My long-time friend, Mike Ballinger, remembers the early days of Honda 4 into 1 exhaust building and was an early fabricator. He also recalls the excitement of the track announcer at B.C.'s Westwood race track over the sound of the 750's 4 into 1 exhaust. Thank you, Paul, for prompting that fun memory. 😊
Paul, it does my old heart so much good to see you back in your shop doing what you love. The world is a better place with your experience, expertise, and artistry.
I guessed 15, but wasn’t taking into account paint finish work. In 70 I was a senior in high school building a 125 Ducati. Having read everything that I could at the time about motorcycles, was even studying 2 stroke pipe design and configuration. Had the good luck of seeing Don Vescos shop and ran into safety wire for the first time. Later in life became an aviation mechanic and never far from a pair of well worn safety wire pliers and a couple of rolls of S.S. wire. Finding your channel restores a pleasant era of my younger days! Really enjoying your channel.
Love the bike. Wish mine was a sand cast one. Mine is a 1972 and it still has the factory 4 into 4!! Paid 100.00 bucks for the bike! Motor was locked up. Just got it running 2 months ago! Keep up the amazing work!
R&D, Fab, test, install ...18.5. I was close. Just great to see you in the saddle. I've been layed up 3 years after car accident and spinal injury. Really enjoy each episode.
The kit was way more extensive than you talk about. The forks were not just internal parts. The sliders were magnesium and the fork tubes were titanium. I believe the carbs were cast magnesium unlike the die cast aluminum Keihins that cam stock. Most the fasteners were titanium. Honda didn’t mess around.
I found your time for the project interesting, I work in aviation and so many times customers complain about the time it takes to complete a project. Everything is a one off, everything is hand made and fitted, etched and alodined, primed assembled and painted. It takes huge amounts of time. And that is just structure, the mechanical side of things is another hurtle. Love your videos. Glad to see you looking well
Thank you Brianne. Yes, when a project has to be "right" and you cannot cut corners, the hours can really add up. I think you have an appreciation for that!
Hello Paul, great stories and a pleasure to be invited into your shed. I was way off on my guess of time spent, but then I looked at the beautiful job you made of that mudguard, the attention to detail was perfect aesthetically and practically. Honda would be proud of how you achieved that finished job. By the way Father Christmas treated me to an ultrasonic cleaner too! Carbs and clock parts here we go! Thanks again to you and Mitch, sending you my best wishes, regards Kevin.
Those ultrasonic cleaners are great, do yourself a favor and put your solution and parts in smaller containers and just fill the whole tub with water. That way you only have to dirty a small amount of solution. Saves a ton of money and cleaning! Merry Christmas and happy new year Paul and Mitch
Good health and fabrication on my favourite bike - Awesome stuff! I own three CB750's: A K1 from 1971, a K0 from late in 1970 and a Seeley Honda CB750F from 1977 and I can't part with any of them! The CR750 has always intrigued me...
Wow, Paul, that fender mount is exquisite! So happy to see you back fabricating stuff!!! Great episode. Please let us know the owner's reaction to the new mount!
So glad you're back fabricating, Paul! Amazing to watch your skills and problem solving in action. Keep the Westwood (and other racing) stories coming...and don't feel you need to speed any of it up! Real-time is fine. 😀
Hope you're feeling better Paul. Fascinating info. I have a 1971 CB750, that has a street version of the cafe kit. I don't know much of the history of the bike, but what I was told by the previous owner was that some guy built it in Florida in the very early seventies. The builder used some good stuff for the time; Read-Titan rearsets, Morris magnesium wheels, Crane cam, real clip on handlebars, regeared trans, and a four into one. That thing was a real slug. He geared it so high, that the couple of times I rode it, I couldn't get past third gear. Fourth and fifth were totally useless. I did get a complete stock trans for the bike, but I never got around to installing it. Oh yeah, the builder put struts on the rear instead of shocks. I never saw the logic in that. The second, and last time I rode it, I got a speeding ticket on a back road from a state trooper, but that's a story for another time. Let's see, I think that was '85 or so, and the 750 hasn't been started since. I hope your health continues to improve. Regards, Duck
My guess was 11 hrs a little shy I guess. Love seeing you in the shop again. The content was great for me, I have a CB 750 four 1976 year model that I want to do some mods to one of these days. The history was great too.
Paul, I'm gonna guess that rear rim was actually for a CB750 k model hub, which is just a bit smaller in diameter. In the late 80s I had a 72 CB750 k, festooned with all the street class Yoshi parts (836 kit and cam, single exhaust, up jetted stock carbs) to make it "stupid fast" for its era. Suzuki gt750 front forks (for dual discs) and a set of awful heavy steel mags (to soak up the abuse of NYC neglected pavement) made it my 40 miles each way daily commuter on any day the GWB was open to 2 wheel traffic. Sadly, I lost it in a divorce long before I would have given it up, lol
Now that you have an ultrasonic you need to get the correct soap for it. You need to get Alconox. This is what we used where we built mass spectrometers. I tried different soaps in my own personal ultrasonic at home but nothing actually worked. Then the Alconox worked like magic. My small one fit Harley cylinder heads or about 2/3 of a BSA or Triumph twin head. I bought a big one a couple years ago that fits both Sportster case halves and a couple heads at the same time. There's some amazing stuff you can do with one besides just cleaning.
I have an old Bultaco that had screw in slotted and sharpened pins that were supposed to keep the tire from slipping. I put on a brand new Pirelli tire and the first time I rode it the pins neatly cut the bead out of the tire when it slipped. Doh!!... I was at a race at Ontario Motor Speedway around '72. What a race! Mann was on 3 cylinder BSA, Nixon was on Kawi triple two stroke, Renzo Pasolini on Harley and Jarno Saarinen on Yamaha.( Both were killed soon after in a race collision with each other at Monza)...
