Carbs

Someone once said that "Carburetor is French for 'Don't $*@!-ing touch!' ". After removing mine and beginning to disassemble it, I agree with them.

After examining the tiny parts, screws, springs, gaskets, floats, supports, etc. that make up the entire carb ass'y, I'm beginning to appreciate the fuel injection system on my SV. However, once you tear apart a FI system on a modern engine, you begin to appreciate the simplicity of a carbureted engine.

However I didn't realize this at the time, and jumping right into things, starting with the carb, proved to be quite disconcerting. I quickly lost all hope into having the ability to rebuild this bike with the skills I had (or lacked). The cover went over the bike, and it sat in the parking lot, next to my truck and SV for almost 2 years.

Teardown

Wow... the formatting of this blog crap is already beginning to annoy me. Regardless, I shall press on.

Immediately after getting the bike home, I started tearing it apart. It was in pretty rough shape, and a lot of the cables and hoses were corroded, cracked, and dry rotted. There was no repairing them, they'd simply have to be replaced. However, I've learned from working on my SV that if you have to replace something, you might as well replace it with something better, stronger, and lighter!

I took apart as much as I could, and also removed the carbs so they could be cleaned/rebuilt.

History

History

So a little history into what's going on, for those that might not already know.

Back in the summer of 2007, I picked up a 1977 Honda CB750K. For those that don't know, this was one of the most popular and breakthrough models for the day. It featured electronic start, a front disk brake, and one of the largest motors available on the market.

Today, it's a popular bike to modify into what is known as a "Cafe Racer". Cafe racers were popular back in the 60's in British towns and cities, but also were popular in Ireland, France, and even Germany. Stock bikes were stripped down and modified into a sort-of street-legal race bike. It all fit in with the normal young rebellious culture of the time. Rock N' Roll, shenanigans, and big, loud motorcycles. What more could you want out of life?

Today, people seem to be buying up these old 70's era motorcycles, and doing their best to modify them into something that best represents their attitude. Whether it be a completely blacked out bike, with as little flash as possible, or something that may represent something Liberace would ride, each bike is unique.

Unfortunately for me, I lack a few things required to build such an awesome machine. The first thing, was the bike itself. Cb750's are hard to come by. If they're cheap, it means they're usually junk. If they're running in good condition, it usually means their expensive. But every once in a while, you'll find someone selling something they don't know much about, and that's when I jumped. I picked up my CB from a guy in Virginia Beach. I gave him $400, and he gave me the bike and the title, as well as a few other nik-naks he had laying around.

Welcome!

Welcome!

So I've decided that it'll be much easier to start a blog, and update my progress here, than have to update the 3 or for forums that I'm on. At least that's the theory.

Over the next few days, weeks, months, and hopefully not too many years, I'll keep everyone updated on the step-by-step progress of my rebuild. I'll post progress pics, pics of "inspiration", ideas, thoughts, problems (hopefully followed by solutions), and will try to keep open to any suggestions thrown at me by visitors.

So have a seat, and lets get started!