Topic: Two 550's and a 500. Home stretch now

[2strokeTrush]

Bad news guys, can't get my hands on the other 550 that I want the engine out of  for the 500 until next week now due to scheduling conflicts:(

Good new is I am picking up this cool little Cl175 tomorrow for hunting and camping!  Don't need another bike, but this will be a fun project to get running and looking good.  Cant beat a 50$ complete bike!



Got to work disassembling the 500 engine.  Was actually easier then I thought it would be, Pretty cool to see how all this goes together and Im learning a lot!  Whats it look like to you guys?

[grcamna2]

Tyler,
That's a real nice CL175! for,did you say $50 ? Where'd you find it man ? 

[2strokeTrush]

Tyler,
That's a real nice CL175! for,did you say $50 ? Where'd you find it man ? 

I post a lot of pictures of my bikes and my shop on Instagram, and a friend of mine showed one of his friends some of my pictures, He was like " Hey I have one of those sitting in the garage!"  and his friend got ahold of me.  It will be my first twin, but I think some decent Renthal dirt bike handlebars, a little touch up and some off road tires it will make a decent hunting buddy.  Ill start a thread about it.  But right now my focus is the engine swap of the 550 I pick up next week into my 500 and then touch up areas around the bike.  Not sure what I'm going to do with the purple 550 right now

[grcamna2]

That 175 will make a nice 'woodser'/dirt rd. bike.

[2strokeTrush]

NO go on the Ct175 Guys,  That was a piece of junk, literally.  Holes in the tank, cracked lower engine case, no spark plug wires or plugs, seat was bad, frame was rusty!  Wasn't even worth the 50$  Sometimes ya just gotta pass:(

[grcamna2]

was it even worth that for the parts? might be able to sell those parts...

[2strokeTrush]

was it even worth that for the parts? might be able to sell those parts...

Not a part that didn't need replacing or fixing, not sure it was worth anything.

[Restoration Fan]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I have a question.

You're taking these bikes apart to get them into your basement and said that taking the engine out made it light enough to carry down the stairs.  So how do you plan to get them out of the basement once they're restored and reassembled? 

[onetruepunk87]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I have a question.

You're taking these bikes apart to get them into your basement and said that taking the engine out made it light enough to carry down the stairs.  So how do you plan to get them out of the basement once they're restored and reassembled? 

One problem at a time.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I have a question.

You're taking these bikes apart to get them into your basement and said that taking the engine out made it light enough to carry down the stairs.  So how do you plan to get them out of the basement once they're restored and reassembled? 

Option (a) knocking out a wall and renting an excavator;

Option (b) calling all of your friends to lift that unwieldy hunk of metal up the stairs.

[Restoration Fan]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I have a question.

You're taking these bikes apart to get them into your basement and said that taking the engine out made it light enough to carry down the stairs.  So how do you plan to get them out of the basement once they're restored and reassembled? 

Option (a) knocking out a wall and renting an excavator;

Option (b) calling all of your friends to lift that unwieldy hunk of metal up the stairs.

or maybe Option (c)  put plywood on the stairs and ride them up! 

[Stev-o]

I vote for option C.   And get it on video!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I want to see that, too!! 

[2strokeTrush]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I have a question.

You're taking these bikes apart to get them into your basement and said that taking the engine out made it light enough to carry down the stairs.  So how do you plan to get them out of the basement once they're restored and reassembled? 

Same way I did my 350f, get about 6 of my friends and lift the engine in the frame back out an reassemble after.  I only took the engine out and carried it and the rest down because no-one was available to help me. 

[calj737]

When you carry the engine upstairs again, use some 3/8" rod passed through the upper, rear, motor hangar slot. Use 2-3' long piece. Do the same on front using the motor mount holes. This allows 2-4 people to carry more easily. 2 up the stairs, 4 when you have the room. Much easier!

You can often buy stock length of threaded rod at the home center, look in the fasteners section. There's usually a bin of different diameters, and differing lengths. Runs about $5

[2strokeTrush]

When you carry the engine upstairs again, use some 3/8" rod passed through the upper, rear, motor hangar slot. Use 2-3' long piece. Do the same on front using the motor mount holes. This allows 2-4 people to carry more easily. 2 up the stairs, 4 when you have the room. Much easier!

You can often buy stock length of threaded rod at the home center, look in the fasteners section. There's usually a bin of different diameters, and differing lengths. Runs about $5

Good idea!  But this engine won't be going anywhere, its the engine out of the 500 that was shot,  The jugs and top end are fine though.  Im just getting used to working on them thats why i have been working on it.

[2strokeTrush]

Alright guys, I have been doing allot of thinking and prioritizing and I think I finally have a decent plan for these bikes and the project through the winter. More of a "Life Happens" realization.  Being 20 and in college still, as much as I love collecting, I dont need or have the room for 3 or 4 bikes.  My thoughts are that I will keep my 350F as I love that little rice rocket, and also keep the 500 with the 550 engine as that bike was damn near perfect except for the engine.  This project is going to cover two bikes at once, Swapping the 550 engine from the parts bike I pick up this week into the 500 and making her the best looking cruiser I can, I also will continue to restore the purple 550 mostly just cleaning it up and making it complete and using the parts off it I really want.  Then ride it a little and sell her off in the spring

I know I had said I wanted to make a cafe racer and keep all 4 bikes, but maybe Ill get my hands on one another winter!  Just figured I would let you all know the plans since this has kinda been all over the place!  Im still in school working like crazy at a Boatyard here in Baltimore and Im trying to eventually go to trade school for Marine Mechanics, as my other love is the water.  Still excited about the builds and I hope you guys will hang in there with me and help out like always! Here we go......Feel free to recommend anything!  This will be allot so Ill try to be clear!

