Gerry Watts' 1982 Honda CB 750 Police bike
If you do remember these shows, you'll no doubt recall the bright white Honda CB 750 ridden by Paul Cronin's 'Senior Constable Gary Hogan' character. It certainly made an impact on Gerry Watts, who was inspired to make "Sarge", his tribute to Solo One. The tribute required an ex-Police CB 750 with the right fairing, panniers and lights. Sounds easy, right? Err, not quite, as Gerry explained.
My project sprang from the era of the '60s, '70s and '80s, when Aussie riders were introduced to the Honda CB 750, thanks in part to Matlock Police and Solo One. I'm sure the image of the country cop cruising the district on his CB 750 made an impression on a lot of people. It certainly did for me, so at 49, with too much time on my hands and some spare cash stashed in a tin can in the shed (don't tell the wife!), I decided I wanted one!
So, in late 2009, I started searching online classifieds for a suitable ex-Police CB 750. That searching turned up one bike. Yep, just one - singular! Lonely, unloved and cheap, at $3,000 it was mine - sight unseen. I told you I wanted one! A van trip into country Victoria and the bike was mine. So, in September, 2009, my project - which I dubbed "Sarge" - was born.
At first look, the CB wasn't too bad - from a distance. Provided info revealed two owners following its Police duty, no rego, some rust, but an engine that turned over, a transmission that shifted through all the gears, and a full complement of working lights and indicators. At this point, the project looked like it was going to be fairly easy. It's also worth pointing out that I wasn't after concours. I'm not interested in a bike that has to sit on blocks and be admired. I want a bike to ride, not a $20,000 limited market asset sitting there doing nothing.
First task was a trip to John & Peter at Motorcycle City in Melbourne's Elizabeth Street motorcycle strip to check out the CB's engine. A bit erratic and clearly needing some TLC, it turned out only two cylinders were firing (oops!) and the carby connector hoses were old and cracked. I followed that up with a visit to Jack at City Auto Electrical Services for some rewiring, coil rewinding and replacement parts. This solved the firing problems, while some replacement carby hoses were sourced online. With a tune and service, Sarge was looking good to go. Big John at Motorcycle City used to service and "civilianise" ex-Police CB 750s back in the 70s, and has probably forgotten more about these Hondas than most people still know (except Rex at T-Rex, of course!). He even knew the sprocket ratios so we could return them to Police spec.
With the engine sorted, the paint was next. As mentioned, Sarge looked fine from a distance. Up close, it was a horror story! I decided to split this into two projects - panels and frame. The fairing, panniers, covers, guards and tank were sent to Scott & Dan at Melbourne Motorcycle Fairings. These guys have done work for me in past, including a reno of a Kwaka ZZR 1100 fairing back to as-new condition. However, getting an accurate paint match for Sarge was problematic due to variation in the fading across the plastics and tinware. Fortunately, there was good paint under the old 'Police' text on the fairing, so we used that as a match for the original colour.
That left the frame. With the major attachments gone, a good motor and only one set of hands, I decided to paint the frame myself - without removing the engine. Yeah, yeah, I can hear you go 'Noooooo, that's not how you do it!'. But hey, it was a decision determined by my hands, skill, time and resources, not to mention budget - the money tin in the shed wasn't that big!
The mechanics I spoke to said the engine didn't need stripping and rebuilding. It's also a big sucker at 90 odd kg - hard to shift on my own. Rewiring a loom wasn't my skill, either. My solution to do these things within a reasonable budget was to head off to TAFE - Kangan TAFE at Coburg - and get some skills. It turned out to be a great move. Kangan had some great teachers that answered my dumb questions with good answers, and I got a lot of hands-on experience - you do it, strip it and fix it - learning along the way.
With my newly-accquired skills, the challenge was on to remove 28 years of accumulated road grime from the frame. Aside from the grime, which was in places I didn't even know existed, rust was pretty much everywhere, too. So, sanding, fine sanding, finer sanding, treating, stripping and priming resulted - finally - in a bike on a stand ready for a spray. Thanks to Bodyshop Paint Supplies in Richmond, and its great proprietor, Barry, I had the knowledge to get to this stage. Barry was a great source of advice through the whole process, and I even ended up working for him for a while.
As they say, painting is 99 percent prep and 1 percent fun, so after weeks of prep, it was time for the fun. So, power up the gun, check paint viscosity, check there's no breeze, wife at work, no kids, radio on - ready! So, pffft, coffee, wait, sand. Pffffft, coffee, wait, sand. Pffffft, coffee, wait, sand. Pffffft, coffee, wait, sand. Hmmm, make that 99.9 percent prep, including the paint drying process. Clear coat, coffee, wait, sand. Clear coat, coffee, wait, sand. Clear coat, coffee, wait, sand. Then beer. Beer. Beer. Then pull up a stool, sit, look, beer, more beer and enjoy for 24 hours. It IS fun watching paint dry!
After my unorthodox paintwork, the repainted hard goods had come back from Motorcycle Fairings, and some rechromed bits I sent off to Precision Plate in Prahran had also come back, so it was time for re-assembly and getting it running again - hopefully.
Something I learned at this stage of Sarge's resto was the importance of labelling and documenting EVERYTHING. If you're looking to take on your first resto, my advice is when you take something off (the bike, that is!), label it and put all associated fixtures, bolts and fittings into a sealable sandwich bag or similar, then label that as well. When it comes to putting things back on, it's then just a giant jigsaw puzzle. Additionally, take lots of photos while you disassemble, then you'll have a reference for how things are supposed to go back together. This saved me many times in many ways. For example, who'd have thought the rear inner mudguard for the swingarm was mounted on the outside of the rear guard - before you install it?!
Another benefit of this organisation is that it helps you replace all the bolts, fixings, nuts, etc., you need. With the nuts and bolts all grouped, I had measurements of what I needed and an idea of quantities, too. I ended up replacing a whole bunch of fixtures, and the guys at Metro Bolts in Richmond either had or sourced them for me. They gave me trade prices, too, because I was there twice a week with a new batch order!
After a lot of time and a lot of work - not to mention a lot of painting! - the end result was sheer pleasure for an amateur restorer like me. From start to finish had taken a little over two months, so it was pretty quick, really. I learnt a lot, had a huge amount of fun, and the challenge was terrific. And yes, Sarge started first time! The first major run for my freshly-restored CB 750 Police bike was to the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club rally in March, 2010. To my astonishment and delight, Sarge picked up 'Best Special Interest Bike' of the rally against some truly amazing machines. I was so proud, I cried into my red wine.
For those of you thinking of doing a resto, I say 'go for it'. TAFE was fantastic, as it demystified everything. The people in the trade were always helpful, offering advice and guidance, especially if you are going to spend money with them. Would I do it again? Well, yes, I already have, actually!
