Kiyo Builds a Triple Engine CB750 Machine for Speed.

Some of you that may be old enough to remember the Legendary Builder and Racer ” Russ Collins” May well indeed remember the triple engin monster of a machine called  “Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe”, This was named after the famous Rail line and Russ Debuted the bike back in 1973, when I was a mere 11 years old, little did I know I would watch this motorcycle in person and what a great feat of engineering for its time.   Featuring three nitro-burning CB750 engines mounted in tandem, the AT&SF was the first motorcycle to make a seven-second quarter-mile pass (7.80 seconds at 179 mph) at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1973.

The bike not surprisingly, the AT&SF was extraordinarily difficult to ride. A horrendous crash in Akron, Ohio, in 1976 destroyed the motorcycle and left Collins in a wheelchair for months, giving him plenty of free time to contemplate its replacement. It was during this long recuperation he dreamed up “The Sorcerer,” powered by a pair of 1,000cc Honda Fours tied together and tuned to fire like a V-8 then topped with a GMC 3-71 supercharger. The NHRA Top Fuel record that Collins set on the Sorcerer in 1977—7.30 seconds at 199.55 mph—stood unchallenged for more than 11 years. Collins was more than a decade ahead of his time.  But, the machine is now being completely rebuilt and the motors are almost ready once more.

49 Years after that, one of the coolest engineer/Builders has built his own Triple Engined SOHC machine and dreams of hitting the Salt for a record of his very own, Originally from the coastal city of Kumamoto on the Japanese island of Kyushu, Kiyonaga-san opened the Kiyo’s Garage workshop in Gardena, Los Angeles County, back in 2013. Back then Kiyo created a CB750 Custom Machine named “Cherry Blossom” Hand made stretched frame and a ATP Turbo with ARD Magneto. Ran really well at El Mirage dry lake.

 

Kiyos worked at the garage company for over a decade and was Yoshi’s top Mechanic/builder, he learned a lot from Yoshi and decided that it was time for him to get his own workshop in Gardena, so he set up shop in 2013 and has become a prolific quality Builder/Fabricator of Motorcycles.  His second machine was another CB750 Based Creation called ” Gekko ” (it means “moonlight” in Japanese).

Except this time, he linked together two CB750 motors, boring them out for a total capacity of 1,620 cc.Of which he ran at El Mirage and Bonneville on SCTA events.

So to complete the trifecta of Motorcycle and of course Engines, Kiyo decided to go with a trilogy machine that evokes his Japanese heritage with Motorcycles and Manufacturers, as well as his Engineering skills and Custom creativity, thus the “Galaxy” was Born.

The idea of actually building The Galaxy started to materialize when Kiyo and his wife, Kat, visited the Haas Moto Museum in Dallas, Texas, in May, 2019. They were there to discuss the museum’s acquisition of Cherry Blossom and Gekko — but Kiyo also presented the museum’s owner, Bobby Haas, and director, Stacey Mayfield, with sketches of his three-engined concept.

All three of The Galaxy’s four-cylinder power plants are 1978 Honda CB750 units with F2 large port heads. Each motor has been bored out to 836cc, and fully rebuilt with lightened and balanced crankshafts, heavy-duty connecting rods, performance cams and oversized stainless steel valves. Extra care was taken to make sure each motor’s internals conformed to the exact same spec. Each motor is fed by four Keihin FCR 35mm carbs, with significant work to the intake manifolds to help them run optimally. All three carb sets are linked via a rod and heim joint setup to make it easier to synchronize the throttle slider. But re-jetting is still a chore, given that there are 12 carbs to fettle. The entire setup breathes out through twelve custom-made exhausts.

This behemoth is powered by three bored-out CB750 motors which essentially makes it a 12-cylinder 2,508cc glory, a mean feat that really hasnt been replicated since the days of Russ Collins in the 70’s.

So much hand crafted work you dont even see, his attention to detail is unsurpassed and I can relate to the hard work that has gone into to create such a work of art.

Just to dial all three of these in with 4 Keihin FCR 35mm carbs to each cylinder, must of been a mechanical nightmare to say the least, so Kudos to you Kiyo for patience alone.

A very skilled and self motivated man that I have huge respect for and at some point try and make the trip down to his workshop to tell Kiyo in person about the way I enjoy his builds, I have known Kiyo for many many years and have always held him in high esteem.

Well done my friend and hope to see some great times placed on the dry lake.

 

 

Happy New Year Everyone

Here we are 2022 at last, man – What a crappy 2020 and glad to see the back of it and start a fresh and hope that we all have some good health and enjoy life as much as we can.