71 Cb500 with a 77 Cb550 Engine: This one will be my Baby. Should I get into trade school I will be riding it from Baltimore to PA about 2 hours, so I literally don't want to have to worry about anything!

-Pull 550 motor from parts bike, valve adjustment (need help on that), possibly replace head gasket. Swap back in
-Paint motor, possible jugs black and breather cover black,  still undecided.
-Use the 500 carb racks as they were just rebuilt with all new parts (advise me on this)
-Paint 500 frame
-Hondaman Fuse-Holder, complete Dynatek Electronic Ignition, Coils, Red Wires, Advancer Box, NGK plug caps
-Drilled rotor, Rebuild brakes, Pads, Stainless Steel Brake Lines
-Polished Engine Side Covers
-Clean and polish the 4into2 trumpet exhaust that came with the 500
-HD Clutch Springs
-Tach/Speedo Backlighting same way I did on the 350f, looks amazing at night.
-Tach/Speedo Cables
-Avon Tires and correct rear rim (one that came with the 500 is a wide Harley rim)
-Little things like grips, air-filters, battery.

73 Cb550:
-Restore to a more complete ridable bike and sell in the spring using the 77 that I took the motor from as a parts bike. I was told the 77 parts bike has a king and queen seat on it, so maybe ill use that and since this has those tallboy handle bars on it already maybe Ill swap the wide harley rim in and dedicate it as a old school street cruiser.  remember this bike will not be my focus because I wont be keeping it, But I would like it out by spring. 

[grcamna2]

Hi Tyler, You sure 'have your work cut out for you'  I'm glad to hear you're keeping the CB350F & that nice green CB500 & installing the correct 18" rear wheel and getting a CB550 engine also ! The purple one is a nice bike also

[2strokeTrush]

Hi Tyler, You sure 'have your work cut out for you'  I'm glad to hear you're keeping the CB350F & that nice green CB500 & installing the correct 18" rear wheel and getting a CB550 engine also ! The purple one is a nice bike also

Thats why I'm starting in August instead of January like last time!  Yep I'm glad I'm holding on to it as well, I don't feel as ripped as I did when I found out the transmission was shot.  Yep I think someone will take a liking to that purple when after I"m done with it, heck maybe Ill even make some money!

[2strokeTrush]

Still having trouble getting ahold of the owner of the other 550 so I can take delivery, hopefully he will come through for me.  But I Decided Im going to take the 500 down to the frame and build up from there with the 550 power plant.  Just trying to get a head start I started with the front brakes that were never very good anyway.  Unfortunately I Broke off the bleeder valve in the process.  Good thing I will have the other 550's brakes I can switch. 





Looks to be some rough rust inside the brake system: Im looking into the stainless braided brake lines.









Im going to try and take the forks off soon, along with all the front end components, Possibly replace the steering head bearings.  Any advice on that?  Little worried about that, I have no clue how to do this part.  Isn't there a thread here for me to Download a shop manual somewhere?? Any help would be appreciated!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Check out Dino's video on his 750 bearings and bushings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da_ZenYu4Xo

[calj737]

Two things about the forks: once you think you're ready to remove the forks, leave them momentarily in the trees. Undo the Allen head bolt underneath the axle while the forks are still charged with oil. Then drain them. Doing it this way keeps the damper rod compressed so you can actually loosen it, otherwise you have to remove the top nut and then jam a broom handle down to hold it.

I then loosen the top nut (easier to hold the fork tight with the aide of the tree). Then I drop the assembly out of the tree, remove the oil drain screw completely, and the top nut. Invert, drain, separate, clean.

There's lots of ways to do it, but I've found this to be an easy, one person method without damaging anything. A tad messy, but not bad.

[2strokeTrush]

Thanks Cal!  Where is the dampener rod and how do you refill these shocks?  Never done this before don't yell

[calj737]

Damper is internal. There's a rod from top to bottom running inside the springs. The damper is attached to a plunger at the bottom. There's a bolt connecting/securing the plunger to the fork lower (that's the one beneath the axle). I have found it easier to remove the damper bolt while the springs are still compressed, otherwise the darn bolt just spins endlessly.

To refill the forks, the top nut is removed and the correctly measured amount of fork oil is poured in. Then press the top nut and screw back on. Be careful not to cross-thread the top nut when reinstalling.

To drain the fork oil, outside of fork lower, there's a small screw. Remove that once everything is loosened up,  once the internals are out, you can pump the forks a bit more to drive some extra fluid out or just pour it out the top.

There's a copper crush washer at the bottom. You need this or a new one. You can anneal it and reuse it if you must. Don't bugger this bolt up. You'll be hating yourself later...

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Inspect your fork tubes for pitting. If there is pitting in the portion of the fork tube that travels into the lower stanchion, it will tear up the fork seal. No bueno.

Some new tools you will need if you don't have them: a precise measure for volume in millimeters and a pair of circlips to remove the internal circlip that holds in the fork seal.

Along with the washer Cal mentioned, take care with the circlips. You will need to reuse them.