The Kneeslider

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House Rockers CB750

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House Rockers CB750
House Rockers CB750

House Rockers of Saitama in Japan, put together some very nicely done Honda CB750s, called the GooBike. Priced at 3,500,000 yen or $40,000, they’re street legal and look superb. Dan, one of our readers gives us the rundown:

â– K-1 racer replica with aluminum tank:
â– Kayaba fork
â– Brembo front brake
â– Lockheed front and rear calipers
â– Forged race crank and cam
â– 13 place frame reinforcement
â– Yoshimura carburetors
â– Aluminum Oil Tank
â– Aluminum Side Cover
â– Ohlins rear suspension
â– Aluminum Fuel Tank
â– NSR250 F / R Magnesium Alloy Wheels
â– Aluminum Battery BOX
â– Bored to 836cc with Wiseco pistons
â– Big Valves
â– Polished Ports
â– Oil Cooler 9-inch 10-stage
â– Carbon F / R fender

Yes, I know, pricey, but there’s a lot of work and high end parts involved. Not bad looking for a 40 year old motorcycle! Thanks, Dan!

Link: House Rockers

Posted on Filed Under: Motorcycle Builders

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Comments

  1. This caught my interest:

    ■Kayaba fork 36Ф Moriwaki
    â– Aluminum fork Mitsudake

    I know google translate can lose some meaning in translatation, I’m just curious.

    Also love the Magtek wheels, very nice touch.

    Kudos to House Rockers, lovely looking bike

  2. Great bike — retro look with contempo features. Remember when the CB750 was the hot bike? It sure put Triumph, BSA and Norton out of business — deservedly so; they just didn’t get it.

    But what’s all that stuff in the background?

  5. They need an Italian designer to make the impressive list of components flow together into one, unitized package for $40K.. The styling seems confused. Seat height 37″ or so?

  6. Honda really should consider a somewhat modernized CB750 like this for the US market. If Bonnevilles and Royal Enfields are selling like crazy, I’m betting this would too.

  7. Amazing that Wiseco pistons, thought desireable 40+ years ago, are in vogue in Japan today. Great Bike.

  8. Sorry, but I really don’t like it.
    After so many nice cafe racers or variations we have seen in the last few months, IMHO this one looks untidy and not very elegant.
    The rear fender is too high and reminds me of a hybrid with a contemporary bike.
    All in all, it neither catches the soul of those years nor looks agile to ride.
    You can do better with a CB 750, at any rate you can let it alone.

  9. What’s the rear arm ? Working on a CB750 project now, I installed a GSXR arm, it fits almost perfectly at the pivot, but I’ll have to rework the frame back members that are now right where the chain is supposed to go … all of that to say that it’s always easier said than done, even if it’s prolly not worth S40k, all the nay-sayer could at least appreciate the work behind this project.

  11. There was a XS650 Yamaha posted on this site (possibly BIKEEXIF), a few weeks ago that the guy had converted to monshock with a Cafe stance. Beautiful bike! But mostly utilizing stock components. The difference being, and this is just a wild-ass guess, that 650 guy planned and layed out the overall project with an eye towards what it would look like when completed. The CB750 here has all the “goodies” you could want to have all spread out on the garage floor. Forks, magnesium wheels, big brakes, pipes, motor work, trick shocks, beautiful paint, swingarm, etc. All the best stuff including frame gusseting. But it just doesn’t have the look of a Superbike from the late 70’s or early 80’s, a cafe racer, a Rickman, a Seely Norton or any other bike that was planned out to look a certain way when complete. To quote big time hot rod builder, Pete Chapouris, “You can spend just as much time and money on a project that doesn’t look right as one that looks bitchin”. Maybe even $40K. I’m not a nay-sayer, this is all positive. I’ll take the monoshock XS650 please!

  12. I imagine the extra rear ride height (achieved by bolting the shock through the center of a structural tube!!!) was to gain ground clearance for those large pipes. Plus, it looks to me like the rear wheel is actually a front; its narrow width allows the required straight chain run without resorting to jack-shafts or moving the engine to the driver’s side an inch or so. It just doesn’t look quite right but then, they did a good job and it will draw attention. To a large number of people, that’s all that really matters.

    -todd

  13. I think it needs three spoke H-section rims to look the best. The six spoke CBR style just don’t look right on retro bikes.

  14. I have to agree with Mule, a buncha nice Hi-dollar componets that possibly work ok but just don’t look right. Seems a little better planning would have gone a long way towards making the entire package fit together better. I think Dellortodiagonale had the right word, “Untidy”. Its not easy to make parts work in unison. Take a look at any of Mules projects, its like watching Eric Clapton play guitar, the really good guys can make it look soooo easy when You know its not!
    I like the old 750 Hondas, always have, nothing against what House rockers have done here but it just doesnt present itself like a $40k bike should, in my opinion anyway.

