CB750 K5 (1975)

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desertrefugee
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CB750 K5 (1975)

#1

Post by desertrefugee »

I have been in negotiations with this fellow for a while. Like many folks here, these old 750s are the motorcycles I cut my teeth on. I have had a 78 F3 on the back burner for a while. Needs everything and I wanted to do it justice, so that's why I've been putting it off. Acquiring a few bits here and there, but the real work was down the road.

Then this thing fell into my lap...

I’m not a huge café fan, but this one was tastefully done. However, the only thing that’s not reversible is the powder coated wheels. The good news is there’s included, a set of untouched very nice original wheels front and rear, and all the other takeoffs in pristine condition… including the seat which looks unmarred with soft supple vinyl. Fenders have pristine chrome that looks like a mirror.. and that's the underside! This thing is a surviving gem. If the motor is toast, which it is not, I have a ready to fire K5 motor on a floor dolly waiting in the wings! The only caveat is that I do not have the original four into four exhaust. But, it came with an unmarred, undented Kerker however.

I believe I'm going to mothball the original bits, keep an eye out for a four into four exhaust system and watch the prices on cafes versus restored bikes. This vintage CB750 is getting harder and harder to find in this condition. I am thrilled to have one this well preserved. Whoever started it knew what they were doing. Powder coated wheels, nice tail section, rearsets, etc. Basically just needs the harness back together and although he said the carbs were ready to go, I believe I'm pulling them and verify that for myself first. Couple of other odds and ends, but not much.

The seller is moving to Hawaii, leaving on Friday, and had no firm commitments on this thing. He was getting pretty desperate. So I didn’t quite steal it, but I feel as though I got a stupendous deal. Literally boxes and boxes of spares. Did I mention about an extra motor came with it? Disassembled, but complete. Extra gauge set. The list is amazing.

All I needed was another project. It doesn’t need a little lot, but it needs enough to be called a project. Truth is the 78 super sport is now residing in my son’s garage. I actually gave it to him, lock, stock and barrel.

(I needed the room)
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Last edited by desertrefugee on Wed Jun 09, 2021 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#2

Post by gltriker »

tumb2 Nice find!
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#3

Post by Paola Zago »

congratulations! I don't want to know how much you paid for it, but a Four 750 in these conditions is worth at least 4500/5000 euros in Italy!
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#4

Post by Whiskerfish »

Great find!! I suspect you will discover a restoration will out price a cafe. Might be my bias, I also am not a huge cafe fan.
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#5

Post by 5speed »

nice find. looks sharp
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#6

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Sharp looking bike. The best thing I found out when putting mine together is that with the early SOHCs, it's pretty easy to get parts for a show-quality restoration. Heck, last I new you could still get brand new 4 into 4 reproduction pipes.

Just be prepared to pay a pretty penny....
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1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#7

Post by desertrefugee »

Thanks everybody. I am super-stoked on this one.

For the record, I told my son I needed to get rid of a bike - and a couple others are also soon on the block.

He want's the '78 'Wing. He ain't gettin' it.
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#8

Post by robin1731 »

Lucien Harpress wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 8:19 am snip..................... Heck, last I new you could still get brand new 4 into 4 reproduction pipes.

Just be prepared to pay a pretty penny....
If like the KZ's they are well over $1000.00. But we sell individual oem pipes at Mid-Ohio for over $200.00 or more, each, with holes rusted in the bottom. That is for one of the four pipes.
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#9

Post by desertrefugee »

robin1731 wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 1:43 pm
Lucien Harpress wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 8:19 am snip..................... Heck, last I new you could still get brand new 4 into 4 reproduction pipes.

Just be prepared to pay a pretty penny....
If like the KZ's they are well over $1000.00. But we sell individual oem pipes at Mid-Ohio for over $200.00 or more, each, with holes rusted in the bottom. That is for one of the four pipes.
And this is because one of the first things almost everybody (myself included) did was to ditch the original 4-4 and install a Kerker...or whatever. Many (most?) of those take-offs are now buried in garbage dumps around the country. Many of those that stayed on bikes have long since rusted away. Surviving nice ones are pricey. Re-pop vendors know this. Their knock-offs are pricey, too.

(Maybe I can learn to live with the cafe style...)
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#10

Post by wingrider »

Awesome project! My 77 750K wasn’t quite that clean when I picked it up!
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#11

Post by Liam »

Super project. It is a pity about the cafe racer mods but good to get all the parts with it that you got. Best of luck hunting down an exhaust. I did see replicas for sale somewhere.
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#12

Post by Lucien Harpress »

I got lucky with the pipes on my 750 and was able to find a set on eBay for something like 600 bucks. They are far from perfect, especially on the inside of the inner headers. Still, they are functional, and I paid about what I expected the going rate was.

Image

I thought about buying each pipe separate as they became available, but the math worked out the same either way, and without the risk of being one pipe short, unable to find the last one to complete a set. So unless you stumble across a deal, that's the price you're looking at. Too many people know exactly what they've got.

I'm very glad I did it, though. I think my 750 is the best sounding bike I own. (The KZ1300 may be a contender if I can ever get it running consistently...)
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#13

Post by desertrefugee »

Well, the harness is tied in, it lights up and the starter spins the motor! The entire harness was unterminated. It was in the bike, but the end of every single connection front to back was tagged and bagged. All the components were scattered in
4 boxes, one of which was temporarily misplaced and had me nervous. Complicating matters are bits from other 750s the guy collected. I could almost build another motorcycle. The only thing I have had to order so far are exhaust gaskets and a couple of acorn nuts.

I might actually have this thing running pretty quick. The carbs were supposedly rebuilt before it went into suspended animation, but I'll find out. I'm not going to pull them out for the fun of it unless I know they're a problem.
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#14

Post by desertrefugee »

Oh, and about that "spare" motor I mentioned that came with it...

..it appears to be the original motor! The one in the bike is a 76! I was pretty bummed when I realized this, but at least I do have the original motor... even if it is in a thousand pieces. Wonder what happened to the original? Fairly low mile bike.

So, I suppose you could say there's trouble in Paradise.
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Re: CB750 K5 (1975)

#15

Post by tomk1960 »

Nice find! I wouldn't worry about the original motor being out of the bike unless you eventually want to bring it back to stock and make it all original At that time, you can rebuild the motor and plug it back in. The new exhausts that were still available a few years ago were genuine and not repros. I recall the price being in the $1300 range, which wasn't outrageous at the time. Not sure if they're still being sold though. I had a pristine '74 for years that was all original, including the pipes. I had my fun with it, but it began collecting more and more dust when I got hooked on my CB1100F's. So I sold it to someone who really appreciated it and we both walked away from the deal happy. Have fun.
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