1974 Honda 750 K

HI All,

Well tomorrow I get my 1974 Honda CB750K back from my son.

When my wife's health was going down hill and she couldn't ride with me anymore I gave the Honda to my son. He rode it for a year or two until his health went downhill also. I guess my wife passed her genes onto him along with her health problems.

Anyway, with him not riding the Honda I asked if he wanted to get rid of it back to me. He agreed. So I will take a trailer over there tomorrow and bring her back home. I'm not sure how much it will take to get her running, if anything but a check up. I'm hoping for the check up.

This Honda is the one we rode to FL so many years ago. It will be nice to get her back home. It would be nicer if it was under different circumstances tho.

This is us on the Honda before we took our FL trip.

After riding my SWing for these past two seasons I might have to learn how to ride a bike I have to shift all over again.

You might find yourself spoiled by the SW!

Dale I hope it's simple to get running. It's nice to step back to the past sometimes, memories are priceless. :Angel Flying:

This should keep you busy.

I'm also hoping it doesn't take much to get it running again. Maybe my wife will want to ride on this one also seeing as this was the one we did all of our riding on. I'm also hoping that it doesn't take too much to remember how to ride it what with shifting and all.

And, looking at the photo, is when I used to have dark hair too. I still have as much when I let it grow out but for some reason it's a LOT lighter.

Dale N. wrote:

And, looking at the photo, is when I used to have dark hair too. I still have as much when I let it grow out but for some reason it's a LOT lighter.

... and here I am thinking you're wearing a Davy Crockett hat!

Good luck with the fixing up!! Hopefully is won't put a hole in your wallet.

Congratulations on the return of an old friend! I put a lot of miles on a 1969 CB750. Awesome bike but my feeling is the SWing would be more comfortable if I had them both side by side... The 750 had more giddyup to be sure. Post some more pictures when you get her home?

Fantastic!

They were/ are a great bike.

I had a brand new one in 1974. It was a metallic green and I installed a BATES fiberglass police sytle fairing and a backrest and luggage rack.

My wife and I did a 6,561 mile vacation trip and the bike was absolutely perfect for the entire trip. It did need a new rear tire and I thought I'd have to have a new ARSE a few times, especially on our last day, when we rode 950 miles.

After a few years, I bought a new 1976 CB750A, automatic. It was lime metallic. I wish I still had it.

Yeah, we all had lots of nice, thick hair in those days! I do hope you have ditched the FAG thing though. That's what they smoke in the United Kingdom:)

Sam:)

Meldrew wrote:

Dale N. wrote:

And, looking at the photo, is when I used to have dark hair too. I still have as much when I let it grow out but for some reason it's a LOT lighter.

... and here I am thinking you're wearing a Davy Crockett hat!

It's funny because when I was young I did have a Davy Crockett hat.

No Porkie, I still smoke. When I was young my Dad told me that if I'm going to start something to stick with it because he hated quitters... :lol!:

OK. You asked for it. She doesn't look like much now but I do have other side covers and a tank for it. I just got her home and haven't gotten it off the trailer yet in these photos. I think we've both aged a little bit since the first photo of us on it. It was a great running bike and I hope that with a bit of TLC it will still run great. Time will tell. Plus, she needs a bath REAL BAD!

You have a lot of nice stuff on that CB. After a labor of love, it will be something you can be proud of.

By the way, that Vetter Windjammer fairng was/ is state of the art. I had a new one on my new 1981 Yamaha XS11.

Sam:)

Nice!

Looking good for it's age. I'm talking about the bike.

My first real trip was on a 750 Honda. 2500 miles in five days from Dallas to Colorado to the Grand Canyon and back through New Mexico. (It's a long way from El Paso to Dallas) The old saying posted in a boxcar was: "The sun has riz, the sun has set, and here I am in Texas yet."

If you look at the first photo I still have the hard saddle bags for it in the attic of my garage. I made the mounts for them also. After I get it up and running I'm thinking of putting the bags back on it. Also, depending on how the blue tank still looks I might just have to do a paint job on it this winter. Gotta make it look somewhat pretty again.

Quick Update: The Honda did start this morning but was missing on at least one cylinder so a carb cleaning and new plugs is in order. Not to mention oil and filter and check the air filter also.

Nice ride Dale.

Thanks sonuvabug. I putzed around with the carbs today and got it running. It purrs like a kitten now and runs great. It still needs a bath very badly but I wanted to get it running first. I don't have insurance on it yet so I only took it around the block to see how it would run. Now to change the title back over to me and get the insurance and it will be a whole new learning experience. I haven't ridden it in over 4-6 years or so.

While taking the carbs off I noticed the hoses that hold them to the head were a bit loose. I should have just tightened them up and tried it but NOOO I had to take them off and find out nothing was wrong with them. Oh Well. Live and Learn I guess. LOL

And, I still have to change the oil, filter etc. That will come with time. Short time too. I want to ride it again.

I had a 73K and a 77F. Loved them both. A great simple clean looking motorcycle.

