OK...so I've thought about it and I decided I would go ahead and document what I am about to do: take a perfectly good 1980 Honda CB750F SuperSport...tear it apart...repaint it...clean and paint the engine...and put it all back together.

A little background on me. I'm married (13+ years), have one child (son, 3-1/2), and love anything that moves. I used to be partial to old cars...had a '66 Chevy BelAir (dropped a 502 into that old girl). Had a '64 Dodge Polara 500 (original 318 Poly engine w/aluminum dual-quad intake). And most recently had a '68 Chevy C-10 pickup (350/350). Right now (the wife don't know it) but I'm searching for an old 30s/40s hunk of metal so I can make a rat-rod hotrod out of it. But that's our secret.

I no longer have any of the above mentioned cars. See, I'm in the U.S. Coast Guard...and as such, I move every 2-4 years. Usually to a different part of the Country. Alaska (3x), Kalifornia, Virginia, Ohio, Mississippi, and Michigan (home State). And hauling around a project car/truck that doesn't run? Not fun.

Last time I rode a motorcycle was...oh...about 25 years ago. But it was time to do some lookin' around again. So, I picked up this '80 CB750F SuperSport for 425 bucks. Runs great, looks ok, stops great, and the price was dead-nuts on.





OK...so a little too much bike for me, at this point in my riding career. So two weeks later I pick up a great '78 Honda CB400TII Hawk. The perfect bike to get my "riding legs" back with. And a great bike for commuting.



As you can see, I didn't waste any time starting to strip the paint off the panels on the Hawk.

Here's a picture of my garage/shop where I'll be doing the work on all the bikes. As you can see, I've got a bit of a thing for bicycles, too.



The one hanging from the ceiling was made by me (built the frame) when I worked as an apprentice for an Italian framebuilder, while I was stationed in Cleveland.

The one hanging in the stand is an old 1967 Schwinn Paramount. A true, classic racer. Was my dads bike, I bought it from him and am restoring that as well.

You can also see the front of our (wife and I) tandem. We ride about 2000-3000 miles per year.

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Andy

I wave to everyone...I don't give a flyin' 'f what you are riding.

First things first. A nice polish...get rid of the highway pegs...take off the "Tail Piece" (although I do enjoy a nice piece of tail...)...and get that windscreen offa there. There we go, that'll do. Not too bad.





OK...so lets see how dirty this thing is under the seat and tank.



Ugh. Not horrible, but I wouldn't feed my dog off of it!

Now it's time to get rid of that stock airbox and carbs. Time to start getting into it...



There we go. Looking better.

What's that? Pull the engine? OK, if you say so...



Allrighty then. Now what? You want me to strip the frame down to nothing? Okie dokie...here we go!



GULP. Guess it's serious business now, eh?



There we go. Engine on the engine workbench...life is good. The best thing is, the family bought me a Craftsman motorcycle/atv lift for Fathers Day...so I've got the perfect way to work on it now! Thanks, guys!

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Andy

I wave to everyone...I don't give a flyin' 'f what you are riding.

Very nice bikes! I still want to get an old CB360 or the like for a cafe-racer project.

I look forward to seeing progress on these bikes.

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2008 BMW K1200S
2003 Z1000 - For Sale
1979 KZ650B - Work in progress
2005 Ducati SS 1000DS - sold :'(
1994 VFR750 Interceptor - sold
1984 VF700F Interceptor - sold
2004 Hyosung GV250 - sold

So that brings us to today.

I painted the frame and some small parts yesterday. I chose flat black. Wrong choice. It's more of a flat gray color. So, I'll let the paint cure for a few days (maybe a week), and work on other parts. Then I'm gonna scuff it all up with some ScotchBrite pads, and repaint it with some gloss-black paint. Shoulda done that in the first place...doh!

I'm kinda trying for an old-school hotrod look, or something like that. That's why I chose the flat paint. But I'm kinda rethinking things - who knows what I'll end up with!

Thanks for reading this far. More to come...

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Andy

I wave to everyone...I don't give a flyin' 'f what you are riding.

Are you cheatin on your 400 with that pretty black SV?

Yer 400 is gonna be mad!

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Nope, that's my best friends bike. He needed a place to store it while he was working on the old Scout. I told him I'd take care of her, since she'd have companionship with my Hondas.

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Andy

I wave to everyone...I don't give a flyin' 'f what you are riding.

did he at least leave the keys w/ you?

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Bikes Owned:
Gixxer 1000 K6 (stolen)
Gixxer 750 K6

Bikes Wanted:
VMAX
a super kewl cafe racer

Looks like you've gotten yourself into quite the project...cant wait to see how it turns out.

i love these project blogs, keep up the good work.

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Like Bob the MSF guy said "Smile your on a bike"

Member of DWPOMD

owner of a pretty red SV650S

OK...so I reshot it with gloss black today, and it looks MUCH better. Shoulda done that in the first place. Got the swingarm and frame painted. Tomorrow will work on the lower portions of the shocks, tape 'em off, and shoot them too.

No pics today...the wife and kid have the camera. Look for more pics tomorrow/Sat though...

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Andy

I wave to everyone...I don't give a flyin' 'f what you are riding.