Topic: 1974 CB550 Four Backyard Build (Atl)

[cprice9]

I had the problem with the stripped out JIS heads and I went to harbor freight and got an impact driver to take them out. Just had to hit the handle on the driver and bam they were lose. Best $7.00 tool I bought in my life.

After reading about your project I may be looking for that tank, did you have to modify it any?. I was thinking about a 500T tank but yours looks much better.

The tank is a 78 750f I believe, so far no mods quite yet other than shaving the frame nubs on the 550 frame down about a 1/2 inch on each side.  I havent mounted yet so before that happens I might have to rework the underside of the tank a bit but its so close already it should all be able to be done with bends not cuts.  Imo its the tank to have for these type projects but you gotta have a nice rear section to balance.

[davidtime]

I was actually just thinking of going ahead and get a tail section today but to go with the lines of my 74 tank. I like the look you got. Very well balanced. Your guy should make them and sell them. I may be interested if he did.

[cprice9]

Not much to report, degreased the frame and trimmed what remained of the tabs off, still have a bit of grinding and sanding to do.  Here are a couple of motivation pics.  I have decided to leave the wheels alone, but Im still not sure whether or not to paint the lower forks, and if I do should I go black or grey?  Frame should be and various pieces should be painted shortly, then to the basement to tackle this engine.

[cprice9]

I was actually just thinking of going ahead and get a tail section today but to go with the lines of my 74 tank. I like the look you got. Very well balanced. Your guy should make them and sell them. I may be interested if he did.

The rear section on mine I actually had made by a guy I found on ebay, Dave from Metal and Speed.  I basically laid out the dimensions that I wanted and the look I was going for and he put it all together, real nice guy.

[Boomhower]

 I would be down for that, I thought I was the only one around here with this sickness!

so glad to see this again! I have a friend in Avondale Estates and I may be moving there soon. he has a cb360 cafe/brat and I'm sure would love to have another guy right near him to ride with. if you want to PM me your deets I can give them to him. as soon as I finish my build I plan to ride up there and we can all go riding

Im down for ride buds, never really had anyone to ride with.  Id actually love to see a little SOHC club start up around the Decatur, Oakhurst, Eastlake, Kirkwood area as Im sure we could get some rad sh!t done with a bunch of minds on these bikes... plus theres a brit cafe bike club rolling about east atl and itd be fun to get in leather jacket rockabilly knife fights with em, or just grab beers whichever.  I will send my email over to ya.

[bcbillings]

i had a 2005 Kawasaki 800cc classic i customized and loved it with my heart and soul.... 3 years ago a freak sequence of events caused my yard to have 3 feet of water in it (i live in an area previously belived to be impossible to flood) my bike was taken by that flood and i had no flood insurance for it.

I did not have then and still do not have the money to get another bike, i bought a 1981 cb650 for $200 pictured in my avatar and have been trying my darnedest to get it back on the road.

you are doing great hope you are riding it soon!

[WhyNot2]

You guys are at least close enuf to get together..............................

Me............I've yet to see any other vintage bikes around here, let alone SOHCs.

I've had so many peeps, stop next to me and ask what kind of bike is that?

I've just recently installed the tank badges.

cprice that is a great looking bike.......................doing a good job.

Keep it up. Can't wait to see it completed.

'Course now, I have a charging issue, so can't even ride till I figure it out.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I would match the frame and fork colors - the carpet and the drapes!

[bluezboy]

Hey Atlanta/Decatur/Avondale/stone mountain dudes, I live in Stone mountain, only 7 minutes from downtown Avondale. I'm surprised you haven't seen me and Pandora, a 73 750 riding all over the place, I DO ride her every day. There are 3 other local members who I ride with and we are members of Georgia Moto Riders and Terminus,so that's 2 groups you can make the scene with. Hit me up when you want to ride with me.

[Boomhower]

I signed up for Georgia moto riders yesterday on Facebook. But like the other guy said, my bike is still in the building stage....may be a good reason to go buy one!

[SF]

cool bike. i like the raw finish look

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I like the bare metal look too. I would clear coat the seat and tank and call it a day.

