Topic: Kafe' Kahagon CB550

[CafeDawg]

RAFster your right having come this far their is no sense in not going for broke, oh wait I'm already their.  As funds do allow I intend to split cases and replace cam chain and inspect the bottom end.  More than likely I will rebuild clutch and rb550four warned my about rust on shift forks for an engine that has been sitting like mine.  When it is in pieces I intend to soda blast and paint the whole engine and make it look as nice outside as it will inside.  Ordered gasket kit for engine, steering stem bearings, and fork seals so I can start putting the frame back together.

A few better daylight photos of the frame.





Respect
CD

[rb550four]

CD
   Nice job on that frame. You gotta be feeling good about that.And I would like to congratulate you , you are leaving the disassembling stage and now you can start putting stuff together. This is the fun part, well, it's all fun. Congratulations!

[CafeDawg]

A busy Summer and Fall has meant I haven't got much done on the cycle.  Decided to bring some parts to my new house and get back to work.  Painted triple trees and fork lowers then installed new stem bearings, and reassembled forks.  Did a dry fit of the forks into the trees and put the ears and boots back on, installed the M bars as well. 
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa457/CafeDawg/IMG-20121009-00362.jpg[/img]]
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa457/CafeDawg/IMG-20121009-003641.jpg[/img]]
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa457/CafeDawg/IMG-20121009-00358.jpg[/img]]
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa457/CafeDawg/IMG-20121009-00356.jpg[/img]]

Have swing arm bushings on order, plan to work on wheels and mod front and rear fenders next.  Engine work is all on hold till I can afford to have broken plug removed and cylinders bored for new pistons.  It's slow going but at least it has begun moving forward again.
Respect
CD

[rb550four]

CD,
   Welcome back. I was checking out your M bars, and I was wondering about them,. I've tied allot of other bars out and still manage to scratch the tank  with the horn button. Do you know if these bars will offer good tank clearance yet?
                                                                               Thanks ,RB

[Trevdawg]

Keep up the work. I just came across a 550. And have a lot of work ahead of me. There is a lot of useful information here. I would like to tear down the motor and do a 600 build. We will see.

[jgivens]

This is a great thread, some good info here. I'll be following since I have a '78 550 which will be my winter project.

[CafeDawg]

RB I'm not positive but I think I'll have decent clearance when they are at the right angle.  I'll be running bar end mirrors so they might touch the tank but I run one on the 750 and just fold it up when i park.  I'll be grabbing the tank and do a mock up and let you know for sure.  I like the bars was thinking of putting them on 750 and swapping the clubmans onto the 550, we'll see.

Trevdawg and jgivens let me know if I can answer any questions on your builds.

Respect
CD

[BruceDeuce]

CafeDawg what year CB550 is it? Thanks

[rb550four]

CD,
 A mock up would be great , thanks. Oh, and the bars that I have that scratch the paint with the horn buttons are Clubmans. I like the way they look , but there isn't a whole lotta room on the bar for adjustment once you get the master cylinder on it, and what a severe  PITA it would be to stuff the wiring up the bar, it's probably possible to do, just don't know if it's worth the effort, so my wires are zip tied to the bars.  It's presentable but visible. I looked at broom stick bars but the M looks interesting.                 RB

[Killer Canary]

I just checked my ($325!) 605 kit and it has a one piece oil ring. Does anyone know exactly how wide the groove is on a 750 piston? Does the extra material have to come off the top or bottom of the groove? Are 3 piece rings actually thicker than the 97 thou one piece?
Any help would be hugely appreciated!

[CafeDawg]

RB:  I think the Hyde M bars will work I'll grab the tank on Monday an check it out for sure.

Killer Canary:  I'm not sure, my kit is a three piece and I'm not using 750 pistons but paulages Gentelmens Express build probably covers all that.

Respect
CD

[Killer Canary]

How wide is the bottom groove on your piston?

[CafeDawg]

Put the tank on and have good clearance with the Hyde M style bars.  The bars don't touch the tank even at full turn and touching the steering stop.  Of course their are no controls or bar ends on right now but I think they will work without scatchingl.  Hope that helps rb.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa457/CafeDawg/IMG-20121015-00369.jpg[/img]]





Respect
CD

[rb550four]

CD,
   They look great, like em lots, thanks for the mock up.
                                                                             RB

[CafeDawg]

Glad it helped rb.  I think I got them on ebay for about 50 bucks/  I'll see if I can't find the seller and let you know.

