new to CB750 restoration

[sschang009]

I've owned three honda motorcycles in the past (1997 Magna, 1999 CBR600F4, 2006 919) and have been thoroughly impressed by how well these machines handled.  couple that with my admiration of the 1970's honda styling, and it's no wonder sooner or later i'd want to own a CB750.

my brother and i are contemplating a CB750 restoration project, and i'd like to get some feedback from this forum regarding:
1. are parts readily available on the market?  is it as easy as ordering them from a supplier, or scouring the scrapyards?
2. would we need a lot of specialized tools? neither of us are auto/bike mechanics, so our current tool sets are just the basic stuff.
3. other than the obvious difference in displacement, are there significant differences between the CB750, CB550, 450, etc?
4. is there a particular model year that's better than the others?  i know that pre-1978 models are SOHC.

thanks for reading my message. i appreciate any feedback or comments you can give.

[sgtslag]

It depends on what purpose you plan to use them for as to which size you need.  The 750 is reliable, and it can tour, two up, if you are willing to compromise (a little too big for town riding, a little too small for touring, but it will do both reasonably well, if properly equipped).  I own a 1979 CB750K, and it is a superb bike.  My wife and I rode it around Lake Superior in 2009, 1,935 miles, over nine days.  Loved every minute of it, but the OEM suspension was not great, or particularly comfortable -- upgraded suspension in Spring of 2010 (Progressive fork springs, and 412 Series shocks, with heavy duty springs), but never toured on it since then, as we picked up the Voyager.

It depends on what you want, but most parts for the 750 are still available, relatively easily.  You can order them from HondaService,com, BikeBandit.com, and others.  The 750's Factory Service Manual (FSM), is available here, but I don't know about the other models you mentioned.  The 750 has a huge following, here in the USA, and abroad -- particularly in Japan.

Personally, I would recommend the 750 for its sheer versatility, and power.  It will carry one person anywhere, reliably, and quickly.  It is a blast to ride, with sufficient power, unless you are accustomed crotch-rockets.  It is just a really great, all-around, bike.  The 1979+ have DOHC's which are very reliable, and offer better performance.  The CB750 Custom's are geared lower, for better low-end response, and they suffer, of course, at highway speeds because of it.  The K models are more versatile.  Good luck with your project.  Cheers!

[sschang009]

sgtslag, thanks for your reply.  i'm basically looking for a bike for weekend local rides, and perhaps commute to work occassionally.  might even attempt to ride to las vegas or northern california from southern california.
glad to hear that parts of the 750 are readily available.  

i'm really looking forward to this project!

[TOOLS1]

If you like doing your own mechanic work. You will love a 69-78 SOHC. You can rebuild these bikes with not much more then the supplied tool kit, and parts are everywhere for them. I get a lot of my parts from tasclassicmotorsports.com
Now the 69s are a little pricey since they are sand cast, but all the rest are still reasonably priced. I do prefer the K models over the F myself. However I own 2 CB 750-A Hondmatics myself. these bikes are becoming very sought after for custom bike builders.
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