Author Topic: CB550 Cafe, back from hibernation. hopefully. (Read 17973 times)

ocharlas · « **Reply #25 on:** March 23, 2012, 10:12:56 PM »

what are rearsets?

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #26 on:** March 24, 2012, 02:53:00 AM »

Rearsets are these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Rearsets-footpegs-foot-rest-fits-Suzuki-Yamaha-Honda-Kawasaki-scooter-/140648410050?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item20bf4c6bc2

I'm not recommending the above I have no experience of them, It's for clarification only.

They allow your foot position to be moved further to the rear.

ocharlas · « **Reply #27 on:** March 24, 2012, 07:02:03 AM »

oh right. Those were already on the bike so I thought he might have meant something else. I think I'm going to grind them out. It's the only spot on the frame where the rust actually goes through, just a pinhole but this way I don't have to deal with it.

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #28 on:** March 24, 2012, 07:06:31 AM »

Grind them out? Rear sets are bolt-on accessories.

ocharlas · « **Reply #29 on:** March 24, 2012, 07:36:36 AM »

EDIT: no the PEGS are off, I meant grind out the mounts. Holes are below the arrow. I figure that's just asking for trouble down the road

jaguar · « **Reply #30 on:** March 24, 2012, 09:55:46 AM »

Rear sets and the stock pegs are different

If the plan Is to run low bars then you need to think about rear sets to be able to ride the bike

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #31 on:** March 24, 2012, 12:13:47 PM »

Quote from: ocharlas on March 24, 2012, 07:36:36 AM

EDIT: no the PEGS are off, I meant grind out the mounts. Holes are below the arrow. I figure that's just asking for trouble down the road

You may need these left on to mount rearsets. Leave them until you find out otherwise.

ocharlas · « **Reply #32 on:** March 24, 2012, 12:34:02 PM »

Is that true? I'm looking online, and most of the CB cafes I see don't even have rear sets period and are running low bars. The mounts are ground out on them as well. Also, I see some bikes have them mounted in different spots like on the swingarm and rear wheel and such.

Unfortunately they're already gone, so if it is that important I'll just have to figure something else out. Hopefully it's not a big deal.

That being said, are there any of these others that I shouldn't get rid of? The helmet, horn, rearsets are gone, as is the one in blue and the double one directly above it (in the picture - in real life it's the one on the other side of the frame with two holes in it). I'm a little worried that I should have left that last one on...I was stupid and didn't realize there were two holes in it. Can someone tell me which ones are and aren't essential? thanks

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #33 on:** March 24, 2012, 12:39:38 PM »

Look at post #88 here.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=101860.75

jaguar · « **Reply #34 on:** March 24, 2012, 12:43:39 PM »

Quote from: ocharlas on March 24, 2012, 12:34:02 PM

Is that true? I'm looking online, and most of the CB cafes I see don't even have rear sets period and are running low bars.

Problem is that there are alot of poorly built bikes out there and people just copying them.
Often the bikes are used for nothing more then a few pictures.

ocharlas · « **Reply #35 on:** March 24, 2012, 06:08:16 PM »

Well once they were cut off, they were cut off. So I went ahead and smoothed everything out, stripped a little more paint, and started applying da spray. Here's a shot of how it looks so far, after 3 coats of Rustoleum Gloss Enamel. I'll probably throw on another tomorrow morning. So what's next? Do I sand this thing down? Sorry about the poor lighting. Cell phone camera is ok, but the flash on it is terrible.

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #36 on:** March 24, 2012, 06:18:18 PM »

No sanding required unless you made a balls of the painting.

ocharlas · « **Reply #37 on:** March 24, 2012, 07:25:35 PM »

ok cool. Might be a drip here and there to take care of...I'll get a better idea in the light. So no sanding, no topcoat required either? easy peasy lemon squeezy? sweet. For touch ups though - 600 grit? finer?

I guess the next step is to clean the engine up and put it back in right? Is there anything specific I should check before I do?

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #38 on:** March 24, 2012, 07:45:03 PM »

Wrap the frame with cloth and tape to protect before putting the engine in.

ocharlas · « **Reply #39 on:** March 24, 2012, 07:57:35 PM »

yup, was definitely planning on doing that. I mean as far as the engine goes - things to inspect, clean out, tighten up, before it goes back in. I still have to do a major cleaning on it, but besides that...

Late night update: THIS THING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CLEAN!!! I got a bunch of crap off it, but it still looks like...crap.

Before:

After:

No real difference (except the lighting). Oh well. I think when I get this bike running I'll start taking apart my spare engine, do a whole number on it, and if it's good I'll swap it in. But that's way down the road.

Anyway I'll clean it up a little more tomorrow, make sure the frame looks good, and try to get the old girl in there.

ocharlas · « **Reply #40 on:** March 25, 2012, 08:42:27 PM »

Unfortunately, my first foray into wet sanding did not quite go according to plan. I had a pretty nasty drip on the spine, and by the time I buffed it out the adjacent bit was down to the metal. Soooo come tomorrow I'll get another can of paint or two. At least now the paint is even, so I just need to be better at applying it. Regardless, I probably won't do any sanding after it. Time to get a move on.

Also, I'm still taking other parts of the bike apart. Since I couldn't do anything else I tackled the front forks, which were still attached to the wheel, headlight, etc...I got the wheel off no problem, but the headlight mounts aren't going anywhere. I thought they would just slide off, am I missing some kind of release? Or are they just rusted on there. I probably won't reuse them, there are some on ebay that are cheap and look pretty cool. I do wonder about quality though. Anyone have experience with these? An ebay search for "CB550 headlight mount" pulled them up. Shipped comes to a little under $20.

