Topic: 1975 cb550 Project SENCHA - bike has found new home

[dave500]

im with scottly,its only a casting flaw,if youve ever had these cases apart youll see them all over,i even sometimes think whoa and have a closer look,its only casting flash or a harmless flaw,if the bolt had caused a crack from being wound up too tight it would be obvious across the machine filter seat boss,that bolt dosent bottom out with its canister on.

[goldarrow]

so, here we go the last part of the engine - the oil filter.

got the K&N oil filter from local MC shop for $8.  the filter came with 2 o-rings, one large for the filter cover, and one small for the filter bolt.   also sacrificed 2 old hard drives to get 4 pieces of magnets.  dave is genius!

my magnets seem smaller than thos of Dave's, hoping that they will perform as well as his 


took some measures and pic of the crack and the hole inside the bolt hole that covered in black crud, for future oil change check up.  i promise i won't worry about those until the next oil change 


while waiting for swingarm bushing to come in from Germany, working on the swingarm and carb next

EDIT:  not trying to start oil thread war, but i just happened to have these around in the garage already, MOBIL 1 RACING 4T Full Synthetic oil.      2 quarts of old oil out, 3 quarts of new oil in, how's that for an oil change

[Stev-o]

Aint done til its running! Wont be long...

[goldarrow]

Aint done til its running! Wont be long...

you're right steve, you're right, it's not done....well, i got monday off from work, so at least i will lowered it down from the stand and give it some kicks, making sure some oil pumps up to the top.   it's gonna be a loooonnngggg weekend

[dave500]

to check the oil level on these,hold the bike vertical,then only drop the dip stick/cap into the hole do not screw it in to check!your oil filter will have to fill so after its run for a minute after the oil light goes out check the level.

[goldarrow]

swingarm bushings parts.  been searching but can't seem to find answer.  but when i think logically, it seems that if replacing the bushings with bronze bushings set, parts numbers 11 (bush), 12 (pivot thrust), and 16 (felt ring) are not needed.   can someone please verify this?

[dave500]

#11 the bush is replaced with the new one,youll still need the other parts,you can use the old ones if they are ok.

[goldarrow]

#11 the bush is replaced with the new one,youll still need the other parts,you can use the old ones if they are ok.

I see that #11 gets replaced with the new bronze bushing, but new bushing is flanged and sits like this

I don't see how #12 and #16 sit on the flange part of the bushing

[dave500]

ok, if its flanged delete whats not needed.

[WhyNot2]

#11 the bush is replaced with the new one,youll still need the other parts,you can use the old ones if they are ok.

I see that #11 gets replaced with the new bronze bushing, but new bushing is flanged and sits like this

I don't see how #12 and #16 sit on the flange part of the bushing

Thats the exact thing I did...........didn't use 12 or 16, and the ride is great.

No side to side movement.

[dave500]

just to be clear ive only used the honda bush,im sure some of the aftermarket bronze ones might not have the flange,so just deal with them accordingly?get proper grease nipples(zerks)into those,the stock stupid jap ones just pull out with pliers,you can tap the hole and fit a fair dinkum threaded yank one.

[db22]

Tuned in and following, Goldarrow. Beautiful engine!

[goldarrow]

ordered a pair of flanged swingarm bushings set from germany, twowheelsfrank - ebay seller kenosha, $30 shipped.  working on swingarm still, while waiting for the bushing set to come in.  used 12" hacksaw to cut the old bushing in the swingarm in two spots about 1 cm apart.  be careful when cutting as you don't want to cut throught the swingarm.  once the old bushing is cut, should be able to tap the cut section off with long flat head screw driver.  once that cut up section is out, i used pretty much anything i could find around my work area to tap the rest of the old bushing off.  my hands were greasy with the grease and didn't take any pictures during the process.  once the grease is cleaned up, you'd be happy.  this whole process took me about 3 hours. 

well, we know how dirty, greasy, especially rusty swingarm could be after some 35 years of age.  i used about 50 lbs of silica sand to blast the swingarm, and so many hours of wait and blast routine.  i needed a bigger compressor now.  here's how it came out.




close up pic.  i'm probably not gonna worry much on the rust scars, once covered with primer, all should be good. 

