Topic: Bonneville Turbo CB500/550

[OneWheelDrive]

Sweeeet 

[Greggo]

Tore into the Dellorto carburetor today.  Only ever worked on a Keihin, but this one's pretty simple.  It does have an accelerator pump, which I'll have to check.  The bowl was pretty clean, except for some soft gunk where the main jet pulls fuel from.  Interesting set up in that the main jet screws into the carb body, and the float bowl is clamped on by a bolt that screws onto the main jet.  We're thinking the extra tank is for water injection, not alcohol...alcohol puts you into a much different class at Bonneville, and the original builder seems to have gone to some lengths to keep it in the 500cc class.  I spent the other half of my day buying a '76 550K basket case to part out...hoping to make a little cash to throw into this one.

[xsmooth69x]

 

awesomeness!

[lostinthe202]

Looking good Greg!  In that last pic, so the turbo unit cleaned up pretty good?  Different unit?

Willy-

[Greggo]

Looking good Greg!  In that last pic, so the turbo unit cleaned up pretty good?  Different unit?

Willy-

Hey, thanks Willy!  That's the draw thru side of the turbo, where I pulled the carb.  It was nice and pretty when I got to it.  The uglier side in the earlier pic is the exhaust.

[Greggo]

The Dellorto carb's pump isn't pumping..probably a big part of why it wouldn't stay running last time. 

[lostinthe202]

Bummer, is it rebuildable?

[Greggo]

Bummer, is it rebuildable?

Yup.  The diaphragm is good, it just needs a better cleaning.  I missed a few passageways.  It'll be running tomorrow

[Terry in Australia]

Bummer, is it rebuildable?

Yup.  The diaphragm is good, it just needs a better cleaning.  I missed a few passageways.  It'll be running tomorrow

Woohoo! Youtube vid! Youtube vid!

[Syscrush]

Wow, this is exciting!  Subscribed and watching with interest...

[Greggo]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!      We fixed the accelerator pump in the carb, but that seems to be all it's running on right now. 

First time we got it running for a second the oil pressure blew the gallery plug out the left side and spewed a quart of oil on the ground.  We fabricated a plug cover to keep it in with a piece of flat aluminum.

[OneWheelDrive]

Holy moly, that thing sounds MEAN!

[Stev-o]

It lives! And sounds awesome!!  When are we going to Bonneville?

[geminimotors]

Rad.

[fastbroshi]

You HAVE to get that thing on a dyno at some point.  Sounds really mean!

[lostinthe202]

way to go Greggo!  Those valve seats oughta be plenty hammered back into place eh?

[Greggo]

Thanks Guys!  It was the end of a pretty long, and frustrating day.  The main oil feed hose had to be replaced, and it was a bear of a job installing the fittings on the new hose.  Fixing the accelerator pump took a few minutes in itself.  Nice thing about a turbo bike...the carb comes right off   Then we got it started, and the plug popped off  I looked for ten minutes and couldn't find it...gave up, and was ready to pull one off a donor motor..then Omar found it   Ron's the genius behind the plug cover; a pretty quick trick that I wouldn't have thought of so fast. 

It pretty much sounded like a Moto GP bike, I don't know if that came through in the video.  Ron's buddy who actually goes to Bonneville came by...said I should go.  But, it's in less than three months, and I start my job next Monday...can't take a week + vacation that quickly. 

Now that I've heard it run it's decision time.  I think I'm going to make a street bike out of it.  The frame has already been modified for the tank, and the seat, so I'll stick with them as my base.  The lengthened swing arm could really be something special.  I'll have to measure it when I pull it, but I will keep it in a box with some of the other parts that would bring the bike back to 'original.'  I'll throw a stock swinger on with fresh bearings.  It will look as close to before as possible for the street.