Dale,

That is pretty cool you got your old bike back. I haven't seen a Vetter fairing in quite some time. The Vetter factory was located in Rantoul, Illinois and I had a couple of friends that worked there when I was in my 20's. I lived about 20 miles away from there and it was a great place to work they said. The Vetter brings back memories. I think it would look cool to get your sidebags back on your bike and remove the top case. The sidecases seem to look more natural when I look at the first picture. Do you think you will repaint it to the blue like the picture with you and your wife on it? That's a nice color. But since the SWing is a bit newer techology the Swing may be more comfortable but I bet the 750 is much more powerful. Back in '69 that was considered a really big bore bike. Keep us informed on what you do and keep the pics coming. I think it is cool to have an older bike and especailly one that was kept in the family.

JeffR,

I got the new Battery Tender Lithium Ion battery for it today and it's on the charger to bring it from 70% to 100% charge.

I do plan on painting it this winter. It's in the garage now and I'm going to give it its first bath in about 4 years. It Needs It! I thought I still had the blue tank for it but I can't find it anywhere. So, I guess I'll just have to paint what's there and be done with it.

I also have to repair the left side cover. It has a crack in it. I used body putty on the other side and it's still holding. What I did with that one was to drill some small holes along each side of the crack and counter sink the outside of each hole. That gave something for the putty to hold onto and it seems to work. Then I just sand it all down and prime and paint.

I think I'm going to leave the top box on it along with the side cases but I will paint them all the same. I looked in the attic of the garage and they were still there with the homemade mounts still attached. Now all I have to do is hope I can find the keys for the side cases. LOL They'll probably be in the last place I look for them.

I'll take photos of the progress and post as I go on. That probably won't be until this winter tho unless I get the painting bug sooner.

Just a quick update after looking at the photos again. I'm not too sure about painting the fairing. I might just leave it black and paint the whole bike black. Any thoughts would be welcomed.

The black would look good too and it would then match the fairing. Sounds like a great project and I bet it will look great when it is done.

Keep the reports coming.

Here's a report on the new Battery Tender Lithium Ion battery I just installed. The photos looked good on my phone but here they are a bit blurry but you can still see the size difference between the two. I also started the bike and the battery had power to spare. It turned over fast and started right off. Now to get the insurance for it on Monday along with getting the title put back in my name. I have the new tabs which I will put on tomorrow after I give it a bath.

And, NO I won't pull the battery back out and take clearer photos of it. . On a good note tho I do like these batteries. They weigh 1.75 Lbs and have a 3 year warranty. The one I have in my SWing works great. I found this one on eBay for $99.00 with free shipping.

Cool. I more problem solved. Do you think you will be able to take it for a ride soon? Or does it take awhile to get a bike licensed in Minn?

Hi JeffR, No it doesn't take long. Just go down and purchase the tabs at the Deputy Registrar. I don't have to worry about that tho seeing as my son already got them. I just have to put them on. All I have to do for insurance is call my agent. He still has all the info in his computer and will email me a proof of insurance to print out until I get my "real" card. For the title transfer, that is also done at the Deputy Registrar's office which is right in town at a local bank. So, no problems with anything except waiting for Monday to roll around.

The original windscreen looks cooler . Its useful , but I'd Ditch the top box...and the seat . But , who am I to say . Glad your able to ride it again .Miles of smiles . ST

Dale, I foresee a major problem with riding that bike with the Windjammer. Every time you stop, people will want to stop and talk about the one they, their dad, or uncle had. You'll spend more time talking than riding.

Never mind, you were a truck driver. They love to jaw. Roll on big guy!!!!

Hi, that is the trouble with my Trail 90. People always stop and say "my uncle had one" or "I learned to ride on one" etc. Lots of good conversation starters.

I get the "stop and chat" thing all the time on the swing. Its rare to see a swing here so everyone has the questions- what is it? Is it gas? Is it electric? Can it do highway speeds?     After explaining everything the conversation usually ends with "man thats cool"! Even had one guy wanting to buy it on the spot. Nope!

I do get that with the SWing quite a bit. I was waiting at McDonald's, my local health food shop, yesterday waiting for someone to show up so we could go on a ride and a few came over and started the question routine. Maybe with any luck they might be interested enough to do a search and pick one up themselves. Then they can do another search and join this forum.

As far as the 750 goes. The way it looks right now I will probably get mostly looks wondering what it is and why does it look so much like crap. I had a 1965 Ducati 350 way back when and I could have parked it downtown and nobody would mess with it because it also looked like crap and leaked a bit of oil. Not enough oil to where it was a problem but just a spot under it. But one kick on the kick starter and it was off and running.

Sknrdtec, I won't get rid of the seat. I put that on and it's very comfortable. As far as the top box goes I'll probably keep that too. It will look better after a paint job this winter. And once I get the hard sidebags back on it will be like it was when we took our FL trip. Maybe that will be the magnet to bring her down for a ride sometimes.