NORMA JEAN - 1981 Honda CB750k Cafe Racer

1981 Honda CB750k Cafe Racer

"Honda's Stock Cafe Racer"

Named after Marilyn Monroe's (Norma Jean is her real name) beauty mark, shared by this bike in the form of a brass plug manufacturing defect in the tank.  

Donor Bike: 1981 Honda CB750k
Frame: Stripped and cleaned, rear hoop
Body: Modified tank, Hawk seat and cowl from Hookie Co, under seat electronics tray, hidden battery box under swing arm, EU sport kit rear sets and control upgrade for foot controls
Motor: Complete rebuild for engine and carbs, carbs rejetted for POD filters
Exhaust: MAC headers and Spark Performance muffler
Brakes: Front dual disc brake upgrade, stock rear drum brake
Wheels: EU Comstar rims, Shinko E270 tires (4x19 front, 4.5x18 rear)
Front Suspension: 1978 CB750F Forks, widened (192mm) and lowered (3in)
Rear Suspension: 330mm YSS Eco-Line, lowered (5mm)
Electronics: M.unit blue controller, Rick's reg/rec, Antigravity 12-cell battery, M.blaze disc and pin turn signals, M.button switches, Motoscope Tiny

Norma Jean's Beauty Mark above the "O" in Honda

This bike is the result of my "Honda stock cafe racer" vision combined with the inspiration of various motorcycle builders.  I'm extremely happy with the final product, this bike turned out exactly as it looked in my head.  I'm not claiming its an original design or to have done anything someone else hasn't, but I am proud of what I have created, especially being that this is my first motorcycle build.  The body/cowl and stance was inspired by Hookie Co.'s CB750 builds and the cockpit by Caffeine Customs and Roa Motorcycles.  

I owe a lot of people a big thank you for helping me along the way.  This bike wouldn't look and perform the way it does without them.  They helped me learn a lot, steer me in the right direction, help me with items I had no business doing myself, etc.

My friend Wes for going with me to pick up both bikes, helping me with some parts and being sure to let me know what does and doesn't suck.  (Hes a Harley guy, everything about mine sucked (joking))  

Ben; Wes' father and owner of Ben's V-Twins a Harley shop in Charlotte.  He was always willing to help me by sharing his motorcycle knowledge, helping installing tires and letting me use his shop for working on various items on the bike.

My friend Dan for taking some amazing pictures and videos (the ones you see posted here) of the bike making sure to capture everything I love about the bike and providing plenty of compliments and hyping me up the whole way.

For The Bold, a Cafe Racer youtube channel that thoroughly goes through various motorcycle builds, one of which was the same generation CB750 I built, giving me the confidence and enthusiasm to build my own CB750.  

There is a possibility I will be selling this CB750...well see if that actually happens.  I would love to take on commission work going forward designing Japanese and German cafe racers and trackers for people.  I have my eye on a 1986 BMW R80 for my next build.  I originally hated the boxer engine but i've flipped to loving them.  

Here is the wiring schematic for anyone that is interested.