. It will run all day on empty if you're on the road, but as soon as you pull up to an intersection and have to stop, it will stumble and sputter coming off the line so bad a blind old man in a 1940 buick with bad points will smoke your butt across the intersection....until you remember to turn on the reserve and go get gas.

2. If you go somewhere you will forget to turn the fuel back on when leaving. It will run just fine until you pull up next to a convertible full of beautiful women, then it will die. Turn on the fuel and restart to regain some of the cool you just lost.

3. You won't be able to go anywhere in a rush, there will be a person, or groups of people stopping you, asking questions, basically turning your ride into a one person moving bike show.

4. Armor all does the same thing to old seats as new seats. ( So I was smart enough NOT to use it )

5. If you do manage to run it out of gas, $10 is no longer enough to fill it up....no, really, it's not.

6. If you're used to driving a new car with one of those cabin air filters, you may not be prepared for the smells of exhaust, smoke, fumes, or grease, most of it emanating from your own warmed up ride.

7. Get a spare helmet. You will be amazed at how many members of the opposite sex will ask for a ride around the block. (Works both ways, saw a guy asking a biker girl for a ride just this evening, she obliged!)

8. There's nowhere secure to store rain gear unless you get luggage....get good at reading the weather and knowing what the rain chance means in relation to you actually getting wet where you live. Here in South Florida, you are relatively safe up to the Weather.com saying there's a 30% chance of rain....at 40% or more, you're getting wet.

9. Wear a full face helmet, or develop a taste for bugs.

10. Pre-ride checks are much more important on machines this old than on a new bike!

There you have it....some of my impressions of riding this old thing for half a week....some serious, some tongue-in-cheek. Hope you liked it. :)

[shinyribs]

MarkPBG wrote

6. If you're used to driving a new car with one of those cabin air filters, you may not be prepared for the smells of exhaust, smoke, fumes, or grease, most of it emanating from your warmed up ride.

 Well said! Those filters take all the fun outta life.

[MarkPBG]

The other weird thing I noticed is that unless it's colder than 60 degrees, I don't even need the choke to start it up cold. I only need it in cold weather. Hmmm.  

[MarkPBG]

So now I have my first electrical gremlin! Yay.

It's my flashers. They worked great before, but I don't remember if the rear ones also came on and acted like running lights like the front ones. Now the rear are off, and the front on. Instead of flashing, when I put on the left turn signal, the front goes OUT and the rear remains out. Neither front nor rear flash. If I put on the right turn signal, the same thing happens on the other side.

I drove all week with several night trips and had no problem. The OEM flasher had been replaced with a DOT 552, which as i said, was working fine the whole year I've had the bike. I've always thought the flasher might be at fault if the light didn't flash, but not make it go out. I'll check tomorrow when I put a new one in. Now I have a destination for my morning ride before breakfast! :)