Actually they were never "sandcast" cases just a very rough diecasting mold used for proof of concept testing that is why there were so few ever made that way., A friend of mine who was into Hillclimbs in Australia back in the day when CB 750's first appeared had some good friends who helped him out in Honda R&D and they supplied him Camshafts , CB 750 Japanese Police bike cylinder heads (Superior castings with better porting than normal production heads) as well as other race bits from Honda's race department back in the day before RSC came into being. And strangely enough a bunch of Race parts as well for the CB 350 engines he never used a buddy of mine still has as used in the Race bikes emulated in classic racing especially in the UK these days.
Stephen, thanks for watching and commenting. Since the video, I have found out more info. I would disagree with you on sand casting, and that there were very few ever made. There were actually 7414 sand cast cases made. I had no idea that there were that many produced! My idea of 200 approx was completely wrong...
My guess was 40. This gives me an idea of a different fender mounting system than what Ive got on CB750K cafe racer build I'm doing for my son. Great episode...love the history!
One season we took under our wing a young man from Japan, who raced in WMRRA's novice class... at the time my brother was racing Wasco's CB750f (*in 900f form) in the open dinosaur class, which wears a set of very similar carbs to those - Kenny taught us the proper pronunciation of many things we had wrong... he pronounced kei-hin as "kay-in" with a very very soft H and no inflection on either syllable Around that same time I had the opportunity to ride on track with Steve Baker, when he made a design for an exhaust system innovation that is now commonplace... the muffler in the tail. The bike was an Open Battle of the Twins (BOTT) bike based off of the big Virago motor, custom framed. The shock waves coming out of the pipe, before you got tucked in behind the windscreen were like a combination of being hit in the face with a bat, with the reality warping mirage of the pulses of heat. Following a former World Champion was an amazing thing, he was smooth as glass, and as precise as a Swiss watch, and FAST! We were blessed, in the PNW with a wealth of talented riders, tuners, and fabricators - with you among them ;)
it is nice to see you doing some work again mister Brodie , i had a smile when you talk about the 4 in 1 muffler , because it remember me of my first motorcycle it was a Honda cb750 four 1974 with a 4 in 1 muffler called hooker
I guessed 12 hours.... Pops got burned quite badly in a dyno fire back in the day, when they used the "step and hold" method @ 1K rpm increments all the way up and all the way back down... can't remember where or when it happened. Yosh parts are excellent but $$$! Fender bracket looks great Paul, thanks for the history lesson loved it! Cheers, Doug
A friend did drill holes in these disks and found some spots very hard and others soft our belief is it’s a kind of pot metal stainless or there is heat hardening going on. Stainless steel is not a good disk material for the want of no rust stains from cast iron we had to put up with a disk about as good as a drum. I had a CB450 twin with the same break they where never very good. I love our work. Wobbels the mad Aussie
Artistic as usual, 1973 Frankie with mates Duncan and Peter showed up at Daytona in a Oldsmobile convertible with the top down, they opened the trunk to show Steve Baker and I his race bike was tanken apart and put in there for the journey from Vancouver. Waldo
I miss my old CB 750. It was a '76 with a four into four exhaust. During my first road trip with friends on more modern bikes, we watched some supermoto racing at a friends house and discussed how the riders were able to ride like that. The next day as we rode out to the coast in Northern California, I started late braking and aggressively downshifting and had that old girl backing into corners as we snaked our way West. It was a magical day and I've never made a bike do that since.
I had a 1972 CB750. I still have fond memories. Sounds like you had an inspired ride on that particular day. I've had a few of my own! Thanks for commenting....
@@paulbrodie The bike was mostly stock. But I adapted a Brembo brake off a Ducati to the front and made my own flat handlebars that I kept when I sold it and still have on a town bike.
TH-cam isn't notifying me of your videos. In any event, JINX! I can't believe it. I bought the same ultrasonic cleaner. Mine is 30L. From what I gather its best to never use the internal heater as it will fry the electronics inside. Instead, I see people using separate heating elements to heat the water. I also see people using canning jars and ziplock bags in an effort to keep the water clean. They put the parts in the jars and baggies and whatever soap and add water then they stick it in the tank and it is working to clean stuff. Just passing it along. Ok, Ill shut up now. 😁😁😁
Good to see you back making things Paul. I think many of us really missed and worried about you. Your attention to detail and pride in your work is outstanding.
Hi Paul great vid. Interesting to hear your comments about the Honda 750s weak camchain set up. I remember reading a report in a bike mage where British motorcycle engineers bought and tested a Honda 750 4, and when doing continuous high performance tests, it was`nt long before their machine`s camchain set up detonated destroying the top of the engine. As a result, the British bike industry ignored the Honda saying "it`ll never work, and will never sell". What they did`nt expect was the Honda, and Kawasaki for that, developed and refined the OHC set up, making it more reliable, and at that time, us Brits were persevering with pushrod OHV engines. How wrong they were. Once again, thanks for another entertaining vid.
It’s nice to be able to watch you work your magic again! Matching the arc of the fender in one attempt was impressive! Luck? No way. Years of experience!
Great to see you back working in your shop, the fender brace turned out perfect. 👍 Thanks for the very interesting back story and thank you Mitch for doing the video.
Paul, I'm so glad to see you in real action again. You are an example to me on how to design and build. Thank you. You're the salt of TH-cam. Best, Job
Sure glad you didn't volunteer to complete the Safety Wiring, The owner of this bike now has more bragging rights since the one and only Paul Brody worked his magic on it. I would love to see the smile on his face when he gets to see it. Thanks.
