Car Fix’s Jeremy Bumpus builds himself a CB750…
For many of the more mechanically-minded of us, weekend morning cartoons were eschewed at an early age for the hot rod, muscle car, and automotive how-to shows where world-class builders resurrect barn finds, restore classics, and create mind-melting dream machines in shops and garages across the nation.
One of our favorites is MotorTrend’s Car Fix, hosted by two of the best in the business: our good friend Bryan Fuller of Georgia’s own Fuller Moto Shop and our new friend Jeremy Bumpus of The Hot Rod Shop in Corinth, MS — builder of the ’72 CB750 you see here.
At age 16, Jeremy fell in love with all things automotive while rebuilding his father’s 1968 Camaro. He always wanted to teach, but he never expected that he’d end up doing it on TV screens every weekend, combining both of the passions in his life.
The Hot Rod Shop has turned out a staggering array of builds over the years, but with show and client projects, there are always time restrictions and expectations — sometimes you’ve got to build something just for yourself. For Jeremy, that was the idea behind this CB.
“I was itching for another café style bike. The good thing about a personal project is I can work on it when I feel like it. No pressure to get it finished and no deadlines.”
The donor CB came from the Honda dealership and bike museum next door, which specializes in CB750 restorations.
“Knowing I wanted a 750, I went over and asked what he had. He opened up a few storage containers FULL of CB’s and he said pick one.”
It pays to have good neighbors! It sounds like Jeremy had a pretty clear vision of what he wanted to do from the beginning — a classy, elegant CB750 stripped down to the bare essentials.
“One thing I always loved about café bikes is the simplicity. Ripping everything down and getting to bare bones. That’s how we like to do all of our builds…simple and clean. This bike was no different.”
The changes were so extensive that nothing but the engine, neck, and front downtube remain from the original donor. The frame was completely rebuilt from the front elements back, and Jeremy fabricated the tank and aluminum rear cowl from scratch.
The bike is now running a Sump Thing wet sump conversion from Outsiders Motorcycles, R1 forks with Cognito Moto yokes and Motogadget electronics, a CBR F2 swingarm with dual shocks for the proper spring rate, custom stainless exhaust, CR carbs, and many more modifications that Jeremy details in our full interview below.
The name “Penny” came about early on in this process, based on an unexpected discovery:
“When I was tearing it down we found a few pennies hiding in the bike, so she got the nickname Penny. That stuck and we made sure to keep that theme through the build… If you look closely you will see pennies as washers under the ARP bolts.”
As you can see, the “Penny” theme extended to the gorgeous copper-hued custom paint, which looked damn lovely under the lights at the 2024 Handbuilt Show. What a rich and distinctive CB750 café racer from one of the nation’s best builders.
Below, we talk to Jeremy himself for the full details on the build, and credit for the images goes to Alex Sellers except where noted.
CB750 Café Racer: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
I started building cars and bikes as a teenager. The funny part is I never intended to be a builder. I went to school to become a teacher. Right after getting out of school I realized it just wasn’t for me but I still wanted to teach. During this time I had people asking me to do work for them, so I decided to go to a vo tech school. I thought I would go, work in a shop for a bit and then be a vo tech teacher. Well……I’m still building cars and bikes at my shop The Hot Rod Shop in Corinth, MS.
Luckily for me I did get to teach but on another level. My builds were getting recognized and I got asked to interview for a television show with Powernation. I got the gig and the next thing I knew I was teaching automotive how-to on TV every weekend. Then that led to hosting Car Fix on MotorTrend. We’ve had a ton of our car builds and bikes from our shop on the show.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the donor bike?
1972 Honda CB750.
• Why was this bike built?
This bike is a personal project. It had been a while since I built a bike for myself and I was itching for another café style bike. The good thing about a personal project is I can work on it when I feel like it. No pressure to get it finished and no deadlines. So after hours and weekends over a couple of years I was able to build a pretty cool bike.
Luckily for me we have a Honda dealership next door to us and the owner has a bike museum in it. He specializes in CB750’s where they restore them back to original. Knowing I wanted a 750, I went over and asked what he had. He opened up a few storage containers FULL of CB’s and he said pick one. That’s where this bike started.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
I had an idea in my head what I wanted to do, so we quickly drew a sketch and I sent it over to my buddy Daniel Maffett and had him do me a rendering. We dialed that in and it was off to the races. One thing I always loved about café bikes is the simplicity. Ripping everything down and getting to bare bones. That’s how we like to do all of our builds…simple and clean. This bike was no different.
The only thing I wanted to capture was elegance. I wanted the CB to look classy. When I was tearing it down we found a few pennies hiding in the bike, so she got the nickname Penny. That stuck and we made sure to keep that theme through the build.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
The only thing we kept that was original to the bike was the engine, neck, and front downtube. We built a new frame from there. I wanted to add a little radius to the frame, so at the triangle we rolled those tubes and also rolled new tube from the neck to the rear hoop under the cowl.
Once that was finished I wanted to start on the tank. I had a vintage fiberglass race tank from the 70’s that had a cool shape but was really small. I was thinking I wanted that shape but on a bigger scale. I made a few cardboard templates and started shaping metal. The tank was probably the most time-consuming part of the build.
Next I started making the cowl. Initially this was going to double as the oil tank. I built and shaped this from aluminum. Soon after I finished the cowl I found the Sump Thing. This bolts on to the engine between the oil pan and turns it into a wetsump. Not only did this clean up having an external oil tank but looks pretty cool too. Wish we had this years ago.
For suspension we went with R1 forks and Cognito Moto triple trees with motogadget gauges. For the rear we used a CBR F2 swingarm and we also used the CBR shock.
After running a single shock and having another spring on hand we decided to add another shock and we got the spring rate we were after.
For the seat we built the pan from aluminum, shaped the foam, and covered the seat in APEX Leather. Under the seat houses the m-unit from Cognito Moto along with the rectifier and starter solenoid.
The headlight is a 6.5” projector from Cognito as well. For the taillight we built the housing and created an infinity light where it looks like the LEDs never end.
For performance the engine for the most part is stock, we built a custom stainless exhaust with cone mufflers and for fuel a set of CR carbs.
• Does the bike have a nickname?
Her name is “Penny” and if you look closely you will see pennies as washers under the ARP bolts.
• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride this bike?
She’s so much fun to ride. Throttle response is immediate, handling is on point but the most fun is the attention it gets going down the road and the conversations this bike starts.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
With any build I think what I’m most proud of is the idea of what I’m going to build and making that a reality.
Photos from Handbuilt Show 2024
Photographer: Kody Melton for BikeBound
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Facebook: @thehotrodshopms
Photographer:
Alexsellersmedia.com
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Facebook: @alexsellersmedia