I somehow caught the Flu over Christmas and it Royaly buggered me up, Only about 80% right now but at least I am up on my feet, and I wanted to make sure that I did a bit of work at the house and get a few things ready for when My Barn arrives for assembly on Wednesday.

I have a few Projects I would like to finish this season and I hope my health gets a lot stronger as I took quite a whooping last year with Covid and the Flu, so lets all keep our pinkies crossed that we are all fine and can go and wrench on our machines to our hearts content.

There are many things that I hope to make and offer on my website for all the avid Motorcycle builders out there, I receive so many emails and texts about what you lot are up to, it drives me to help get your machine completed, and sure hope that you can complete yours this year to get on the tarmac for the new season when it eventually arrives where ever you are located.

Just wanted to wish you all a Very Happy New year and thank you for all of your orders, emails, phone calls and texts, I love chatting to you all and look forward to continuing great communication with you in this New year we have all started.

Look Forward to seeing what you are all creating and maybe see you on the road one of these days?

 

Here is something to have a laugh at at days gone by back home 1965.

A HONDA CB750K I Aptly Named The NUT BASHER

I forget to add pics of Motorcycles that I have built over the years and some times I kick my self for not posting anything, but today I will overcome my forgetfulness and add some photos of a fun creation I built using parts that I had around the shop.

 

I wanted to build something that was a cool reference to Cafe Racer styled Motorcycles back in the day but, of course using a later motorcycle but, still early enough to be classes a classic and I started off with a 1971 CB750 Honda four that was just basically a frame, I had a bunch of boxes with parts in them and over time, I started to put a few things together.

I had an old Fiberglass Racing Gas tank that I thought would be just the job, I fitted it to the frame and sat on the bike, immediately crushing my nuts, that’s when the Penny dropped and I thought what an apt name for the bike and thought if I did it in the style of the Norton Logo, this would look pretty Classic.

I chose to go the traditional deep Black Color and then pin line around it in Gold, as that would really give it the 1950’s era British Motorcycle look that went along with Norton, BSA, Triumph and Matchless, as well as the Vincent of course.

 

Now the Gas tank has a Ton Of clear sprayed on it, I had to test fit it to the frame, as I had powder coated the frame Gloss Black and Built the Motor to an 836cc and wedged her back in the chassis, the bike was looking really good and I was happy about this, but now I had to come up with a Classic styled seat unit for the Nut Basher, so I went the whole hog and built one from scratch.

I tried all sorts of ideas until something clicked, but had to thing of a cool way of mounting a tail light and I wanted to have the light incorporated into the seat hump.  I chose to French the rear Led tail light into the cowl, and although it took a full day, it came out really well indeed and was super stoked that I had gone this route on the NutBasher Machine.

It sat on the frame just right and I attached snaps to the sides of the until so I could pull the cover off and get to any documents I need, or remove the seat if I ever needed to quickly, I also made sure there was a ton of clear coat applied just incase I scratched it and could buff it out on final fit etc.

I was super happy with the way the seat unit fitted and the tail light assembly was Classic looking but in fact was an Led stop light that was as bright as Einstein.

I wanted to put a lot of detail into this creation as I knew it would turn many heads where ever it ended up, this Fuel tank held 5.5 Gallons and that made for some great riding, without worrying about running out of squirt, but it sure was bloody heavy once the tank was filled up to the top.

She was a Long and thin Motorcycle that screamed out Nostalgia, it ran hard as nails and breathed really well as it has a hand made 4 into 1 Racing exhaust that was built in less than 3 hours by a Indy Racing mechanic, this would really exit the gases well and have never heard something so mean in all my life.

This was created by a top Indy exhaust builder and designer and he didnt even need the bike to make it, just an upside down engine, it was so cool to see him knock this out.

A sheer work of art and it fitted like a glove too, this was made in Inconel and a one off like this, nobody in the world will have one like this. The material is as I said Inconel  that refers to a family of trademarked high strength austenitic nickel-chromium-iron alloys that have exceptional anti-corrosion and heat-resistance properties. … Burns Stainless recommends Inconel 625 alloy for exhaust systems due to its excellent strength, corrosion resistance and fabricability. And it sure stood up to my fire breathing 836 motor no problems at all.

This is such a nice system, shame to coat it Black but I want the bike to have a lot of Black parts on it, so ceramic coated it will get and I am sure it will look great.

This Motorcycle will not just look fast, it will haul so much arse, it will leave people scratching their heads as it goes by, and the roar from the exhaust will stay with them for a lifetime I should think.