Hi Paul hope this finds you well happy new year. How is your back are you still filming in the workshop if so looking forward to see what your up to take care God bless you.
Thanks, reminds me of BHP Port Waratah, a Mech Eng trainee, first 2 years as a Fitting & Turning apprentice. It's the sort of work I would like to do now, building frames, engines, in a machine shop setting, and doing it to a standard, thanks for the content.
I'm happy for you and Mitch Paul, it's great to see you working on a project that requires all your skills. AND I loved the Honda race story, thanks for that.
As always, thank you Paul & Mitch. It's wonderful that you're feeling better! Even more wonderful that you're enjoying your time in the shop again. That's quite a special bike, and special that you were tapped to work on it. I got a couple T-shirts and I'm quite enjoying having them in the rotation. Especially "that's a good fit".
'Back making things in your shop'. The best news. You are looking great Paul. The mudguard mount is art of course. I guessed 25 hours so very impressive. Pops Yoshimura was a bit of a magician, thanks for the potted history of the bike, I enjoyed listening. Best wishes, Dean.
When I worked at a cycle shop, the vendors pronounced that word “key en”. I paused one of your videos once to get the part number off of your tool holder because I was going to order you one. I was shocked when I saw how much multi-fix holders cost. I’m glad you got a good deal on them. I have an AXA tool post on my lathe so I understand the need for a dozen holders. Before Covid I could get 4 AXA holders for $20 shipped. The multi-fix seems like a more useful design though.
Oh also, I loved the recent episode on the history of Brodie Bikes - it’d be equally enjoyable to have a similar video on your motorcycle history!!! Happy 2023!
a lovely job paul, great potted history from that era too thanks mitch for the "key grip"work behid the lens ,brilliant, best guess was 23 hrs ,,so you have a nice 4 hour break guys ☺👍👍👍
Wow first time in 28 years I have seen a tail on a bike like my Don Vesco seat cowl off a td race bike but that one looks pretty much same. Great for tool roll and fuel can on bike. I recall that bike at the BC place location they had. Dick Mann a great BSA racer too, 1969. Pops 4-1 on a 400/4 is great sounded like the Tie fighters in Star Wars and full kick just screamed.
Hey, Paul. Great to see you going from strength to strength. Happy new year. Regarding that unsupported rear end; I recall it being all the rage, on cutting edge bikes, to have no hoop at the back. It was a given that, if a rider needed a push start, you'd push the bike with your hands on the riders back. If you pushed from the rear, it'd collapse. My bike had no washers on any fasteners, no temperature gauge, no starter mechanisms, and no seat pad, all in the name of power to weight gains.
Thank you Marty. Yes, I have seen riders being pushed on their backs, not the seat. Sometimes what is currently "cool" is not always the most practical solution. But, we get to tell the stories years later..
@@paulbrodie Stories are experiences told by those who live them, Paul. Just like you, I have a huge bucket of them....not still on the bucket list, thankfully. It's genuinely great to see you getting better. Take care of yourself, mate.
I estimated it was 20 hours. Pretty close and for all you did I think that is pretty fast. It takes time to do things the correct way. So happy to see you " making things in your shop again" and I look forward to following videos.
Hello Paul. Great stories and very cool historic racer there. I had forgotten all about Gary Fisher motorcycle racer. He did get some good press in the `70s. Got muddled with Gary Fisher, one of the mountain bike pioneers. You know a thing or 2 about that subject! lol. A few of his bikes are carefully maintained and kept here. Still shocked how good the Roscoe starting about 2009 (?) works. So, a steel fab guy with your knowledge should need 2 ish hours to invent that fender mount. Yes the piece of art you made takes way longer. Your loop over the tire looks suspiciously like the /6 or 7 BMW fork brace/ fender mount. Forget bending one of those by hand, they were hit with a massive press. See Eve`s 90S for confirmation. We used to have a family use Yamaha FJ600 with the OE thin cast aluminum brace. It was quite a clever design, with a little spoiler to direct oil cooler air, mounted above the fender. In a minor crash it cracked. Machinist Andy Whitaker took a look, whipped out his pocket 150 mm steel ruler, and announced he would make a better one. The made from billet polished result was way nicer. We even found a Yoshimura 4 into 1 for that 600, pretty rare pipe. Seeing you making chips and designing was delightful. Quite reassuring that the world isn't all bad.
Thanks Leon. Yes, there are (2) Gary Fishers (at a bare minimum...) and it is easy to get confused if you only have a small amount of information. It is good to be spending time in my shop again... :)
Thanks for sharing this project! Love hearing about some of the the old Westwood racing history, and hearing a bit about the racing history on the CR750
Mr. Brodie, Very happy that your health is obviously improving. Your ability to arrive at elegant and functional solutions is impressive and has been learned, honed and refined after many years. It is amazing to observe the process, some of us can only dream. Great stories about the early race history of the CR750. You didn't want to get into some details concerning the Daytona winning machine. I do not have any first hand information but have read about and talked to people who know details. It has been confirmed that the fuel tanks were oversized and that the crankcases were cast from material other than aluminum, on those Daytona race bikes. In fact one of the four factory bikes crashed in testing and track workers had a very difficult time extinguishing the fire. It is interesting history that Mr. Yoshimura started with Honda's, then Kawasaki when the 900 was introduced but seemed to "find his home" with Suzuki with whom the name is almost synonymous.
Thanks Stephen. Yes, you know of the details of the 1970 Daytona race. Honda wanted Mann to speed up and (hopefully) win by a larger margin, but his crew knew the motor was close to expiring, so ignored those Honda instructions, and limped to the checkered flag on 3 cylinders, only winning with a margin of 2 seconds. For that, Mann's crew chief was fired by Honda.
