New guy, looking for some advice...

[Shmee]

Hey Gents, the name is Mitch and i hail from Vancouver Canada.
i recently got my Motorcycle license after 14years of my dad hounding me so i could ride with him. He's big into Harley's but i've always had a thing for the older Japanese bikes most specifically the mid 80s Honda's. i'm on a ton of car forums so this is nothing new to me aside from the content.

Some basic details on me, i've been an Automotive tech for the past 10 years, worked for a professional race team running Porsches at the Daytona 24hr, modify damn near everything i can get my hands on and have built a multitude of extremely fast cars of all makes and models... amazingly enough, a bike is one thing i want to keep stock! 

I'm currently looking at a few bikes but most focused on getting my hands on an 84-86 Canadian CB750 SC nighthawk, and being a Canadian, this works well for me. if this isn't the right place, please point me in the right direction.

On with the story. i'm having a hell of a time getting info on what the physical and mechanical differences are between the canadian 750 and the American 700. It seems as though they are identical bikes aside from displacement so that leads me to believe that nearly everything from the 700 should cross over with the 750 except for maybe the cylinders and pistons. can anyone confirm or deny this for me? finding parts for the 750 is nearly impossible and the 700 seems to be a much more common bike and even turns up on a few model lists on various parts sites! 

This it the bike i'm looking at, and as you can see, she needs a little love: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zx3tuning/sets/72157627939775356/
Anyone know where i can get new decal sets for this bike? i found a guy on ebay but only has the 700 S decals... also want to change to the red version i like blue and all but i think the red looks better.

i've got tons of questions about these bikes but i'll do some searches first.
Does anyone have a link to a FAQ on this bike as well as a list of things to look for during a PPI?

cheers!
Mitch

[hppants]

Welcome to the group, your experiences are intriging.

There has been much discussion on the differences between the 700s and 750s.  Here's one thread on the subject:

http://nighthawk-forums.com/index.php/topic,501.0/highlight,difference.html

The primary difference is that Honda, in an effort to avoid the "over 700cc import tariff" levied on metric bikes in the mid-80's, de-stroked the 750s by using a different crankshaft.  Much more information can be found by searching the word "differences"

Decal sets can be found at:

www.cbdecals.com  (be forewarned - they are proud of them)

From the pics, the bike you are looking at appears to be a nice example.

You have most definitely come to the right place - there are people on this forum that have completely re-built this bike and quite probably know more about the 700s/750s than Honda knew.  And they are very helpful to say the least.  Best of luck to you in your endeavor.

[skramer360]

Here is a thread started by one of our long standing members with a 750s talking about the differences in the clutch.
http://nighthawk-forums.com/index.php/topic,6089.0.html
Here is another thread that has some info in it.
http://nighthawk-forums.com/index.php/topic,6871.0/highlight,difference+700.html
BTW  to the NHF

[ariwhiteboy]

  to the forum! Sure that bike needs some love, but it's far from the worst we've seen. Can't wait to see some updates on it. 

[Shmee]

Thanks for the welcome and the links!
What's intriguing about my experiences? I assure you it sounds far more glamorous than the reality! ;)

The bike I'm looking at has ~65,000km or around ~40k miles on it, was ridden regularly before traded in on a DS bike. Is there still a decent amount of life left in these bikes with that mileage? they are asking $1500obo, pretty sure I can get it for less. There's a 9/10 example some 10hours away from me that has 25k km and wants $3k. Also found what could be a parts bike but they are asking way too much right now... I'll have to work on that one! :lol:

$185 for those decals doesn't seem bad! Far better than the $400-1000 I have been quoted for a shop to repaint the panels! What's the quality and fit/finish like?

What are acceptable upgrades as far as the header/exhaust systems go? I've been told by a couple shops that the CB750 is one of the few bikes that work best with the stock exhaust, any truth to this? I wanted to get some extra sound, not really concerned with any "extra performance," just need to be louder to avoid the idiot drivers around here a bit better! :p

Thanks for the help and I'll keep you guys posted on any purchases! :thumbup:

[ariwhiteboy]

What are acceptable upgrades as far as the header/exhaust systems go? I've been told by a couple shops that the CB750 is one of the few bikes that work best with the stock exhaust, any truth to this?

