Author Topic: Project: STF (Sweep The Floor Bike) (Read 17839 times)

Scott S · « **on:** April 20, 2012, 11:47:30 AM »

Last year, I swapped a 550 engine into my CB500. What does one do when he finds himself with a garage full of bikes, unfinished projects and a perfectly good CB500 engine?
Find a frame and start another project! Of course!

I found a titled '76 CB550 frame on Craigslist. It came with three bins of parts, most of which were junk or not even for this bike. I was able to salvage one bin of usable parts. But, a titled frame and parts for $175? Not a bad deal.

I'm calling this the "Sweep The Floor" bike, because I can sweep through my garage and find about 85-90% of all the parts I need to build a complete bike. The plan is to keep this one low buck, if possible.

Here's what I got for my money. I added those handlebars after I got it home. The rear wheel was from a Suzuki, the front is CB350 (I think) and the p.o. hacked off the rear loop and passenger pegs. I cleaned up his work just a little bit and hit it with some primer.

Pile 'o' parts

And the CB500 engine from my '71.

Scott S · « **Reply #1 on:** April 20, 2012, 11:57:33 AM »

A couple of years ago, I found this rear Lester wheel in a junkyard. It's a 16", but I got it for twenty bucks!

Found a matching front on ebay and gave them both a quick coat of paint.

Done.

Scott S · « **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:05:46 PM »

Yanked off that crappy front end....

Installed some tapered steering stem bearings and some rebuilt forks. I got the forks and stock head light ears off ebay for $65 shipped! The guy had installed new seals, fresh oil and rebuilt them only to find some rust under the headlight ears. He was going the cafe' routed and wanted to expose the upper forks, but didn't like seeing the rust. I couldn't care less. They'll work just fine for my project!

Front Lester and some aluminum headlight ears that I've had in my closet for years.

Scott S · « **Reply #3 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:07:16 PM »

Installed fresh EBC shoes in the rear.

And in just a few hours time, we had ourselves a roller!

Scott S · « **Reply #4 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:08:37 PM »

I knew I wasn't going to run a front fender, so I picked up a rusty fender from the junkyard for $5 and made mysef a fork brace.

kerryb · « **Reply #5 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:11:44 PM »

Good start, this is my kind of project. Will you need to put a rear loop on the frame, or is that just for "spirited" riding?

Scott S · « **Reply #6 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:15:37 PM »

Mock up. You can sorta see the direction I'm heading...

Everything else you see on the bike came from my parts pile. The gauges are the originals from my '71 CB500 (dented and a little faded, but work just fine). The headlight was in my garage. The Clubmans, I swapped with a friend for my drag bars. I have a set of 400F rear sets, too.

Scott S · « **Reply #7 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:18:19 PM »

Quote from: kerryb on April 20, 2012, 12:11:44 PM

Good start, this is my kind of project. Will you need to put a rear loop on the frame, or is that just for "spirited" riding?

Not really sure...I think it will be OK, but we may end up doing something back there anyway. I'm kicking around the idea of hiding the battery in the tail section, so we may end up fabbing something up back there for seat/battery mounting anyway.

bikerbart · « **Reply #8 on:** April 20, 2012, 02:31:35 PM »

Ha.I like it!Thats what I'm doing as well.Scraping up all the spares and going to build a bike.I wish I still had my cb550

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 20, 2012, 02:38:58 PM »

ha ha...I guess all my bikes are "sweep the floor bikes"

OneWheelDrive · « **Reply #10 on:** April 20, 2012, 02:46:39 PM »

LOVE using CB400f rear sets for 550s. Just found a set in Florida for my current build!

Scott S · « **Reply #11 on:** April 21, 2012, 07:07:16 AM »

Quote from: OneWheelDrive on April 20, 2012, 02:46:39 PM

LOVE using CB400f rear sets for 550s. Just found a set in Florida for my current build!

Me too! I have them on my CB500. Here's a thread I did on making them work:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=89003.0

Greggo · « **Reply #12 on:** April 21, 2012, 09:19:53 AM »

I like it Scott! I think you will want some sort of cross brace in the back between the shocks for strength. And hey, a $20 Lester?! Awesome!