For a moment I thought it was your bike. Very nice job on the mount, id not thought about it but brazing those lugs on does make a real tidy job. Makes me realise i dont get to do enough fabrication on my own bikes. A few years back i bought a totaled Ducati ST4 with the intemntion of rebuilding it the way I wanted it. I loved my 916 years and years ago but i nkow im too crippled to ride a 916 so the ST4 was going to be a ompromise. Trouble is the bugger turned out to be a clone of a 916 and im no better off, but I do have a bloody lovely bike in the shed. Its guys like you that inspire us lot to get on a build these things so a bign thank you for all the effort you put into these videos. And a happy new year to you and Mitch.
Top hint for the ultra. you can use little glass jars and other containers to use different solvents and cleaning fluids in the bath. Saves a fortune on filling the bath and having to switch out dirty fluid between jobs. I've run a whole bath of acetone one time to degum a very precious carb. I wish I'd known this trick before hand, Too may brain cells went west during that little game.
Always enjoy watching the thought and process that you put into your custom fabrications. Also enjoyed the history lesson. Cheers to you and Mitch and thanks for the video!
My long-time friend, Mike Ballinger, remembers the early days of Honda 4 into 1 exhaust building and was an early fabricator. He also recalls the excitement of the track announcer at B.C.'s Westwood race track over the sound of the 750's 4 into 1 exhaust. Thank you, Paul, for prompting that fun memory. 😊
Thank you very much. I used to go to Westwood (mostly to spectate in those days...) so I might have been there when all that Excitement was happening!
Paul, it does my old heart so much good to see you back in your shop doing what you love. The world is a better place with your experience, expertise, and artistry.
Thank you Johnnie. Very kind words!
17:58 “Actually making stuff again in my shop”
@@gunfzx It's true. I really am happy to be making stuff in my shop again!
@@paulbrodie and at 28:20 “First try … that makes me feel OK”!!!!! Your passion is leaking!
@@gunfzx Yes, I sure do like making stuff, and I'm glad it shows!
I think over 7000 bikes were sandcast motors. All 1969. Great show. Thanks Paul.
Thank you. After the video was made I talked to my friend Doug, and he knew exactly how many sand cast blocks were produced. Something like 7400...
I guessed 15, but wasn’t taking into account paint finish work. In 70 I was a senior in high school building a 125 Ducati. Having read everything that I could at the time about motorcycles, was even studying 2 stroke pipe design and configuration. Had the good luck of seeing Don Vescos shop and ran into safety wire for the first time. Later in life became an aviation mechanic and never far from a pair of well worn safety wire pliers and a couple of rolls of S.S. wire. Finding your channel restores a pleasant era of my younger days! Really enjoying your channel.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
When you said, "making stuff again in my shop" it made me feel warm inside. Keep on keeping on, Paul
Thanks Paul. Yes, my strength is slowly coming back, and it feels good to be fabricating again.😉
"Actually making stuff again in my shop"! A statement of delighted victory. Good work Bloke.
Thank you Tony. Yes it does feel good to be making and fixing stuff in my shop again...
Love the bike. Wish mine was a sand cast one. Mine is a 1972 and it still has the factory 4 into 4!! Paid 100.00 bucks for the bike! Motor was locked up. Just got it running 2 months ago!
Keep up the amazing work!
Thanks Paul, another masterclass in fabrication, glad to see you looking better and enjoying what you do best.
Thanks Michael. It is good to be back working in my shop....
R&D, Fab, test, install ...18.5.
I was close.
Just great to see you in the saddle.
I've been layed up 3 years after car accident and spinal injury.
Really enjoy each episode.
You had a very good guess! Estimating is often the hardest part...
La storia di Fisher e Ioshimura.. Fantastica!
Le ore di lavoro?..25 ore 👍🙋
Thanks for watching!
I loved seeing how joyful you were when the fender radius matched on the first try! The Gary Fisher story was a bonus.
Thanks Joel. Yes, I still get a good feeling when things go right in my projects!
The kit was way more extensive than you talk about. The forks were not just internal parts. The sliders were magnesium and the fork tubes were titanium. I believe the carbs were cast magnesium unlike the die cast aluminum Keihins that cam stock. Most the fasteners were titanium. Honda didn’t mess around.
You might be correct. As more information comes my way I learn a bit more. Thanks for watching and commenting...
Love the history. Pointing out the period pieces on the bike was great! Keep up the killer work!
David, thanks for watching and commenting!
Very cool great job on the fender and i liked hearing about the history. Good to see you working in the shop. I guessed 20 hours.
Thank you Doug. Plus, very good guess on the time involved!
Gary was a warrior in the Super Bike Wars of the late 70's. As I remember he stayed with Hondas.
I found your time for the project interesting, I work in aviation and so many times customers complain about the time it takes to complete a project. Everything is a one off, everything is hand made and fitted, etched and alodined, primed assembled and painted. It takes huge amounts of time. And that is just structure, the mechanical side of things is another hurtle.
Love your videos.
Glad to see you looking well
Thank you Brianne. Yes, when a project has to be "right" and you cannot cut corners, the hours can really add up. I think you have an appreciation for that!
Hello Paul, great stories and a pleasure to be invited into your shed.
I was way off on my guess of time spent, but then I looked at the beautiful job you made of that mudguard, the attention to detail was perfect aesthetically and practically.
Honda would be proud of how you achieved that finished job. By the way Father Christmas treated me to an ultrasonic cleaner too! Carbs and clock parts here we go!
Thanks again to you and Mitch, sending you my best wishes, regards Kevin.
Thanks Kevin. Appreciate your comments.
