FEATURE – 1972 Honda CB 750 K2
Photos: Courtesy of the Honda CB 750 Four Owners Club of Australia.
WIN THIS BIKE
As 2019’s celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Honda CB 750 draw to a close, the Honda CB 750 Four Owners Club of Australia are offering the chance for you to join the classic Honda fraternity, too.
In the lead up to the special anniversary year, the club restored three 1972-model CB Fours – a CB 350, CB 500 and CB 750 - that will be raffled off in support of the Black Dog Institute this November.
Following the Original
The history of the CB 750 has been repeated ad nauseum over the years, to the point where there are few who don’t know the story behind the big four-cylinder Japanese motorcycle that set the template for all that followed.
Initially created to satisfy the American market, the CB 750 would go on to find favour around the world, including here in Australia.
By 1972, the CB 750 legend was established, both as a road bike and a racer, but Honda certainly didn’t sit on their hands after releasing the original. A 500cc and 350cc version were added to cash in, while Australia had received the 750 as well, with the first unit delivered here actually donating its engine to a sidecar outfit prepared by Lindsay Urquhart. CB 750s would also feature prominently at the early Castrol Six Hour races, winning in 1971 and ’72.
In ’72, Honda subjected the 750 to some minor changes with examples built this year (November ’71 to September ’72, to be specific) referred to as ‘K2’ models. Similarly, the preceding ‘K1’ was built mainly in 1971, with the original CB 750 retrospectively labelled as ‘K0’ and covering 1969 through to late 1970.
With changes like the move to stronger and more efficient engine castings and a better two-cable throttle system already in play, there was little mechanically that needed attention, aside from the cam chains, which were a weak point of the CB 750 for the first decade of its existence.
While Honda didn’t address this problem for 1972, they did implement some cosmetic changes, which made it easier to identify a K2 against the K1, as well as the K3 that followed in ’73.
On Australian-delivered CB 750 K2s, Honda modified the exhaust system but to confuse matters for local enthusiasts, the K2 didn’t officially arrive here until early 1973.
In terms of the cosmetic changes applied to the K2, the fork leg uppers and bracket for the headlight, previously body colour, were now chromed, with the headlight shell, also body-coloured previously, changed to black.
The side reflectors on the forks were a little larger and the tail light changed, but aside from that, the only changes were new colours. Most markets got Brier Brown metallic and flake Sunrise Orange, with a gold fuel tank stripe on the former and a black stripe on the latter. The original K0’s Candy Gold continued to be offered into ’72 also, but only in certain markets, with the aforementioned brown and orange being the volume colours for what would be the CB 750’s second most successful production year.
Of the 550,000+ CB 750s built from 1969 to 1978, it’s believed 77,000 were K1s, with 63,500 K2s built (some sources say 64,000).
Those sort of numbers make it sound like getting a solid example for restoration would be easy, but the members of the Honda CB 750 Four Owners Club of Australia found that definitely wasn’t the case when they started looking. Fortunately, club member and Honda CB Four guru, Andrew Barker of Pud’s Four Parts, came to the rescue.
Bare Bones
Why was it so hard to find a good base for restoration for this charity project? Well, being the most popular of the CB series, surviving 750s have been well picked-over by enthusiasts looking for parts for their own projects and restorations. Also, as mentioned earlier, many CB 750 engines were pirated for race projects, so that’s depleted surviving stocks, too.
Unlike the previous CB 500 and CB 350 builds done by Andrew and the club, there were no average examples on the market or through the club network when they started looking – and no ratty ones, either – so club members had to go back to bare bones – literally!
Andrew let the club pick over the 750 frames he had in his shed. Three of these were rejected before one was found that was both straight and salvageable.
“The frame itself was in good condition,” Andrew explained. “But as the bike was just a frame to start with, we had to find ALL the parts as we went along.”
Build Up…without a Breakdown!
As this restoration was essentially a ‘ground-up’ build and required a lot of parts sourcing and scrounging, it took longer than the CB 500 and CB 350 already featured, with Andrew estimating that more than 12 months’ work went into it.
When Andrew was asked what the hardest part of this build was, he laughed ruefully: “Everything! It is a LOT harder to build a bike when you don’t have the parts to recondition or parts to start from. So, in this case, we had to find everything – and I mean EVERYTHING - and then recondition all those components. It took a lot longer.”
New reproduction parts were used wherever possible, which thanks to the 750 being such a popular model, meant that pretty much everything required was available. What couldn’t be found new was refurbished from other bikes and collected spares in Pud’s Four Parts stock.
As the club had decided all three bikes would be ’72 models, a careful eye was kept on the build to ensure authentic 1972 specification and features. In this instance, that wasn’t a major problem, as the changes for ’72 were almost entirely cosmetic, so wouldn’t really come into play until it was time to paint.
