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Need to clean it up a bit and take some pics on a nicer day with a better camera...but I guess it's kinda finished









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Hi all! I'm going to apologize for the length of this first post as I had meant to start a thread when I first started and didn't, so this is catching up on a few weeks worth of work. Soooo here we go....

I posted a few times last spring when I got my 75 on the road after sitting for nearly ten years. Long story short...the motor ended up detonating in September and after bringing it into a local shop last month to see what the damage was, it turned out it was going to be cheaper to source a replacement engine. It was then that I decided I was going to do a complete tear down and restore / modify into a cafe style bike.

Here is what I started with:


Managed to pick up a parts bike and solid spare motor and went to work tearing everything down to the frame



I shaved a few things off the frame before paint, like the rear peg and muffler mount and the helmet lock. Frame got a few coats of semi gloss black. Every part of the bike is getting cleaned up and either painted, polised, or powder coated before re-assembly. Right now every piece of chrome trim as well as various odds and ends like the battery box and radiator brackets are off at the powder coater getting a semi gloss black finish and in the meantime everything I couldn't or didn't want to get poweder coated got painted.


For the motor I chose cast iron engine enamel while the valve, timing belt, oil filter and clutch cover are getting the semi gloss black PC. The starter was also painted black. Let me tell ya, cleaning 40 years of gunk off the motor to prep it for paint was no easy task, but after many hours and some help from a friend with a fork lift I got it done. The paint will be cured this weekend and the covers will all go on after that. I'm hoping to get it back in the frame on Sunday.


I also purchased a new clutch and timing belts which will go in before re-assembly and a complete set of new gastkets. With all the restoration work well under way it was time to start planning what I needed for parts and what I wanted the final product to look like.




In the end I decided not to chop up any of the stock parts as they are all in great shape and I ordered a new front fender (Ducati 750SS replica)

Parts started showing up so I worked on some mock ups




I plan on covering the seat in brown leather and I'm working on a couple of possible paint schemes



As of right now I'm leaning towards the grey and white with a black pin stripe and a solid grey side cover, all in matte finish. It will take some work to find a grey that won't clash with the cast iron engine block so I will have to see what I can do with that. Originally I had planned on the body work all being black but I'm now moving away from that into what I think are more classic "cafe racer" schemes.

I also refinished my gauges (should have painted the needles red! too late now)



That's where things sit now. The powder coated parts will be ready to pick up tomorrow and hopefully this weekend I will get the engine back in and at least a rolling chasis again. With the exception of the signals, bar end mirrors, front fender and piggy back shocks, all my other parts have arrived. I am attempting to do all of the work on my own and so far it's been going well (fingers crossed). I've never taken on a project of this size before and I'm really hoping the finished product is worth it. However the list of things I have yet to tackle is still pretty long, but I'll update as I go along

Great start on a good project! Keep up the pictures!

Nice, you dropped some change.

Really looking good. I really like the seat and the overall flow of the bike...I'll keep watching this build!

I like the way you hung the engine for painting. I was looking for an easy way to accomplish that, thanks. BTW, the bike is looking great!

Thanks guys!

I definitely spent a little money so far on this build (with more to go I'm sure). When the bike originally broke down I had contemplated buying something else and tinkering away at this one in my spare time. It was originally my late fathers who was a Honda mechanic and loved old wings. I apprenticed in his shop with him about 20 years ago when I was a teenager and it's been about that long since I've worked on bikes (I made a very different career choice). This wing is one of the few things of his I have, so I decided that I will be keeping it for the foreseeable future and the money I put into it is irrelevant at this point. So I'm trying to do things right and on my own. I doubt my dad would have agreed with some of my styling choices, but this way it gets to be a bit of both of us.

i think your parts bike has the Star Mag wheels on it. those are not exactly popular but they are rare. don't toss em

Parts back from the PC'er



Couldn't resist testing fitting a few pieces to see what it'll look like all buttoned up. I like it!

That thar is purty stuff. I miss Baywatch.

Nice build going on there. Bike porn.

Yeah, this one is already looking pretty darn good.

On the subject of "Everything affects everything":
Drag bars (or clubman bars) will require a shorter clutch cable (MotionPro makes them to order) and a re-route. I had to carve up the choke cable mount to get the clutch cable past it. The stock carb setup will likely want shorter throttle cables, and the upper front brake line will need some attention.
You may need to alter the fork stops so the handlebar controls don't hit the shelter.

7" headlight stone guards like you show in one of the photos are available from a variety of places. I agree that one would look pretty good on your bike.

If you decide to pull the gauges apart to paint the needles, fishing tackle places (Cabela's or Bass Pro for sure) carry small bottles of florescent paint in various colors. Probably not florescent black though.

Thanks guys, I'm really happy with how everything has come together so far.

I know I'll need to work out the cables with the lower bars. I'm trying to decide if I should just order some custom length ones or if I should try shortening the ones I've got using a kit like this http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Cable-fitting-as ... 83&vxp=mtr
There are a couple of buddies CX500’s in my garage right now too that will need shorter cables so I could split the cost with them. I've always had good results in the past with building my own, and if I shorten them on the bar side I won't run into as much of a problem if they come apart.

For the brakes, I'm going to upgrade to a set of stainless steel lines on the front, just trying to source some right now. Any good suppliers I should be looking at? A quick eyeball measure tells me the top line between the bar MC and the splitter needs to be about half the length of stock. I've also seen some people who remove the splitter all together, but I'm not sure what the benefit of that is...

I discovered that my donor motor has a Dyna S ignition where as my original motor had the stock points.

Here's what it looks like:



I don't know anything about electronic ignition upgrades. Am I going to be able to just plug this into my stock harness and be good to go? Or will I need to do some wiring / order new parts? Help!

You should be able to swap in the Dana system into your bike...there are install directions around I believe, so baring those, you have everything you need. Seem to recall the resister is a different one than stock.

If you take a length of 1/8" solder and mock up your brake line run, you can then straighten out the piece of solder and measure it to know what length you want.