I also like these, but they cost double

Not much else to report (not much else accomplished)...stripped and painted battery cage, triple trees, and center stand. No new pictures, so here's a good ol' fashioned "this is where the magic happens" type shot.

(the outline on the piece of wood that the frame is on is me painting my wrench and wire brush. oops.)

ocharlas · « **Reply #41 on:** March 26, 2012, 09:52:07 PM »

allright, in preparation for tomorrow I picked up some electrical stuff. 75' of assorted wiring (I know I'll need more but it's a start), lots of connectors and heat shrink tube, and a battery. My goal sometime in the next few days is to in some way shape or form, get the engine running. If I can do that just once it will be an awesome relief. First step will be to put the engine back in, get some bare bones wiring strung up, clean the carbs, and see what happens. And oil. Damn I almost forgot I'll send some oil in there huh...

So that's my plan for the immediate future. Anything I'm missing or should watch out for?

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #42 on:** March 27, 2012, 02:27:09 AM »

Did you get a filter for that thing in the front?

ocharlas · « **Reply #43 on:** March 27, 2012, 07:51:47 AM »

Yeah for now just stealing the one off the other engine. looks pretty good actually

ocharlas · « **Reply #44 on:** March 27, 2012, 06:30:15 PM »

So I went to walmart and autozone and got a battery, some wiring, connectors, shrink tubing all that stuff. And then two things happened: 1) the battery I got is a tad too wide for the cage so I sliced a piece off. It fits in there now but it's still a little awkward, I have to mess with it more.

2) the battery itself came with the wrong stuff in the box! So now I have to bring it all the way back to walmart, almost an hour away. Oh well. So much for starting on the electricals.

In any case the engine is back in the frame. I had nothing else going on so I put the swing arm, side stand, and center stand back on. I also took the forks apart, which are sooo rusty I had to pound them out with a 12lb sledge hammer. And it was NOT easy. I guess I need new forks too. As it sat this morning:

ocharlas · « **Reply #45 on:** March 29, 2012, 04:38:34 PM »

ok, battery has been swapped and is currently on the trickle charger. All lights (except headlight) should be coming in tomorrow. I'm taking the forks off the parts bike, I think they're in better shape, and after I get them ready I'm putting the front back together so the bike can roll around at least. Then I can take my sweet time cleaning up the other set of wheels. Tomorrow I'm going to go see the guy that sold it to me, he's got some clubman bars and a cafe seat I may pick up as well. Time to go out to the garage, I'll report back later.

ocharlas · « **Reply #46 on:** March 29, 2012, 10:24:19 PM »

Almost starting to look like a motorcycle again! I put on the spare forks, they're in much better shape. At some point I'll have to do the seals but for now I just wanted to get it off those sawhorses. Rear shocks also cleaned up pretty decent. Could be better, but I'm not going to kill myself over it. I might replace them at some point anyway. I've been putting these two things off, but tomorrow I really have to get started on both the wiring and the carbs. Having never handled a set of carbs before I'm a little apprehensive, and wiring is...well wiring is wiring. It always sucks. But as soon as those two things are done and the bike starts, everything else should be a walk in the park. If I get those things done and the bike doesn't start...oyy. Anyway time to order some parts.
On the menu tonight: Fork seals, oil filter, fork oil, aaaannnnddd....that's probably it.

Oh and these rusty spoke wheels are the most frustrating thing in the universe. I've tried naval jelly and various rust removers, steel wool, wire wheel - they're incredibly frustrating. I hate that they look so damn good. Not now of course...

And since everyone here seems to name their thread, I can only think of one appropriate thing given the hours this thing makes me keep. Also it's probably going to be black.

Milkman666 · « **Reply #47 on:** March 30, 2012, 05:26:37 AM »

Nice progress and nice bike. Had me thinking of this:

Annihilator - Insomniac

catsoup · « **Reply #48 on:** March 30, 2012, 04:17:11 PM »

Hello from your neighbor in red hook I ride through millerton pretty often actually.

Looks like you are making some decent progress. Maybe youll have this running by the time I get back to the states and we can take a ride.

ocharlas · « **Reply #49 on:** March 30, 2012, 10:19:00 PM »

Sounds good, hopefully I can get my act together and finish her up somewhat soon. Otherwise I'll be on my 82' (mostly working) KZ550.

So after putting the carbs off for two days, I watched a couple online videos, looked around in the tech section, took a deep breath and dove in. Pulled them apart the best I could and soaked them in 1:1 simple green/water mix for 3 hours. Pulled them out, scrubbed out the bowls with a toothbrush and carb cleaner, and patted myself on the back. Couple of questions still though:

1) Would this be considered clean enough? How spotless does it need to be?
Before:

After:

2) I see the float bowls are numbered, I'm guessing they correspond to the cylinders. #1 on the left of the right? Also, how does that setup look? Are the lower pins (w/ the screw heads) the jets? They all have a little "38" on them, so I'm guess that's the size. If I plan on running pods (probably K&N) will those work?

Now the good stuff - I figured since I had the simple green out I might as well get my money's worth and clean up the set on the parts bike. YIKES! These were not nearly as pretty as the others when I opened them up...

Is that even salvageable? Or should I just keep it around if I need to cannibalize parts of it? All of those float pins are ok except for second on the left, which is missing it's right side. Also, one of the pegs that is holding the float pin (sorry if my jargon's not up to snuff) is broken.

Granted these two are the only sets of carbs I've ever seen apart, but damn...they nasty. I think these can soak overnight.

News:

Author Topic: CB550 Cafe, back from hibernation. hopefully. (Read 17973 times)