The Honda CB750 Four was a hit when it hit the scene on the cusp of the 1970s. Often called the world’s first superbike and the original UJM, it’s now considered one of the Japanese marque’s most iconic models. But despite its status, it regularly finds itself on the chopping block.
The sleek styling of this Honda CB750 café racer belies just how much it has endured. It started out stock, was quickly turned into a chopper, ridden for decades, retired, and then reborn as a really bad attempt at a café racer.
It finally ended up at Jeez Louise! Motorcycles, a workshop in Victoria, BC, Canada, run by Andrew Peters. Motivated by the bike’s original owner, Billy, Andrew rebuilt the CB to a standard worthy of its pedigree. Adorned with fresh fairings, a killer paint job, and an array of restored, replaced, and custom-made parts, the old 750 has never looked better.
No one tells the story of Billy’s Honda café racer quite like Andrew, so we’ll let him take the reins from here.
“It was the late 60s, and Billy was a vagabond in Toronto—not a wanderer, but a member of the MC club. In the true spirit of the patch on his back, he couldn’t settle and moved to the West Coast in late 72, where he met the love of his life, Shaz.”
“She knew he still needed to travel, so it was her idea to buy a brand new shiny Honda CB750! That ‘nicest people’ image hardly suited these two rascals, so the bike quickly evolved into a chopper (as seen in all the best movies). Billy’s Honda, of course, was red with yellow flames.”
“Fast forward a few decades, and a few different paint jobs, king and queen seats, and bars going from ape to flat to Zee. Billy just couldn’t ride the same style from one season to the next, but he rode the wheels off that sumbitch. Literally!”
“Shaz passed a few years back, and Billy settled into a comfy armchair. But seeing his Honda rusting away, he realized it was time for it to find a new home.”
“By that time, the CB was almost stock again—Billy’s bike was a collector’s piece, and the sickle was much nicer to live with without silly long forks and sky-high bars. Billy would drift back to the time when he and Shaz rode away from the dealer’s showroom. But little did he know the fate that would fall on that icon of function and form.”
“A young kid ripped into it with all the enthusiasm of a chainsaw massacrer, thinking that a stick welder and cheap angle grinder would surely guarantee him fame. Despite the dirt bike tires, clip-on bars, and some pipe wrap, the bike just looked… well, it rhymes with ‘wrap’.”
“As I look back on receiving the pile of mismatched parts and bizarre ‘cool’ and ‘original’ ideas, I remember thinking, ‘I guess I could part it out.’ Billy still lives close by—he even rides by my shop occasionally on his 1928 Harley JD. He looked at me and said, ‘I think you should put it together, boy. There’s at least three parts worth saving’.”
“Those parts were the smoothbore carbs, stainless steel custom-built four-into-four pipes, and that one-off mystery gas tank. So we spent some winter shop hours fixin’er up with lots of new parts, and a few that didn’t fit without some grinding and welding.”
“Doug at Perfection in Victoria did the wonderful paint job, inspired by my BMW R90S. Curtis Rafino in Mission got it dead right with the seat. The bike is fully street legal and functional, with LED lights and turn signals under the fairing. A GPS speedo does the job as well as it needs to.”
“For reliability, we kept the engine stock, as well as the wiring and hand controls. The rear-set footrests were modified from some random parts. The Frame got cleaned up considerably, and the back wheel is now held by a CB900 swingarm for a little more stretched-out style.”
“The ‘lil Honda sounds wonderful. And despite not being a comfy chair to relax in, she’s looking for adventure and whatever comes her way. A true Vagabond?”
Details
- 1973 Honda CB750
- Keihin CR29 smoothbore carbs
- Stainless steel four-into-four exhaust system
- Dynatek ignition
- Modified frame
- Honda CB900 swingarm
- Progressive rear shocks
- Excel aluminum rims with stainless steel spokes and Metzeler tires
- Airtech fairing and seat unit
- Aftermarket fuel tank (unknown manufacturer)
- LED lights and turn signals
- GPS Speedo with tachometer
- Custom modified rearsets
- Paint by Doug at Perfection
- Frame and engine finishes by Victoria Powdercoat
- Seat by Rafino Seats
- OEM Honda parts from Vintage CB750
Built by Jeez Louise! Motorcycles | Facebook | Instagram | Images by, and with thanks to, Jason Schultz
