Topic: 1974 CB550--Project The Screaming Scotsman (Problem)

[goldarrow]

again, the bike looks beautiful.  i don't think it needs anything.  color looks great, shocks look great.....but of course, we all need to keep our sanity to optimal level otherwise we cannot function properly, or at least i don't think i can.  so, on to the next project i'll be watching. 

#1 subscriber! 

[Mcwilliams570]

Thanks Goldarrow going to take the next few weeks off and enjoy some riding. Still trying to decide what project I want to start..

Matt

[RAFster122s]

Great build, something to take pride in. Looking forward to your next build. David

[Mcwilliams570]

Thanks RAFster122s is fun to drive around. Trying to figure out if I want to do the 1981 gl500 project bike or the 1975 cb550. How do you like your cx500 ? I made the gl500 my daily driver for a month put about 1000 miles on it and hard to believe I actually liked it. Looking at it now I think I would feel bad if I cut it up and made another cafe out of it. I have put some thought into restoring it and get another one to cafe. It is the first bike that I have had that has the ability to carry stuff cause of the bags and such and man is so nice can pick stuff up at the grocery store and still fit a 12 pack of beer in it

Matt

[RAFster122s]

The GL shares the motor and a few other things but really two different kinds of bikes when you break it down. I like the CX a lot but I'm not real comfortable on it unless I put a 1.5" dense foampad atop the seat. I'm 6'4" so the bike has me a little scrunched up with stock seat height being low. My knees are pretty high on the tank sides. The bike handles really well and has good low speed torque which is great in the city traffic. It has evnough legs to feel comfortable at 75 and while it will only do about a 100, it is enough. Fuel ecomy is decent in the 40s on longer trips and high 30s for all city on the cx.  Once sorted out they are great bikes and reliable. They are very easy to work on and easy to maintain. The chopper charles cx gl forum is a great community of owners and very helpful
Your gl interstate is desireable because of the twin front disc, let me tell ya, stock single disc can make you pucker until you learn, plus drilling the rotors helps wet and dry performance.

The 650 motor is more powerful and a much nicer ride...in case you run across a GL650Interstate.


You have a nice GL and oif riding in late fall or winter where you live is an option, the fairing is really nice for making it more pleasant.

[Mcwilliams570]

GL500 is sold will be picked up this Sunday but it will fund my next project so not too sad

Matt

[Tews19]

I nominated you for BOTM!!!

[Bluegreen]

Well guys going to call this one done but we all know there is always something else to do to it. This winter I will knock out a few things that I want to change or redo.

-New shocks
-New spokes I cleaned them up a year ago and rust is starting to come back. Don't feel like trying to keep them all nice and clean.
-Where the tank meets the seat it has to much of a gap in my opinion will redo the seat.
-Probally weld on some type of exhaust mounts for the rear.
-Tach and speedo gauge overlays they have been the way they are for so long I am kind of use to them but would like to make them match.
-Repaint the gas tank and tail I am undecided still on the color of it and a few mistakes but overall came out very nice using the spraymax k2 spray paint.


A few things I would like to pass down to help other new people out like me when its the first time you have ever done anything like this.

-Photos photos photos I cant stress that enough I took about 30 pictures before teardown and thought that was good enough. It wasn't even close all the pretty side pictures and stuff helped some it was the odd picture taken that I found myself looking at more on how things went back together.

- Don't tell yourself Oh that was easy to take off I will remember how it goes back together again LOL yeah right. Take a pictures save yourself some stress

-Plan ahead on parts that you will need to order look two months down the road its not fun sitting around waiting for them.

-Get the right tools you will probally enjoy the hell out of this the tools will pay for themselves down the road on other projects.


I have been asked several times how much this build cost the last few weeks since I have been doing shakedown runs on it. The  grand total is.

- 1360.00$
- The actual cost is much higher though if I include all the tools and the bike purchase . I learned early on have the right tool for the job makes it so much easier. So with all the tools  was much closer 2000.00$


I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all the help, ideas and support.Tews thanks for letting me bounce ideas off you. One person that deserves the biggest thanks is forum member Larry (MoMo). He took the time to answer all my stupid questions and showed me how to do things right. I didn't want to get this bike and then drop it off to someone and bam the bike is all done. I wanted to find someone that could show me and teach me how these old bikes work and do it myself. So thanks again Larry. This project took a little over a year to do and was such an amazing ride and experience. I have had motorcycles most of my life and the accomplishment of finishing this project is such a awsome feeling. I know the bike isn't a trailer queen but I made it and the smile that lights up my face everytime I look at tells me I did all right..

