The Native Iowan

I am a bike-guy. I really dig motorcycles. I started young, young, young… influenced by my elder siblings and their cohorts. Bikes and riding are a huge part of my life.

And once in your life, maybe, if you are lucky, you get to have exactly what you want.

Meet the “B.B. 750″…

I designed and helped create this amazing machine. Master maniac and mechanic, Steve “Carpy” Carpenter, made this all possible.

I very much enjoy resurrecting bikes out of old rusty hunks. Turning what would be lost forever, into something coveted and cared for.

B.B. is no exception. It was a non-running, one owner, truly amazing “barn-find”. I am sooo glad I got to resurrect this Classic 1974 Honda CB750K.

As below, it had an old seat and a beat-up old exhaust.

But being a Cali-Bike, is still had a lot of life in it.

Climate and time does take a toll on any machine that has been parked up too long. But, if lucky, if found in time, a machine can be brought back to life. Repaired. Refurbished. All it takes is a lot of time and a fair amount of $$$.

This was the start of the B.B. project…

It was a solid machine but had been on hard times. It is now over the 50 years old. It was neglected, stored out of the way, almost forgotten… A perfect opportunity to turn the old girl into a thoroughbred, once more.

It was in 2010 I first walked into Steve “Carpy” Carpenter’s workshop in Orange County, CA.

My nephew went in to pick up a custom seat for his CB750 project. I immediately “GOT” what Carpy was doing. Liked what he was doing.

The collaboration that created The B.B. started then.

B.B. stands for “Black Beauty”. It turned into an amazing, one-of-a-kind machine. A true beauty dressed in black.

It has fantastic lines, great sound, and rides and handles like a modern machine.

Plenty to look at.

Innumerable man hours when into this. We started the project in 2012, finished it 2015. I kept it in California for years, riding it around the LA/ Pasadena area. By 2018 I decided to bring it to Australia.

Some interesting points about this bike… *1 owner. I have original paper work, plus, very cool indeed, the original licence plate. *So much of this build involved “hand-made” parts and pieces. Hundreds of hours, working ol-skool to get that vintage, custom, coool result. *Modern components are under the “skirt”. You don’t see them but the brakes, the suspension, the electrical system have all been modernised.

The headlight with the built in LED turn signals is a great addition. It also has a Halogen bulb to help you at night. Seeing into the dark when you are cranking on a ton is very important.

We painted the bucket, tanks, side covers, seat, fork, ears a high gloss black. Also painted the head light bucket, the rims, and parts of the wheel hubs.

One-off additions like custom made, screw on badge embelishers gives a soft but classy and vintage touch.

No expense spared on this build.

The frame was stripped, cleaned and coated with high gloss powder coating.

Note all the billet-work. I like the stainless steel allen-bolts. Gives a nice contrast to the black.

The motor was pulled apart and rebuilt. It remains stock with new guides and internal cam chain. Spare parts, if ever required, still readily available at any Honda dealership.

The engine in painted in a custom mix of high temp engine paint. Gives the bike a very stealthy, modern look.

B.B. is different from most custom machines that are all polished and chromed to the max.

Billeted “extras” make this machine shine. Above shows the “finned” cap for the oil dip stick. I think it sets the bike off.

Keeping with the classic era, brand new gauges added with a hand-made alloy mount. For fun we added a neutral light in the middle of the steering stem nut . Also fitted polished aluminium bar clamps to hold a custom set of clubman handlebars, with new cables, adjuster and master cylinder.

A lot of attention to detail went into the build. We fitted Tarozzi rear sets. We fitted a custom oil pressure gauge. Now you can see if you are getting good oil pressure all the time.

Finned covers and of course, a custom 4 into 1 Exhaust system. The rear brake was rebuilt using non asbestos EBC brake shoes. New springs with a polished outer hub looks great as an offset to the black rims.

Rebuilt front forks and painted lowers. New tires and front mudguard, gives that classic look of cafe-bikes back in the day.

Totally rebuilt and tuned the carburetors. These are fully detailed to match the motorcycle. We used Steel Dragons for the air-box.

All runs great and smooth, even after being in storage since 2019.

The kick starter was drilled and chromed. The rear sets prevent you from a full kick, but B.B. has an electric starter. A truly modern machine.

Hand lettering and pin stripping on the tank. B.B. is a play on the original C.B., which stands for “city bike”. Of course, B.B. stands for Black Beauty. And it is!

The tank is the original for this machine. It was hammered and bashed and bent and smoothed before adding the gloss black enamel paint. Custom, stainless steel aircraft style gas cap used because it looks so, so good.

Custom rear shocks that are raised 2 inches. Finned piggy backs help the bumps. Hand made seat assembly sits upon the frame and hides the battery etc. Snaps on the tuck n roll cover offers easy access to the battery.

Hand formed tank, new wire harness, new handlebar controls, new cables throughout make sure this bike is as-new, or better than as-new..

Drilled front brake rotor, rebuilt and polished front calliper, custom parts all over the bike makes B.B. a great head turner, and a great, reliable, daily ride.

B.B. turned out really well and runs true and strong.

I have not had B.B. on the road since 2019. Covid and life and lockdowns saw this great machine stuck in my shed, on charge, under a cover. I pulled it out recently. It started easily.

A bike like this needs a good home, needs to be used, needs to be shown off, admired, appreciated.

So it is up for sale.

Contact me if interested.