My 23 year old son Joey has always loved my '74 750 Four, so when he got his learner's permit a month ago, we started searching for an older bike. After a few dead ends, I found a '77 550 in a nearby town. The listed price was very reasonable and as a result, the seller was inudated with calls. I convinced him to let me see it that night, so I showed up with cash and my trailer.
The bike was in overall decent shape, but needed the usual stuff - battery, brake work, carbs cleaned, etc. I had a battery and confirmed that the electricals all worked. The tires were in surprisingly good shape with decent tread and no cracks. The #1 exhaust pipe was rotted, but the rest are pristine. I told the seller that it needed some considerable work and that my son had a limited budget to work with. He wanted the bike to go to a good home, so he gave it to me for $350. It came with a title, tool kit, and owner's manual. Can't beat that deal.
This was all done on the hush hush - my son knew nothing about it. I dropped the bike off at a friend's house and since he had Friday off, he pulled the carbs and gave them a good cleaning. We put a new battery in and it fired up within a short time. Yesterday I drove over with Joey under the ruse that my friend had some sort of surprise he wanted to show us. The 550 was sitting in the driveway when we arrived and my son was thrilled. We demonstrated how it starts right up and idles nicely now.
Here's a shot of the bike before I brought it home:
The first thing to come off was that hideous backrest and then we removed the incorect rear turn signals. The correct rear turn signals are on the bike now.
Later today I'll pick up the bike and it will be brought into my shop for a two-three week go-through. We'll replace the fork seals, rebuild the master cylinder and caliper, and try to replace any of the broken or modified pieces that are needed. For example, a PO cut the front footpeg brackets to make them shorter, then welded them back together.
If any of you have parts that you're willing to sell, here's the partial list:
#1 exhaust pipe
Front peg brackets
Grab bar
brake pedal (original is badly bent)
If you prefer, I'd be willing to trade some powder coating services for parts. I specialize in Honda parts.
It will be my son's job to take care of the cleaning and polishing, and he will assist with the remaining mechanical work that's needed.
Soon we'll be able to ride together on our old SOHC's. I'm really looking forward to it.
P.S. I'm not having any luck downloading a service manual from this site. Can someone direct me to where I can find one. There wasn't one listed in the manual download thread. Thanks!