Ron has invited me to learn the English Wheel at his hangar on weekends.  He brought along a cafe seat he'd made from two pieces of flat metal, and I was hooked.  If I'm good at it, I've found my new side profession, because he knows people who pay good money for specialty race bike body parts.  Needless to say, I'm taking him up on his offer  

[Ecosse]

It pretty much sounded like a Moto GP bike, I don't know if that came through in the video.

uh, that would be a "yeah."   

[Flying J]

I want to learn the English wheel. The problem is once you get a wheel you need a planishing hammer and then maybe a shrinker stretcher. Its all so expressive. If i had somebody who would teach me or even just let me use their wheel i would be all over that.

[Terry in Australia]

That sounds great mate, how good a street bike it becomes will depend on how much "Turbo Lag" you have to deal with, I know modern turbo's are much easier to live with on bikes than "Old School" turbo's, which aren't such a problem when going for a land speed attempt on the salt, but a PITA on the street, for sure. Cheers, Terry.

[lostinthe202]

That's great that you have someone who's willing to teach you tin knockin'.  You should def take him up on it.

I say that you shouldn't give up on Bonneville.  If you can't make it in 3 months, go in 15 months!  More time to put all the bits together and shake out the bugs.

Willy-

[knowsnothing]

i would love to learn to shape some metal my hand, very jealous.  Ohh bike doesn't sound bad either 

[JustinLonghorn]

Ride it on the street for the season, and work on more and more parts for the transformation to Salt-Eater 15 months from now.

It sounds all kinds of mean, sir.

I can definitely dig it!

[Greggo]

It pretty much sounded like a Moto GP bike, I don't know if that came through in the video.

uh, that would be a "yeah."   

 

I want to learn the English wheel. The problem is once you get a wheel you need a planishing hammer and then maybe a shrinker stretcher. Its all so expressive. If i had somebody who would teach me or even just let me use their wheel i would be all over that.

Ya, I'm really kinda honored by his offer.  I was telling him how I wouldn't be able to come to the shop on weekdays anymore because of the job, and he offered to teach me the wheel, and help me with my projects at his hangar, or just work there on weekends, even if he's not.  It's really generous, and trusting of him.  He's worked with my dad for 35+ years, so he's got a lot of faith in me, and I don't plan to let him down.  He's got the resources, and the drive to acquire whatever tools are necessary for what he wants to do, so I wouldn't be surprised if he already has those other tools you mentioned. 

That sounds great mate, how good a street bike it becomes will depend on how much "Turbo Lag" you have to deal with, I know modern turbo's are much easier to live with on bikes than "Old School" turbo's, which aren't such a problem when going for a land speed attempt on the salt, but a PITA on the street, for sure. Cheers, Terry.

Thanks Terry!  I've no idea how 'old school' the turbo unit is.  As mundane as it sounds, this bike may be my new commuter   I ride open freeways to work and back, and they're really the only places you can wind a bike like this up around here.  I've heard of turbo lag sending 930 turbo Porsche drivers into trees...I can only imagine how bad it could be on two wheels.  I've got a set of dual discs I'm going to throw on the front when I get to that, so I'll at least have some good stopping power.  I'll set up the suspension as best I can, with Koni 76f's (I have already) in the rear, and likely 550 forks with emulators (still need) up front.  I'll be looking into full front end conversions in the future.  Ron has a lathe at the hangar where we can machine spacers, and such.  The motor's such a beast, I want it to handle as well as possible.

That's great that you have someone who's willing to teach you tin knockin'.  You should def take him up on it.

I say that you shouldn't give up on Bonneville.  If you can't make it in 3 months, go in 15 months!  More time to put all the bits together and shake out the bugs.

Willy-

Ride it on the street for the season, and work on more and more parts for the transformation to Salt-Eater 15 months from now.

It sounds all kinds of mean, sir.

I can definitely dig it!

We'll see how things shape up in the future, I guess.

i would love to learn to shape some metal my hand, very jealous.  Ohh bike doesn't sound bad either 

Thank You

[Lostboy Steve]

That thing sounds awesome.