Those ultrasonic cleaners are great, do yourself a favor and put your solution and parts in smaller containers and just fill the whole tub with water. That way you only have to dirty a small amount of solution. Saves a ton of money and cleaning! Merry Christmas and happy new year Paul and Mitch
Thanks Josh. Good tips :)
👏👏👏👏👏good to see back manufacturing in your shop
Cheers Chris
Thanks Chris. Yes, I am slowly getting stronger!
Good health and fabrication on my favourite bike - Awesome stuff! I own three CB750's: A K1 from 1971, a K0 from late in 1970 and a Seeley Honda CB750F from 1977 and I can't part with any of them!
The CR750 has always intrigued me...
Very good Paul, I'm glad you are making and fitting things again. Thanks Paul and Mitch
Thanks for watching :)
Artistic solution - seems like Frankie gets a much better bike and your energy is back😜
Frankie said it was better than the stock Honda mount.
Great to see you back in action in your shop Paul! 💪
Thanks very much.
Hemmings shows the MSRP of a 1970 CB 750 as $1,495....
Kinda puts that race kit in perspective.
Yes, that is the price I have heard too. What a deal!!
Wow, Paul, that fender mount is exquisite! So happy to see you back fabricating stuff!!! Great episode. Please let us know the owner's reaction to the new mount!
Thanks Tom. The owner said it was better than the factory Honda mount.
So glad you're back fabricating, Paul! Amazing to watch your skills and problem solving in action. Keep the Westwood (and other racing) stories coming...and don't feel you need to speed any of it up! Real-time is fine. 😀
Thank you John. Very nice comments!
Hope you're feeling better Paul.
Fascinating info. I have a 1971 CB750, that has a street version of the cafe kit.
I don't know much of the history of the bike, but what I was told by the previous owner was that some guy built it in Florida in the very early seventies.
The builder used some good stuff for the time; Read-Titan rearsets, Morris magnesium wheels, Crane cam, real clip on handlebars, regeared trans, and a four into one.
That thing was a real slug. He geared it so high, that the couple of times I rode it, I couldn't get past third gear.
Fourth and fifth were totally useless. I did get a complete stock trans for the bike, but I never got around to installing it.
Oh yeah, the builder put struts on the rear instead of shocks.
I never saw the logic in that.
The second, and last time I rode it, I got a speeding ticket on a back road from a state trooper, but that's a story for another time.
Let's see, I think that was '85 or so, and the 750 hasn't been started since.
I hope your health continues to improve.
Regards,
Duck
Thanks Duck. Yes, you have a bike with a story. Hope you get around to fixing it up :)
My guess was 11 hrs a little shy I guess. Love seeing you in the shop again. The content was great for me, I have a CB 750 four 1976 year model that I want to do some mods to one of these days. The history was great too.
Thanks Gordon. Appreciate your comments
Paul, I'm gonna guess that rear rim was actually for a CB750 k model hub, which is just a bit smaller in diameter. In the late 80s I had a 72 CB750 k, festooned with all the street class Yoshi parts (836 kit and cam, single exhaust, up jetted stock carbs) to make it "stupid fast" for its era. Suzuki gt750 front forks (for dual discs) and a set of awful heavy steel mags (to soak up the abuse of NYC neglected pavement) made it my 40 miles each way daily commuter on any day the GWB was open to 2 wheel traffic. Sadly, I lost it in a divorce long before I would have given it up, lol
You might be right about the rear rim. I really do not know...
Now that you have an ultrasonic you need to get the correct soap for it. You need to get Alconox. This is what we used where we built mass spectrometers. I tried different soaps in my own personal ultrasonic at home but nothing actually worked. Then the Alconox worked like magic.
My small one fit Harley cylinder heads or about 2/3 of a BSA or Triumph twin head. I bought a big one a couple years ago that fits both Sportster case halves and a couple heads at the same time. There's some amazing stuff you can do with one besides just cleaning.
Thanks Jay. I was told to use water mixed with vinegar, but I might just try that Alconox you recommended :)
@@paulbrodie I sent you a fb message with the link to what I use. Love your work.
@@JaySiewers Thank you.
I have an old Bultaco that had screw in slotted and sharpened pins that were supposed to keep the tire from slipping. I put on a brand new Pirelli tire and the first time I rode it the pins neatly cut the bead out of the tire when it slipped. Doh!!... I was at a race at Ontario Motor Speedway around '72. What a race! Mann was on 3 cylinder BSA, Nixon was on Kawi triple two stroke, Renzo Pasolini on Harley and Jarno Saarinen on Yamaha.( Both were killed soon after in a race collision with each other at Monza)...
Tom, you have stories! Thanks for watching :)
Actually they were never "sandcast" cases just a very rough diecasting mold used for proof of concept testing that is why there were so few ever made that way., A friend of mine who was into Hillclimbs in Australia back in the day when CB 750's first appeared had some good friends who helped him out in Honda R&D and they supplied him Camshafts , CB 750 Japanese Police bike cylinder heads (Superior castings with better porting than normal production heads) as well as other race bits from Honda's race department back in the day before RSC came into being.
And strangely enough a bunch of Race parts as well for the CB 350 engines he never used a buddy of mine still has as used in the Race bikes emulated in classic racing especially in the UK these days.
Stephen, thanks for watching and commenting. Since the video, I have found out more info. I would disagree with you on sand casting, and that there were very few ever made. There were actually 7414 sand cast cases made. I had no idea that there were that many produced! My idea of 200 approx was completely wrong...
My guess was 40. This gives me an idea of a different fender mounting system than what Ive got on CB750K cafe racer build I'm doing for my son. Great episode...love the history!
Right on.... thanks for watching!
Paul, enjoyed the history of the CR and of the fab work on the front fender stay. Thanks for the video.
Thanks 👍 Glad you enjoyed it.