[Stev-o]

The arm looks good. Your using a good mask with the silica, bad stuff. I liked aluminum oxide better.

Whats next?

[goldarrow]

The arm looks good. Your using a good mask with the silica, bad stuff. I liked aluminum oxide better.

Whats next?

thanks steve-o.  after my first round of sand blasting the frame with play sand, i learned couple of things then.  silica sand flows much better when blasting.  used good cloth, folded few layers, and cover up my face.  now i just need bigger compressor. 

what's next?
well, i wanted to do carb next, and get the basics fire, fuel, and air to get the engine running; however, my family has been complaining about me getting bikes since the beginnig 7 months ago, and especially now bikes and pieces are all over the backyard.  so, what i wanted to do now is at least make the bike to look like a bike, even if its not running yet, a roller that is. 

sorry to bored you with the story, i'm very bored at work. 

so, since you asked, here's the teaser

[Stev-o]

I share your pain - wifey #$%*ing about parts scattered around the garage! 

It's starting to take shape, what do you have in mind for paint?

[rb550four]

   My daughter does craft shows and picked up an easy folding aluminum framed tent with sides about 10 ft x 10 ft for around $250. There are less expensive ones around, could get lucky and find one on CL or something, a place to work and store stuff out of sight and neat. Don't know if that'll work for you,but a man needs a place to do things and keep his stuff out of the weather.
  Also found walkie talkies to be helpful while in the shop (tent)..... she won't have to yell across the yard when she wants your attention and kids think it's fun.
   Just a couple ideas.                                 RB

[Stev-o]

Or....get a garage!

[goldarrow]

It's starting to take shape, what do you have in mind for paint?

the tank will get same tone and type of paint as the side covers.  grey-ish/black textured metalics.


well, for 2 afternoons didn't get much done, except unflooded my garage.   water sub meter that sits on the other side of garge wall decided to break, water had no where to go, so it went through drying machine vent hole, flood garage floor and drying machine.  always something comes up.

anyways, the swingarm is primed and will get it painted tomorrow. 
still waiting for the bushing to come in, no rush as i still have plenty of other things to do. 
spark plugs X22ES-U, as recommended by HondaMan, came in to my door $10 shipped for 4


bought vintage NOS Proto compression tester for $3 over the weekend at a swap meet, but i think its missing the angled tube


dyna s ignition set also came in, $50 shipped, used condition, just looking at it little puzzled on how the center plastic piece mount on the engine.  stole picture off the net

[dave500]

you can download instructions for the dyna?that tester for 3 bucks is cool,,a proper screw in type is better though,the push in ones take a little finnese to not get blown out of the hole.

[goldarrow]

Man...what a tiring weekend!!!   

Only got a chance to primed and painted the swingarm this weekend.

Went out garage sale and bought couple of shelves and metal cabinet so I can sort out my backyard and store bike pieces and arts in them and somewhat keep them out of rain. Good thing it doesn't snow here in LA. Lol.

My Element had a nail in back tire. Got a free flat fix at Costco. On my way there about 5 blocks from my house I caught this in the corner of my eyes at a garage sale



Turned my car around to look and it turned out to be a 1974 CB360. Not the best looking bike but for $350 I had to save it.  I had 10 bucks on me so I gave him a deposit, hoping that when I came back it was still there.    2 hours later, flat fix and rest of money, went back to see the bike, it was still there. Sweet.  I rode, well kind of limped it home. 

[dave500]

nice little bike,6 speed?

[Stev-o]

You buying everything in sight?

[goldarrow]

Dave yes 6 speed.

Steve-o. I'm only following my role models.  So 12 bikes I got to have

On a side note. Decided to test the physic's law of gravity. Dropped my swingarm from 4 feet height to the ground and scratched up some fresh paint.

[rb550four]

That 360 was a nice purchase.

Role models , 12 bikes got to have? Gotta be careful choosing role models online. It's hard to say who's nuts and who isn't.