  15. I like the flow of the exhaust. It looks as if you could toss it anywhere. Once you beef the frame and suspension and keep the engine cool yer talkin bulletproof! Well done!

  16. When I look at this Honda, I see a vintage version of a Hypermotard, high fender clearance, long legs, a kind of all purpose machine that’s fun to ride. Some of the comments here seem to be judging this in terms of your average vintage Honda CB750. If you want a restored CB750 or cafe racer or whatever you’re used to looking at, the proportions seem off, but if you saw a Hypermotard while expecting a 1098, you might say the same thing.

  17. I’m glad to see the 750 powerplant and not a 1000. Also enjoying how they retained the standard styling and didn’t try making it a repli-racer or blinged out cafe. very tasteful restoration!

  19. Hey you guys are makin’ the lil’ fella uncomfortable.
    For me function dictates form. I remember when this homely critters forebearers ran off and left oh so lovely Nortons, BSAs, Harleys and Triumphs. in chapter 11 on the side of the road. Back then I would look at these new appliances and shrug. I carefully styled my CB350 to look like the BSA Lightening of my dreams. To ask this bike to look like a modern racer or a bone stock restoration makes no more sense than comparing it to the stunningly atrocious hartail choppers so many CB750s gave up their motors to create in the ’70s.
    Does it go like 40k? If so bravo! If not maybe the new Fury looks better.

  20. @Phoebe: The CB1100F is supposedly coming here, (New Zealand) and Australia, presently it is Japan only: is that what you’re thinking about? Still a big bus, and 87hp only.

    @kneeslider: I guess they have to jack it up like that: those engines are wiiiiiiide, and you can (and I have 🙁 ) drag the alternator cover and points cover on the road.

    I like it, but I am a sucker for SOHC Hondas in pretty much any form (except the hardtail choppers maybe…)

  21. More of a tarted up UJM than a cafe racer, might look better if they don’t shrink the exhaust next time it’s washed.

  22. I think just about everything is out of proportion on this bike. The small front wheel, enormous side covers, seat just dont look right. I agree the exhaust is pretty clean.

  23. To beat a dead horse…. ill take two 1098s’, or 15 or so fair conditioned cb750s to redo on my own, hell ill make a knuckehead bobber from exile parts. For that much I could afford the garage, tools, and pallet from which a more interesting bike would emerge. I don’t get it.

  25. i think the bike looks pretty good. there are a couple little things that if i were having the bike built for me i might have wanted done differently, but i would thuroly enjoy owning and riding the hell out of this bike.

    for those of you that like the honda cb cafe bikes. these guys do a great job.

    http://www.benjiescaferacer.com/

  26. Tim: Yes, but of course not everyone wants or needs an 1100 (I can’t even fit properly on one; they’re too big for me). There’s so few new “standard” motorcycles out there nowadays, and Honda used to be so good at them.

  27. For nearly every company, the “small” standard is the best seller. It’s what most folks need and want. The problem is that moto journalists can’t make magazine -selling covers out of them and they themselves get jaded riding all these new models. If I rode every new model I’d be looking for the next thrill as well. A nice standard in the low 400 lb range is always a big seller.

  28. Looks like a good First Step towards making a decent looking cafe bike. Put on some wire-spoke wheels, loose the (gross) seat and you got the second step – and only five more to go (perhaps). Would this be the first bike ever built to depreciate $25,000 in the first year of riding?
    btw: those folks should check out the kneeslider archives for good looking bikes.

  29. Once you solve the heat issue and frame stability issue and get the thing to preform you have vintage meets reliability. The reason new 800 cc bikes can’t compete because they dumb down the performance. Are we willing to pay a little more for a new version of this with 100 hp, superior components and vintage styling. Hell yes!

  30. Dan, the Kawasaki Zephyr line sounds like what you’re describing and I’ve seen tons in the Japanese magazines that look incredible. Built to the hilt like this here CB750. They have a small tailpiece behind the seat that finishes off the back half of the bike really well every time.

    It’s pretty tricky to make the back half of a dual seat, exposed rear fender bike look much better than stock. Having a big fat pillow like seat that’s followed by a chopped off stock fender is one of the options that doesn’t work so well, especially when added to the jacked up rear suspension. Jacking up the rear end works on a Mottard style bike because they have a thin, svelt rear fender sticking straight out.

    Unfortunately the Zephyr line wasn’t a sales success and they are here no more. Probably lots out there used with tons of hop-up goodies available. All the normal hot-rodding tricks are easy to apply to an inline, air-cooled 4-cyl.