[cprice9]

Updates!

So I now too have signed up to the moto riders and terminus pages, hopefully all of our bikes will be up and going soon and we can ride.

I am honing in on a finalized look, here is what I am leaning towards...

Black frame
polished motor
chrome wheels
black fork lowers and black fork tubes between trees
raw steel tank and rear section
black exhaust
gum grips
brown leather seat

here is a rough mock up


but at the moment this is where I'm at



man it'd be nice to have a sandblaster.

finally, a touch of motivation, not at all the look of this build but damn if it ain't perfect.

[cprice9]

UPDATES!

So far so good, not a ton of progress over the last few, Im finding out that new babies mean lots of trips to see the grandparents and great grandparents but here is where Im at.  Basically Im taking a "best I can do with no money and no appropriate tools" approach (note the bike stand Im rocking), but I love it none the less, there are plenty of things Id like to do better but Id also like to ride this thing sooner than later.

Almost back to a roller, rebuilt the rear end, cleaned up the forks, rebuilt brakes front and rear, and polished up some metal...



Sprocket was toast so I picked up a new one, debated changing tooth ratios but I wound up sticking with the 37 tooth for the time being... one step at a time







So were the tops of my fork tubes, seeing as I can't find a decent set I polished the bottoms and blacked out the tubes between the trees.  Not sure if the paint will make it when they go back on but we will see soon enough.  Just waiting on some dust boots.



Im probably the most proud of my headlight, I had to try this twice but after two buckets I finally had all the right pieces and was able to do it right.



Rear wheel before



... and after



I poked around a bit and found that the busted up rear sprocket side plate had to stay on to keep the spacer in place so I went with the trim down approach, still not the cleanest thing in the world but hopefully I can pick another up to do proper from a swap meet on the cheap in the future.

Thus far there are few huge lessons I've learned...

1. Save some money up and go with powder coating and media blasting, prepping a frame sucks and the result wont last long I'm sure, also de-grimming the various parts has been the most time consuming.

2. Save up some more money and buy a polishing/grinding wheel b/c hand polishing oxidized metal blows.

3. Grinders are awesome, go slow and be damn careful on the frame, theres no filling grind marks

4.  Dont be obsessive, but do things as right as you can the first time.  The first attempts at working on this bike were half hearted and had to be corrected.  This time I am going through with more care, however with my budget Im still only getting things done at about an 80% correct level, but it will get better with the next rebuild



Next up is reassembling the roller, polishing and clear coating the sheet metal, and then into the basement to cleanup and rebuild the motor.

[davidtime]

Thats some nice hand polishing on the forks. I just picked up a polishing motor at HF for 39.99 the other day and now I'm addicted.

[cprice9]

Thanks, and yeah David a wheel is on my list, but any and all available funds are going into parts at this point.  The plan is to one day actually have a garage to work in, I hope to build and old Indian seeing as that was what my grandfather rode, Id love to Cannonball as well but that is all way down the road.

Got my dust covers in today so I was able to put a few bits together, first time I have put things onto the frame since I began and it is a damn fine feeling!  Still a bunch to do but for tonight my wife is letting my girlfriend sleep in the den.

Next up: cleaning the steel and getting some clear on it, fabricating the mounts for the sheet metal, brakes, tag mount, taillight, ordering parts... oh and I guess I should start on the engine refresh sometime soon, that or but some pedals on this thing.

[cheftuskey121]

looks great! especially on those floors! can't wait to see more. next time I am up there in avondale I'd like to stop by!

[RAFster122s]

I think the front forks would look good highly polished, along with the caliper and caliper arm. Definitely want to clear the bare steel parts to keep rust at bay. I would paint the underside of the tank black. If you want a urethane clear that will be fuel resistant look at the Spraymax 2K urethane clear. Great gloss and very nice spray pattern, but toxic so wear a respiratory to protect your lungs and goggles for eyes and cover exposed skin when spraying.  Stuff can kill you without adequate protection.

Do you still have the original tank and side covers?

