Topic: Aluminum Wheel swap 1976 cb 550? Gl1000?

[wrxdwpsti]

Hello all! after endless searching I finally bought a cb 550, and will be starting its cafe build shortly. One of the first things I have to get rid of on the bike is the little wheels, and replace them with some slightly wider aluminum shouldered wheels. After some looking I can upon a company called buchanans wheels (I think that was the name) and they have some nice D.I.D and Akront wheels however you def pay for that niceness. Then I spoke with someone who suggested I look into similar year (75-78 ish) gold wing. I laughed at first, but after checking the early goldwings actually came with the same D.I.D. aluminum shouldered rims I was looking at earlier. The rear will definitely need to be the GL Alum. rim laced onto my stock drum hub.

Does anyone know about the front? Ive read that the hub assembly is identical to the cb 750, but will it bolt up to the 550?
the gl has dual front disks which are 11 and change inches, while the cb 550 has a single that is 10 and 7/8 (or close to that), if I remove the gl brakes, will the bolt pattern match up for the cb rotor?

please help guys, Ive heard this is the place to come! Thanks!

-Dennis

[754]

Wheel without discs should work..

[nokrome]

lots of people use those rims on 750s, myself included but im not sure how it works out on a 550 as far as the brake set up is concerned.
  if a 550 uses the same front hub as a 750 it should work

[MFHP]

550 and 500 Four front hub is the same as 750 and GL1000


Mike

750K7; CB500fOUR

[wrxdwpsti]

How about the rear wheel? can I just swap out the full wheel and hub and put the cb550 drum brake setup on the gl1000 wheel and hub?

[KingCustomCycles.com]

CB750A Hondamatics also sport those cool aluminum rims and might be a closer match to your 550.

[lone*X]

How about the rear wheel? can I just swap out the full wheel and hub and put the cb550 drum brake setup on the gl1000 wheel and hub?

Nope.  The GL is a shaft drive bike, the hub is totally different.  You will need to buy new spokes to mate the 17" GL rear rim to the 550 hub.

Also, a note on the front.  The speedometer drive is different.  You may be able to reuse the spokes if they are in good shape but you will need to lace the 550 hub in if you don't want to re-engineer the speedo drive.

[MFHP]

How about the rear wheel? can I just swap out the full wheel and hub and put the cb550 drum brake setup on the gl1000 wheel and hub?

Nope.  The GL is a shaft drive bike, the hub is totally different.  You will need to buy new spokes to mate the 17" GL rear rim to the 550 hub.

Also, a note on the front.  The speedometer drive is different.  You may be able to reuse the spokes if they are in good shape but you will need to lace the 550 hub in if you don't want to re-engineer the speedo drive.

are you sure about the front? In my opinion its just a perfect swap. The 1976 550 K2 front hub part no. is 44601-300-040. The 1976 Goldwing carries a hub with the no. 44601-300-040. Seems to be the same to me. The Goldwing front wheel can be used as whole part. Axle, speedo drive and disc and all other parts need to be taken over from the 550.

Mike

[lone*X]

You are correct.  The part numbers are the same and the wheel should swap without a problem.  I had not referenced the numbers but was going by observation.  My 550 hub has two milled flats on the speedometer drive side.  My Gl1000 hub does not.  From appearances they are considerably different.  I just came from the garage and tried the speedo drive from the 550 on the GL hub for the first time.  Fits fine.  The milled flats have no reason for being accept to reduce weight maybe.

[PrairieRider]

The GL1000 looks to have 18" front and 16" rear wheels.
The Cb550 has 19" front and 18" rear

Why would you want  rims that are 2" smaller on the  rear ?

I'm looking into options for rims on my '78 550K.


Cheers,
Roy

[singedebile]

so it seems the speedo plugs right in, as does the hub... what about the dual disks? how easy is it to get that to work using one of these wheels? (on a cb500-550)

[MFHP]

you can only use the wheel from the GL1000. The Gl1000 discs are to big as written above several month ago. Discs, speedo drive, axle and spacers need to be reused from your 550 . But you can easily ad a dual disc with mirroring the left side and with some minor mods to the speedo drive. I assume this topic has been discussed allready several times in the past, so maybe just search the  forum

[fiolola]

Hi to everyone. Gl wheels are 19" ft. and 17"bk.Bought them to do the same with my550,but ended up selling them. was looking for wider rims. Witch I did.You can do anything to this bikes as long  as you modified it or pay for it.

[PrairieRider]

19 and 17… makes more sense..   Thanks fiolola..
I've yet to decide 100% which way to go for rims.
Wider Aftermarket Aluminum...   Stock Steel..  GL1000 Spoked Aluminum.
I'm leaning towards the GL1000 rims.
I keep reading conflicting reports on whether a wider rim is handling benefit.