  31. It would look better with 19″ wheels. Do they make wide, grippy racer-boy tires for 19″?

  32. Hey Mule, I think the main problem with trying to sell the “every other” bikes is that they never advertise them. I didn’t know about the GB500 until ’91, after they stopped selling them even though that type of bike was right up my alley. Why? Because I only read vintage bike and Brit bike mags, occasionally picking up a Cycle World with the latest Hurricane on the cover. The number of times I was at a Honda dealership in ’89 and ’90 they never had one on the floor and the sales guys never mentioned the bike. I have one now though.

    I always think about when motorcycles sold really well, they were highly advertised and were much more approachable by the average “I’m not an expert” rider. I really need to find the statistics for the number of CB350s sold.

    Oh, about Dan’s comment about bikes being dumbed down now; Are you kidding? Bikes now have around twice the performance they did 30+ years ago. The CB750 had 67HP. The modern equivalent GSXR750 has 150HP.

    -todd

  33. Todd, Here I go agreeing with you again, The old 750s were pretty fast in their day, but no where near the monsters they are remembered as. The Triumph triples were faster and handled much better than the big 4s. Even a well tuned Sportster would eat their lunch. The 750s were cheap and dependable and appealed to folks who were not mechanics and just wanted to ride. Todays new bikes are much faster and the handling is in a whole different league.

  34. スーパービルド製スイングアーム !!!

  35. the above mentioned スーパービルド製スイングアーム goes for $2,000 ?!? At this price I understand why the whole bike costs $40k, and for much cheaper I’ll go and buy a disc cutter and mig welder and redo my frame ….

  36. … and if one day you see an odd-looking cafe type of bike that rides sideways like an old arthritic dog, that would be me …

  38. Todd – Honda claimed 67 bhp, but on a dyno they made 42 bhp at the rear wheel so there was a fair bit of exaggeration going on!

  39. That really gets my juices flowing.

    The single cam 750s were where we cut our bike customizing teeth in the early 70s and I stll can’t believe that all those old bikes have just disappeared.

    Good to see the House Rockers have that same vision and the stuff to build on it.

    FYI … some of our local boys had worked over bikes like this in 74 and pulled well over 100hp out of them with over the counter parts and some custom machining.
    Not as much tech available back then but a lot of people made very fast and very nasty street bikes out of the original UJM.

  40. New retro bikes are dumbed down in horse power except for say the MV Agusta 750 that thing is pushing 130 horse I believe. Harley should hang on to that asset! They in hind site should have kept Buell!

  41. I got easily 100 hp out of my kz1000 with a bore to 1100cc and head flow job by the man Lyall Sharer at Sharer Cycle Center outside Madison! When I left his shop that day I was feeling pure acceleration! Add an oil cooler, fork brace upgraded shocks and that thing handled! One day on the annual Slimey Crud run I was running in the top 5 riders and a girl on a Norton blew by me at 100 plus! Hot! I likely could have beat he straight up but he who knows?!? My bike got a lean sputter around 140mph!

  43. You have to forgive the weird jacked up in the back look, there is no way to fix the lazy geometry without cutting the frame. I believe they also did it to help the ground clearance, and then added the under frame exhaust to hide how high the whole thing sat. Why they choose to mount the rear shocks to the frame tube instead of the stock location is beyond me. I would have choosen 17″ front, 18″ rear spoked wheels, to try to fill some of the dead space between the fender and tire. Then I would have picked a better tail light, and bracket set up. Lastly I would extend the exhaust another 6″ or so so the cones ended at the rear axle the way the original did. Clean bike, but you’d have to take a zero out of the price to make it worth it.

  44. one of the things that has been bugging me about the proportions: is the fuel tank too small? Maybe a 3/4 or 7/8th scale replica?

    and the big pillow seat. But I am a sucker for the cafe racer bumstop thin seat. (and lack of pillion accommodation accordingly). Maybe one of those Dunstall two up cafe seats? (or not…..)

  45. I just looked it up: In 5 years Honda sold 300,000 CB350’s in the USA, apparently their most successful bike. 240,000 CB750’s (total world-wide) in the same time span. I have no clue how that compares to the volume of bikes today. Apparently Honda was doing something right with the CB350, more right than the CB750. Maybe there is something they can learn from that – unless, of course, their margins on the 750 more than made up for the lower sales.

    -todd

  46. Todd, the difference may be due to the prices of the two bikes and shear size of a CB750, not it’s lack of popularity or ability to impress. I think the CB750 was aprox $1400 and the CB350 was in the $600-750 range. Fast forward to 2010 and that’s the difference between a 250 Ninja and a Ducati. Two totally different financial demagraphics. Also in the early 70’s, the buying public wasn’t as hellbent on having the biggest thing ever made like we are now. I think those were the golden years of motorcycle sales growth and buyers were young and physically lighter and smaller. Now the buyers are large and much older, bikes are very expensive and young buyers don’t even go window shopping, the products being so far out of reach.