Another thing that I do and nobody ever did back then was, make my own gauge faces, I have created many over the years and this Ton Up machine needed a great set of gauge faces to give the top end of the bike some class too.  So I went with a Roaring Tiger, Synonymous with the 1950’s Triumphs and colorful to say the least.

These are really easy to apply and give your tired old gauges a brand new lease of life, also very unique and personal to your bike, something that I have been very proud of.

I even repaint the needles and add a longer Red line to the end, so you can clearly see where the needle is pointing at speed, also if you look, I have readjusted the configuration of the gauge faces and they digits start at a different position than the stock factory versions.

Not sure that you will notice but, I also changed the 100 to the word TON, which of course means the magic 100 MPH and a milestone in Café Racers back in the day to reach that Golden triple digit. I also added my own Oil Light warning  display of which has a High Beam and Neutral light, just to keep you informed as to what’s going on up top.

The Motor was totally rebuilt, the head was Ported and polished and has an 836 Yoshi kit inside the jugs, this pulled like a steam train and of course, stainless Allen head bolts throughout the whole engine. I also drilled the starter Motor cover and fitted bronze mesh for a cool Look.

Rear Hub got my Custom drilling and Polishing detail, as well as rear brake arm, I sure loved creating this Motorcycle and always enjoy doing my own thing to it.

I machined my own Motor mount to follow the fins of the engine and on ALL motors, I have always run an Alcohol filled Oil Pressure gauge, to give me a true reading of actual engine oil pressure, through the oil galley.

Cerakoted exhaust system looks great against the Silver and Polished Aluminum of the inline four engine, I used Italian rear sets to give this bike a wee bit more aggressive stance when you are sat upon it. I sell many pairs of these and dead easy to fit, they function so well and smooth, I try and use these on the majority of my creations.

All clean and new, this bike ran so well, it was like a new wrist watch to be honest and sure do miss this Beast of a Motorcycle, but enjoyed every minute building it.

Rear sets look pretty darn cool, I drilled and polished the sprocket cover too, for that Racy look and give it a little more Bling, personal choice but I have fun doing that.

The Grips you may find to be from somewhere else, and you would be right, I used Original 1970’s Schwinn Bicycle grips, put them in Boiling water and then pushed them onto the handlebars, they fitted snug as a bug when they cooled down and look great and flow with the piggy back shock reservoir’s.

 

A tall drink of water for sure, running on 18 inch rims and Bridgestone tires, a Combination I have used many many times, these have great grip in all weather but of course, have a nice Classic tread pattern too.

I have always been a fan of how this bike has sat, she looks ready to race off down the road from any angle, I also made sure that the front fender sat tightly to the tire.

I also removed the fender stays to clean the look up at front and I think that it works well, I hand drilled the front rotor and you can see much polishing of Aluminum was done to give this bike some class.

There really is a lot of detail that you will not notice at first but hope you like what I have done, we are all different and have many styles we like, but I get a lot of emails about this build and thought that it was time that I shared it with you lot.

I should of made a mold of the gas tank as I really liked that shape, even with the Chin Divot at the front of the tank, that goes back to the early TT days and stream lining.

Everything redone, even machines the Oil Filter Housing to give it some fins, a thoroughly pleasing to the eye motorbike that I am quite proud of creating.

Thanks for looking at The Nut Basher, I hope you liked what I have done to this old inline Four Honda and I continue to build and make parts for these 500 pounders.

Thank you for reading about this bike, if I can help you with Parts, Service or just if you are stuck, you can email or text me. carpy@carpyscaferacers.com carpysgarage@aol.com or TEXT 714-598-8392

Time and Tide wait for no Man or Woman

No matter what is going on in the world, one thing remands the same, and that is the ticking Clock, she will always continue to grind away 24-7 and I am vert aware at times of that as deadlines come up real fast when yo are a small business, but, there is nothing better than being your own boss, so that out weighs the stress and difficulties that we all endure at times in the trade that we are in. Time to get on my Bike and start to design some New parts for you all.

Things are changing for me and not long to go until I get my Own Brand New Workshop/Barn, exciting times for sure and look forward to spending some quality time in there and banging away at some projects that I must get completed my self. Sometimes I need to Police my self to get things finished, but a New Workshop is something to keep you Motivated that’s for sure.

I have just made up a bunch of Braided Hose Oil Lines and Braided brake lines, one piece and 2 piece front brake lines to cover any of your builds and continue to make and design more parts for the inline four, as well as other makes too. Have fun on your Machines this weekend everybody.