David

[RAFster122s]

BTW, replacement fork tubes are available from CycleX and Forks by Frank. Between 200-270.
Have you changed your fork oil? Really would be adviseable to disassemble and clean and replace the fork seals if you haven't. The amount of sludge in my '74 fork tubes was surprising and disgusting.
Do not forget to put the spacer washers in the clamps or you will crack the triple trees...

If you raised the fork tubes in the triple trees you changed the handling of the bike. The rake and trail .... The 550 handles nice in stock setup with nice turn in and not the counterpressure of the 750. You could get forks that were for a 750 and use their additional length to provide the clamp area for your controls above the triple and maintain the stock handling. The GL1100 shocks, are they longer than stock?  This will affect your rake and trail numbers as well... plus the increased stiffness will change the handling. Stock shocks were probably toast so it may work out, but odds are you increased the rear dampening.

[cprice9]

Long Overdue Updates!

So it has been a busy 2 months but I have been able to finish up  several parts of this project. 

First off, THE MOTOR REBUILD IS COMPLETE!!!  In retrospect it was a pretty huge undertaking made worse by poor working setup (i.e. my concrete floor in the basement) but everything has been pulled, cleaned, lubed, and sealed up with new gaskets.  It is a good thing I wound up doing a more complete break down than I had originally wanted because the amount of junk I found in this motor was outrageous.  A new cylinder head went on, and though I tried the 650 cam swap out I wound up tossing the idea out as I couldnt seem to get the timing marks to line up right.  I might tackle it again later but I am extremely tired of not having a bike to ride so I moved on.  I did not paint the cases however and Im thinking that it might have been nice to have done that while it was apart, but again I consider this more of a learning project and only phase one of the overall idea. 

Removing the old gaskets was a headache but a razor and a week of hunching over did the trick.  My Vesrah kit came with a torn head gasket but the folks at 4into1 sent a new one over within two days.  Other than that everything was fairly straight forward.  Getting the cylinders into the jugs was tricky alone without any tools, but once I leveled them out with a mallet I was able to get them set.  Getting the motor upstairs and into the frame all by my lonesome was quite a damn task but was able to get it by laying the bike down on top of the motor shimmed with scrap wood.































Just after getting the motor in I checked the mail only to find some new goodies!




Though she won't ever see it here I have to give my old lady props for letting me keep this machine in our living room.

Next up a have to finish the sheet metal, gonna do a brushed look to it I think like a Delorean.  Carb cleaning and rejetting next week and then I will fabricate another electrics tray, seat pan, and a tag/taillight mount.  I will have to get the bike to a shop for a touch of welding as a welder isn't in the budget nor is the time to learn how to use it (one day though).  Electrics will be the last thing I attempt and have zero faith in my ability to complete given my previous failed attempts.  Upholstery and an inspection I will have someone else do, seeing as this is my first bike I want a professional to give my work the ok and fine tune everything before I take it up to speed.  I really wanted the bike done by the end of July but realistically it is looking more like end of August, but as soon as it is done I don't see the cars getting much use out of me.


Lastly, seeing as I have no bike to ride I have twisted the knife in my own side by taking a couple of trips to the Wheels Through Time and Barber Museums.  These places are outright phenomenal and I encourage all of you who read this to get to them several times.  They are both different animals but give so much to the enthusiasm of motorcycling, to me they are shangrilas and I am very greatful to be so close to them both.  I figured Id share a couple of the shots even though they are a bit off topic.

Barber Museum is immense, overwhelming, but very friendly.  I had a show in Bham so I stopped by...  Three hours isn't nearly enough time here and I can't wait to get back.









They even had my lady, in a bit better shape
1974 CB550 Orange flake




I won't gush too much, but to me Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley NC is a remarkably special place.  First off it is full of treasures, not just bikes but everything that goes along with them.  It isn't about machines as much as its about the stories that go along with them, it is a place about history and people told through amazing and rare american motorcycles.  That being said everything works and runs, they fire the beasts up frequently, do burnouts inside, and have sidecar rides for the kids outside.  Dale and Matt, really everyone there are extremely friendly and excited to share and get to know you.  I brought my 2 month old daughter there which they dont get much of, everyone gushed and loved on her, and when it came time to fire up a bike Dale would look around for us so as not to scare her or blow out her little ears.  Top notch spot and for me what its all really about.












