Topic: 1977 CB550F IDK (first build)

[Restoration Fan]

Vermont? Where in CA is that?

I'll do the shimmy and the dance and pay the cost whatever before I begin thinking about rolling this thing to Vermont, wherever that is

Try it in California first.  But, just in case you weren't joking and don't know about the Vermont process...you can get your bike titled by first registering it Vermont.  You don't have to physically take the bike there.  You just fill out the paperwork, pay for a registration in Vermont along with the taxes and they'll send you a Vermont license plate and a Vermont registration.  The total cost came out to just over $100 for my 750.  Once you have those, you take your Vermont registration papers to your CA DMV and register it as a CA bike and you end up with a CA title on it.

It's a popular route for people who buy a bike with just bill of sale and no title...and you end up with a title in your state for your bike.  But here's why it works:  Vermont doesn't issue titles for vehicles over 15 years old...they issue registrations.  So these registrations are the same things as titles to them.  In other words, if your cousin owned your 550 since it was brand new in 1977 and he wanted to sell it to you in Vermont, they wouldn't transfer that title to you.  They would issue you this registration paper...because the vehicle (bike) you're buying is over 15 years old.  So when you take that registration to your own state's DMV, they know that this is the same as a title in Vermont and they then issue a normal CA title based on the Vermont version of a "title".

It took about 10 days to get my license plate from VT and then about another week or so before I got my actual registration papers so if you do end up doing this, plan on 2 weeks to a month for that part of the process.  But it does work. 

Oh...and part of the process for VT still requires you to have a visual verification of the VIN by an officer of the law.  So what happened with mine was I called our sheriff's office and they sent 2 deputies out to visually confirm the VIN and fill out the paperwork.  They ran the VIN to confirm it wasn't stolen and then signed the paperwork, which I then sent into VT along with my application and check.

[minimo]

Thanks for good info on registering in VT, Resto Fan! Sounded great up until the visual inspection part. Let me know if you know of any VT deputies visiting LA anytime soon :-D

calj737! Sounds like my wiring is good so far, only Honda Brown/White remains a little mysterious. That wire would have to then connect to the Koso somehow, right? On the old stock, Honda Brown/White provided power to the backlight of the speedo/tach. Koso Brown is the only wire I can think of that would power the backlight to the speedo but I currently have that connected to Honda Black (12 V Ignition Switch)


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[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Thanks for good info on registering in VT, Resto Fan! Sounded great up until the visual inspection part. Let me know if you know of any VT deputies visiting LA anytime soon :-D

calj737! Sounds like my wiring is good so far, only Honda Brown/White remains a little mysterious. That wire would have to then connect to the Koso somehow, right? On the old stock, Honda Brown/White provided power to the backlight of the speedo/tach. Koso Brown is the only wire I can think of that would power the backlight to the speedo but I currently have that connected to Honda Black (12 V Ignition Switch)


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Any LE officer or licensed vehicle verifier even in California can do the inspection.

[goldarrow]

Here's how I did my 550 Sencha bike, bike found new owner 2 months ago by the way!

- took PA title to aaa (didn't have registration)
- apply for new title and temp registration
- rode the bike to AAA with your paper work, apply for new title and registration, have the bike vin inspected (some AAA offices provide this service, some don't, I had mine inspected in encino/Sherman Oaks office)

So, I'm sure you'd be spending more money and work than necessary if you go VT route.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Forgive me if you posted it way back, but how did you acquire the bike? 

If you have no title or reg, did you get a bill of sale?  Is it from the titled owner?  If so, just fill out an Application for Duplicate Title.  (REG227 Form)  You may or may not need a signature from the last Registered Owner releasing his/her ownership.  DMV did not care about a release from the LEGAL Owner (section 5 on the form).  IF you have a bill of sale from the Registered Owner, you may not need an additional signature on Section 3 (Missing Title Statement) and Section 4 (Registered Owner Release).  You can do a DMV Vehicle Registration Inquiry to confirm the identity of the registered owner.

