Hey, folks!
So a week or two ago I picked up this gorgeous old 1976 CB550K from a friend here in Oakland. It's my first foray into this sort of thing- I've been a bicycle junkie for years, but this is a new direction.
I'm an obsessive researcher, enthusiastic wrench, don't mind getting my hands dirty and look forward to getting this beauty back in shape!
Current list includes, in no particular order:
Stripping the gas-damaged black spraypaint from the tank and replacing it with automotive Rustoleum. I'm thinking black with a wide white off-center stripe or something.
New tires. They're 10 years old, still in great condition, but... yeah. No freeways until that's squared away.
Oil change (desperately needs this!)
General chain check-over, adjusting, oiling.
Replace the front brake light switch.
Do a once-over on anything that can loosen, leak, stick, burn out, crack, slip, dry out, go out of whack or generally require attention.
And maybe add a windshield. It came with a black bubble type thing- a sort of cut-down bikini fairing, unmounted, but that only fit without the mirrors and with the bars flipped over into drops. I got them flipped back around (much easier on the wrists), and now it doesn't fit. So that'll be a bit tricky... Anybody have any experiences with fly shields? I might just do that instead.
Anyhow, it's a bit of a rat bike, but it runs great, plenty of power for this newbie. Haven't taken it out on the freeways yet (see that tires thing...) but I hear it howls like a banshee. It sat for about 6 months before I got it, but some fresh gas and a new battery and va-va-voom!
Looking forward to playing with y'all!
