1974 Honda CB750 Four K4
Mechanical Service with some Cosmetics
Owner & Writer: Randy Creel, Jr., Owner & Restorer of Randy's Cycle Service & Restoration
Revitalize the Spirit & Beauty of your Classic Bike
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8175 Black Walnut Run Road, Rhoadesville, VA 22542 USA
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This page was last updated on: August 6, 2013
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COMMENTS: This page is an ongoing write-up of Randy's mechanical & cosmetic service to the bike he'll personally be riding starting the spring/summer 2010. Write ups - some technical some personal - will be posted along with pictures & a video of the progress. Notifications of new entries will appear on Facebook, so please join us on Facebook by clicking on the icon above.
Blog Entry 15: Posted September 4, 2010
Since I’ve done little more than ride the Honda, I don’t have much exciting
to report in terms of the mechanical end of things. I see that as a good thing,
given that spectacular failures and long walks aren’t much fun no matter what
some old biker tells you. At the point where the odometer ticked over 2,000
miles I did do an oil and filter change, and give everything a once over, finding
nothing at all amiss. Now at @ 3,000 miles, I did have to replace one rear
signal bulb from a vibration failure. Seems that most bulbs are now
manufactured cheaply in some sweatshop overseas to the exacting standards
one would expect to see in those places. Squeaky front brake pads are a bit
of an annoyance, but since the stainless rotors of the CB750 of that era tend
to do that and it doesn’t affect the braking ability, I just live with it. My ’73
did it too, and honestly, I’d probably feel just a bit lonely without the
accompanying squawk as I apply the front brake on my Honda. Besides that,
all systems are functioning well. That gets me thinking about things I’d like to
do versus things I need to do.
As I mentioned in a previous post, there are a few areas where the old 750
could use some improvement in my opinion, not the least of which is the
braking department. Given that the CB750 was the first production bike to be
equipped with a disc brake up front, and it is now 41 year old technology, it
still works quite well and is light-years ahead of what was available at the
time over the counter of your local motorcycle supplier. Still, there is room to
make it work a bit better in today's context and still keep the appearance of
1974. My plan is to finish out this riding season, and if we can get a normal
Winter (read: not 2 feet of snow multiple times that has me plowing,
bulldozing, shoveling, freezing, cleaning up collapsed carports, complaining,
etc.) then I’ll do the dual-disc conversion on the front wheel and disc
conversion on the back and be ready for Spring 2011.
The front brake augmentation won’t be much of an issue as I already have a couple of extra brake discs on the shelf, and over the years I parted a number of CB750’s so caliper mounts, caliper bodies, and other assorted parts are on-hand. The caliper mount will require a bit of machining to fit properly and I already ordered up another stainless steel piston for the stock caliper. Couple that with another braided stainless line, double banjo bolt, some quality brake pads and I should effectively increase the upfront stopping power of the CB750. Sure, it will add a bit more weight using stock components and the calipers are old tech being single piston units, but still the addition of one more grabber will help out, and ultimately keep the look of the bike within the period it was built. Plus, I am not a canyon carver and when you’re riding older bikes like this, I think it pays to keep your mindset in the era it was built in. You will be less disappointed and more likely to enjoy yourself then.
The rear brake disc conversion/parts acquisition turned out to be another matter however. Time isn’t a real issue so I have the luxury of taking pretty much all I need to acquire the necessary parts and then see that they get properly modified to fit. However, one big ‘ol fly in this ointment: there were only two years that the CB750 used a spoke rear wheel with a disc brake arrangement on the CB750 and that was the “F” model of 1975 and 1976. These wheels are not exactly super-rare, but certainly not an easy to find part either. The same applies to the caliper, mount, swing arm, or other little bits. The Comstar wheels of 1977 and up are pretty plentiful, but not what I want to do. While they do offer the ability to use a tubeless tire, in my opinion they just don’t look right on an early CB750. Again, keeping it looking as close to what might have come out of the factory in the 70’s is the point, but taking the best of those years and applying it to one machine. So, I decided to start where everyone does in this realm, calling all of my friends and associates. Nobody had anything lying around a dusty corner for free and with included delivery and installation advice, labor and road-testing afterward, so the next logical step was good ‘ol E-bay. Lots of Comstars lurking about, an occasional stray caliper mount, and sometimes even a rear master cylinder. I figured I’d just keep an active search going and see what turned up, even if it took the Winter to do it. Over the course of two months not even one new listing for any CB750F parts came up until the planets aligned, the gods smiled and suddenly some enterprising person decided to part out a 1976 CB750F model! The Buy-It-Now feature on my e-bay account must have nearly crashed as I snapped up all the parts as fast as that seller listed them for my rear disc brake conversion. I’m sure the seller wasn’t too unhappy about the nearly instant sales either. A wheel, the caliper mount, the caliper, the rear master cylinder mount and the rear master cylinder. They will all need reconditioning for sure, but still, I now have the necessary parts to move forward. I already had a brake disc (same as a GL1000) and the lines and other parts will get replaced with all new stuff of course. I have a couple of extra CB750 swing arms, so I plan on modifying one of the original ones to accept all of the disc brake components before painting it and just doing a complete swap when the time comes.
Since the rear wheel spokes and rim are not the best cosmetically, I may go ahead and rebuild the entire wheel. That will leave me, of course with the dilemma of having one new, pretty wheel and one original. Not a problem, as the front wheel functions just fine, but I’d still like to see a couple of maintenance-free, stainless spoked wheels on the bike come Spring. Not sure what my choice there will be just yet, but when I finally make a decision I’ll keep everyone updated.
My last “Winter project” for this year will be to have the exhaust sent out and ceramic coated in a satin black finish. I have been very happy with the appearance of the satin black hi-temp paint I used on the original exhaust system and I think it fits the bike almost perfectly, however it seems to be very intolerant of any kind of weather, bugs, road grime or extreme temperature swings. I find myself constantly touching it up due to flaking around the edges, or discoloration after riding in the rain. Something more permanent will fit the bill here and ceramic coating seems to be the thing. I have yet another set of pipes hanging around that are very solid, yet the chrome is pretty poor, so they will be good candidates for coating and they won’t cause any downtime while they are at the coaters’. I will report on the results of this later on in the year.
Next Update: Stay tuned for more updates and another big ride video ...
In Tappahanock with a friend who rides a 1986 Honda Magna VF1100. He's in his 70s, too!
At Warm Springs Mountain in Warm Springs, Virginia
