1978 CB750F Super Sport - Newb To Forum With a New Sled

Posted by Mongo44 on Aug 13, 2012; 2:34am
URL: http://vintage-and-classic-hondas.81.s1.nabble.com/1978-CB750F-Super-Sport-Newb-To-Forum-With-a-New-Sled-tp4026983.html

Greetings, folks!  I am new to the forum and live in Houston.  I am 42 and have been riding since the age of four when my dad built me a little mini-bike with a 2.5hp Tecumseh lawnmower engine.

My next bike was a '69 CT70 (also had a '78), then a '79 XR80.  In '78, my dad bought a CB750F Super Sport and I used to sit in the garage and stare at it.  I remember spending hours and hours drawing it once when I was eleven.  Lost the picture and would give anything to have it back (I've always been relatively "artistically inclined").  When I was fifteen, I began riding it and I loved it.  At some point, my dad got rid of it and ever since, I have wanted to get another one.  

Well, guess what!  Today, I picked up a - you guessed it - 1978 CB750Four Super Sport and I got a really, really good deal.  At least, I think I did...

I bought the bike from a guy who had listed it three times on eBay and had actually sold it twice, but both buyers ended up balking on the deal.  Anyway, here are the details.

From what I could see from the photos, the bike is in decent shape.  Heck, it actually looks REALLY good!  Let me just say that I have purchased many classic vehicles (3 cars, a boat, and another motorcycle) on eBay and CL, so I know how deals go down and what to "expect."  In other words, I know I can expect to be disappointed if I expect too much!!  I will say, however, that the the owner said, "I promise, you're going to be amazed.  The bike looks much better than it does in the photos."

He told me that the bike, when he bought it, had sat for some five years (in a garage).  He refurb'd the carbs, but admits to basically "bench-syncing" them.  He says the bike is takes a few minutes to warm up, smokes a little at first, but then runs really well.  The bike has around 22K miles, and I just basically expect I'll need to do a complete overhaul, although the seller swears I'd be wasting my time and that I'll just need to give it a good tune-up.  To be honest, I really don't care.  I paid less than $1K for it, so I'm not concerned.

The bike is not one of the original colors.  I understand that there were two colors offered, but I think there was a third.  There was black and candy presto red, but I've also seen a blue version (like a royal blue).  Not sure if that was a Canadian color or something like that.  Anyway, this bike is blue, and it is a royal blue, but I don't think it's the same.  The paint looks really good, either way, but I'm going to paint it either black or CP Red.

The only visible problem is that it's missing the side covers.  I've searched this site and found a link, but it proved fruitless.  I know Maier Plastics makes replicas, but my question is this: Is the '75-'76 side cover the same as one for the '78?  I know '75-'78 CB750F SSs were essentially the same model, but not sure if these parts are identical.  Any help on that would be greatly appreciated.  

I look forward to hanging around here and learning as much as possible.  I've read through a number of threads and am stoked to dig into my bike.  

Thanks for reading my long post - sorry!

John