Next project will be posted soon

Thanks Matt

Well done!!

Stoked to see your next project.

[RAFster122s]

Matt, unless you really liked it, it is probably just as well in the long run... Now you know how handy the bags are you could add a set to a future bike...vintage Shoei have always caught my eye.
The GL is a more refined bike than the CX but I have the first year, 78...not that the deluxe or std model were that different fom one another to change ergonomics for a tall big guy like me.

Good it will fund your future project, the cb550 I presume...
David

[Tews19]

You got your second nomination I see! Start prepping your right up for your nomination!

[Mcwilliams570]

You got your second nomination I see! Start prepping your right up for your nomination!

Well guys going to call this one done but we all know there is always something else to do to it. This winter I will knock out a few things that I want to change or redo.

-New shocks
-New spokes I cleaned them up a year ago and rust is starting to come back. Don't feel like trying to keep them all nice and clean.
-Where the tank meets the seat it has to much of a gap in my opinion will redo the seat.
-Probally weld on some type of exhaust mounts for the rear.
-Tach and speedo gauge overlays they have been the way they are for so long I am kind of use to them but would like to make them match.
-Repaint the gas tank and tail I am undecided still on the color of it and a few mistakes but overall came out very nice using the spraymax k2 spray paint.


A few things I would like to pass down to help other new people out like me when its the first time you have ever done anything like this.

-Photos photos photos I cant stress that enough I took about 30 pictures before teardown and thought that was good enough. It wasn't even close all the pretty side pictures and stuff helped some it was the odd picture taken that I found myself looking at more on how things went back together.

- Don't tell yourself Oh that was easy to take off I will remember how it goes back together again LOL yeah right. Take a pictures save yourself some stress

-Plan ahead on parts that you will need to order look two months down the road its not fun sitting around waiting for them.

-Get the right tools you will probally enjoy the hell out of this the tools will pay for themselves down the road on other projects.


I have been asked several times how much this build cost the last few weeks since I have been doing shakedown runs on it. The  grand total is.

- 1360.00$
- The actual cost is much higher though if I include all the tools and the bike purchase . I learned early on have the right tool for the job makes it so much easier. So with all the tools  was much closer 2000.00$


I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all the help, ideas and support.Tews thanks for letting me bounce ideas off you. One person that deserves the biggest thanks is forum member Larry (MoMo). He took the time to answer all my stupid questions and showed me how to do things right. I didn't want to get this bike and then drop it off to someone and bam the bike is all done. I wanted to find someone that could show me and teach me how these old bikes work and do it myself. So thanks again Larry. This project took a little over a year to do and was such an amazing ride and experience. I have had motorcycles most of my life and the accomplishment of finishing this project is such a awsome feeling. I know the bike isn't a trailer queen but I made it and the smile that lights up my face everytime I look at tells me I did all right..

Next project will be posted soon

Thanks Matt

Well done!!

Stoked to see your next project.

Thanks guys ! I am bummed though my computer crashed the other day and I am having to use this old one. All my pictures from the last year are gone . I am going to take the HD to someone and see if I cant get my pictures off it.

Matt

[goldarrow]

That's a bummer. Pm me I might be able to help you with the HD issues

[Tews19]

You can go to the posting you made on your thread and click edit. It will give you the codes of the images. Copy each pic you want this way and paste.

[Mcwilliams570]

Hello all got a few problems wanted to see what you all thought. I got done with this bike in July put about 500 miles on her and she ran great parked it and has been sitting the last few months. Today I was going to take it out for the last drive of the year and ran into all sorts of problems.

-#$%* to get started took a few tries usually fires right up but got it going but felt rough
- 2 and 3 pipes weren't hot like the other 2
-backfiring out of the carbs to the engine
-when I got done warming it up noticed oil/gas coming out of the number 2 exhaust it is gas for sure can smell it very easy

Was going to put it up for the winter and do some work on her. I wanted to clean the gas tank out I was pretty rushed when I cleaned it out a year ago and feel like there is sediment still in there. While I had the tank off was going to pull the carbs off and clean the carbs again.

