Topic: CB550F Turned Cafe Racer

[VTNick7]

Last week I purchased this gem from a guy up in MD with plans on turning it cafe racer. She starts up beautifully on a full charge, but I have some concerns about how she idles too high. I have toggled with the air flow knob on the carburator, but after taking it for a ride today I noticed she would die at stop lights randomly at around 1000 rpm and without warning. Is this an air flow problem, or possibly the jets are clogged and need cleaning? I hope to get to cleaning the whole bike the best I can this weekend... Which brings me to another question as to how to clean some of the rust off and shine the engine block up a bit. Would steel wool, WD-40, a toothbrush, and some elbow grease do the trick? Also how do I go about properly cleaning the carbs without taking them apart and having to resync the floats?  I'll attach some pictures of this bike and will update with progress I make. I am thinking about replacing the seat first with a cafe alternative. Still deciding if I want a brake light built into the back of that or a small brake light to the left of the seat. After that I am all ears as to what to upgrade first as money might be an issue.

But first I want to make sure this bike runs and idles smoothly and that everything on this is operational.. I am a newbie at this, so any advice you guys can give on my undertaking would be appreciated.

Not sure how to upload these photos here, but I will attached a link to some from my facebook album.. Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151758941951798.1073741827.533126797&type=1&l=06805ab25d

[Tews19]

First off, welcome and nice bike there.... You should let the bike idle before playing the with carbs. Never adjust the idle when the bike is started. Let it get to operating temperature before adjusting...

I would pull the bowls and see the condition... They may be dirty... Also check the inside of the tank... CLean carbs get dirty easy and a dirty tank could do this....

DO the 3k tune up... This site provides the manual for free and it is great. Hopefully someone can chime in with a copy to the link for the manual.

[goldarrow]

the bike looks too nice to cafe it out.  looks like just need maintenance and cleaning. 

[VTNick7]

It really is almost too nice to cafe out :/ ... but that was the intention when I purchased it.. Everything is stock and has been cared for nicely for it's 37 yr life.

[LesterPiglet]

I would, as a matter of course, clean the carbs. They will need to be synced after.
WD40 is not a cleaning agent. Water Dispersant.
Wire brush the fin area. Chrome cleaner. Where's the rust?

[VTNick7]

Ya know, I never did know what WD stood for  .. And the rust is mainly on the rims and tire spokes which will be a pain to get rid of. But there are some minor spots elsewhere but once I get to cleaning I should know more.

And Lester, I was hoping I didnt have to resync the carbs bc I dont have the right tools to do that.. I'll take the bowls apart and see what I can see. Is there a way to spray the jets with carb cleaner without having to resync? I'm new to carburetors... I'll scan through these forums though and see what I can find. I'm sure all of this has come up before.

[Tews19]

You can unscrew the the slow/idle jet, the main jet is the push in type. Remove the metal piece connected to it to remove.  The you clean clean the jets with carb cleaner. You wont need to sync if you only remove the jets.  I would also try to remove and clean the emulsion tubes.

[LesterPiglet]

The air/fuel ratio will change after a good carb clean therefore requiring a sync.....unless the cleaning puts it back to where it should be. 

[Bankerdanny]

000 or 0000 steel wool and chrome cleaner or semi-chrome will clean those wheels up easily. It is messy and somewhat tedious, but worth it in the end when you look at your bike with gleaming chrome.

Trust me, my previous 550 sat for over 20 years, it started as picture one, but ended as picture two after a day of cleaning and polishing.

[bjbuchanan]

The air/fuel ratio will change after a good carb clean therefore requiring a sync.....unless the cleaning puts it back to where it should be. 

Not exactly. It is balancing airflow thru the carbs by changing the slide height. Every cylinder sucks differently due to production imperfections, you are getting them real close. That is why it is not a uniform slide height you have to find, but individual heights

In either case as long as you don't disturb the slide needle locknuts you are golden. Inside your carbs when you take them off, under that smooth "top hat" will be the shaft that runs thru all four of the carbs. You will see an adjuster and locknut for the slide arm, don't undo them and you will be fine. All the other cleaning, as well as playing with your air mix screws won't affect sync

To final set your idle you gotta deal with it until you have been riding for a couple mins and have a good WARM engine. Unfortunately for you (not a big deal anyway) you don't have fast idle cams or carbs like more modern bikes that you can suit up while it warms up. Not a real problem but you gotta learn to ride the bike/deal with classics. Don't fiddle with the idle knob when it is cold so you can put your helmet on bc it won't run right when warm, it will die at stops. Try your idle at 1500~ and see how smooth it is there. As you dial in your air mix screws after cleaning everything you can obtain slightly lower idle. It isn't a harley tho, you aren't gonna be loping at 800

Nice bike, enjoy