That's right, here's another one. I'm the new guy on the list. I live in Baltimore and picked up my first bike ever. A 1976 CB550, I'm still trying to figure out which model it actually is though. I've searched around here and been lurking and learning a lot in the last month. I've seen a couple posts from people like...
http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-cb550f-super-sport-550-four-k0-usa_model469/partslist/VIN.html Being that this bike was striped of mostly any exterior indicator of model, I'm down to asking for assistance.
This bike is in great ride-able condition and I have been on it every day since it came home last month. Tires are A#1 for this project and have been order last week and should arrive tomorrow.
I had to get some mirrors on it, so I got some cheap bar end's and they help immensely!
The stock air box has been removed and I'm assuming that there were filter pods on here at one point, they're aren't any longer. The stock pipes were swapped out for an opened header (sounds great, don't think it's helping anything though). There was a big hole in the bottom of the down tubes right were they collected that I welded at work (with a little help), I am a noob to all of this but loving every minute of it. I can totally tell that thing is not jetted properly. He took off the pipes and exhaust and didn't tough anything carb related. Figuring that out is going to be tough, but I've heard that I should kind of start at the beginning and try and get the stock air box back and the orig pipes as well. Get the bike running properly there and then start removing things. Does this sound correct?
When I went to pick this bike up I was haggling with the seller a little bit and we couldn't agree on a price in the middle so he threw in another "roller" CB550 for parts. Frame, engine/ trans, pipes, wheels, seat, lights, blinkers, grab bars, misc engine parts and a big box of other "stuff" and all kinds of hardware.
The tank had been wire wheeled and "cleared" kind of, and has a big fist sized dent in the side, from an actual fist lol. I have the tank from the parts bike that I'm going to work with as there are no dent there what so ever, but I'm having trouble finding the pins for the cap hinge and catch. I'm nervous that if I punch out the pins on the dented tank I won't be able to reuse them in the other one. I haven't gotten into this much as the bike is very ride-able now. I guess I'm waiting for some colder weather to hit so I can justify down time.
Well, in closing I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you that you'll be seeing me around quite a bit from now on. There is so much inspiration and originality on here that it's hard to take in and know which way I want to go with this bike. Can't wait for the journey though.
I have got to fix this front brake squeal though. I've taken out the front pads and put a smooth layer of squeal stop on the back and it worked great for 20 or so miles, now it's right back to where it was. I don't even really use the front brake anymore, it's so embarrassing to pull up to a stop with that squeal. The brake works wonderfully but that squeal has got to go!! any other suggestions?
Here's a link to a few start up pics.
http://s1359.beta.photobucket.com/user/MainStreet550/library/Honda%20CB550 The way I brought it home is with the bare tank and then I was trying the other tank in the two tone green and brown and then I painted the bare tank with some black crinkle rattle can I had in the basement for the time being.