I'll post up more in the next few days once things get more together.

[davidtime]

Man you should have hopped on here for some help on getting that cam done. People rave about that so it must be a fantastic upgrade. I agree that you should have painted it during the rebuild but oh well I understand wanting the thing to be together. I'm at that stage right now with mine.

Enough rambling about coulda, shoulda, woulda. The thing looks good. Still digging that look you got going with the tank and seat. I'm glad you attacked the engine and completely rebuilt it and replaced the gaskets, it really needed it.

Keep it up and I'll be waiting for the next update.

I'm jealous that you got to see those museums. Definitely on my bucket list after watching barn find.

[RAFster122s]

Nice work, you will not regret taking the time and spending the money to do it right the first time.
650 cam can be dropped in later with a little expense if you have a replacement tach already.
Did you clear the brushed tank and tail?
David

[goldarrow]

Looking real nice, even without the paint job.   

[stereosilence]

Mine is going back together now. I'm impressed that you did it in 2 months. I've been on the 8 month plan. But then, I didn't have all the tools or knowledge and I painted.

I also have the 650 cam. Hopefully I can get it in and it will be awesome. I had some trouble with it previously and it actually is what led to my engine rebuild.

[cprice9]

Stereosilence, technically I started teardown about a year ago, but I wasn't doing anything to the engine until just a few months back.  Trust me, yours is a much more through and proper job, Im still using this thing as an excuse to cut my teeth and once I get another bike, this one will be taken all the way back down and done the right way... until then Im just itching to ride.  My approach was rip in, get the crud out, seal it up and pray.

The latest...

After all this work to swap heads b/c of a helicoil what did I do as soon as I got the motor back in... broke and exhaust stud and stripped a plug hole. The plug hole was already a bit stripped up top and low an behold powering through it wasn't the best approach.  Lucky I stopped with it being only partially stripped on the top, so a got a $12 back tap and thankfully it worked like a charm.  The stud the broke was a different story.  I first tried to use a bolt extractor, broke two of them, then I tried drilling it out, broke 2 bits, finally and a after too much drilling I tried to slice the remaining bolt with a drimmel blade and back it out with a flathead with no luck.  I wound up taking a break and coming back to it, finally was able to heat it up and lube it down, drilled it out and save enough thread to put a new stud in... but I got damn lucky.

That brings us up to now, I just chem-dipped the carbs and am rejecting for stacks and carpe 4 into 1, going to try 110 mains, 40 slows, needle clip one notch down from top... I am just waiting on the jets to arrive. I found in one of the float bowls a broken overflow line so now Im trying to hunt down that as well as a few missing pieces, these carbs were in decent shape but really thrown together by the PO.  I got everything torqued down, oil in, clutch cable on, grips, chain, ect. so everything is starting to get buttoned up.  I have new throttle cables on order, still need to get a touch of welding done on a battery box, tag/tailight mount, and electrics pan Ive cut out, and Im gonna try this science project way of cleaning out my tank.

Basically I only have two more areas to tackle, cleaning out my tank, and then sanding and clearing my sheet metal.  Since Im having to take the bike to a shop to get the welding done and the sheet metal attached anyway, I have also decided to let them finish up the electrics, sync the carbs, and dial it in.  When it comes down to it, I simply don't have the tools or knowledge to do these last few things well enough or quickly enough (except electrical, Im throwing the towel in on that nightmare) and I would rather have an experienced set of hands make sure that my shoddy work won't kill me at 100mph.  Sorry no pics with this update, I will come back with a few when there is something to celebrate, maybe carbs.

Lastly, if anyone has a recommendation on any good shops or lone wolves around I'd love to hear of them, Im emailing with a fabricator Ben Boyle from Benderworks at the moment, and was going to stop into Atlas up in marietta tomorrow to see what a ballpark would be.