For one thing, you might have found an honest shop...

The 750SC, it's American counterpart the 700s, and the newer Nighthawk 750 all have aftermarket exhausts available, but they require extensive re-jetting for only minimal, if any gains to performance. If it's stock, be happy with what you have. 

[hppants]

What's intriguing about my experiences?

"Some basic details on me, i've been an Automotive tech for the past 10 years, worked for a professional race team running Porsches at the Daytona 24hr..."  <<<<< pretty intriging to me.  I'm a motorsports fanatic.

Ari's right - the stock exhaust on the 700s/750s makes a unique sound that is really nice IMO.  Also, the cam profile on the bike is such that, even in stock form, there's quite a "hit" at 7K and again at 9K.  With the aftermarket exhaust, if it's jetted right, that is even more pronounced, as the breathing is better at the top end.  Still (and I've owned both a 700s and a later model 750), I doubt a header gives you any real performance increase.

There are examples of 700s and 750s bikes with over 100K miles on them.  The bike's cam chain tensioner spring is inheritedly weak by design, and causes the cam chain to make some noise at the lower rpm ranges.  I've never heard of a cam chain breaking, which would be devestating (interference motor), but if it gets loose enough, the chain could jump a tooth.  OTOH, the alternator chain tensioner rod is another known weak point that, if (read - when) it breaks, could cause some damage to the bike.  Gammer has a very detailed thread on how to remove the rod, cut it down, and re-install it to avoid this problem.  You will have to split the cases, but I'm sure with your experience, this is not a big deal.  Finally, the 2nd gear shift fork on the 700s/750s has a higher incidence of failure.  I wouldn't call it notorious, but if the rider abuses the 1-2 shift enough, it will break.  Good replacements are readily available.

Members Gammer, Munkey, Karljay, and others have all taken this bike down to it's last bolt.  These guys are geniouses IMO - if you buy that bike (and a shop manual), you have all of the help you will ever need right on this website.

[tomb raider]

  Mitch, I'm South of the border 90 minutes. I have a 85 blue and did the 85 Red this summer. But I did it all on extra parts. Now she is back to Blue for winter. Talk em down, Seen many in that area half the miles for that. 

[Shmee]

I'm not scared of getting my hands dirty. in fact the plan was to strip whatever bike i get down to bare frame this winter, sand blast the frame to bare metal and have it powdercoated, do a major clean up on the engine and repolish on the parts that were polished, clean and service most of the moving parts, Clean and/or rebuild the Carbs and replace what needs to be replaced. Might change the color of the bike too. this is my helmet and figured i can makes the color scheme work with the bike fairly well using the standard Decal colors: http://images.motorcycle-superstore.com/ProductImages/OG/2011-Arai-XD-3-Adventure-Helmet.jpg
Sort of paint it like the color inverse of this: http://kpr.craigslist.org/mcy/2652573331.html

i've been looking south of the boarder at the 700's as well. found a nice one in Bothell and one near Portland with much lower mileage and only slightly higher prices.

Also looking at the VF700/750 Interceptors....
i'm most concerned about getting the best bike for the dollar, even if that means buying a couple and building one myself. ;)

Thanks for all the help so far, you guys have been great!

[Shmee]

looks like i'm getting closer and closer to a 84 CB750 SC... found 2 in the same town, about 4 hours away. one is in great running shape and low KM but cosmetically kinda rough and the other in so-so running shape and high miles but very good cosmetic shape. pretty sure i can get both for under $2k together, then hit up a salvage yard  on the way home and pic up a host of spare parts from another for a couple hundred more! 
of both are crap then there's a 84 VF1000R with 22k KM's in the same town for $2200 that i might snatch up instead!

[tomb raider]

 

[ariwhiteboy]

Cosmetics are alot more fun to fix than mechanicals...IMO.