 

 

 

The Aztec HONDA CB750

Sometimes you come across an old photo of something you built and have forgotten about, and today was that time, I completely forgot about building this machine, no idea where it went in the world but it sure was fun building this bike out of parts that I had laying around the garage in boxes and parts under the table.

This bike pulled pretty hard out of the gate, I wanted a Custom look and set about using many old parts and recycling them to gibe a unique Custom look to this inline four.

Rebuilt the carbs and added BSA Velocity stacks for that Classic Finned look, as I had some Original Racemasters Finned covers for the Valve cover and start cover etc.,.

I hand hammered the knee inserts into the side of the old Gas tank, then I hand masked and painted some Aztec Gold Candy Painted Scallops for a Real Custom finish and clear coated over the top.

I used an old 70’s set of Schwinn Bicycle grips that I heated up in hot water and fitted on bars, and stoked the way they looked. Custom gauges too and Polished control switches.

I used an old set of Invader steel wheels and Painted the Aztec Gold and fitted a set of Bridgestone tires, Polished front forks, cut down stock fender and fitted CB1100 rear shocks and my hand made Dunstall seat.  I even used old VW pea shooter tail pipes to add to some NOS headers I had in a box. Fun machine and hope its still on the road somewhere?

 

 

 

Another Chopper frame I have is a Santee, built mid 1970’s

I picked yo another frame and this time this one is a Santee Honda CB750 frame, created in their Arroyo ave shop in San Fernando California in the mid 1970’s.

Custom Chrome bought them out many years later but this is an original frame and, a some point I will build this as a Custom Chopper and I am sure it will be a fun build and change guises along the way, as thats how Choppers get built. They can change forks and rims numerous times until the builder is happy, and this will be the case with the one I have right here.

I need to be able to move these frames around, so for now I am bolting a few bits and bobs on that I have laying around, but of course, this will maybe look a little different as time goes on, but right now I thought that I would throw some Ram Horns bars on as it had no bars at all when I got it and you know how hard that is, trying to move a Hondas with no bars.

Right now the front end is just a stock Harley Sportster, but they don’t have enough length for the look I am going for, so not sure whether to just get longer fork tubes, say 6″over – or go another route and get a Springer front end, I am leaning towards Springer, as that’s a cool period look and something I have always dug anyway.

I am also going to probably go a 16″ rear wheel with spokes, just for the Nostalgia, as Lester Rims and Invaders have gone and priced themselves out of the market over here, and I do dig spokes anyway, maybe a 21 inch wheel up front too.

I have a bunch of old Chopper Gas tanks and grabbed this one, not sure yet but love the split beading in the middle, of course the old paint job will have to go but I do like the old Coffin tanks too, this tank does have that peanut feel to it and like the way it sits on the frame right now.

A long way to go but I need to be able to roll this old girl around and now I can, its bloody heavy to move with the rake of the front end but am sure later on I will get it sorted out.

A long long way to go but always something fun to do and have a go at, this and the other Chopper project I have will be therapeutic for me in these crazy times and give me more than I need to do to keep wrenching.

Feel free to email me any info on the Santee or if you have any cool parts I might be able to use, be fun to get this old 70’s Custom back on the road once more. carpy@carpyscaferacers.com

Hope you all had a great weekend? Tomorrow its more exhausts to get sorted, so stay tuned for that too.

New Year, let’s hope this one is a fruitful one

Well, 2020 can go and bugger right off, what a shitty year for everybody around the world, and we still have some ways to go before we can all meet up anywhere, so I tend to think I shall be here at home and will put my time and energy into making New parts available for you lot that are building at home right now.

I am so lucky that I find creating parts very therapeutic for me and will make the most of this lockdown scenario to see what I can accomplish and make available for you all in this 2021 year that we have just started on.

I am looking forward to seeing how your creations are going and hopefully you can send me some quality photos with a full description of what you have done, as many people ask about readers rides, so looking forward to some emails of your projects.

So I am wishing you ALL a very Happy New year and lets get building and see some very cool machines on the Tarmac for the Summer.

 

 

 

Working on an old CB550 Honda

Well, this Labor day weekend has been Hotter than a bowl of Chilli peppers, right now, as I type this, its 108 Degree’s. Now, I have a lot to do in the garage and I need to move some parts that have been sat in storage for a long time, I looked at what parts I had for this CB550 Honda, and figured I might be able to get it together as a roller over these few days.