One season we took under our wing a young man from Japan, who raced in WMRRA's novice class... at the time my brother was racing Wasco's CB750f (*in 900f form) in the open dinosaur class, which wears a set of very similar carbs to those - Kenny taught us the proper pronunciation of many things we had wrong... he pronounced kei-hin as "kay-in" with a very very soft H and no inflection on either syllable
Around that same time I had the opportunity to ride on track with Steve Baker, when he made a design for an exhaust system innovation that is now commonplace... the muffler in the tail. The bike was an Open Battle of the Twins (BOTT) bike based off of the big Virago motor, custom framed. The shock waves coming out of the pipe, before you got tucked in behind the windscreen were like a combination of being hit in the face with a bat, with the reality warping mirage of the pulses of heat.
Following a former World Champion was an amazing thing, he was smooth as glass, and as precise as a Swiss watch, and FAST!
We were blessed, in the PNW with a wealth of talented riders, tuners, and fabricators - with you among them ;)
Great stories, thank you! Yes, I have watched Steve race, and he is so very talented... :)
Kei as in "the CA-ped crusader", Hin as in HIN-drance.
Glad to see you active around the shop! 👍
it is nice to see you doing some work again mister Brodie , i had a smile when you talk about the 4 in 1 muffler , because it remember me of my first motorcycle it was a Honda cb750 four 1974 with a 4 in 1 muffler called hooker
Thanks Claude. I remember Hooker Headers!
I guessed 12 hours.... Pops got burned quite badly in a dyno fire back in the day, when they used the "step and hold" method @ 1K rpm increments all the way up and all the way back down... can't remember where or when it happened. Yosh parts are excellent but $$$! Fender bracket looks great Paul, thanks for the history lesson loved it! Cheers, Doug
Doug, thanks for watching and commenting. Much appreciated :)
A friend did drill holes in these disks and found some spots very hard and others soft our belief is it’s a kind of pot metal stainless or there is heat hardening going on. Stainless steel is not a good disk material for the want of no rust stains from cast iron we had to put up with a disk about as good as a drum. I had a CB450 twin with the same break they where never very good. I love our work. Wobbels the mad Aussie
Yes, drilling a lot of holes in stainless rotors can take a long time and cause frustration. I would probably not volunteer for a job like that...
Artistic as usual, 1973 Frankie with mates Duncan and Peter showed up at Daytona in a Oldsmobile convertible with the top down, they opened the trunk to show Steve Baker and I his race bike was tanken apart and put in there for the journey from Vancouver. Waldo
Thanks Waldo. Yes, I saw a photo of the race bike in the trunk of the Olsmobile. Cool!
Great to see you back in the shop, and looking well....
Thanks Matt :)
In Britain we call those carb plungers 'ticklers' and you tickle the carb
Yes, correct.
I miss my old CB 750. It was a '76 with a four into four exhaust. During my first road trip with friends on more modern bikes, we watched some supermoto racing at a friends house and discussed how the riders were able to ride like that. The next day as we rode out to the coast in Northern California, I started late braking and aggressively downshifting and had that old girl backing into corners as we snaked our way West. It was a magical day and I've never made a bike do that since.
I had a 1972 CB750. I still have fond memories. Sounds like you had an inspired ride on that particular day. I've had a few of my own! Thanks for commenting....
@@paulbrodie The bike was mostly stock. But I adapted a Brembo brake off a Ducati to the front and made my own flat handlebars that I kept when I sold it and still have on a town bike.
It's beautiful, Paul. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Toren.
TH-cam isn't notifying me of your videos. In any event, JINX! I can't believe it. I bought the same ultrasonic cleaner. Mine is 30L. From what I gather its best to never use the internal heater as it will fry the electronics inside. Instead, I see people using separate heating elements to heat the water. I also see people using canning jars and ziplock bags in an effort to keep the water clean. They put the parts in the jars and baggies and whatever soap and add water then they stick it in the tank and it is working to clean stuff. Just passing it along.
Ok, Ill shut up now. 😁😁😁
Bad TH-cam for not notifying you. Yes, I have heard all those tips for using the ultrasonic cleaner. There probably is some substance to them....
Congratulations of once again being a maker and not just a story teller. Our dreams have come true. Best Christmas ever!
Thank you. Good comments!
My WAG was 22 hours. I do not have a bike nor do I ride but I enjoy watching you solve problems. David Adair
Thanks David. Good guess!
Good to see you back making things Paul. I think many of us really missed and worried about you. Your attention to detail and pride in your work is outstanding.
Thank you Adrian. Appreciate your comments!
Hi Paul great vid.
Interesting to hear your comments about the Honda 750s weak camchain set up. I remember reading a report in a bike mage where British motorcycle engineers bought and tested a Honda 750 4, and when doing continuous high performance tests, it was`nt long before their machine`s camchain set up detonated destroying the top of the engine. As a result, the British bike industry ignored the Honda saying "it`ll never work, and will never sell". What they did`nt expect was the Honda, and Kawasaki for that, developed and refined the OHC set up, making it more reliable, and at that time, us Brits were persevering with pushrod OHV engines. How wrong they were.
Once again, thanks for another entertaining vid.
Thanks Neil. Yes, your comments on the British Bike Industry were spot on!
What a beautifully shot and well captured moment, narrated wonderfully. Thanks for sharing!
Cheers Paul & Mitch of course, thanks for the the very interesting history lesson. Have a great 2023 both of you
Thank you Jim... 😉
It’s nice to be able to watch you work your magic again!
Matching the arc of the fender in one attempt was impressive! Luck? No way. Years of experience!
Thanks Ron. Yes it did feel good to match the arc first time :)
Great to see you back working in your shop, the fender brace turned out perfect. 👍 Thanks for the very interesting back story and thank you Mitch for doing the video.
Thank you Yoda!