I do not know for a fact, but IF the vehicle is OUT OF THE SYSTEM not registered for over 10 years, you may not need signatures for the Registered Owner.  Hopefully it is out of the system so you will not have to pay any past due registration fees and penalties! 

AAA can process these forms.  No safety or roadworthiness OR VIN inspection should be required for a prior California titled bike (I saw from your first post that your bike has a Cal blue/yellow plate - but could not determine when it was last registered because I cannot make out the registration tag date).

MAKE SURE THERE IS NO STOLEN REPORT in California or the United States Department of Justice databases on the bike with CHP (you can call them).  If so, you may end up having to surrender the bike.  IF that ends up being the case, you better get all of your stuff off the bike and give them the frame.  In theory, all of your improvements otherwise will go bye bye.

NOTE: last year I purchased a bike with a bill of sale (from the guy who bought it from the guy who bought it from the registered owner).  Over 6 months after my purchase (and while I was waiting for the bike to fall out of the system), the registered owner reported it stolen, preventing me from getting it titled.  At the end of the day, the cops asked the registered owner if he wanted to pay $600 in impound/recovery fees and he said "no thanks" and released ownership to me.  I got lucky but it took 5 months to title the bike.

[minimo]

Thanks for the confirmation on the Br/W Honda wire, calj737. I will leave Koso Brown connected to Honda Black (connected at solenoid) as instructed.

Thank you, CB750, goldarrow, Resto Fan on the registration info. Great starting point info to be thinking about.

The 550 was a Craigslist purchase from a family man out in Norco, CA. His wife was elated to have me come by and take the bike away from him. As I recall, she even tried helping me push the bike (both tires were flat) up the ramp and onto my truck. She'd been wanting him to get rid of that thing for years. I received no papers as he claims not to have anything, so the best I could do at the time was get his info and a makeshift receipt with his signature following a written statement relinquishing the bike.
I'd be taking his word and appearance for it but I strongly doubt this is a stolen bike. But, as CB750 makes mention of there being any possibility, I suppose you never know until you find out.
Of course I checked the VIN and license plate number very early on and no records came up...
http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/motorcycle-registration.php


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[goldarrow]

I have a few old plates on the wall and I bet if you run that with your bike vin, there be no records of it.

Best to check by calling DMV and ask them to do vin check over the phone.  Free of charge.  Or go down to aaa and ask them to run the vin check.  Just tell them you were looking to buy old vehicle with no title. 

There you go I just spilled my beans these past few posts

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Thanks for the confirmation on the Br/W Honda wire, calj737. I will leave Koso Brown connected to Honda Black (connected at solenoid) as instructed.

Thank you, CB750, goldarrow, Resto Fan on the registration info. Great starting point info to be thinking about.

The 550 was a Craigslist purchase from a family man out in Norco, CA. His wife was elated to have me come by and take the bike away from him. As I recall, she even tried helping me push the bike (both tires were flat) up the ramp and onto my truck. She'd been wanting him to get rid of that thing for years. I received no papers as he claims not to have anything, so the best I could do at the time was get his info and a makeshift receipt with his signature following a written statement relinquishing the bike.
I'd be taking his word and appearance for it but I strongly doubt this is a stolen bike. But, as CB750 makes mention of there being any possibility, I suppose you never know until you find out.
Of course I checked the VIN and license plate number very early on and no records came up...
http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/motorcycle-registration.php


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You can call AAA and check his identity against the registered owner and the plate (to make sure it goes with the bike) using the VIN.  I do not suggest using a random plate as it can create a red flag IF there is a record of the vehicle that goes with the plate and it doesn't match the bike; THAT would be BAD.

Assuming that the registered owner is the guy who signed your bill of sale, you should be able to fill out the Application for Duplicate Title with your Bill of Sale and (possibly) a VIN verification (by AAA) and go on your merry way.  No roadworthiness test needed.

