Honda CB750 Sandcast

General Category => "88 Model Distinctions" => Topic started by: kp on October 27, 2015, 07:10:55 pm

Title: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: kp on October 27, 2015, 07:10:55 pm
The early production Sandcasts were fitted with a right switch which had a black kill switch without a pointer and no "off-on-off" wording embossed into the switch. Like Kawasaki; Honda switches have a date stamp on the throttle tube side of the switch end. In this case the number 4 represents 69 and the latter number represents the month so in the 2 examples we have 69 April and 69 October I'm not sure that these dates represent the production date of the motorcycle rather the date of switch manufacture.
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: Steve Swan on October 27, 2015, 07:28:52 pm
great stuff !
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: Steve Swan on October 28, 2015, 12:05:24 am
How does the 4 represent 69 ?
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: kp on October 28, 2015, 01:24:21 am
How does the 4 represent 69 ?
Works on years since the Emperor reign commenced Start year is 1926 as year 1 so to 1969 is 44 years They shorten it sometimes to just 1 number being 4 although some parts have the 44 but I could be full of sh*t also. I think the cam towers have the 44 Sometimes they use japanese symbols but my Japanese is very rusty  ;D
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: Sgt.Pinback on October 28, 2015, 02:39:14 am
Thanks!
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: Steve Swan on October 28, 2015, 05:57:44 am
How does the 4 represent 69 ?
Works on years since the Emperor reign commenced Start year is 1926 as year 1 so to 1969 is 44 years They shorten it sometimes to just 1 number being 4 although some parts have the 44 but I could be full of sh*t also. I think the cam towers have the 44 Sometimes they use japanese symbols but my Japanese is very rusty  ;D

Ok.  That could make sense !  I hadn't thought of dropping a digit from Showan calendar as a possibility, but the decimal between the digits could be interpreted as date coding, in particular to the context of what we are looking at.
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: kp on October 28, 2015, 06:58:52 am
Kawasaki have the same numbering system in many of their parts and accessories. They use both the Showan and the Julian system for date identification. Kawasaki also use alphabetic letters to represent the months for example they use a 7 to represent the year 1972 and lets say a C which represents March so on a part one would see 7C. One thing about Kawasaki is they don't just use from A to L. I understand they use other letters. I'm not so well versed with Kawasaki other than I own 2 x 1972 Z1s and a 73 Z1 and I can navigate my way around these identifications. Kawasaki switches are identified using the Julian calendar plus a numeral for the month i.e. 4.4 in Kawasaki would represent 1974 April, their swing arms are also stamped in a similar way One of my swing arms is 3.3 being 1973, March.
Would seem to me that probably the parts suppliers made the decision as to what method they would use. The one item I cannot fathom on a Honda is the coding on their brake disc and the stampings on the rear shocks
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: DW69K0 on June 20, 2016, 03:37:53 pm
KP or Others,
How high in the VIN range did the pointerless right hand kill switch with no On/Off lettering extend? Were they used past the 600 VIN range? Curious on your thoughts.
Thanks much,
DW
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: kp on June 20, 2016, 06:25:24 pm
My thoughts FWIW are that pointerless kill switches are on early framed bikes up to around 600. Could be 500 or 400 or maybe 650 but I generally accept any frame up to around 500 to 600 should have a pointerless kill. Now, some may disagree but I believe the pointer kill switch was introduced BEFORE the on-off-on was cast into the switch top casting. The only evidence that convinces me of this is that I have owned 2 of these non on-off-on switches with pointer kill switch. One came off a supposedly unmolested 8xx bike that was parted out some years back. The other was an eBay purchase many many years ago but the frame number was not known. I have also seen a few bikes sold over the years with this 2nd type switch. My belief (without any factual evidence) is these switches were the 2nd generation seen on bikes after 6xx and up to around 9xx. I have posted on this forum asking anyone with a bike with such a feature to let us know but so far nothing has been posted or identified. Again I stress that it is my belief without conclusive evidence. I could be way off the mark and these switches could have had pointer kill knobs added at a later time (mind you 1 having a knob change would be probable but 2 is a stretch IMHO) KP
Title: Re: Early No Pointer/No On-Off Right Switch
Post by: bojje on August 27, 2016, 01:41:44 pm
Hi!
#24/43 has no on-off and pointerless killswitch. Both oilhoses of rubber. Still owned by me.
#180/302 has same as  above. Still owned by me.
#388/407 has same as above. Still owned by me.
#412/Diecastcases had same as above. Parted out.
#609/636 has no on-off but pointer at killswitch. Inner oilhose fabric and outer of rubber. Still owned by me.
#849/864 has on-off and pointer at killswitch. Both hoses fabric. Still owned by me.
In this case I think my 4 digits are uninteresting.
Bo from sweden