Topic: 1975 cb550 first build (project gaijin)

[adventure_prone]

Hello all.
Welcome to my first build, I'm a machinist and welder for the air force so I thought I'd try and put those skills to work in some sort of build. Picked a cb because the following on them is huge, it helps that I also picked this up for $500

So here she is in all her glory


the kid who owned it didn't really know what he was doing.
He got pods and a mac 4 into 1. Then complained that the exhaust had a leak (there was more exhaust coming out of the head than the muffler). He assumed it was just needing gaskets so bought them but never installed them. I shrugged it off just thinking I'll take 30 or so mins to put them in.. I test rode it, ran well surprisingly but the exhaust leak was so loud I only rode it down the block and back.. loaded it up and before I left town went to a guy he refered me too who collects jap bikes and parts.
 Jason, the parts guys, turned out to have an entire pole barn full of anything and everything motorcycles. So I was looking for a cb750f tank to put on this bike but most were pretty rusty. Then I came along a cb500 twin tank (as seen on the ground in the picture above), I love the lines of it plus it is rust free, so I picked it up for $40 bucks. Will take a little tinkering to get it mounted on the 550 but I'll make it work.

Fast forward to today. Start taking the exhaust off and low and behold the kid put the exhaust collars on backwards.   
So I fixed those but now I'm getting a 3k rpm idle. My guess is he tuned it to run ok with the giant exhaust leak.. I took the carbs apart everything seems clean has a 100 main jets, which for pods and a 4 into 1 I don't know if those are big enough. Being new to carbs I sort of at a stand still until I do some research
Thanks for reading, hope to have this repaired so I can start the real building soon 

[goldarrow]

Welcome and nice looking bike.   That 3k rpm idle may just need to be brought down by the idle adjust screw

[Damage Inc]

G'day and all the best with your build.
Are you planning any other mods?
Being a welder in the Air Force , does this mean you do titanium welding?

[adventure_prone]

Yep, titanium, colbalt, magnesium,  of course steel and aluminum.

He's where I'm at with it now.


the cb500T tank front is mounted the way I want it, need to weld a mounting tank to the rear of the tank and the frame still, then make a spacer to get the rear up higher, I want the bottom of the tank to be parallel to the ground. After that the tank, fender, and headlight bucket are being sand blasted. I'm going for a brushed look through out the bike, I think it'll look great.
Some other shots


This is with a 120 grit sandpaper, I think I'm going to go with something rougher still






I'm forever waiting on parts lol. I have the following ordered.

From cognito moto:
Triple tree top
Rearset brackets
Rearsets
Clip ons
Small battery
Electronics tray for under the seat
Headlight brackets

From dcc:
Tachometer
Cafe seat
Led tail light

Other randoms:
7 in Trucklite led headlight
New intake boats
Jet kit
Valve tappet covers

Still need to order a carb sync kit, but the couple places I've looked are sold out
Until the parts get here I'm stuck trimming of unused brackets trying to clean up the clutter on the frame.. trying to build this by the 4th of July to put it in the towns car and bike show, it's all Harleys here so it should stand out a bit

[adventure_prone]

Rolled it outside today, finished plastic blasting the tank so I popped it on to see if I'm want to leave it bare or paint it. I'm still undecided

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I would at least sand it uniformly and clear coat it. Maybe that, a black pinstripe highlighting the countours and the original badges. Just my $0.02.

[adventure_prone]

That's the plan. Was thinking of black on just the bents maybe, I'm sure I'll be changing it constantly

[adventure_prone]

Got the bike up on jacks, wheels off, think I'm going to paint them silver or black.
Ordered a new chain and sprockets. Stayed with the 17 front but went to a 40 rear. We'll see how that goes.
Have parts coming in on Thursday and Saturday so hopefully I can start getting the bike buttoned up. It's getting pretty close to my deadline.
Took the exhaust off and started to wrap it. Forgot how filthy this stuff is haha

[adventure_prone]

Wasn't happy with the way the rear end looked on the bike
so I decided to hack it off and start from scratch

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Well that's adventurous. It looks like you've opted to mount the rear subframe at a higher than stock angle. What is your plan for the front and rear suspension?

[Tews19]

Well said CB750. That is adventurous.  You seem to be moving pretty fast. Welcome to the site.

[adventure_prone]

Well that's adventurous. It looks like you've opted to mount the rear subframe at a higher than stock angle. What is your plan for the front and rear suspension?

The eyelet to eyelet is 1 1/4" taller, so I'll be running longer stocks, the front is going to stay stock for now. There's enough money into it as it sits.

[adventure_prone]

Some much needed progress, I added some more scaffolding to distribute the suspension load a little bit more wasn't sure how I was gonna like the look, but it's growing in me

[adventure_prone]

Bike is back on the ground!

[adventure_prone]

My understanding i would be restoring the bike to stock rake. if I was to throw longer shock on a stock frame I would be changing the rake forward. But having changed the height of the frame in the rear ONLY, I would have to put on longer shocks to compensate back to stock rake

Technically I have the front lower by an inch so it should be pretty close to stock now? Just the bike all around is one inch lower

[adventure_prone]

Exhaust wrap is done

[Toustic]

I tried to go the exhaust-wrap route with the MAC 4-1 on my 550 but gave up. Cheap-stuff was too think, and I couldn't get it wrapped tight enough around the headers.

Your project looks good, I like the brushed metal look and the upswept seat loop.
Are you going for a raw-metal look on the tank? I like CB750 Cafe Racer Fan's suggestion for the tank. Raw but with a touch of "purposeful" 

Looking forward to see what follows.

[adventure_prone]

Yes sir the tank is going to stay bare (for now). We'll see down the road, but I really just want to ride it so that's one less thing that'll need to be done

[adventure_prone]

Been lazy

Noooooooooooo progress,  can't seem to find my bowl gaskets for the carbs

[Tews19]

I had to order a new set 2 days ago due to not being able to find mine. 23 bucks!

[adventure_prone]

Found them for $15 at the local moto shop.

Side note.
Anyone have an idea on how to fill this gap between the tank and seat. It's going to drive me crazy
think I might undo the leather up front and throw some extra foam in to fill it

[adventure_prone]

http://s1192.photobucket.com/user/ebowling325/media/VID_35741212_073611_zps140e1723.mp4.html
Got it started up. Went through the carbs to make sure everything was in good shape also jumped up to the correct jets. But now I'm having an issue with what I'm guess is the floats sticking, because fuel is pouring out of the overflow tube. Didn't have this issue before hand

[adventure_prone]

Sticky floats is not uncommon after rebuilding. Debris that may have sat in your tank or carb bowls, or bad gas, gets lodged in. Try some simple remedies, while the bike is running, tap the body of the carb with a screwdriver handle. May dislodge the float and you're fine. Or, start the bike, then open the petcock, I find this to be preferred for my bike.

Thanks for that tips, I'll give them a try

[adventure_prone]

Made my upper rear shock mounts today.
Before and after


In the shock

I'm going to weld on both sides of the plug then grind the back half somewhat flush. Made it long so I can get a good bead on it, I'm happy with the way they turned out. One less thing that needs to get done

[adventure_prone]

Thanks I think it should be good enough. I went with a 1/2-20 thread, just cause I had the hardware on hand