Author Topic: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time  (Read 123097 times)

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Offline SF

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #500 on: April 26, 2017, 06:14:33 PM »
Weld em and wrap with a little cloth?


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Offline SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #501 on: April 26, 2017, 10:27:45 PM »
Wrap is for hiding ratty pipes!
1975 CB550K1 "Blue" Stockish Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135005.0)
1975 CB550F1 frame/CB650 engine hybrid "The Hot Mess" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,150220.0.html)
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"There are some things nobody needs in this world, and a bright-red, hunch-back, warp-speed 900cc cafe racer is one of them — but I want one anyway, and on some days I actually believe I need one.... Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba." Hunter S. Thompson, Song of the Sausage Creature, Cycle World, March 1995.  (http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html and https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1995/3/1/song-of-the-sausage-creature)

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Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #502 on: April 26, 2017, 11:25:08 PM »
it's not a drain hole, and the mufflers can't rotated as they're attached to the frame and to each other.
i might try some exhaust paste first, see if that helps.
don't want to weld just yet, before everything has settled and i'm sure it's all in the right place.

Offline Stev-o

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #503 on: April 27, 2017, 05:36:24 AM »
Are you close to firing it up?
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #504 on: April 27, 2017, 06:13:05 AM »
i have fired it up! that's how i know that gas is escaping at the joints.
i am still doing some fine tuning with the bending an positioning, and need to seal those leaks. but getting very close.

Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #505 on: April 28, 2017, 12:28:59 PM »
right, the damage is done.
had to bend the no.1 header pipe a bit, using a liberal amount of ratchet straps and brute force. but it worked. then i put it all back together using what seemed to me a huge amount of exhaust paste. i also bent the tongues/slots a bit in place to make the gaps even smaller. there are no more gas leaks now.

here's a try at a sound clip, not sure if it will work?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5RVOSoI78N2c2RJSFA1VEtsSVk/view?usp=sharing

and here some crappy garage pictures but you get the idea:




Offline Stev-o

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #506 on: April 28, 2017, 12:40:41 PM »
Sounds friggen great!!!   Refresh my memory - stock motor? Congrats
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #507 on: April 28, 2017, 01:04:20 PM »
motor is 59mm wisecos, stage 2.5 mike rieck head with +1mm valves, 126-00 cam.

Offline Scott S

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #508 on: April 28, 2017, 01:18:56 PM »
right, the damage is done.
had to bend the no.1 header pipe a bit, using a liberal amount of ratchet straps and brute force. but it worked. then i put it all back together using what seemed to me a huge amount of exhaust paste. i also bent the tongues/slots a bit in place to make the gaps even smaller. there are no more gas leaks now.

here's a try at a sound clip, not sure if it will work?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5RVOSoI78N2c2RJSFA1VEtsSVk/view?usp=sharing

and here some crappy garage pictures but you get the idea:





 Most excellent! I can't WAIT to get mine on! Sounds wonderful. Do you think you'll have to adjust the jetting?
'71 CB500 K0
'17 Triumph Street Scrambler
'81 Yamaha XS650

Offline Fezzler

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #509 on: April 28, 2017, 01:40:47 PM »
Those pipes sound awesome.  Deep growl, not just being loud for loud sake.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2017, 01:42:46 PM by Fezzler »
1975 Honda CB550f in parts in progress
1978 Honda CB550 Four K4
1971 Honda CB500 Four K0
2008 105th Anniversary Edition HD Road King
(Sold) 1998 Honda Shadow ACE Deluxe VT750
1973 Schwinn Stingray (Blue Deluxe - RIP Jack and Rose)

Offline Stev-o

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #510 on: April 28, 2017, 02:07:50 PM »
motor is 59mm wisecos, stage 2.5 mike rieck head with +1mm valves, 126-00 cam.

Oh yeah!  The recipe for my future motor build! [for the 550K]  Thanks
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #511 on: April 28, 2017, 11:54:41 PM »
thanks guys!

scott i don't know yet... won't get her on the dyno before end of next week and haven't taken her for a ride yet. i expect that stock jetting won't be too far off.   

fezz,  yeah i hate loud for loud's  sake. these are by no means quiet and they can't be as the whole point is to have better flow. at least they do it with purpose and style ;)

stev-o, it's a good recipe for a strong yet streetable motor. the full cooking instructions are somewhere further back in this thread.

Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - sound check
« Reply #512 on: April 29, 2017, 05:34:33 AM »
went for a shake-down ride today. on my local twisties it pulls vehemently through the whole range up to north of redline. so far so good. did not spend too much time there as there was some popping on decel which may mean it's a bit lean now. but can't be too much the way it was pulling.

as you heard in the clip, the sound is quite tolerable at idle and up to about 3k. when you open it up... there is nothing civil about it. little children will run crying to their mothers. and i am glad i did not pass a church yard because i believe it will make fallen heroes rise from their graves.
when you ride it urges you to crack that throttle open and charge those bends.

there are two spots where the exhaust goop was blown right out of the slots/holes at the joints, need to figure something out for that.

so that's all pretty good so far. still feel like i have an axe to grind with enrique, though. as a matter of principle.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2017, 05:51:46 AM by flatlander »

Offline Stev-o

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #513 on: April 29, 2017, 06:02:45 AM »
Like your description of the loudness levels.  Popping on decel could also be an exhaust leak...
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #514 on: April 29, 2017, 07:03:49 AM »
indeed. and i do have some leaks still, where the paste was pushed out. will address that before coming to conclusions because it did not "feel" too lean.

Offline Stev-o

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #515 on: April 29, 2017, 07:31:05 AM »
indeed. and i do have some leaks still, where the paste was pushed out. will address that before coming to conclusions because it did not "feel" too lean.

Obviously, a plug chop is in your future.  Glad for you that you got these on and running [and before Scott!]
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline Scott S

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #516 on: April 29, 2017, 10:20:00 AM »
indeed. and i do have some leaks still, where the paste was pushed out. will address that before coming to conclusions because it did not "feel" too lean.

Obviously, a plug chop is in your future.  Glad for you that you got these on and running [and before Scott!]

 Where's the "Screw you Steve-o!" avatar? .....

 I'm going to work on getting mine on the bike today. Still not ready to fire it up yet, though. I'll have to be content with being the first in the States, I guess.
'71 CB500 K0
'17 Triumph Street Scrambler
'81 Yamaha XS650

Offline Stev-o

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #517 on: April 29, 2017, 10:24:38 AM »
indeed. and i do have some leaks still, where the paste was pushed out. will address that before coming to conclusions because it did not "feel" too lean.

Obviously, a plug chop is in your future.  Glad for you that you got these on and running [and before Scott!]

 Where's the "Screw you Steve-o!" avatar? .....


Ouch, you found it!  [you weren't suppose to see that]
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline Scott S

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #518 on: April 29, 2017, 03:17:41 PM »
 There....you happy?

'71 CB500 K0
'17 Triumph Street Scrambler
'81 Yamaha XS650

Offline Fezzler

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #519 on: April 29, 2017, 03:33:47 PM »
Sweet!
1975 Honda CB550f in parts in progress
1978 Honda CB550 Four K4
1971 Honda CB500 Four K0
2008 105th Anniversary Edition HD Road King
(Sold) 1998 Honda Shadow ACE Deluxe VT750
1973 Schwinn Stingray (Blue Deluxe - RIP Jack and Rose)

Offline Stev-o

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #520 on: April 29, 2017, 04:54:30 PM »
There....you happy?




Ha.....yeah!   Looks great!!
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #521 on: April 30, 2017, 02:51:41 AM »
looks nice...  but does it fire up at all?  :P

Offline Scott S

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #522 on: April 30, 2017, 04:22:23 AM »
looks nice...  but does it fire up at all?  :P

 Not yet, but close. I still need to wire up the Speedhut gauge (technically, that wouldn't keep it from starting) and install the battery. And I'm STILL waiting for the rear fender, grab bar and tail light to get back from the chrome shop.
'71 CB500 K0
'17 Triumph Street Scrambler
'81 Yamaha XS650

Offline Scott S

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #523 on: April 30, 2017, 04:35:24 AM »
what happened today...





 Has that kick stand itself been modified? Did you remove the rubber foot that is usually on there? What's the overall length?
 My bike had the earlier style with the metal ball on the end. In the past, that ball interfered with the 400F pegs, so I removed it. For whatever reason, it's nowhere close to the pegs on the current bike but now I have nothing to "grab" with my toe to put down the kick stand. I'm wondering if I want the early or late style kick stand to replace it.
'71 CB500 K0
'17 Triumph Street Scrambler
'81 Yamaha XS650

Offline flatlander

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Re: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time
« Reply #524 on: April 30, 2017, 06:52:56 AM »
i did not change the stand itself. only made up a new mount and angled it so that the spring would not touch the pipe. mine did not have the rubber.
i ran a tap into mine so that i can adjust distance to the header pipe with a bolt. that might help to be able to get your toe in there?

i will get you the length later, am not home now.