HONDA CB750 K2
A long-time Honda four fan, our Mark has finally taken the plunge and bought this. But does he have a mountain to climb?
Mark has another project!
Ihaven’t finished that TX500 yet, but it is getting there – honest – so now is the time to think about what is next and I have gone and done it! I do like Hondas and of course one of my favourites is the CB750 SOHC, so why not? One reason why not is that they are becoming rather collectable, particularly early ones, with some for sale for completely crazy prices like £50,000 (admittedly for an early sand-cast but really they are not that rare as the change to die-casting took place at engine number 7415). I am not in that league I am afraid, but it is possible to get an okay 1970 model for a relatively reasonable price. That would be nice but it would need to be perfect when complete and that means spending big money. So, for an even more reasonable price I managed to find a late 1971 early K2 model (Photo 1) instead. It is an import from Montana, USA so it carries no registration number. Now, I know what you are thinking: isn’t there a bit missing? Yes, well actually no, the seat is not shown here because the first thing I needed to think about was how it could be made a bit more midgetfriendly for yours truly. I put this question to a multi-skilled mate of mine who modifies car upholstery as part of his repertoire and before I could blink he had already started to take off the cover! We shall see how it will be done later, but for now just imagine the seat on there, okay? The second thing you will think is ‘what’s with that colour: muddy brown?’ And I do agree with you. It is called Briar Brown Metallic and I must say it is rather, shall we say, subdued compared with the contemporary alternatives, Flake Sunrise Orange and Candy Gold. So we’ll see about that, but it is not as bad in real life as in the photos show. I was told by the seller that they had heard the engine run (always a good sign) but only using Easy-start as the carburettors and fuel tank were probably a bit gunged up. So sorting that will be one of the first jobs but let us take a look round the rest of the bike to see what I have let myself in for. I was very interested to see that it has only covered 276 miles in the last 45 years… (Photo 2). Well maybe not. The speedo does not look new so how has this happened? Has it perhaps done 100,276 miles? That remains to be seen. The four-into-two exhaust system is very interesting with some crossover pipework under the engine so that cylinders one and three and two and four are joined together, exiting on the right and left respectively. The outlets are a curious bell-shape (Photo 3). I wonder what it will sound like? Would it be legal to use on the road in this country? The bike’s chrome is in pretty good
condition apart from one or two small areas which are quite rusty. On the other side (Photo 4) we see that there is not a speck of oil or grease on the chain, though it does not seem to be worn badly. I think this all points to the bike having been steam cleaned at some point which has removed all the oil and allowed a bit of rust to take hold in places. One sign that this is an American-spec bike is that huge rear light (Photo 5). It is legal in this country and probably safer so that can stay, but there are a couple of points. The so-called bumper, what we would call a grab-rail, is missing. This was fitted to the US models instead of the plain little left-mounted handle on UK models. It was used to mount the indicators, which are also absent. There are a couple of interesting custom modifications. One criticism of older Hondas is that the ignition switch was often hard to reach, maybe mounted on a side panel or under the front of the tank, as on the CB750. Someone has fitted this bracket to relocate it to a more convenient place (Photo 6) which is quite a neat idea. The right-hand handlebar grip is equally interesting (Photo 7). The idea of that curious shape is that the heel of the rider’s hand rests on the extension, helping to keep the throttle open against spring pressure for extended periods. Evidently a previous owner liked to go for transcontinental trips over the 276 miles! A subtle clue to part of the bike’s history is found on the rear brake lever (Photo 8) where we see a little dab of yellow paint. This was used by the factory as part of the quality control process to indicate that the bolt had been tightened correctly. Although worn, the paint traces exactly line up so the bolt cannot have ever been undone and hence the lever not taken off. CB750 engines are taken out from the right-hand side so this one must have always been in place, hence it must be the original engine. One or two areas show some damage. Looking at the engine’s right-hand side (Photo 9), the chromed points cover is dented. Most pictures of imported CB750S for restoration seem to be similarly afflicted and I suspect this must be caused by them being packed (too) tightly into a shipping container. It doesn’t look much but a new one is £39 plus VAT so it all adds up. Headlamp brackets seem to suffer in a similar way (Photo 10) and this one is £95 plus VAT. So there it is: I am realistic about this and do not want to spend the earth on this project, nor am I in a particular hurry to get it done. There are many museum pieces out there that look just as they did on the day they were made, thanks to being rebuilt from an endless supply of new old stock parts, but that is not my aim: I want to ride it! So let’s see what can be done.