The Harlequin Honda 1975 CB750F Super Sport

Well, here we are with the Harlequin Honda that I have created, its been a long build as originally the Motorcycle was bought down from Washington on November 4th 2015, Edwin Cooper was not well, he had Cancer and wanted to try and revamp his trusty old Steed that he had had for many years, he wanted me to do something cool with it and loaded this Motorcycle up in the back of his pick up and came down with his daughter and dropped the bike off.

I helped him unload the 1975 CB750 F Super Sport, it was heavy, the brakes were sticking and it really did need some love, but- thats what I do and was more than willing to bring this motorcycle back to life and breathe fire once more.

This would prove to be quite a challenging creation, as there was a lot of time and weather that had passed over this machine, I have been there many times but I am amazed at how many Motorcycles that I have built that were all in this condition, some a lot worse too.

He had started to Cafe the bike out a little, many moons ago, hence the Shortened Headlight ears and the Italian Tarozzi rear sets and an old 2 Four seat that dates back to the Mid 1970’s.

Have a look and you can see that there is a lot of stock parts still on the bike, like the chain guard Gas tank gauges etc and of course the old wiring, and that had seen better days for sure, the weather can totally destroy a wiring harness in just a few seasons, especially if the temperature gets hot then col, it dries the wires out and makes them fragile.

This also has an Old Yoshimura 4 into 1 system on it, seen better days but nice to see none the less, that is now fitted onto a AHRMA race bike and gets used all the time.

As you can see, the Birds nest wiring will need to be completely stripped out, soon as I see toggle tops and electrical tape, I know that it needs to be removed right away, else it will be a headache that you do not need.

You can see where Mother nature has taken a firm grip of this Motor, Oxidization is a mean Culprit by the look of it, the Plug caps were so weather beaten, as I tried to remove it, the cap cracked and fell into many pieces.

I wonder what sort of critters over the years had chosen this 1975 inline Four as its home? Nothing really surprises me these days but intrigue always does and if this bike could talk, well, I think we may have a fun movie in the making.

The Carbs were locked up, seemed to have dirt and grit from everywhere and a little wasp nest in the Carb body itself, Mother Nature really took a hold of this one.

I loved the 1960’s Hot Rod Stewart Warner Mechanical Oil pressure Gauge, I am also a Hot Rodder, so this made me smile when I clapped eyes on it, poor motor has a lot of oxidisation on it though and will take time to remove and clean all that up.

We have a multitude of issues here, the rear brake caliper is seized up, piston is stuck and seals are shot, Rear rim is toast, the same goes for the rear shocks too, the swing arm looks like it has come from the bottom of the Baltic Sea, this will be a down to the frame build for sure.

Low miles too but the weather makes it look a lot worse to be honest, nothing that cannot be fixed though and this Super Sport will see a Brand New life and Look forward to sharing the photos when she is completed.

Front Brake caliper is also seized up, the front forks need rebuilding, Rotor needs to be skimmed and New rim built.

Unfortunately the rims had rusted right through, so all that I shall use is the front hub, Rotor and Caliper body and will refurbish all that I possibly can to this grand Old steed.

All the wire harness was Rock hard from being baked in the Sun, the rectifier and the regulator will be discarded, and I shall be using a New Harness, along with a solid state rectifier module, as I use them on ALL the builds that I create, cant trust 40 year old electrical anyway.

I know that this will have a different look by the time I have finished, not sure how just yet but- It will look pretty cool none the less and of course, Function well too.

So there she sits, before getting transformed into a cool Custom Machine and I am looking forward to tearing into this to transform into some cool eye candy.

So it is time to push this 500 pounder, into the garage and start to take this motorcycle apart and figure out what I am going to do to this 1975 CB750F HONDA.

And so we begin, this will be a long Journey with some hiccups along the way , but I know that it will look a lot different by the time this comes back out.

I started to go the route he wanted, to go with his motorcycle, then all of a sudden from out of the blue, I had an awful phone call informing me that he had just been in a Motorcycle accident on his Harley and did not make it, I was gobsmacked, and, the family were too, they didn’t want another Motorcycle in the family and I understood that, so they gave me the bike and said do something cool with it.

Above, I hand bent Raw steel and then Rolled the rear, welded it and then began to do a little more to this seat base as I want it to be able to take a passenger, as all you see are single short seats these days.

So the transformation began, slowly and I am happy at the end result, I named it the Harlequin as it has so many Colors and my Favorite Candy Bar is TWIX, so you can see that too right?

A lot of flake and detail but wanted that old school Low Rider flake that was about when I was a teenager back in the UK in the 1970s, when the Sun hits the Gallon of Clear coat, you will discover why metal-flake was so popular back in the day, a Kaleidoscope of Candy colors pleases the Cornea.

I have created over 50 Custom HONDA based Motorcycles since moving here in 2000 and every time I start a creation, I have to sit and ponder for quite some time, I am glad that I had no deadline, so the pressure was off and as and when I thought of something cool, I would just do a little bit to the bike and then back to work on other customers parts etc.

I fitted My Sidewinder exhaust system to this build but wanted to try my other sets ups as well, just to get the look and later, hear the different tones of my exhaust systems and decide which one I will like, this is ceramic coated but think I may end up using DEI Titanium Wrap on the header and maybe triple coating the tail pipe in Chrome, we shall see. Below is the Hot Rod tail pipe that fits to the Sidewinder header, a crisp and Velvet bark and as you can hear, very responsive to the throttle.

