’78 HONDA CB750: RUSTY BOLT GARAGE!

What will you do this morning? I have no idea! read some of the emails that have missed more than a month. Almost deserted of writing activities. Now the spirit of it has been returned. Some people ask, why does not assign to it? You’re kidding, this is a personal page that I filled with my own hand works, some of you might be laughed at. So only you are the faithful who dare to wait patiently.

Some of the emails made me get out of bed. There are things that catches my eye, this is a sweet SOCH motorcycle from Honda, dominated by green. CB750 is a machine with the most beautiful sound that much inspired many custom motorcycle builders. One inspired, he is Charles Burkhardt owner of Rusty Bold Garage. A man who came from Santa Fe, NM. Even some of his work was the inspiration, build for “beautiful dreams”.

For you, the custom motorcycle enthusiast, it may already be familiar with his works that have been widely covered in many leading online media for motorcycles, especially Cafe Racer and I think this is one of his best, ’78 Honda CB750 Cafe Racer. From the technical side, what are the highlights of this bike? Let’s begin.

Charles says “Found it in Kansas as an unfinished project, my friend was driving through so I had him pick it up and bring it back to NM for me”. The CB750 was a game changer. The goal for this one were simple: Maintain some of the original look and feel, see how much weight we could take off this baby without loosing any of the nice ‘features’, make it go faster, make it stop quicker, and make it look good doing it!

You know how much weight dropped from this project? official wet weight 422 lbs (551.2 lbs Stock). That’s a 23.4% weight reduction! It’s interesting. You can watch how the initial speed that will be achieved after such weight loss? At least it will make you fly faster for 0-100 miles per hour. From the design this is a very clean bike, some people would glance at the figures at least 7 – 10K USD. Are you sure? I’m sure about that.

Now we start talking about the specifications offered for this bike. For the engine does not do any changes, an offer for those who want to ride a motorcycle with the original quality. still with displacement: 736.00 ccm (44.91 cubic inches). As said before, a reasonable increase that occurs for this bike is the weight has been reduced.

For the final drive have been using O-ring chain 530 Conversion. Some mechanics that had I encountered say “this will increase the horsepower, at least 1.5HP and 1.4 LB-FT at the rear wheel”. The use of tires will also slightly affect your riding style. Not to play, Charles said Pirelli Tyre is the most suitable.

For the front tire, using the Pirelli Diablo Rosso II 120/70 R17. As for the rear tire using Pirelli Diablo Rosso II 160/60 R17. Front master cylinder using Nissin 19mm radial. Front brakes using dual floating disk, 4 piston Nissin calipers. And for rear brakes using single disk, single piston Nissin caliper.

The front suspension using fully adjustable CBR900RR 45mm forks and for the rear suspension using dual gas charged reservoir shocks. Is there any part upgrades? Tank / Fuel capacity: 1973 CB750 hand shaped scallops / 4.25 gallons. For the ignition has been using Hall effect electronic ignition system. Some simple but mandatory equipment for the circulation is already pinned a Motogadget Mini / LED oil pressure warning.

Any interesting challenges or mistakes when building this bike? The oil tank took a little while to get ‘just so’. I also wanted to make sure that it could be reproduced if there is any interest shown in buying one. Same thing with the seat. It needed to match perfectly where it joins with the tank and the line along the frame rails.

Can you tell us about the finish, logos, or design? The bike was finished in ‘speed green’ with swooping lines that are similar to an early 70’s CB350. The frame and wheels are powder coated in gloss black, while the headlight bucket, exhaust, and front fender have the same textured black finish.

My question is: How does the bike ride? Rides great! The new stance, much lighter weight, grippy tires, and quick braking make for a fun ride! And concerning ongoing projects. Just finished a customers 883 Sporster custom, and will start work on a customers Virago restoration. We might be be teaming up with a local sculptor to build some moto art this fall. The next shop build I have planned is a Yamaha XS650.

If you have any questions about this bike. Please like Rusty Bolt Garage fan page and chat with them.

by Imam Sadikin (otomotif.org)