[minimo]

Thanks for all of your advice and pointers on registering.
Yeah, this will be interesting to see how it will all go down... Well, however and whatever it will take, I guess, I will have to deal with it. Hopefully I won't have to re-attach too much of what I've already modified; I'm not sure if I want to weld the stamped rear pieces back on - where the rear hoop now exists. I'll probably start with reinstalling the original gauges (and handle bar) since that will at least reflect the true and original mileage. I hope the pod filters on the carbs won't cause too much alarm because I certainly don't want to deal with putting the old airbox back in there. Ugh. If anything, what I've done to the bike so far, I think, has been an improvement. We shall see.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Thanks for all of your advice and pointers on registering.
Yeah, this will be interesting to see how it will all go down... Well, however and whatever it will take, I guess, I will have to deal with it. Hopefully I won't have to re-attach too much of what I've already modified; I'm not sure if I want to weld the stamped rear pieces back on - where the rear hoop now exists. I'll probably start with reinstalling the original gauges (and handle bar) since that will at least reflect the true and original mileage. I hope the pod filters on the carbs won't cause too much alarm because I certainly don't want to deal with putting the old airbox back in there. Ugh. If anything, what I've done to the bike so far, I think, has been an improvement. We shall see.

Double check with AAA what is going to be checked.  Usually its the VIN plate, VIN stamp, engine serial number, and odometer.

[minimo]

The original gauges are back on. Gosh, they are MASSIVE. I was hoping to get my electronics sorted this weekend but the regression of this build will never seem to cease... Anyway, yes, the old gauges are back on because I want them to reflect the original/accurate mileage when I take the bike in for inspection/registration. So I'll be keeping these beasts on for now while the Koso chills out.

I tried to maintain as much of the Koso wiring as I could so that after all the registration stuff is complete it'll be a simple plug and play. See how that goes...

This regression back to the old gauges didn't come without some snags; literally. I spent more than half the day yesterday trying different methods of routing my throttle cables in a way that wouldn't make them bind, especially upon turning hard right on the handle bars. I tried to adapt to SohRon's method of fishing the cables while maintaining my drag bars:
- Before attaching the cables, "make sure the carbs are free and snap back from an open to closed position". Check.

- Begin routing the cables with the idea that "they run pretty much behind everything." I had to run my cables beneath the gauges because I'm using my drag bars which are a lot lower than the original Honda bars... The cables continued behind the brake line, the one connected to the MC and continue to wrap around the upper steering yoke...
- The cables continue to run behind all of the wires...

- The cables run beneath the tank mount, at which point the "pull" is then oriented to the top so that the positions are reversed when they eventually come through the frame, over the coils, and criss-cross again, forming a kind of "Y" at the bellcrank.

- "Push" cable is installed first.

I spent a lot of time afterward troubleshooting some tensioning issues. It felt like I was getting some binding upon turning the handle bars hard right. Eventually, it came down to simply adjusting the nuts and moving the handle bars from lock to lock position while testing the throttle. From this, I got a better sense of how to adjust those nuts and now there is no more binding and the throttle snaps back as it should.

Next up, wiring. Again.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Note: you will not likely have to show the gauges or the bike in running order for purposes of a VIN/title inspection.

[minimo]

I just want to be prepared for Section 3 of the application http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/8c4e5fdb-a44e-44f6-853b-eabd471afdaa/reg343.pdf?MOD=AJPERES where it asks about odometer readings and whether there are discrepancies... I suppose I could still go in with my Koso and just indicate that the bike didn't come with gauges?



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[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I just want to be prepared for Section 3 of the application http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/8c4e5fdb-a44e-44f6-853b-eabd471afdaa/reg343.pdf?MOD=AJPERES where it asks about odometer readings and whether there are discrepancies... I suppose I could still go in with my Koso and just indicate that the bike didn't come with gauges?



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I think you meant section 4, but I get it.  It's best to have the gauges on for that and at least the cables attached.

[goldarrow]

Use high miler gauge

[minimo]

Use high miler gauge

My thoughts exactly.

Yes, I meant Section 4 of the application.
So, any good insurance companies? Any pointers?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Progressive is decent. I have it with USAA. Make sure you mention your MSF course certificate for discount t your premium.