Bronze swingarm bushings came today. Cut the old ones out with  a hacksaw, cleaned everything up and put the new ones with a dead blow hammer.   Even being careful using the vise I scratched the paint a bit.  I sat down and used my thigh, wrapping the swingarm around my leg an this gave me plenty of leverage and a comfortable/stable working platform.  This worked much better than the vise and didn't lose anymore paint.  Now just need to borrow a grease gun and get some fresh grease into the zerk fitting. 

Respect
CD

rb found it! 1hotwing is the seller if the link doesn't work
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cafe-Racer-Clubman-Ace-Cafe-Gold-Star-Handle-Bars-A65-/150897391600?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item23222f77f0

[CafeDawg]

Haven't posted in awhile but have been making a little progress.  I moved the bike from Kahagon (the Barn) to my house. Took over the woodstove room and my girlfriend has been a trooper about it, she said if she could have a sewing room I could have a motorcycle room.   



With the bike at my house I've been able to make some headway; bobbed front fender and painted, got rear tire off,cleaned and rebuilt hub (new bearings and brake shoes), cleaned rims and headlight ears, replaced front bearings, cleaned and blasted tank(prepping for bodywork and paint).  With that stuff accomplished I decided to dry fit and see some of it together.  Nice to see it coming together.













Sorry pics are fuzzy try again in the daylight for better shots

Respect
CD

[rb550four]

CD,
It's good to see that you are making some progress on that 550.
on a similar but different note,have you had any word from the machine shop on your parts? I was thinking the other day,perhaps you could find a  machine shop through your local NAPA store, they get parts machined all the time, maybe they could turn you on to a decent shop nearby. Just a thought.
                                                                                        RB

[CafeDawg]

Ya RB it's good to be bolting things on rather than taking them off.  Lots of soaking parts in vinegar to get some shine back and clean bolts.  Front brake piston is still stuck and I impatiently broke the bleeder but still working on it.   As for a machine shop I think I've finally sorted that out.  There's a shop in Burlington, The Daily Rider, which isn't too far from my house.  They work on bikes of our vintage and are familiar with inline fours and boring them out as they do some vintage racing and plenty of engine rebuilds.  They quoted me $75 a cylinder and will take care of extracting the broken plug as well.  They're a reputable shop and good guys so I'm going to bring them the engine in Jan., Xmas present to myself.

 I keep adding to the shop/room, I found this piece on my way to the dump.  It folds up out of the way but gives me a good work space.  Did I mention my girlfriend is awesome?





Also got this as a project, rescued it from Kahagon barn, sanded it and got some rust stop primer on it and cleaned the inside.  Going to paint it Army green and put the stencils back on and then use it as it still holds gas fine.



Respect
CD

[CafeDawg]

OK back to the bike, I've been picking/puttering away and have a few things sorted out.
Jugs are at shop getting bored so should have them back by Feb and can attack the motor in the Spring.

I couldn't get the piston out of the caliper so bought a functioning used one, came with decent pads and much cleaner master than the one that came with bike.  Hooked that all up, still need to get SS brake lines as the hoses are a bit cracked.
 
Modded tach/speedo bracket to run just single guage.  I'm just going to plug the tach rather than change over to a 650 tach.  I just picked up a 650 cam which I'll be dropping in the motor and thus won't be able to run a 550 tach/tach-gear.  Anyway just drilled out bracket to accept speedo and decided not to chop it any farther in case I want to run a tach in the future.  Added a couple rivet head screws to cover up the holes.





Drilled out the bars to run the wires internally, and got the controls and new grips mounted up.







Cleaned up headlight bucket and threw some paint on, managed that indoors without disturbing/ alerting the gf, ninja painting.



Got a rear tire, tube and rim strip  as Xmas present from the gf.  Got that mounted up and redid the rear brakes with new shoes, cleaned up and freed up the chain adjusters and got it all mounted up.





Finally got the seat mocked up.







Slow but sure it's becoming a motorcycle again.

Respect
CD

[jtran000]

any progress on build?  Also, seat from ebay?  Looks like the cover/cushion one I bought but ended up not using.  Turns out I have a k model with a f seat pan.