Topic: '76 550K - First Cafe Build

[Kenzo1979]

Me and a friend picked up this well taken care of machine from its second owner (had it since '78).  Had a fairing on it, which he kept, but came with the headlight bucket and some Non-stock ugly black fork ears.  The seat, although well made, is not the style we want and the pipes were rotted where the headers meet the mufflers.  So, let's cafe it out!  This post will mainly be updates of progress pic by pic...enjoy.

[Tews19]

Subscribed! Great work on the seat! What is the plan for the tank?

[reddyvv]

What did you do to get the engine all shined up?

[Kenzo1979]

The tank plan is to seal/primer it and paint it two tone, silver and some color (havent decided yet) with a racing stripe.  And carry that paint scheme over through the headlight bucket and seat hump.

The engine was simply washed and painted with duplicolr 500 deg. 1615 engine enamel.

[Kenzo1979]

Thanks for the seat compliment btw.  We used the original seat hardware and didn't alter the frame either.  There's something a little too sacred about these bikes to us to chop em up.  So the seat flips open and functions unlike alot of seats i see people making that simply bolt down.

[Gman]

The seat looks great - I like that you kept the functionality.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the sheet metal you used looks suspiciously like a stop sign.   . Keep up the pics.

Cheers,
G

[Kenzo1979]

More Pics:

[Kenzo1979]

Drilled out the Bars, Rear Wheel Assembly, Cleaned Clutch plates and basket, Intake manifold, Battery box, Drive chain, Sidestand...

[Kenzo1979]

Ran the controls through the bars;  A bit of of a pain with the clubmans:

[Kenzo1979]

Let's see...reassembled the clutch, replaced clutch cover gasket, put the case covers back on, kickstarter arm, replaced the gear shifter seal,  gear shifter arm, rear brake and switch, foot pegs, wire loom, dash lights, ignition switch and filled it with oil.