Although I have an eclectic taste where cars are concerned, I only really like classic Japanese motorcycles and I've been like that since I was a kid. I have tremendous respect for British, American and European bikes as well, yet always find the Japanese marques pique my interest most. As a kid, I had a few bikes with my first being a Deckson Eagle 80... a small American trail bike with a Hodaka engine (I believe). I went on to have a few different ones, from an XR75 to a YZ100, but they were noisy and we began to receive anonymous complaints. I convinced my parents that a small road bike would be fun to use on our property and would be quiet as well.
One Thursday afternoon in 1982, I went to the Milk Bar and bought a Trading Post... it came out every Thursday and was pretty much full of everything imaginable for sale, from furniture to livestock and most things in between. There to my amazement was a Honda CB350F for $275.00. I called the seller (Robert) in Croydon who told me it was in great condition. After pestering my poor parents again, they agreed to let me have it as well as supplying the money to buy it. I was smitten with this bike and had a good few years of fun with it. After obtaining my drivers license though, I pretty much forgot about the old 350 Four and pursued an interest in cars instead... Still, the bikes were never that far off my mind.
Since I've been restoring a few cars in recent years, I have been looking for a smaller project to divert my attention - something to amuse me over the colder months... enter the CB750K. A bike that was meant to be a quick refurbish job that has turned in to yet another restoration. This is its story...
One Thursday afternoon in 1982, I went to the Milk Bar and bought a Trading Post... it came out every Thursday and was pretty much full of everything imaginable for sale, from furniture to livestock and most things in between. There to my amazement was a Honda CB350F for $275.00. I called the seller (Robert) in Croydon who told me it was in great condition. After pestering my poor parents again, they agreed to let me have it as well as supplying the money to buy it. I was smitten with this bike and had a good few years of fun with it. After obtaining my drivers license though, I pretty much forgot about the old 350 Four and pursued an interest in cars instead... Still, the bikes were never that far off my mind.
Since I've been restoring a few cars in recent years, I have been looking for a smaller project to divert my attention - something to amuse me over the colder months... enter the CB750K. A bike that was meant to be a quick refurbish job that has turned in to yet another restoration. This is its story...
So I found this bike on Just Classic Bikes, so went to take a look. It hadn't been used in a very long time - possibly decades, yet it wasn't seized which is always a good thing. I went home and thought about it, while considering a couple of other bikes I saw there as well, including another 350 Four and a GS650. It had to be the 750; an example of one of the last SOHC models that Honda produced. Here are a few pictures of the bike as the seller advertised it.
So we put it on a small trailer and I arrived home with it and decided to restore it after finding a couple of serious gremlins. I pulled the bike down to every last fastener was removed and stripped down the engine.
An introduction to our new Winter project (It's approaching Winter the following year and it still isn't done...)
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We take a look around the bike and begin removing bits and pieces.
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More examining the bike and repairing small items.
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In this chapter, we prepare for engine tests.
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With the engine not testing well, we decide to pull it from the frame.
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In this chapter, we completely strip the bike.
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We tear down the top end of the engine and assess condition.
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A nervous time indeed, for we split the engine cases in this chapter.
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We remove the engine and gearbox internal components and assess what we have.
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We clean and paint some engine parts and order parts for the rebuild.
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Part 10 is about refitting the rotating assembly.
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Checking and running the naked transmission.
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Bottom end reassembly.
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15/5/18: Well, that's as far as we got in 2017... What was meant to be a Winter job, wound up to become a full restoration. With Winter being a mere few weeks away, we will recommence work on the bike. So there is definitely a lot more to come on our CB750K8, stay tuned...