Thanks Paul, that's a great fabrication, totally suits the bike.
Glad you like it! Thanks for watching.
Excellent back story to this episode. Top marks ✔✔✔
Thank you Craig.
Paul, I'm so glad to see you in real action again. You are an example to me on how to design and build. Thank you. You're the salt of TH-cam. Best, Job
Thank you Job. Appreciate your comments.
Great to see you back in the shop, easy to see you enjoy it!!
Thank you :)
Sure glad you didn't volunteer to complete the Safety Wiring,
The owner of this bike now has more bragging rights since the one and only Paul Brody worked his magic on it.
I would love to see the smile on his face when he gets to see it.
Thanks.
Safety wiring can be very time consuming. My name is spelt Brodie. Thanks for watching :)
Hi Paul hope this finds you well happy new year. How is your back are you still filming in the workshop if so looking forward to see what your up to take care God bless you.
Happy New Year Mark! Yes, we are still filming. Next video comes out in a few days!
Once again welcome back Paul! Hope you are better..
Thanks Fra. Chemo is over so next month is my stem cell transplant...
I was at that race and sat next to Gene Romero's father in the Enfield bleachers. Great history and a great video.
Thanks John.
Thanks, reminds me of BHP Port Waratah, a Mech Eng trainee, first 2 years as a Fitting & Turning apprentice. It's the sort of work I would like to do now, building frames, engines, in a machine shop setting, and doing it to a standard, thanks for the content.
Paul, I love the history , along with the impeccable craftsmanship.
Thank you Mak.
You did a wonderful job on a wonderful and historic motorcycle! I hope the owner lets you sort out that saddle/tail piece.
Thanks Matthew. The tail piece did not get modified.
@@paulbrodie Darn.
I am happy to see Paul at work, which he enjoys! Greetings from German
Hello Germany. Thanks for watching!
@@paulbrodie My name is Stefan. I look forward to every new video from you! Thank you Paul and Mitch!!! 👍
@@Steven-rd3qn Hi Stefan. Thank you for liking our videos...
Love your work as much as your recounting of the history! Thanks for sharing your skills, knowledge and experience.
Thank you Ekim!
I'm happy for you and Mitch Paul, it's great to see you working on a project that requires all your skills. AND I loved the Honda race story, thanks for that.
Thank you :)
CB72 (250 twin) had TLS drums front & rear! Way overkill! That looks like it has lived a life, cool thing.
Great history lesson on that bike. Outstanding job on that fender mount.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks Tom :)
Always a pleasure watching you design and fab!
Thank you!
As always, thank you Paul & Mitch. It's wonderful that you're feeling better! Even more wonderful that you're enjoying your time in the shop again. That's quite a special bike, and special that you were tapped to work on it. I got a couple T-shirts and I'm quite enjoying having them in the rotation. Especially "that's a good fit".
Thanks Alan. Yes, it was good to have the CR750 in my shop for a short while.
Great storys, outstanding craftsmanship and a beautiful result!
Thank you Beedrop Rooko...
Fantastic story and amazing work.
Thank you very much!
Your CAD work is epic
Thanks for noticing!
Thanks for the cool background info on the bike. Lots of CB750's from that era still around, but not many with the race kit & heritage of that one!
Thanks John. :)
'Back making things in your shop'. The best news. You are looking great Paul.
The mudguard mount is art of course. I guessed 25 hours so very impressive.
Pops Yoshimura was a bit of a magician, thanks for the potted history of the bike, I enjoyed listening.
Best wishes, Dean.
Dean, thanks for watching and commenting :)
When I worked at a cycle shop, the vendors pronounced that word “key en”. I paused one of your videos once to get the part number off of your tool holder because I was going to order you one. I was shocked when I saw how much multi-fix holders cost. I’m glad you got a good deal on them. I have an AXA tool post on my lathe so I understand the need for a dozen holders. Before Covid I could get 4 AXA holders for $20 shipped. The multi-fix seems like a more useful design though.
Yes, multi -fix tool holders are expensive. But the good ones will last a lifetime :)
Oh also, I loved the recent episode on the history of Brodie Bikes - it’d be equally enjoyable to have a similar video on your motorcycle history!!! Happy 2023!
Thanks Jim!
Functional and beautiful...excellent stuff, Mr. Brodie!
Thank you!
a lovely job paul, great potted history from that era too thanks
mitch for the "key grip"work behid the lens ,brilliant, best guess
was 23 hrs ,,so you have a nice 4 hour break guys ☺👍👍👍
Thanks William. 23 hours is a good guess. I am currently on my 4 hour break!
Wow first time in 28 years I have seen a tail on a bike like my Don Vesco seat cowl off a td race bike but that one looks pretty much same. Great for tool roll and fuel can on bike. I recall that bike at the BC place location they had. Dick Mann a great BSA racer too, 1969. Pops 4-1 on a 400/4 is great sounded like the Tie fighters in Star Wars and full kick just screamed.
Thanks for commenting :)
Hey, Paul. Great to see you going from strength to strength. Happy new year. Regarding that unsupported rear end; I recall it being all the rage, on cutting edge bikes, to have no hoop at the back. It was a given that, if a rider needed a push start, you'd push the bike with your hands on the riders back. If you pushed from the rear, it'd collapse. My bike had no washers on any fasteners, no temperature gauge, no starter mechanisms, and no seat pad, all in the name of power to weight gains.
Thank you Marty. Yes, I have seen riders being pushed on their backs, not the seat. Sometimes what is currently "cool" is not always the most practical solution. But, we get to tell the stories years later..
@@paulbrodie Stories are experiences told by those who live them, Paul. Just like you, I have a huge bucket of them....not still on the bucket list, thankfully. It's genuinely great to see you getting better. Take care of yourself, mate.
