1975 Honda F1 Super Sport ( 4-RRARI )

I have just completed another machine here at the Barn and of course, it’s a CB750 Honda, but this time an old 1975 F model that I had in pieces in boxes that were in the barn and some parts were outside,  Just trying to use up parts that I have accumulated over the years and not tripping over boxes and parts that are hanging about doing nothing.  Now, My bikes sometimes have a theme, depending on what the Customer is requiring, but this time I am building a cafe style machine to my liking and, as I created a bike in remembrance of my grumpy old man “Rice Boiler” this one will be in the style of Formula 1 Racing cars and in the Ferrari livery of 2024 season.

My brother is a Huge F1 fan and thought that this would be fitting to have my brother’s interest incorporated into this motorcycle, so I went ahead and got right into work mode at my place and hopefully my brother will dig it as much as I do?  he has had a rough few years battling Colon “C” and this will make him feel way better seeing I had thought of him throughout this build.

The SS frame is different compared to the K series, also the F machines have disc brake front and back and a inset oil tank too, with a bigger gas tank but the tank had an ugly flap to hid the inserted gas cap, so i removed that, cut the old gas neck out and welded and Triumph neck in its place and then fitted an Aluminum Monza Race cap, it fits that Formula 1 guise to a tea.

I had accumulated many parts over the years, and of course, when we had a barn built at our Ranch House I had a few more parts that I had forgotten about and was glad to be able to make use of these now, so I was quite excited to have a go at creating another build but this time have the Formula 1 livery of the 2024 Ferrari team as it ties in with my brother and although this took some time, it was well worth it.

I have tried to go a different route with the mechanical speedo as this time I used an old aluminum Tachometer cup from Moon speed equipment, then tig welded a bracket to it so that it would bolt in place up on the tripe tree and angled it for the perfect vision for the rider, also I wanted that race look and high tech styling that race cars would have and incorporated a GPS speedometer with LED display for milage etc., this really does suit the bike and gives it that New School/Old School vibe, also this is cable less as it picks the signal up from a satellite an takes a 1/4 of a second to zero the gauge before you take off. The gauge face itself is similar to the old Smiths racing gauges of the day and the needle sweeps so smoothly too.

 

I polished the wheel hubs front and back as they are aluminum and used stainless steel spokes on the Chrome rims, using a wider rear model to get a fatter tire so I can get more rubber on the tarmac, rebuilt and polished the rear brake caliper and used aircraft braided hose for the lines etc. I still have to make a Chainguard and will do that during this month and look forward to test riding the old girl soon.

I polished the upper triple tree and powder coated the lower, the chassis was Powder coated Black too with a gloss finish and I painted the engine a wrinkle black like many old race engines had in the day. It’s very gas resistant as well as having very good longevity, plus the wrinkle paint helps the cooling a little more due to the surface being rougher, as it catches and disturbs the air enough and that helps cooling.  I then used stainless M6 Alen bolts to have a nice offset against the black and am really happy with that of which once everything is button up, this will be quite a looker, although this bike is meant as a daily riding machine not a show bike this time and when this goes up for sale, i am sure someone is going to enjoy blasting around the twisting back roads.

Now, this is a very tall bike and if you are less than 5″10 inches tall  (177cm) then you will be really tip toed if you sit on the machine, I used taller tires on this bike as well as a bit wider and that’s the price you pay but lucky for me I am 5″11 and can just touch the floor comfortably. I see people sell motorcycles online, but they never tell you the height of the bike and someone of less height than i have inputted on here, could be in for a shock when they go to pick their new machine up and find out they can’t touch the ground.

 

Now, I have fitted 7/8 Ace bars and used old Grand Turismo Black grips for that Classic look, also I have fitted 2 inch risers on the triple tree, that’s for rider comfort as you don’t want to be too hunched over the bike, well not as much as i used to, I mean, I’m 63 this year lol.

Other things that I did was to slightly change the side covers, these a Urethane covers, very strong and durable compared to the stock versions and this has air scoops grafted into them to give that Formula 1 air ducting styling and I am well happy with the way they look now.  The bodywork is designed to have a nice flow and to me I truly believe that I have achieved that. For myself, I am happy just to sit and look at this machine all day, it reminds me of my brother and the passion he has for F1 racing.

The seat is my own Rocket 4 fiberglass seat, super strong and just the right curve to go with the fuel tank, of course it is wrapped with the F1 Ferrari colors and of course, I went with the race look with period Diamond stitching and Chrome snaps for a quick release of the cover, this was finished off with a Classic round tail light that is LED powered and finishes off the bike from the rear. The light is a stop light and taillight and super bright, plus the Formula 1 cars have a LED red light on the rear as well and I am pleased that I went that route.

I went with small but bright Chrome Diamond turn signals, you need them by law anyway, but these are tightly fitted so you don’t really see them compared with some of the huge dessert spoon shaped ones I have seen on many bikes, but when they light up, they are as bright as Einstein himself. But I think they look like they belong there, and these are great signals that I have used for over 20 years now.

Talking of lights, I used a 5 3/4 headlight as i wanted a smaller light to tuck in closer to the forks and used my own bucket with a Projector and Led lens that is great in the evening let alone the daytime, so it does seem to flow right at the front end of the bike.  Which brings me onto the front end.

The forks were in bad shape, so I took them apart and machined the lowers with cooling fins and polished them to a chrome finish, I fitted New seals and upper fork tubes and fitted my own fork caps to complete that styling i wanted, but, I also had machined my Fork brace and fitted that to give the forks a little more rigidity , I also wanted the stock front fender to show the Old school look and then you will noticed I drilled the brake rotors to help cool them as the race cars and motorcycles used to have on the track back in the day.

I used piggyback TEC shocks and machines 2-inch extenders to raise the bike to a more level stance and they work really well indeed, also machines my own piggyback covers and put fins in them to match the forks, as I said, this is a high bike, i mean, you never see short racehorses, do you?

The carbs needed going through, so they were stripped, vapor blasted, and ceramic coated, then rebuilt and then they were synchronized to make sure this runs smooth, for that Racetrack look I used a set of steel dragon Velocity stacks with filter screens and that came out well.

I used my own custom-made Aluminum Battery box and fitted a Solid-State regulator/Rectifier kit to it, so lots of strong spark and charging, to that I added an expensive Earth-X Lithium battery, big cranking amps but lightweight too.

I wanted a different exhaust, so to my original parts area I foraged about and fitted an original set of Dunstall headers, these were just what i needed, now, for the silencers.  This time I thought I would use a set of BSA A65 Chrome megaphones that were fitted to an old race bike back home and ran the clubman class, these had the right look and the right kick up that i wanted as i had removed the stock footpegs and grafted a set of Tomaselli Italian rear sets onto and boy did these feel like a track racer now.

All the rest I fitted was New, like cables and chain and sprockets etc. and am totally stoked at the look of this thorobred bike, I hope that you like it too?

Still a little more to play about with then I will be putting it up for sale once I have ridden it over 100 miles.