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
Located in beautiful Central Virginia since 2001
8175 Black Walnut Run Road, Rhoadesville, VA 22542 USA
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The Mid-Atlantic Region Premier Restorer of Vintage Motorcycles
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This page was last updated on: August 3, 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 2: Posted April 28, 2010
The Reality
Oft times, vintage motorcycle folks spot a basket case bike and say one of several things: “That won’t take much to get going again.” or something like “Shouldn’t be too expensive to get back on the road.” or even “That doesn’t look that bad.” Such optimism…
I mostly fall into the last category with a soft spot for the forlorn pile of rusty leftovers, abandoned in the corner of the swap meet pile awaiting a savior to reassemble it into something resembling and functioning like a motorcycle. The rarer, and more obscure, the better in my book as it makes the finished product even more unusual and attention getting. Doesn’t everyone appreciate a 1962 Jawa Pionyr with the best Eastern Bloc engineering the point of a gun could enforce? Plus, everyone else doesn’t own one that looks just like it. That wasn’t the idea, of course, with this project as Honda CB750s are not exactly rare. What did happen was that a formerly complete (although incorrect) bike was at one point in a rideable chunk, then became that same forlorn pile forgotten for a long time in the corner. I always ask when I acquire just such a basket case, “How did XYZ machine get in such a condition?” I think I have my answer.
Here’s how it happened to this one: About 1999 or so, this ’74 CB750 became mine through a couple trades and I decided to restore it to replace my just sold ’73 CB750, which is now somewhere in Finland to the best of my knowledge. I pulled it down, began the same process I’d done a few times before of cataloging, organizing, and degreasing the basic elements of a motorcycle, then became involved in marriage, constructing a home, starting a new job, starting a business, and a half-dozen other important things. The 750 first got moved to the side of the shop, then the corner of the shop, then under the bench, then to the storage shed, then to a separate storage building, and finally spread around approximately 3 different buildings as the business expanded and other things took priority. It was largely forgotten, save for the frame which looked me in the eye every single time I had to retrieve a part from our storage building. It unblinkingly reminding me that I had committed myself to bring this Honda back to the road. Finally, as I explained before, the time had come and I needed to get back on the road, so I started the assessment.
Literally, it took me about 6 hours to make a list and sort all of the bits,
then pile them all into one neater and semi-organized pile that would become
this bike again. Some of the parts were as I remembered them and some not
at all and more still were non-existent in this dimension. (Or squirreled away in
that spot I forgot to look in.) Funny how you remember things so much
differently after 11 years have passed. Anyway, about 95% of the bike is here
on-hand now, and in a state where the work can begin. I decided very quickly
on that I don’t want this to turn into such a full-blown restoration that at the
first sign of a raindrop, I’ll be headed for the garage to wipe, polish and buff
away any sign of use. No, it will be a rider for sure and a decent looking one at that. It won’t be original to the 100 point concours level either. Practical, simple, enjoyable, and realistic are all terms that keep popping into my head as I form my ideas and proceed with this project. As it stands now, the frame has been stripped to the bare metal (how we prefer to start all our restorations) and painted. Now it's on the bench ready for a build-up. One part of the plan is to build the key components such as the frame, electrics, and engine back to the point so that in the future, this bike can be put to perfectly original as time, money and preference dictate. The bodywork colors may be a shade off from correct, the fenders will probably get painted for now as the chrome is not perfect, and the wheels are clean originals, not re-laced or re-chromed units. All of these are things that can be gone back and done later with a minimum of fuss and not nearly as much time as a total rebuild. Ride a couple weeks, then spend a Sunday getting the new wheels done up, sort of thing. An ongoing project, that will change, or maybe not depending on how it performs.
Next update: Frame build-up, electrical, upgrades, and missing parts acquisition
Pictures from 1998-99 when I first obtained the bike. This was when it was still in shop and before it made it's journey to the land of "I'll get to it when I can" projects.
April 2010: the frame painted & drying in the paint book
Painted frame on the bench awaiting parts to be added on