@@criticalmass181 Appreciate your comments!
I estimated it was 20 hours. Pretty close and for all you did I think that is pretty fast. It takes time to do things the correct way. So happy to see you " making things in your shop again" and I look forward to following videos.
Thanks David. Good guess!!
Lovely execution Paul. Good to see you creating your art again. Cheers
Thank you Rod Young. Cheers.
Paul, you sir are an artist!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you very much.
Cool motorcycle. The front fender mount looks a lot better now. I have a 1975 CB750. Great bike. Not as fast as that one you're working on though. : )
Thanks Dave. Years ago I had a 1972 CB750. Great bike...
Thank you so much for sharing with us, Paul! Hope you are feeling better, you look and sound great!
Thank you Jeff!
So glad to see you doing what you do best Paul . Love the workmanship. Great to see your doing better mate . Take care Paul . Cheers mate
Thank you Tristan. Yes, it feels good to be making stuff in my shop again. 🙂
@paulbrodie keep up the great work mate. It's truly awesome seeing you create your parts . It gives me inspiration to get my butt out in my workshop
@@tristanbuckoke9121 Thank you Tristan. Yes, get your butt out in your shop and make some stuff!
Hello Paul. Great stories and very cool historic racer there. I had forgotten all about Gary Fisher motorcycle racer. He did get some good press in the `70s. Got muddled with Gary Fisher, one of the mountain bike pioneers. You know a thing or 2 about that subject! lol. A few of his bikes are carefully maintained and kept here. Still shocked how good the Roscoe starting about 2009 (?) works.
So, a steel fab guy with your knowledge should need 2 ish hours to invent that fender mount. Yes the piece of art you made takes way longer. Your loop over the tire looks suspiciously like the /6 or 7 BMW fork brace/ fender mount. Forget bending one of those by hand, they were hit with a massive press. See Eve`s 90S for confirmation.
We used to have a family use Yamaha FJ600 with the OE thin cast aluminum brace. It was quite a clever design, with a little spoiler to direct oil cooler air, mounted above the fender. In a minor crash it cracked. Machinist Andy Whitaker took a look, whipped out his pocket 150 mm steel ruler, and announced he would make a better one. The made from billet polished result was way nicer. We even found a Yoshimura 4 into 1 for that 600, pretty rare pipe.
Seeing you making chips and designing was delightful. Quite reassuring that the world isn't all bad.
Thanks Leon. Yes, there are (2) Gary Fishers (at a bare minimum...) and it is easy to get confused if you only have a small amount of information. It is good to be spending time in my shop again... :)
Thanks for sharing this project! Love hearing about some of the the old Westwood racing history, and hearing a bit about the racing history on the CR750
Thanks for watching. Yes, I love racing stories too!
Wishing you a great 2023, Paul great video.
Same to you! Thanks for liking our video.
My guess was 25 hours, I’m impressed that you did it in 19. Most people don’t appreciate how long these things take.
Thanks Simon. Yes, a lot of time can go by when the fabrication starts.
i wait for these videos. Paul is metal artist.
Thanks Ed.
Another great work and amazing story.
Thank you.
An artist you are, Paul! Like no other man on earth. For healing, look into "Rick Simson oil" Best wishes
Thank you Helge. I do like to make stuff in my shop :)
Mr. Brodie, Very happy that your health is obviously improving. Your ability to arrive at elegant and functional solutions is impressive and has been learned, honed and refined after many years. It is amazing to observe the process, some of us can only dream. Great stories about the early race history of the CR750. You didn't want to get into some details concerning the Daytona winning machine. I do not have any first hand information but have read about and talked to people who know details. It has been confirmed that the fuel tanks were oversized and that the crankcases were cast from material other than aluminum, on those Daytona race bikes. In fact one of the four factory bikes crashed in testing and track workers had a very difficult time extinguishing the fire. It is interesting history that Mr. Yoshimura started with Honda's, then Kawasaki when the 900 was introduced but seemed to "find his home" with Suzuki with whom the name is almost synonymous.
Thanks Stephen. Yes, you know of the details of the 1970 Daytona race. Honda wanted Mann to speed up and (hopefully) win by a larger margin, but his crew knew the motor was close to expiring, so ignored those Honda instructions, and limped to the checkered flag on 3 cylinders, only winning with a margin of 2 seconds. For that, Mann's crew chief was fired by Honda.
For a moment I thought it was your bike. Very nice job on the mount, id not thought about it but brazing those lugs on does make a real tidy job. Makes me realise i dont get to do enough fabrication on my own bikes. A few years back i bought a totaled Ducati ST4 with the intemntion of rebuilding it the way I wanted it. I loved my 916 years and years ago but i nkow im too crippled to ride a 916 so the ST4 was going to be a ompromise. Trouble is the bugger turned out to be a clone of a 916 and im no better off, but I do have a bloody lovely bike in the shed. Its guys like you that inspire us lot to get on a build these things so a bign thank you for all the effort you put into these videos. And a happy new year to you and Mitch.
Thank you Kevin. Appreciate your comments :)
Top hint for the ultra. you can use little glass jars and other containers to use different solvents and cleaning fluids in the bath. Saves a fortune on filling the bath and having to switch out dirty fluid between jobs. I've run a whole bath of acetone one time to degum a very precious carb. I wish I'd known this trick before hand, Too may brain cells went west during that little game.
Thanks Mark. Good advice :)
Paul, So fantastic to see you making chips again 👍👍😎👍👍
Thank you Joel. It is good to be making stuff again :)
Always enjoy watching the thought and process that you put into your custom fabrications. Also enjoyed the history lesson. Cheers to you and Mitch and thanks for the video!
Thanks 👍 for watching and commenting!