Topic: Gimp to Imp 550

[Bootlegger56]

My April barn find 550.  I finally got to ride it the last couple of days and its a blast.  Light, quick and responsive for a small cc bike.  I would like to thank all for the help and parts I received from SOHC4 members.  This is a great organization......and just thought I would share.  I hope the pics work.

[Bailgang]

Looks sweet and I definitely like the rear fender.

[dave500]

yeah i like it,it looks like a decent rider.

[Bonesaw]

where did you get that seat in the 2nd pic?

[Bootlegger56]

Seat is a stock seat pan that uses the original hinge pins.  If you have a spare or one thats expendable you can do some real basic forming/filling and then coat it with padding and upholstery to meet your desire.  I used sleeping bag mat foam and polyfill.  Total cost including seat pan was @ 35 bucks.

[wvshooter]

That looks like an absolute blast to ride.

[Stev-o]

Great job

[dave500]

Seat is a stock seat pan that uses the original hinge pins.  If you have a spare or one thats expendable you can do some real basic forming/filling and then coat it with padding and upholstery to meet your desire.  I used sleeping bag mat foam and polyfill.  Total cost including seat pan was @ 35 bucks.

i need to do something to my seat,,your talking my price range,is that rattle can satin or flat black?i like the use of the stock tanks and side covers.

[Bootlegger56]

The paint is actually Duracoat Matt Black mixed with a Southern Polyurethane matte clear.  Its a firearms treatment that can be applied over bare steel or other materials.  A lot of tactical weapons use this as a corrosion resistant high temp finish.  I had some leftover from a couple of firearm projects.  It reminds me of a black phosphate finish in appearance and texture.  Seemed like the right thing to do......and provided a use for on-hand materials.

[dave500]

wow!heavy duty paint,i dig it!

[Bailgang]

Tell me more about the rear fender on the 2nd pic. Is that a modified stock fender or is it from another bike?

[Bootlegger56]

Its a modified stock rust bucket.  I just chopped @ 5" off the front.  Reshaped, by hand the width curve to eliminate some of the flatness and fiber glassed the holes.  Its lowered about 1.5" using spacers and bolted through the rear frame top cross member holes just like the stock mounting set-up.  The signal mount / grab bar bolts are no longer in play.  By cutting it off the front of the fender I didnt have to reshape the rear and kept the factory edge beading.

[singedebile]

great work, I really like the seat and the lines as it rolls up to the tank... but why why why did you have to repaint it! That green would have looked fantastic with the work you did to the rest of the bike. hehe oh well, to each their own. happy ridding!

[Bootlegger56]

I didnt have a choice on the repaint Singe.  The bike had been stored in a barn for years but had sun on one side of it hence a two tone green paint.  The tank also had several small dents and rust under the seat overlap and edge trim.  It was beyond saving and keeping the budget including purchase price under $1200 prevented going back with stock paint.  I used materials I had on hand whenever possible.  Dyna coils, Hondaman ignition, 650 cam, headers and tires were the only major costs I had.  The rest were used or low buck parts.  Some of which came from this forum.  I refurbished all of the stock components ie fenders, seat, gauges and bars and stored them in case someone; someday wants to take it back to stock.  I didnt cut anything original on the bike.  All the modified parts were junk pile parts.

[Bailgang]

Its a modified stock rust bucket.  I just chopped @ 5" off the front.  Reshaped, by hand the width curve to eliminate some of the flatness and fiber glassed the holes.  Its lowered about 1.5" using spacers and bolted through the rear frame top cross member holes just like the stock mounting set-up.  The signal mount / grab bar bolts are no longer in play.  By cutting it off the front of the fender I didnt have to reshape the rear and kept the factory edge beading.

I like the look of it because if there is anything I don't like about the look of mine is the rear fender wraps around just a bit too much for my liking. Trimming the front of the fender is a clever idea, I might give it a shot on a rusty cb500 fender I have.

[qw3rtie]

+1 on that seat. Hoping to do something similar with mine. And its a great looking bike

[jackseattle]

kudos on your seat, definitely like how it follows the lines of the tank.  Can't tell from the perspective in the shot, but how much of an upsweep does it have on the back of the seat?

[Bootlegger56]

The back of the seat is basically flat.  There is a hump in the stock seat pan in front of the rear rubber bumpers that sit on the rear cross member.  I cut slits on all four sides of this hump and then hammer formed it flat.  When you look at a stock pan you can easily see where to reshape in order to reduce the overall height / thickness of the seat.  From that point its just body filler and fiberglass.  I like the fact it keeps the stock frame hinges which allows a return to stock is someone in the future desires.