Stev-o · « **Reply #13 on:** April 21, 2012, 11:14:11 AM »

Great looking project. And like your attitude and write up style...

lucky · « **Reply #14 on:** April 21, 2012, 11:25:07 AM »

Quote from: Scott S on April 20, 2012, 12:08:37 PM

I knew I wasn't going to run a front fender, so I picked up a rusty fender from the junkyard for $5 and made mysef a fork brace.

That looks like a LUCKY style front fender/ fork brace!

If desired these plastic road racing fenders will fit right over the top of that fender/brace combo.

Scott S · « **Reply #15 on:** April 25, 2012, 05:51:13 AM »

Using the grease gun method, I was able to get some old calipers apart...

...and now I have a working front caliper, using all junkyard parts! Total cost, about $10.

Man, I really shoulda wire brushed or painted those bolts. It's really hard for me to build a rat bike!

Stev-o · « **Reply #16 on:** April 25, 2012, 06:16:14 AM »

Agreed, spring the $2 for new bolts!

Scott S · « **Reply #17 on:** April 25, 2012, 01:39:14 PM »

Eh, I couldn't stand it! A wire brush and a little chrome paint.....remember, the theme of this build is "low buck, sweep the floor".

Scott S · « **Reply #18 on:** April 25, 2012, 01:40:16 PM »

Taped up the frame for a little spray bomb detailing.

Scott S · « **Reply #19 on:** April 25, 2012, 01:44:56 PM »

And worked on the brakes today.
While I got a "working" master cylinder along with the hoses and "working" caliper, I came across a sweet deal on this master cylinder. It's the one MikesXS sells and, as far as I can rell, it's identical to the one David Silver Spares, sells. I had picked up some braided lines a while back and they came with new banjo bolts and washers.
So, final brake tally:
Caliper - free
grease fittings and grease (to rebuild caliper) - $7
master cylinder - $25 shipped
SS braided hoses and banjo bolts - $22 shipped

That puts me at just over $50 for all new front brakes.

Scott S · « **Reply #20 on:** April 25, 2012, 01:52:07 PM »

I had these stock CB500 bars and controls in the garage. They were removed when I put the 400F bars on my '71.

Pulled the known good, working controls from them....

... and will use the parts to mount them on the Clubmans. When I got my '71, someone had butchered the front wiring and hacked up these to get the wires on the outside of the bars. This way, I won't have to cut up any good parts. Just swap over a litte bit of the internals.

I was even able to get the LH grip off the CB500 bars. Now I have everything I need to finish up the controls. Total cost: $ZERO DOLLARS$

Scott S · « **Reply #21 on:** April 25, 2012, 01:54:48 PM »

I have two sets of shocks to choose from. What's the difference, other than the cover? They're both in nice shape and the ones from my '78 CB550 have less than 20K miles on them. Not sure about the ones with the covers.
Both look usable. Are the early shocks better than the later ones, or vice-versa? If not, which one would look better?

Scott S · « **Reply #22 on:** April 27, 2012, 02:44:23 PM »

Well, so much for not cutting up a good set of controls.

One side had a stuck screw that was NOT coming out, so I couldn't swap the internals. The clutch side had some ever so minor differences that would have kept the turn signal switch from working. I tried swapping over the part with the lever , but my spare had some stripped threads.
What else could I do? Grind, baby grind!

After that 20 minute job took ALL morning, I finally got the controls on the bike and got the front brakes bled. Really nice brakes for a $50 investment!

Scott S · « **Reply #23 on:** April 27, 2012, 02:45:30 PM »

I also made a decision on the shocks. These fit the theme a little better and are slightly more firm than the other set.

Scott S · « **Reply #24 on:** April 30, 2012, 06:42:20 PM »

Well, so much for my cheapo brake rebuild....

Yep, that's fluid leaking past the piston. That $10 caliper seal is gonna cost me in R&R time on the caliper.

I know that 99% of you will say "Get new pads", but since this is a low-buck build and my ass on the bike, can one safely clean brake pads that have a little fluid on them?

News:

Author Topic: Project: STF (Sweep The Floor Bike) (Read 17839 times)