I have sold many Hot Rod, Side Winder and Razor systems through out the world, all made right here in California, none of that made in china crap.

I fitted a small 5-3/4 Chrome headlight to my Custom Fork Ears, and wanted to create a different look to the front end, so I went with a Biltwell Bubble Visor from their Helmet catalog and this worked out great as a mini nose fairing, even threading the clutch cable through the Plexi Glass.

I wanted to mix Old School with New and decided on using a GPS speedometer but with that old school Smiths looking gauge face and needle that still sweeps, this worked out so well.

Here is the old bucket I used and Tig welded to my custom bracket, just needs polishing and I shall also be fitting small LED Amber display lights for the turn signals to plug into.

 

I used a old Bucket and welded a bracket I water jet cut and it seemed to go right in and the great thing with this is that it has just a power wire and an anttena wire, you are all set to go, even has a LED red back light too.

This was the right look that i wanted and am glad that I chose to go this particular route, gives the machine just a little more character and style.

Here is the Harlequin outside out Home, so cool to see it in the sunlight and I am super stoked at the way the bike turned out in the end, a long but rewarding Project that really does turn a few heads.

Plenty of eye candy to look at on the bike, the Paint alone is super cool, and as the saying goes, “The Devil is in the Detail”

I am proud of this Build and being a steel tank and seat, this is a sturdy machine that is no light weight for sure, it stands tall too, many do not do that.

The Harlequin sports my Custom 4 into 1 Exhaust system, The Side Winder, I Ceramic coated the header, then wrapped DEI Titanium Heat wrap onto it, to give that Hot Rod styling, then I triple chromed the rear tail pipe and it sits nice and snug and close to the bike, this turned out so well and a system that I offer on the website for all SOHC Models.

A fun machine that was a real joy to create and will be on the show circuit around Southern California this year, hope you can come and check it out some time, be glad to see you.

I removed the old Super Sport Gas Tank Flap that used to hide an old tin cap, I then welded a Harley Bung and fitted a Custom Gas cap, looks so much smoother now.

I also did a few other changes to the bike by machining the forks and making a Brace bar out of 6061 T6, and of course a 1971 Rectangle fog light to show the European Spirit here.

So many New parts, this is like a Brand new Motorcycle now and the more you look, the more you see a little more custom touches throughout the ride.

Photo Credit: #RahoulGhose

This is a cool shot at the Outliers guild show in Down Town LA last week, stoked to see it on Display with other cool machines from around the state.

Photo Credit #RahoulGhose

Here she is sitting loud and of course proud to be representing, at the OG show in LA, a very cool event and I really enjoyed it.

A classic look of the Custom years back in the 1970’s when I was a Teenager, this came out so well and super stoked at the response I received at the Outlier Guild show.

The 1939 Ford Lincoln Mercury tear drop LED tail light set off well in the frenched pocket I created, I also had made the steel cowl and seat base.

Photo Credit #RahoulGhose

It has been an amazing year and to get the Harlequin completed is another notch in the post of creativity, I strive to do the best I can and hope that you liked the build?

Like I said, I had a great response for the bike and even the band that was playing loved it. Band- WOOLY BANDITS- Singer- Christa Collins.

Thanks you for everyone that came up and spoke to me, I was super stoked, this is a great creative family and super glad that I was a part of it, I look forward to attending more.

In Memory Of Edwin Cooper, I am sure he is smiling from above.

Below is  a list of of things done to the Harlequin.

1. Machined and Polished Front Forks.
2. Machined Aluminum Fork Brace.
3. Polished Hubs.
4. 19X40X1.85 Chrome Front Rim.
5. 18X3.5×40 Chrome Rear Rim.
6. Stainless Steel Spokes.
7. Hand Drilled Rotors.
8. Custom Piggy Back 14 Inch Shocks.
9. Polished and Rebuilt Rear Caliper.
10. Braided Steel Brake lines.
11. New Chromed front Fender.
12. 5 3/4 Chrome Headlight.
13. Biltwell Helmet Visor.
14. Custom filled and smoothed S.S. Gas tank with Harley Cap.
15. Hand made Steel Seat with leather Tuck n Roll.
16. Metalflake paint.
17. Hand Made Clubman Bars 7/8.
18. Biltwell Grips.
19. Rebuilt Motor with Polished Covers and Wrinkle Paint.
20. Restored Carburetors and synchronized.
21. Drilled and Chromed Kick starter.
22. Wrapped Sidewinder 4 into 1 exhaust with Chrome tail pipe.
23. GPS Speedometer.
24. New master Cylinder.
25. New levers.
26. Tarozzi Rear Sets.
27. New Challenger tires and Tubes.
28. 1939 LED Tear Drop Tail Light.
29. LED RED rear Turn Signals.
30. LED display lights.
31. Polished upper triple tree.
32. Powder Coated frame.
33. Lithium 12 Volt EarthX Battery.
34. New side covers.
35. Chromed Center stand.
36. Chromed Side Stand.
37. 530 X Ring CXhain.
38. New wire Harness.
39. New handlebar switches.
40. Oil Pressure Gauge.
41. Battery Tender.

 

 

 

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