Any suggestion would be much appreciated.

Thanks Matt

[goldarrow]

When I first got my bike running, I had dyna s in it, no fire on 1 and 4. Went back to points and got fire. Also check if float not stuck...?

[rb550four]

 matt , It looks like you're getting the fuel not the fire, Check coil with spare spark plug outside the engine for spark, if it works it's probably the plug. if you change the plug and there is no spark  maybe it's the cap. I think the sticky floatbowl isn't it because that usually leaves a spot on the floor. Keep us updated .
                                                                                               RB

[Mcwilliams570]

Thanks rb500 and goldarrow when I saw it leaking out the exhaust I just shut if off and went back to fiberglassing the other project. I will go through it all wont be for a while though baby is coming in 3 weeks At some point this winter will start on it and report back..

Thanks Matt

[rb550four]

3 weeks! Excellent! If you think time is just flying by now, there is nothing that makes time go faster than having a child. There won't be time for allot of things that you like to do in your spare time now, but it's a fair trade and in the end you'll probably wish that there was even more time that you could have spent together but , we are only allowed so much, so make it count. It won't always be easy, but it will always be worth it. You'll keep us updated right?

[bjbuchanan]

I don't know if you have sorted the issue by now but I know I just fixed something like this on my 750. It was one of the coils almost dead. Resistance was real off but not trashed. trace continuity to the coils and check you low ohm side and your secondary side. maybe the answer is there

If you make it farther than that check continuity/resistance thru your wires. If everything checks out then could be plugs. for 10$ you will know if they are after troubleshooting

[Mcwilliams570]

3 weeks! Excellent! If you think time is just flying by now, there is nothing that makes time go faster than having a child. There won't be time for allot of things that you like to do in your spare time now, but it's a fair trade and in the end you'll probably wish that there was even more time that you could have spent together but , we are only allowed so much, so make it count. It won't always be easy, but it will always be worth it. You'll keep us updated right?

Yeah getting excited rb500. I will keep you updated.

I don't know if you have sorted the issue by now but I know I just fixed something like this on my 750. It was one of the coils almost dead. Resistance was real off but not trashed. trace continuity to the coils and check you low ohm side and your secondary side. maybe the answer is there

Thanks is something I will check out. I wont be getting into it till closer to spring working on the other 550 project now so will keep me busy.

Matt

If you make it farther than that check continuity/resistance thru your wires. If everything checks out then could be plugs. for 10$ you will know if they are after troubleshooting

[RAFster122s]

Hope the delivery goes smoothly and your healthy and happy new baby brings you both tons of smiles and new found love.
My advice to you, get as much sleep and rest now as you will be ecstatic about the new arrival but, until their sleep patterns stabilize and they put some weight on...until then they need fed often during the night and new babies really don't sleep long until they learn the difference between night and day and start staying awake during the day. As a result, you don't get your normal rest.

Hope you enjoy the new bundle of joy...

Remember, turn OFF geotagging on your phone or people can extract geographic coordinates from the photos... You will inadvertently give any would be crooks your address and inventory of your home with the background of the photos...
Some cameras have geotagging capabilities as well.

David

[Blackandsilver]

Cool bike! Congrats on the new baby, that'll be a blast! As a rule of thumb on your ill-running cycle, if you're having problems with 2,3 or 1,4 look for electrical issues in the coils or points. Anything else will be plugs, wires and carbs. Good luck with the baby! In no time I'm sure all your bike pics will have the kid sitting on it. Great!


Win some lose some, it's all the same to me.

[Flying J]

Like he said if it is the same two cylinders from the same coil it usually is something like a bad point or bad connection on that coil. I have also had this same symptom and found that my main jet had fallen out. Nice bike. I love 4-4 pipes.

[davidtime]

Just came across your project thread. Finally a bike that looks like the one I'm working on. I haven't found any running the same exhaust that I have and you just affirmed my decision. Nice bike. Check out my build, I would  love your thoughts on it.

[Mcwilliams570]

Just came across your project thread. Finally a bike that looks like the one I'm working on. I haven't found any running the same exhaust that I have and you just affirmed my decision. Nice bike. Check out my build, I would  love your thoughts on it.

Thanks for the kind words. I will check your build out.

Matt