Adventures on the Old Girl, and with the Old Girl

[Steverino]

I picked up a nail in the front tire of my 75 CB750 about a year ago and it developed those symptoms in the mile or so it took me to figure out I was losing pressure. It was a slow leak and the gradual deterioration of handling was an interesting experience.
Steve

[sarals]

It does feel for all the world like a soft tire, Steve.

But, I think I found the answer, or at least, a contributing factor. The front forks are slightly twisted in the triple clamps. The wheels are straight and aligned, but sighting down the forks shows that the forks are canted slightly to the right. I'll get to loosening things up and try to get them aligned later today.

[sarals]

I finally got around to "untwisting" the forks in the triple clamps. They weren't off much, but even a little bit can make a difference. I took the Old Girl out for a long ride (long for me) evening before last to see how she felt. She's stable now on the straights, she doesn't wander around at all. She still wants to fall into turns, though. Weird. I noticed, too, that the steering head is too tight. And that is with the steering tensioner backed all the way off. I've got the tension on that spanner nut under the top triple clamp too tight. So. I've got to back that off. I don't know the value that the torque is supposed to be on that nut, and I don't have a spanner socket, anyway. I'll just back it off until the front end swings a little easier and then see how she feels.

On another note, I pushed the Old Girl a lot harder than I have up to this point. I wound her right up to redline several times, and she was quite happy to do it. My, she sure gets loud at full throttle. Anyway, when I got her back home, I noticed oil around the spark plugs. It's that "skull cap" that's seeping, I'm sure. She used to do that back in the day, too.

My clutch gets harder to pull and a little sticky when the engine is hot. Part of it is the cable, it's the original, so I'm going to re-lube that. The other is the clutch lifter mechanism, I need to shoot a little more grease into that zerk. Finally, it's very difficult to find neutral when the engine is hot, another symptom (I think) that the clutch lifter needs attention. I can't complain, though, she hasn't been ridden enough to let these little problems make themselves known.

Another issue is that the throttle cable has somehow moved under the gas tank. I swung the handlebars all the way to the left and she revved up. Fiddling with the cable got the revs back under control, but I'm going to have to pull the tank and check that cable routing.

Other than that - she sure is fun!

[sarals]

Fixed!

https://youtu.be/hGrbVXDV8AI

The video was shot right after I got home from a 1 hour ride. I only put about 15 miles on her. I did a lot of stop and start, some low speed cornering, some full throttle accelerations, and generally cruised around. She's smooth, torquey, loud, raucous, and stable as a rock! The more time I put on the engine, the better she runs. She's not so slow anymore!

I loosened the spanner nut on the triple clamp. Not a lot, just enough to where the forks would swing freely with the front wheel off the ground. That did it! She's as I remember her from old. She carves through corners with nary a twitch, she doesn't try to fall in to low speed corners, and she goes straight as an arrow when you want her to. No wandering, no drifting, nothing untoward.

Looking her over after the ride, there was no oil anywhere - none. The area around the sparkplugs was dry. She's still a little glitchy when trying to find neutral when she's hot, and occasionally she gets stuck between fourth and third on a downshift. One of the rockers on the right cylinder is starting to get noisy, because she's breaking in, so I'll do an oil change and adjust the valves. Other than that - well, I'm going to ride her more!

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[Steverino]

Sara
I hope mine looks as nice as yours when I'm done. I haven't been able to work on mine for a few weeks. But I'm really looking forward to getting back to it. The fit of the seat looks especially nice.
Steve

[sarals]

Sara
I hope mine looks as nice as yours when I'm done. I haven't been able to work on mine for a few weeks. But I'm really looking forward to getting back to it. The fit of the seat looks especially nice.
Steve

Steve, I don't doubt for a second that it will! Mine took two years, lots of do-overs, and lots of help from the fine folks on this forum to get it to where it is now. The saddle is the original, it hasn't been touched, other than a good cleaning, in any way. Even the seat pan has the original patina. I had to pay homage to how the bike once looked, and I thought leaving the saddle as is would be good way to it. Besides, it was perfectly functional and aesthetically fine, so why not?

Thank you for your kind words!!

[sarals]

I rode around on her for a solid hour yesterday. I had to stop and put gas in her. Twice! I noticed a little bubble in the paint around the fuel filler opening on the tank - not good, but I think I can fix it. That was the only niggle in the whole ride. Oh, the clutch did act like it was slipping a couple of times when I shifted into third gear under hard acceleration, but it was just momentary and those were the only times it happened. Otherwise, she just runs better and better and BETTER. That engine has such a wonderful note, it barks! It idles very smoothly, it responds to throttle, and it's become quite torquey. When I'm riding along at 30 to 35 MPH in fourth, and then roll on the throttle, it pulls right up to 45 to 50 MPH with impressive authority for such a small engine. I just love the sounds and the smells, the Old Girl is an unfettered, visceral MACHINE!

I noticed at one point that I had a person on a touring rig behind me (it turned out to be a fella on a Honda VT1000). He pulled up next to me at a stop light and said "It runs like a bloody Swiss Watch! Beautiful bike - I had one in Hong Kong in 1963!" We chatted for a few moments, and then off we went. Another fella in a car at yet another stop light told me he loved the bike, and offered his compliments. Gosh, I never get that kind of attention when I'm driving my Prius! :)