Honda 750 MPC Released

[unclescott58]

Okay, I went ordered one. I don't know why I want this one so bad. I'm not not a big motorcycle guy. The only bikes I've ever built before, are ones that came with other kits. Things like the chopper that came with Tom Daniel's Cherry Bomb. Presently I'm working on MPC's Honda Trail 70. So, I've not had a lot experience with building bikes.

Ive been kind of waiting before ordering this kit, to see a real good review and/or build of it. The photos provided by Christian are helpful. But, I was looking for more. Yet, I'm find no one here, or anyplace else on the web, doing a complete review or build of this kit. Are people buying and building this kit? Or is it such a bad or tough kit to build that everybody is avoiding it? Would really like to know what I'm getting into.

Edited February 3, 2016 by unclescott58

[drodg]

Well I bought it and I started on it but kind of lost interest in it.  I kind of got overwhelmed with how much chrome  had to be removed or dealt with and so I kind of thought I will build it on another day.  It actually is a nice looking kit when done, I saw a picture on Google images.  It is old technology but I think when done it can be a nice looking kit.  I built part of the engine and assembled the wheels and then stopped.  The wheels were kind of a struggle for me to get to go together correctly.  It may have been my inexperience at building bike kits though.  I must say I think it is well worth 35.00 to 40.00 dollars.  I just think I wanted to get back to finishing my 68 Roadrunner and work on my too many car kits I have in my storage room.     Anyhow I hope that helps.  I don't think I got far enough on it to do a fair review.  

[unclescott58]

Okay, I got my Honda 750 in the mail yesterday. Man, priority mail can be fast.

Opening the box, but still leaving everything in bags. Some question come up as I look at the instructions.

The first thing I'm confused about. How does the tachometer and speedometer attach to the bike? The instructions are not clear on this at all. It's all so a little fuzzy on attaching what I assume are the ignition coils. Using the vinyl tubing looks a little confusing, and could be a bit of a rat's nest. But, I have feeling this will be okay if I take my time.

I also have a question about painting. The black plastic parts are molded in a very nice black plastic. So nice, I debating on painting them. Leaving them as is instead. The red plastic parts will be primed, and then painted blue. Any thoughts on leaving the black plastic alone? Or will it be obvious it's black plastic when the bike is done.

This will be my first true motorcycle model, other than the chopper that came with Tom Daniel's Cherry Bomb. And that turned very nice, but it had a lot less detail than this. Building this should be fun, interesting, and maybe a little bit challenging.

[Junkman]

You have to replace all the tubing that comes with the kit. It's totally out of scale.
Also, in my previous 1:8 scale motorcycle builds, I always cut off the pins intended to hold a tube, drilled a 0.8mm hole, and inserted a cut length of clothes pin.
Not sure what to make of tyres made from two halves, but if they are one piece, always use a suitable O-ring inside for reinforcement.
It's best to leave the 'rubber' and 'vinyl' parts molded in black unpainted. You can give them a very realistic slightly used look by rolling them in a bit of tile cement.
From there, it is entirely up to you how far you want to go with your detailing/mods.

This is what legendary bike modeller Kinichi Karube made from the Heller Honda kit (don't even try...):

 

 

In contrast, this is a more or less out of the box build of the Airfix (=MPC) kit:

 

I would assume your and my result would be somewhere in between those two.
I'm definitely going to replace the spokes with real wire on mine.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Junkman

[unclescott58]

Other than paint and glue, I'll be building mine straight out of the box.

[Bob Ellis]

The upper triple tree holds the tachometer and the speedometer. They are attached to the triple tree quarter circles. In real life, a chrome band encircles what the triple tree does not..

Speedo on the left, tach on the right. Speedo cable drops on the right side of the wheel to the center hub.

[drodg]

The one question I had was how to make the gauges look correct since there are no decals for the speedo and tach.  I did try to start using some of the tubing for the spark plug wires and they seemed less than easy to work with.  I kind of quit at that point or should I say put off for another day.  

[unclescott58]

So what's people's thoughts on not painting the black plastic parts. Is it nessarily to paint it to look good or not? I'm still undecided.