After the frame was sandblasted by Yarram Sandblasting, then painted by Yarram Body Works (part of the local network of Andrew’s contacts who have proved invaluable in all three builds), the rebuild started in earnest, but waiting for new parts from overseas sources meant plenty of slack time was encountered along the way, too.
As this bike will – hopefully – be ridden by its new owner, Andrew decided to fit tapered roller bearings into the headstem instead of the factory-correct ball bearings, as they’ll last longer.
New roller bearings went into the hubs, too, with new parts used for all the other wheel components, before they were sent off to Greg Cook for professional lacing, then new Dunlop rubber.
By the time the new swingarm bushes, new rear shocks, fork tubes, seals and boots were added, what was a dusty frame was starting to look like a motorcycle again.
The engine that the club found for the project pretty much needed the works, so new pistons, rings, cam chains and tensioners, etc., etc., as well as a set of carbies and gearbox internals were sourced and fitted as part of a full engine and transmission reco.
An all-new brake system followed, with the discs, calipers, hoses and master cylinders all authentic to 1972, but the pads run modern material for more effective braking.
Back to Brown – and a Little Comfort
Looking at the photos here, you’d be forgiven for thinking the bike was painted black, not brown, but it’s a bit of an optical illusion with this paint. Brier Brown can look both darker and lighter in certain types of light, especially artificial light, than it does to the naked eye. Generally, though, it’s the shade of what you’d call ‘dark chocolate’.
Like the frame, the paint on the tinware was laid down by Yarram Body Works, with Badge Replicas providing the badges and Motographix in Tassie the club’s source for new decals and stickers.
While the bike was built to authentic 1972 specification in all the visible areas, Andrew allowed one deviation from stock that most punters wouldn’t even spot.
“The handlebars are a touch higher, as we older riders aren’t as pliable as we used to be, so leaning forward can be a drama,” Andrew laughed.
Given they started with a frame and nothing else, the club and supporting businesses have done a remarkable job: “Everything on this is a credit to the members - it has come to be a very nice bike,” Andrew said.
Following completion of the build, this CB 750 has joined its siblings for display at bike shows and events around Victoria this year, promoting the Honda CB 750 Four Owners Club of Australia’s 50th Anniversary raffle.
If you’ve read the features on the previous builds, you know the drill on the raffle and that it’s supporting a great cause in the Black Dog Institute. What you may not know is that the raffle is closing soon - 17 November, 2019 - so if you haven’t purchased your ticket yet, you need to act NOW.
Just $50 could see this classic ’72 Honda CB 750 in your garage. This is your last chance to get your entry in, so don’t miss out.
Businesses that helped bring this classic CB Honda back to life include:
Big Zinc Metal Zincing - Zinc-coating bolts, nuts and brightware (VIC - 03 9728 8311)
Yarram Body Works - Painting (VIC - 03 5182 5253)
Motographix - Tank decals and stickers (TAS - 0439 883 164)
Pud’s Four Parts - Supplier of parts (VIC - 03 5182 5704)
Badge Replicas - Repro badges (VIC - 0408 257 459)
Hardy’s Garage - Roadworthy inspection (VIC - 03 5199 2220)
Yarram Sand Blasting - Sandblasting of frame and metal parts (VIC - 0417 010 963)
Greg Cook Wheel Lacing - Lacing new spoked wheels (VIC - 0407 212 038)
As well as members of the Honda CB 750 Four Owners Club of Australia: Wayne Collins, Norm Hetherington, Craig Carson, Ian Lowes, Colin & Kerry Philmore, Tony Gordon, Ken Pearson & Ken Pearson Jr, Mark Bell, Garry Smith, Gert Scheppers, Frank Risseri, Ian Richards & Wendy Lightbody, Andrew Barker, Chris Bradley, Don Muir, Craig Leveringston, Ray Knott, Greg Cook, Fred Russell, Kevin Haines, Tom McDermott, Rod Hill, Stuart McDonald, Glenn Watson, Kevin Gorton, Stuart Tolliday.
Win this Bike - LAST CHANCE!
For your chance to win this bike, or the CB 500 or CB 350, purchase a ticket in the Honda CB 750 Four Owners Club of Australia raffle. Tickets are only $50 each and you can enter as many times as you like.
With three restored bikes up for grabs, the first valid ticket drawn gets their choice of any one of the three. The second ticket drawn can choose from the remaining two, with the third ticket drawn receiving the third bike.
Raffle tickets can be purchased by calling 0499 355 725 (9AM – 6PM weekdays only).
Entries close on 17 November, 2019, with the winner drawn on 24 November, 2019.
Proceeds will go to the Black Dog Institute.
For more details, call 0499 355 725.
