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It's been a while since my last check-in. I still need to clean those case covers, and my tach drive leaks no matter what I do to it, but it's "together" enough to get paperwork and plates for the old girl.

However, I nearly had a heart attack pulling it out of the garage today for a quick first ride of 2021- I back it out, then walk to the barn to turn on the air compressor to fill the tires. I come back, and there is a MASSIVE oil puddle under the back of the bike. Turns out, my right rear shock blew and lost pretty much all the oil that was inside of it.

"Thankfully" temperatures are dipping down again, so I won't be out too much riding time waiting for replacements (which have been ordered). Still, what a way to start the year.

Bit of an update- new shocks showed up in the mail today, and had the distinction of being ACTUALLY brand new, not just New-To-Me. A couple minutes and 4 bolts later, I had them on and the bike was ready for it's first longer ride. It was off to the local watering hole for a bit of a shakedown cruise (the fact it was also St. Patrick's day was purely coincidental).



80 miles later, and the verdict? ...surprisingly good. The motor, mechanically, has always been pretty sweet on this one, and felt right from day 1. I still need to check timing and carb sync, but it still ran VERY well without me having to touch anything. The only downside (other than the rusty cosmetic parts I still need to either replace or polish) is that my tach drive in the valve cover is leaking BUCKETS. There's a new seal in there, and I guess this is a common problem, but even then it's a bit excessive. I'm considering options, and how drastic I want to be to fix it.

Regardless, this is a fun little bike. I'm hoping these are just the first miles of many.

Very nice!!

Exceptionally cool Lucien. One day I will own one.

That is really looking good. Giving me the itch to move my 78F up in the queue a bit. Right now honestly, it's near the end because I wanna do it right and take my time. And there are other fish to fry. Quite a few of them in fact.I

But that SOHC right there is a find example. Do not sell, ride.

Very nice!

I have restored 5 CB750s and they are great motorcycles. I had a brand new 1972 K2 when I was in high school and have owned many since then. $100.00 for one of these in that condition is a real bargain. It does cost a lot of money to restore one if you do it right. I still have two K1 models that I restored and ride both of them. The aftermarket pipes cost me $1600.00 but the prices are climbing. It is important to get heavy duty cylinder studs and torque the heads to 23 foot pounds to solve the leaky head issue. I recommend buying the book that "HondaMan" wrote before starting the project. He has excellent advice on this bike.

Here are some pictures of the two I currently own:

I paid $500.00 for this one and did everything to it. Here are the pictures from start to finish.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

This is my other one:

cfairweather now you have done it. Putting my soul up for sale and actively looking for one of these to do a restore on. Beautiful bikes.

After getting all the necissary gaskets and screws, I figured it would be high time to fix the biggest eyesore still on this bike- the left hand case covers. About 1.5 hours of work later, here's the result.



All three case parts were pretty bad, and if you look close you can still see remains of corrosion here and there. But this is a big improvement over what they used to look like. I didn't get them to a mirror finish, but then again, I wasn't exactly trying to. I sort of a like a more subdued look for these covers, especially for an older bike, where acres of chrome was a little less common. And this bike isn't going to win any awards for beauty anytime soon, so they kinda fit in.



I've still got to paint the black in for the Honda logo, but I'm happy with the result. I've still got rusty bits here and there to take care of, but I think the worst is behind me. And the best part? Either from the oil leaks (looking at you, tach cable) or stuff it'd been sitting in for years, when this bike heats up it smells EXACTLY like every vintage motorcycle show I've ever been to. I love it.

(And yes, I did take it for a nice hour-and-a-half flogging afterwards. She ran great.)

Beautiful bike. Enjoy it.

Gorgeous

Great looking bike, same color as my first bike 1970 CB750 JDM. I still have it and it still runs but I need to restore like you did.

Lucien Harpress wrote: ↑Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:20 pm
And this bike isn't going to win any awards for beauty anytime soon, so they kinda fit in.

I beg to differ. Shes a beauty in my eyes.

Suggestions for your nice K2: Get the correct fender, tail light bracket/light, turn signals and grab bar. The ones you have are for a K0 and K1. Most people would not notice but they stick out to people familiar with the CB750 and it will add value to the bike if these are correct. I think it is an exceptional bike but if I were you I would do a few things to it that won't cost a lot of money. First remove the engine and replace the head gasket. Before reinstalling the head, install heavy duty cylinder studs from APE. Torque to about 20 foot pounds. I then use a propane heater and heat up the engine and then let it cool. Then loosen the head bolts and retorque to about 23lbs. Don't exceed 24 pounds or the studs may break because they are brittle. This will fix the leaky head issue. All of them leaked because Honda used substandard studs that stretched even when torqued to a mere 13 lbs. If you have the money, replace the timing chain with a heavy duty model but you must have a rivet tool for the master link. The timing chain was a weak part in the CB750. You might try going to Cycle-X for the parts. Consider removing the covers and use a polisher to make it easier to polish the covers. This doesn't cost anything but time and it would improve the appearance. You have done a great job, so even if you nothing to the bike I am sure it will bring you years of enjoyment.