[Bob Ellis]

Why don't you google image CB750 instruments, save the image and print to scale, Then glue them on,

[drodg]

I did think of doing the CB750 instruments exactly as Bob said.   Thanks

[Bob Ellis]

If you do print the instruments from google image consider this; Almost every Honda 750 instrument is a one year only part.

The K0 and K1 gages had idiot lights in the gages, but K0s had black faces and iridescent numbers and higher redline (8500-9300).

The Heller kit versus MPC had gages with no idiot lights. They were between the handlebar bolts.

Check many images for gages as many bikes are incorrectly restored using the wrong parts. They fit, but are not correct.

[drodg]

If you do print the instruments from google image consider this; Almost every Honda 750 instrument is a one year only part.

The K0 and K1 gages had idiot lights in the gages, but K0s had black faces and iridescent numbers and higher redline (8500-9300).

The Heller kit versus MPC had gages with no idiot lights. They were between the handlebar bolts.

Check many images for gages as many bikes are incorrectly restored using the wrong parts. They fit, but are not correct.

Bob you are correct with the info on the gauges.  So the Heller kit must be a later model like a 72?   

[Junkman]

So what's people's thoughts on not painting the black plastic parts. Is it nessarily to paint it to look good or not? I'm still undecided.

Don't paint the black parts that are supposed to be rubber or plastic on the real thing.
The frame and headlight bowl, which are metal painted black on the real thing, need to be painted on the model, too.
 

[Bob Ellis]

Bob you are correct with the info on the gauges.  So the Heller kit must be a later model like a 72?   

Heller is probably a K2 (sold as 1972 in USA). I never owned that kit. But I had a Nagano CB750 that was definitely a K1. The smaller rounder side covers are K1 or K2 as are a flat seat. The photo of the Heller that I saw had ruby diamonds on the side cover which is a K1, not K2 (had yellow diamonds). But chrome fork ears are K2. Just research the bikes well and I'm sure you will make it correct.

[unclescott58]

Been working on this kit recently. A little bit of a nightmare to build. This is my first large scale motorcycle. Though I'm just about finish with MPC's Honda Trail 70 in the same scale, as I write this too. It had one or two moments with that one that were a little tough. But in general it has gone together pretty well. Good practice for the Honda 750.

In real life the Honda 750 is a more complicated bike than their Trail 70. So I expected the kit to be somewhat more complicated too. Boy, with the 750 you really have to look over things very closely. A lot of stuff in the instructions are just not very clear. Some parts I question why they expect you to do things in the order they do. For example setting up the vinyl tubing for the throttle. They want you to add the connecter that brings the four tubes to the one after you've installed the carburators to the engine. Meaning you would need to thread them to this piece in a small area between the bike frame and the engine. Why not do it before installing the carburators, when they are out in the open? To me that just makes a lot more sense. Also I though my chain was broken up near the front sprocket. So I glued it together. Wrong thing to do, for it needs to get around the trailing arms in later step. Requiring the break. But, nothing is mentioned in the instructions about this. It's as clear as mud on this. I also cut off the little nub over the rear sprocket that helps hold the chain guard in place. Thinking it was flash. I'm hoping this does not turn out to be a big problem.

Other problems that have cropped up. Getting the edge of tires to sit in between the wheels chrome rim, and the black plastic pieces that goes inside the wheels. I'm still not pleased with how the tires are sitting on/in wheels right now.

The kit is a bit of a pain in the butt. But, at the same time I'm enjoying the the challenge. This one is going to take a while to get just right. Is it a good kit? I'm not sure. There are somethings I think the designers of this kit made too complicated with the technologies of the day. Or with the market it was aimed at. When this kit first came out, I was about 12 years old. There is no way I could have built a nice model out of this kit at time. I'm still questioning it at the age 58. Though I'm pretty sure it going to turn out pretty good.

As noted this is my first "real" motorcycle kit. It has pushed me into doing a lot of research on line, and purchasing several book on motorcycles. Several on the 750 in particular. I've never been a motorcycle guy. So I know little, to nothing about their history, parts, or even operation. So, this and Trail 70 kit have gotten me learning about bikes. I'm finding it very interesting. And as I'm learning about bikes, I'm finding it interesting that I'm mainly liking bikes from about the 1930's, through the mid-70's. Very similar to my interest in cars.