[minimo]

Thanks, CB750. I will check them out and mention the class for sure.

[minimo]

The first sign of life.
Woo hoo! And nothing blew up. Yet.

When I thought I got rid of the turn signal buzzer, I get it in the new LED flasher relay. There's no escaping it. Haha! I'll be yanking out some (buzzer)wires out of that relay.

Oddly enough, I'm getting zero illumination in the gauges and no honking of the horn; probably dead bulbs and a broken horn? Hmm. Also, the turn signal indicators flash but nothing in the actual LED turn signals themselves which I gather has something (maybe everything) to do with not having the load resistors installed?

The wiring tray will need some tidying up but I'm ready to get this bike turned over. I should probably get the headers and exhaust installed, fill the tank with oil, and tighten/check the chain and tensioners and see if we can give this baby a whirl!

[Irish Aussie 550-4]

The first sign of life.
Woo hoo! And nothing blew up. Yet.

When I thought I got rid of the turn signal buzzer, I get it in the new LED flasher relay. There's no escaping it. Haha! I'll be yanking out some (buzzer)wires out of that relay.

Oddly enough, I'm getting zero illumination in the gauges and no honking of the horn; probably dead bulbs and a broken horn? Hmm. Also, the turn signal indicators flash but nothing in the actual LED turn signals themselves which I gather has something (maybe everything) to do with not having the load resistors installed?

The wiring tray will need some tidying up but I'm ready to get this bike turned over. I should probably get the headers and exhaust installed, fill the tank with oil, and tighten/check the chain and tensioners and see if we can give this baby a whirl!

It's all getting highly exciting around here!

[abliden71]

I just finished catching up on your build. Looks good and is giving me ideas on the order of building my bike.  Keep up the good work

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[minimo]

To verify the horn works, one end to ground, one end to power. It should blow! Just use a scrap jumper wire and tap the POS side of the battery, wire the ground to the NEG. Stock, the horn had BLK run to it. Then the horn button from the left side brought the GROUND when the button is pushed via the light green wire.

I metered the Honda Horn wires (Lt Green and BLK) and in the ignition ON position I pushed HORN and the readout jumped up to about 1.4 which I guess means there is power going to the wires... Nevertheless, I did as you suggested and tried running the horn with some alligator clips and had them touching the Pos and Neg of the battery and no honk. Even swapped the clips and no toot. Hmmm. Honker a goner?

As for your gauge backlight, you'll need to verify the black wire connection going to the gauge is indeed carrying 12v.

Check. 12V.

If so, then double check your gauge GRND. Best to bring that gauge wire ground behind the steering neck, perhaps to the backbone, and use the coil mount and be sure it's bare metal beneath. I'm a big fan of rivet nuts for grounds. Drill a hole in the backbone, install a rivet nut, use a button head cap screw, and you have guaranteed connection, perfectly clean threads, and a discreet/convenient location for it.

I love the neatness of your wiring. Amazing, that Motogadget wizardry. But doesn't that take some of the fun out of wiring? ;-) Isn't the fun in trying to cram bundles into tight spaces?
I like the rivet nut idea. I might give that a try some day but I'm sure the ground points, especially at the coil mount are clear of paint/powder coat.

Meanwhile, I swapped some wires around and my turn signals are working as they should now. I had the lines connected to the running light (white-striped variation) wires and reconnected them to their solid color wires. Front left/right work and I'm getting a steady flash.

I even disconnected the annoying turn signal buzzer from the LED flasher relay. I left the lines there in case I ever decide to reconnect them for fun :-D

Quite frankly, I'm fine with not having the gauges illuminate on these stock beasts since I don't plan on riding at night, at least not right away as I'm an inexperienced rider. The stock gauges are getting replaced with the Koso anyway. The stocks are coming off as soon as the bike passes inspections.

Ok, so then... What's next?

[goldarrow]

Ok, so then... What's next?

Call up CHP and make appointment???

[minimo]

I heard they also make house visits

[goldarrow]

I heard they also make house visits

I had heard that too but never experienced it yet, let me know how that goes if they came out to you