From a pile of parts to nearly complete - Joey's CB750 K3

The biggest problems we ran into:
1) the forks that came on this thing were off of a cb350. I didn't realize how different the fork lowers were until we went to put it all together, my later fork tubes and springs would NOT fit it. So, if anyone wants a set of freshly rebuilt and painted cb350 forks let me know ;)

2) We planned to throw the wheels and tires from my K7 on there but didn't realize that the early and later K's had different hubs. So, after about a million different tries with different axles, and spacers, and drums, and whatnot we finally realized the left side of the hub was larger on the K7, probably to make up for the wider swingarm and greater offest on the later F and K bikes. So, we would up cleaning 2 sets of hubs.
The hardest part of all of this, and probably of the entire build was that farking bearing retainer. Using TWO spanner wrenches it still took forever to get off. Joe came to the rescue when putting it back on and helped by holding them in place with a board and his weight. The added leverage of turning the board also helped greatly.

3) The center stand spring. That thing is a mother effer. Joe also had another stroke of genius though. (see below)

For anyone wondering how the wide world of sports you get the centerstand spring back on... here's how:

I SUCK at painting... seriously

So I painted Joe's K3 and my Gl1000 tank.
That was way harder than I expected it to be.

The tank came out fairly nice because it was mostly flat surfaces and easy to reach spots.

Unfortunately, Joe's frame had more nooks and crannies than an English Muffin. There are also some really tight spaces to try and fit the HVLP gun through in order to spray. The combination of these factors made it really difficult to paint.

I managed to get the primer down without a problem but had a really hard time with the ceramic frame paint.
I also didn't buy enough to practice a whole lot (the tank was my practice).

Next time I'll definitely overbuy on paints for practice and might even get a smaller detail gun to make it easier to paint the frame.

Stripping

Stripped

Trying my hand at painting.

I put a couple coats of primer on Joey's K3 last night.
It started out great but didn't end so well. I had a couple drips around areas that were hard to get into with the spray gun as I expected. So I let it dry and sanded it down. When I went to apply another coat the gun started spraying out larger globs of paint (assuming some had dried in the cup) and then the frame fell off it's hook. I put a couple big ol' handprints right on the fresh primer. That's when I decided to call it a night. I'll be sanding all that back down and going back for round 2 tonight.

Here's a picture of the frame right after I stripped it, but before I prepped it for paint.

Add a couple more to the pile...

So, I think I may be a wee bit addicted to bikes.

I picked up another '75 GL1000 last night and I'm headed out to snag the ever elusive CB400-4 this evening.
Pictures coming soon.

*Update: 7/28/11*

Credit to the P.O. Phillip Kelly for the pics. I was too lazy to take pics and too eager to start tearing it apart.

It's already had the carbs and filters removed for cleaning, new bushings for rear shocks, clubman bars instead of those clip-ons, new left-hand control with a new clutch lever and cable (now it's tight as a tick instead of stiff as a brick with a sloppy lever.)

Honda Cub

Chris' Honda Cub carb cleaned up pretty good.

Hot Spot

I'm still diagnosing the problem that left me and my 76 Gl1000 stranded on the parkway last weekend, but I think I have made some progress.

After using some "Prep 'n' Etch" to de-rust the fuel tank, and taking a second look at the carbs, I moved on to the ignition. The first thing I did was pull the points and found a pretty sizable crater in the surface of one point and the other looked pretty messed up as well. Both surfaces are damaged well beyond sanding, so I'll be replacing them soon.

I'll get some pics for you when I stop being too lazy to whip out my homemade macro lens.

*Update 7/12* Points are swapped out and gap set. Still need to set timing but I'll do that after everything goes back together. Tonight will be remounting carbs and re-checking valve lash.

GL1000 Gas Tank Removal

Removed rear wheel and brake caliper.

Oh yea... and the shocks and exhaust.

Drop the swingarm out of the way.

Before I can remove the shelter I have to figure out what the hell is going on here.
Previous Owner, added a few switches and whatnot. Now I get to sort it out.

Surprisingly less difficult than expected. It would have been a
whole lot easier if I didn't have to sort out the P.O.'s wiring mess.

After a lot of pulling and wiggling I realized there was still one thing preventing
the removal of the tank; the rear brake lines.

So off it came. Two master cylinder bolts, caliper bracket bolt, and...

...this little guy. Instead of trying to take the lines apart or pry it out of
that hangar, just take off the bolt that attaches it to the battery box
and the whole rear brake assembly will fall out and land on your foot.

SUCCESS!

Now what?

"Wuh, w-w-what are you gonna do with THAT?!?" o.0

Electrolysis.

Don't worry tank, I do this alllllll the time.

Well that didn't last long

Just hours earlier this bike was actually in one piece and running.

The 76 GL1000 crapped out on me yesterday. It ran fine for about a day and a half before stalling out.
I'm unsure as to what caused the problem but basically it refused to start. Then it started but kept cutting out and wouldn't run above 3000 RPM. Finally It decided to start and run long enough for me to make it back home.
I suspect bad gas or maybe some rust made it's way into the carbs.

I'm not taking any chances this time though. The tank got pulled and is current-ly (see what I did there?) undergoing electrolysis. The carbs are going to get pulled soon and a double check of my valve lash adjustment and the entire ignition system is to follow.

***Update***
The symptoms described in this post were caused by a faulty ballast resistor.
See: This post about the ballast resistor for the remedy.

Perfect end to a long day

When I woke up this morning the 76 Goldwing was still in pieces. Valve covers over here, faux tank sides over there, exhaust in the corner, etc... After a very long and productive day I'm proud to say she's up and running.

Quick recap of what was done:

• Torqued heads to spec
• Replaced timing belts and pulleys
• Adjusted valve lash
• Lube and cleaned tachometer cable (squeaked really bad)
• Mount carbs
• Replaced throttle cables
• Replaced speedo light
• Cleaned all electrical connections and terminals
• Replaced battery
• Bled brakes and re-routed brake lines
• Mounted exhaust with new crush washers
• Re-mounted shelter sides with new retainer cables and pins
• Flushed cooling system
• Changed oil

This list really doesn't do all the work justice when you consider the number of times I had to test-fit, mount, re-mount, clean, torque, and evaluate the things I'd done. However, none of that really matters because now she's roadworthy and about to start collecting some serious miles.

I'm so excited, I think I'll take her for a spin.

Cheers!