I sold my Harley Davidson down the road and ended up unexpectedly committing some of the cash proceeds to the purchase of a 1964 Mercury Comet. The cash I had left over was what I was left with for my next bike. I didn't know what kind of bike I'd be getting, but I had one concrete criteria- a Kick Start lever must be attached to the motorcycle (and it must be cheaper than the product of Comet purchase money subtracted from Harley Davidson sale money). I shopped craigslist for weeks until this sweet little gem popped up- a 1978 Honda CB750k, the last year of the original SOHC engine and last of the kick start 750 Hondas.
Pro's: Kick start, 750cc engine, less than 10k miles on odometer, good tires, immaculate original paint and seat, 4 chrome mufflers, chrome fenders, tons of style.
Con's: Hideous disco-era gold stripes, tall bars, doesn't run, rotten mufflers. I bought it not running but with the promise that it did run and "should" run with just a little tinkering. I hauled it home in my trusty Ford F100.
Over the course of three weeks I stripped the bike down. I cleaned the carbs and tank. I installed new progressive suspension springs front and back. I installed early CB fork gaitors.
I welded on 4 new EMGO universal reverse-cone mufflers and added a dime-city "Lucas-style" tail light and lower bars. I removed the turn signals to clean up the profile.
I skinned the original seat and removed 1" of seat padding to lower it and reinstalled the beautiful original cover. I painted the tank a nice base/clear "lime-squeeze" green, a color found on some 2013 Ford vehicles.
I painted the engine, adjusted the cam chain, adjusted the valves and replaced a few hardened seals. I gave it a full tune-up.
This beautiful little Honda even came complete with the original owners manual and tool kit.
She fires right up with a single kick every time, hot or cold.