I am sure like you, what you plan out, never really does go the the plan you have outlined in your head a hundred times and this weekend was one of them. The frame is pretty much all set, I had ground some Tabs off a while ago and then hopped the rear for a customer, but unfortunately he got into an accident and can no longer ride, so I had the frame in storage, an engine and a few other bits and bobs.

Anyway,I bought that home and cleaned it up a little, sat it on a dolly and thought I would add the triple trees and bearings etc, just to make a start etc. Well, I added the 37 Ball bearings and inserted the triple tree, only to fins that there is a 1/8th inch play gap in the top of the steering.

Upon further investigation, I have observed that these are CB750 Triples not 550, and although they look simular, they are not, obviously the 550 is shorter and the pinch bolts are also in a different location, but- I have searched high and low in my storage and I do not have any CB500 or CB550 triples at all, plenty of CB750 ones though but they wont work.

 

I am now scrolling through the Dreaded Ebay to buy a set of CB550 tree’s but am now at the mercy of the seller to wait for the goods to turn up, so there you go, my weekend is now buggered to be able to complete the front end.

 

So, this is the story for all bike builders, you think you have all the parts but you only find out you dont, when you come to assemble the darn thing, you get that ” Wait a minute, that aint right ” Thought.

Even though right now is now 109 degree’s, I managed to find an old swing arm and fitted that to the frame, as well as a set of TEC shocks that I had in a drawer and thought I may as well use these for something. As you can see, I have made a start, not sure if I am going to use an old CB750 gas tank as I am still in the mocking up, but we shall see how it goes. But, until I get the triple Tree set up off Ebay, I cant do much to the front end, but at least got something done on a scorching hot Sunday.

 

 

One of my Old Dunstall 750 Honda machines

Wow! Where does the time go these days?  I literally forgot about building this bike and found some tiny photos someone took of me, so thought I would try and show them on here, so you can see this Classic machine once again.

Fun times when I lived in the City Of Orange, where I crated so many Motorcycles in my garage and worked everyday from Dusk til Dawn, creating cool crates out of Original old CB750 bikes that had been stored away for years or simply left outside to let the elements tear them up.

As you can see, I managed to rebuild an old Cafe Bike, it had Paul Dunstall 5 gallon Tank and a TT syle Manx Seat assembly, and was such a blast to ride around when I got it to fire up.

I had a set of Borrani rims on it too with Paul Dunstall rear sets, a rare find these days thats for sure, but this was a great little set up that I wanted to blap around town on for a while.

I have owned quite a few Dunstall Machines over these past 20 years or so and never tire of stretching their necks out on the back roads, just pure Nostalgia.

It had Dunstall Clip on’s and an Old Yoshimura 4 into 1 system too, I found it in boxes at a Garage sale in Los Angeles and dragged it all home with me with a big smile on my face.

The old girl ran pretty good once I had sorted out the carb issue, 3 blocked idles jets and a dirty needle base, then she wanted to fly, but- the Tires were rock hard, so decided it was time to revamp this old bike as I had a Customer wanted something on these lines but with more color.

The rear tire got wore out pretty quick and lucky for me, I get on with my neighbors as they got used to my daily shenanigans with Motorcycles etc.

Laying down more smoke than a Beginners BBQ lesson, I wanted to make sure that I had a little fun with this machine before I did some changes to it for a new customer.

I really didnt have any photos of this machine as I was so busy building multiple bikes, but wish I had taken a bunch back then to show others all these years later.

As you can see, I fitted one of my New 5 Gallon Dunstall style TT Tanks and one of my Custom seats too, this Motorcycle with its Candy Tangerine was a head turner in the Sun.

Hope that the Owner still has it and is racing about having a Blast as much as I did with this Classic cafe bike, it was fun to put together and maybe I will see it again one day?

My Hot Rod 4 into 1 Exhaust system for the CB500 and CB550 Honda.

 

Well, Colder weather but had to continue and get a few things completed as a lot of Rain was on its way here and I worked as fast as i could to get a set of HOT ROD Exhaust system ready to Ceramic Coat as a Customer in Australia is eager to have them on his bike,. I just sent a set to the UK and he is really happy with they way they look and fit, as well as the way they sound.

This exhaust came out well and the Customer wants this one Silver in Ceramic Coating, so this is how it looks when it is coated and fitted to the CB550 Honda Motorcycle.

It bolts up so easy and stand out in the crowd, an aggressive style that shows your Engine off well too, it barks like a scolded dog and lets your engine breathe all through the curve.

Another with a Raw header and a ceramic Turn out and these are very popular for many bike builders, order one today from me and choose weather raw steel, Ceramic Silver, Black, Titanium or Bronze.