New Member - Great Forum!

[Cabreco]

Just got back into riding after putting it down for the last 27 years. (wife, Kids, work etc) My last bikes were a 1969 BSA Thunderbolt & my all time favorite 1972 Honda CB500 Chopper with an 8" over springer. Well, now that all the hectic is out of my life, It was time to get back into riding. Looking around at the newer bikes nothing really caught my eye. Street bike aren't my style and the new cruisers just aren't the same as the old school bikes. I searched around & found an unmolested 1981 750K. She is old & dusty/dirty, but I think she will clean up well. 22K miles with saddlebags & a trunk. I found a service manual here on the forum which will no doubt prove invaluable. Would anybody know where I could get an owner's manual? Preferably in PDF.

[TOOLS1]

GOOD for you. and welcome to the forum. You should fit right in here. Do you have any pictures of the old bikes? Sorry I do not know where to get an owners manual. Maybe one of the members has one they could scan in.
TOOLS

[dave Esch]

All i have is the shop manual. But welcome to the group! If you need help getting that bike back on the road, you've come to the right place. A lot of knowledge here (not from me) to answer just about any question you may have.

[Re-run]

On owners manual huh. I will perform some search-fu and see if I can find something.
Welcome and keep us updated!

[Cabreco]

Thanks for the warm welcome.
In looking through the forum I see a lot of great information. I look forward to
interacting with you all & be able to contribute to the site.

Tools1, as far as pix of the old bikes, I had to dig through some old photo albums & I was able to find a few.
I was actually surprised to find some.
Since I was just a kid back them, I'm sure my mother back in NYC has some in her photos albums.

Here's the ones I found:



This is the '69 BSA Thunderbolt. (bad polaroid, all cracked)



my 1972 CB500 (Loved that bike)

With the exception of having no kickstart, the CB750 is as close as I could find to the chopper.

Re-run: Thanx for the assist on the ower's manual!

[Cabreco]

So, I spent the last 3 days cleaning, scrubbing, polishing, connecting, removing, tightening, inspecting lubricating <sigh> the bike. She cleaned up real nice.
Flitz is kickass!
I removed the home made highway bar that had remote pedals for the gearshift & rear brakes.
Great ingenuity, it was made out of iron stock & the PO welded 15/16 wrenches & bolts to get it to work. It bolted to where the OEM crash bash bolt up to on the frame. It worked great but was too "Rat Rod" for me.

I also took off the saddlebags. (the trunk will go as well when I find a low back rest & bar)
I few other things I will want is a clean headlight bezel & a nicer front fender (mine has a 1"x 1" rusty ripple).

I reinstalled the OEM rear directionals & the factory chrome crash bars, tightened the gear shift pedal ( which made a HUGE difference) & all the bolts for the seat, pegs, & everything else that could be loose. (trust me, there were a lot) Did a complete detailing (me & my tiny detail brushes) & gave the battery a nice full charge!
She's all set to go with the exception of an oil change (trust no one). Have to pick up MC oil. Thinking of going full synthetic.

[TOOLS1]

Love that old BSA, and Honda 500. Brings back memories of the 70s.
You sure have that bike looking good. Do you have pictures of the forward controls you took off? They sound pretty cool. I am building a rat bobber, and am into that kind of thing.
TOOLS

[Cabreco]

No

TOOLS1 wrote

Do you have pictures of the forward controls you took off? They sound pretty cool. I am building a rat bobber, and am into that kind of thing.
TOOLS

No problem
Here is the setup

The gearshift lever & the rear brake lever have tabs welded to them



The forward controls are attached as pictured.



Here is a closeup of each side. They bolt on right to the frame where the crash bars do.



He used AO bolts & 15/16 open end wrenches, basically military ingenuity. I'm sure he built this in the shop at the base he is stationed at. They're not pretty but they did work perfectly.

I figure they can be dressed up a bit. This winter I may shape the wrenches on the grider, chrome plate them, & add rubber sleeves to the bolts on top.

[TOOLS1]

Can't say they fit the decor of your bike, but damn they are cool I would have to build a bike just to put them on
TOOLS

[Re-run]

How many miles does the bike have? You may not just want to jump to synthetic right away.
I would not worry about mc specific oil, instead, for the first change, get something like a Rotella T 15-40
It is a good conventional diesel oil that works well in bikes. It should do a good job of cleaning the engine of junk left by old oils and just before cleaning, put in a couple ounces of seafoam and idle the bike for a few minutes and drain. After that, if you notice no leaks, you can try synthetic. Keep in mind that synth oil has strong detergents in it. People develop leaks sometimes, not because the oil is bad of anything but it cleans so well that the sludge that helped seal things up(still bad stuff)is no longer there.
After 33+years, seals tend to leak anyways if they have never ben replaced.

[Cabreco]

Re-run wrote

How many miles does the bike have? You may not just want to jump to synthetic right away.
I would not worry about mc specific oil, instead, for the first change, get something like a Rotella T 15-40
It is a good conventional diesel oil that works well in bikes. It should do a good job of cleaning the engine of junk left by old oils and just before cleaning, put in a couple ounces of seafoam and idle the bike for a few minutes and drain. After that, if you notice no leaks, you can try synthetic. Keep in mind that synth oil has strong detergents in it. People develop leaks sometimes, not because the oil is bad of anything but it cleans so well that the sludge that helped seal things up(still bad stuff)is no longer there.
After 33+years, seals tend to leak anyways if they have never ben replaced.

The bike has 22k on it.
The PO did replace the seals & gaskets 2 years ago when he was transferred from California to Virginia.
I keep hearing to not use synth, you guys have to understand last time I owned a bike...synth oil didn't exist ( Yeah & gas was .50 cents a gallon too LOL)

The PO although he never cleaned the bike, he did use it daily from Hampton Va to Washington DC. & he did give me a rather large stack of service records.
Of course, the bike still has to prove its dependability before I take it on a long ride!

[Re-run]

People that say synth is bad are stuck in a rut from the 60s and 70s. My 78K has 19,xxx and I have used synth for something like 4 years now and while I get seeping, it does not drip yet and just collects that oily dirt look. I have used rotella 5-40 synth the whole time. But my engine should be nice and clean inside and it gets superior protection.

[Cabreco]

Since the oil serves to lube not only the engine but the trans,
is the use of synthetics a 2 way street?
Can you go back to conventional once you switch?

[Re-run]

Sure you can. No problem.