A full ground-up rebuild of a 1976 Honda CB750 K6, finished as a stripped-down cafe-racer for a client in Berkeley. Twenty-six weeks in the shop. Engine completely torn down and rebuilt with new pistons, valves, and ignition; frame de-tabbed and powdercoated; tank reshaped and painted in our house yellow. The fortieth bike Fallout has built since 2018.
★ One bike. Twenty-six weeks. If you want a bike like this, the next commission opens Q4 2025.
§ 03 · BIKE-040 BUILD LOG
Every Fallout build gets a weekly entry in the build log — what we did, what went sideways, what we ordered, where we are. The full log is sent to the client every Friday afternoon. Below is the abbreviated version of the BIKE-040 log, with a few of the better photos. The log is part of what you buy.
Client delivered the donor — a 1976 CB750 K6, running but tired, 38,400 miles on the clock, paid $4,800 on Craigslist in Hayward. Full strip-down on the bench by Wednesday. Engine out, frame stripped, every bolt bagged and labeled. Parts catalog photographed and sent to client.
Frame de-tabbed and re-tabbed for the loop seat & new electronics tray. Sent to Oakland Powder & Plate on Tuesday for satin-black. Engine on the bench — head off, valves out, all measurements taken. Cam lobes are within spec, bores need +0.5 mm.
Engine reassembled with new pistons, valves, & Megacycle 250-30 cam. Compression checked across all four cylinders — 168, 170, 172, 169 psi. Dropped in the frame Friday afternoon. First crank Sunday evening on the bench. Sounds right. No top-end leaks.
Tank pulled, hand-tunneled 4 cm deeper to clear the new frame loop. Reshaped the rear corners with hammer & dolly — about 12 hours of metalwork. Seat foam shaped on the bike, mocked up for client visit on Saturday. Client approved the lines; off to upholstery.
Tank, side covers, & tail piece all in our booth. Three coats Fallout yellow over silver-leaf base, followed by hand-painted pinstripe (Eric in San Pablo, $640), then six coats of HOK clear with cuts between. Final cut & polish Friday. Best paint we've done all year.
Full ground-up wiring with the Motogadget M-Unit Blue. New loom, hidden battery, all-LED lighting, Motogadget chronoclassic gauge. 40 hours of wiring — the slowest week in any build. Bike now starts & runs every system. Off to dyno on Tuesday.
Tuesday at Phil's dyno in Hayward. Three runs, jetted up two sizes on the mains, brought it from a lean stumble at 6,000 to a clean pull all the way through. Final figure: 68.4 hp at 9,000 rpm, 47 ft-lb at 7,800. For a 49-year-old engine, this is exactly what we wanted. Final photo shoot Wednesday. Delivery Apr 30.
Final detail Tuesday morning. Handover with the client Wednesday afternoon at the shop — full walk-around, every system explained, the 484-hour build log handed over in a binder. Client rides it home, then back for a 500-mile service mid-June. BIKE-041 — a '79 XS650 — gets the bench on Monday May 5.
N° 040 · 2025
1976 Honda CB750 K6
Cafe racer · Berkeley client
N° 039 · 2024
1970 Triumph T120R
Bobber · Oakland client
N° 038 · 2024
1980 Yamaha XS650 SG
Tracker · Sacramento client
N° 037 · 2024
1975 BMW R75/6
Scrambler · SF client
N° 036 · 2023
1972 Honda CL350
Daily · Berkeley garden
N° 035 · 2023
1981 Yamaha SR500
Streetfighter · Oakland
— 34 more in the archive. Browse all 40 builds, 2018 → today →
§ 05 · COMMISSION A BUILD
Fallout builds twelve bikes a year, no exceptions. The 2025 slate is sold out — three open slots remain for Q4 2025 → Q3 2026. Each commission is a 24-to-32-week project. Donor bike welcome, or we source. Full build log included. We do not build modern bikes (post-2002), Harleys, or anything we don't think we'll do well.