We believe the only way to truly understand your machine (car, boat, motorcycle, go-kart) is to work on it yourself. The bond between man and machine can only be built through emotion. The pain, the joy, and the craftsmanship that goes into it are what define that bond that we call “built not bought.”
Appreciating the “built-not-bought” idols
The Britten V1000 is a racing motorcycle hand-built by John Britten of New Zealand in the early 1990s. It features some engineering that was truly ahead of its time. Carbon fiber chassis, front suspension, and wheels. The rear shock is actually at the front of the bike and actuated by a pushrod and the front suspension is taken care of by a telelever shock also mounted at the front – mind-blowing stuff for the time (and BMW stole this idea years later). Not to mention over 67,000 components including the entire 999CC V-twin engine. He didn’t call Ducati and order a V-twin, he custom-built it. He designed, fabricated, and built this bike basically in his garage.
One of our personal favorites and the maddest garage engineer ever is Allen Millyard. His creations include a 207-mph, 1995 Dodge Viper 8.0L V10 motorcycle. Allen also combined two Pratt and Whitney aircraft cylinders, which together, created a 5000 cc V-twin that he threw into a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-styled motorcycle. My personal favorite is his V12 Kawasaki “Z2300.” He built this one by taking a f***ing HACKSAW (seriously) to two Z1300 1,300 cc straight-six engines and welded them together to make a monstrous 2300cc V12 that he somehow managed to fit back into the bike. Not only did he fit it in, but it also looks factory. “Mind blown” is an understatement.
The point is that building something of your own – making the decisions, repairing, designing, painting, turning wrenches, ordering parts – well, that injects some of your own legacy into the machine. To feel your own Frankenstein’s monster come to life must give the creator a joy similar to giving birth. I can only imagine what these legendary engineers felt when taking their machines to the road. I’m hoping to capture a fraction of that for this build. We hope the viewers get a fraction of that joy as well.
Our project bike
So, you have an idea of why we want to do this; now, let’s talk about the bike. It’s a motorcycle that’s past its prime. It’s a 1980 DOHC Honda CB750 ( the more desirable early 70’s SOHC model). It’s also been mistreated. It has a rusty, dented gas tank. No turn signals. A horrible-looking brake light. Mismatched side covers, tons of rust, weak electricals, and many more problems. To top it off, an engine that refuses to rev past 5k RPM. (It should go to 9k. Praying that it’s the dirty carb, please be the carb.)
However, an undesirable-in-the-first-place, poorly treated, $1500 (that’s what I paid) motorcycle is a fantastic place to start. With the recent café racer craze, we’ve seen people take the cutoff wheel to pristine bikes, and I personally couldn’t do that. “Polishing a turd” fits the Eastwood brand. I’ve seen plenty of builds that Eastwood customers have polished into something that looks like it belongs in a museum. I love that. That’s what we’re all about.
The plans and what you’ll see
The plans aren’t anything crazy. I’ll spare you the nitty gritty as that will be discussed in the series. A little bit of an engine rebuild, as well as a slight overbore. Why not? I’ll also be doing a ton of fab work. The seat, rear hoop and cowl, and an electrical tray all need to be addressed. The tank is a big problem. Rusty and dented right on the body lines of the knee dents. Joy. The wheels are lightweight but we think are super ugly with the bare aluminum trim. I’ll powder coat those, as well as the fork, the frame, electrical tray, etc. New tires and brakes while we’re at it. As well as some cool aftermarket parts and a total electrical overhaul.
The cool thing about this is that almost all of this work translates over to cars. If you’re here to see car content, you’ll enjoy the series. All of the things you’ll see us do translate directly to working on cars. You’ll appreciate the bike project because since this is a smaller scale, and you’ll get to see us do a little bit of everything. It keeps the project updates short, tidy, and informative. So follow along as we transform this CB750 project into something all our own.