    My first bike was a used 250 Honda Scrambler at $300.00. What would $300.00 buy a kid these days? A nice lawnmower maybe. Entry price for a decent, half reliable 2 wheeler for Jr. these days is more like $1500-$2000.00

  47. I was a junior in high school when the CB750 was introduced. At the time it was not possible to imagine actually buying one of those, as bad as we all wanted one. My CL-175 was all I could afford. Times were definatly different back then….We learned to ride on small bikes out away from traffic, usually on little dirt bikes. Now kids are buying CBr,ZX,R6,and GSXR 600’s as their first bike, to learn on just out of peer pressure. The common perception nowdays is that you need at least a 1000 or your just riding a kid bike. My main bike is an SV650 Suzuki, by choice. I’ve had it since 1999 and have put over 30k miles on it. I love it more everytime I ride it. I have always liked small, nimble handling motorcycles. Just completed an XS650 Street Tracker, for street riding I feel that these 650’s are all that I need. I go by the old saying “its more fun to ride a slow bike fast than it is to ride a fast bike slow”. I think good acceleration from 0-100 is wayyyy more fun that going 160. I dont seem to have any problem keeping up with any of my riding buddies on their bigger bikes. To me its easier to practice riding skills on my Sv than on a Hyabusa, but then again…thats just my opinion.

  48. Mule, it stands to reason that the buying public is older and larger (i.e. taller, stronger) because there are no more CB350s. Also, moto-journalists gave small bikes like a CL-175 or a CB350 the time of day and did not compare its capability against a ZX10.

    I agree with Ken’s sentiment too, though even the SV650 would annihilate a CB750. New, prospective riders are nowhere anymore likely to feel comfortable approaching a SV650 today than they felt with a CB750 all those years ago. I don’t recall how this topic brought this up but there really needs to be a paradigm shift in the motorcycle industry if we plan on attracting any more new riders.

    -todd

  49. Todd! You brought it up with the 350/750 sales stats.

    My last race bike was an XR650R flattracker that made huge grunt and would run with just about any single cyl made. I sold it and it was dyno’d at 77 hp at the wheel. The new bike I’m building to race is a CR125 Honda. I’m going for a weight advantage. I can hold the motor up with one hand and we’re hoping for close to 35 HP! It won’t be the fastest, but it will be the funnest!

  50. That “small is good, nimble is good” thing is one of the reasons I so much prefer the S40 cafe than a CB750 cafe. I used to own an SV650, too, great bike.

  51. I remember that in 1973, when you went riding 50 percent of the motorcycles you saw were Honda 350s. The rest were a gaggle of Japanese two strokes. You might see one or two Harley’s, mostly broke down Sportsters. By 1975, it seemed that Honda 750 were the most common bike I saw, but that’s probably because I was riding one.

  52. Looks like back to the future .I custamised one similar looking back in the seventies.Those pipes luck fantastic , just hope they uprated the dodgy cam chain tensioners and oil weaps at the head gasket.

  53. in 1969 and 1970 when the Honda 750-4 hit the market, it left the established motorcycle manufacturers in the dust. triumph and BSA owned the pavement except for a short time that the XLCH roasted its tire and left state police cars wishing for better radio. the 750 was was a lot of speed with little regard to suspension. at least it came with a front wheel disc brake! mildly tuned, this bike could take you beyond 130m.p.h.when asphalt seemed to feel like carpet. these bikes ushered in the “super bike” class of bikes in their raw form. i am glad that they fixed the suspension of this beast and enhanced its overall performance.

  54. I just love this bike – a modern update of a classic. Rearsets with upright bars is an odd mix, but I guess it depends on the body proportions and preferences of the rider. I think what strikes me most is that it’s stunning to look at and street legal – complete with mirrors and turn signals.

    Here’s a hi-res pic of the top bike:

    http://rockers.sub.jp/modules/webphoto/index.php?fct=image&item_id=73&file_kind=1

    And here’s a similar but different House Rockers CB750 showing those beautiful pipes:

    http://picture.goobike.com/850/8502134/J/8502134B2010030600101.jpg

    http://picture.goobike.com/850/8502134/J/8502134B2010030600102.jpg

    Also, did anyone notice the big cement piston behind the motorcycle? Looks like a cool shop.

  55. Hi Everyone,

    I need help on how to get in touch with this builder in Japan. Phone number/ web address whatever I can get. There website is all in Japanese and I don’t read or speek it so I don’t know what I’m clicking on. Hopefully I might get someone there that speeks english. I’m interested is their parts for my builds (if they sell them). Any help on this would be great. Oh yea, My builds are much like this and also a work of art. I use a 849cc kit bumppy cam and CR carbs. and they have a quite nasty (don’t mess with me look).Everything is NEW. I take 6 months to build one and you could get almost 3 of mine for what this one goes for. Website is comming soon. Just finishing Build #1 and I will post the complete build so buyers can see what went into it and what they are getting.

    Thanks very much,

    Craig