Topic: CB550K 1974 - Steering safety travel range

[Joshevelle]

Hello Guys,

Thank you all for the information in this forum, SOHC4.net is by far the best database for vintage bikes. THANK YOU.

I've been subscribed for a while. Before posting I do a lot of research, so after a year of building my bike, this is my very first technical question.

I modified the tank of my CB550, unfortunately the forks are hitting the tank (yes, the forks, I have a clubmans installed and they doesn't hit anything)[MODIFIED: I said bars, I meant forks] . I've read some posts where the best solution is to drill and tap a hole in the steering stop, however there is no information in how much of the travel can we sacrifice without loosing maneuverability of the bike.

I would need to add 12mm to the left side of the steering stop and 8mm to the right (it looks like someone did a modification there).

This is my very first bike (never ride before), so I don't know what is the "safe zone" to remove steering traveling range. I know this would only affect the maneuverability at low speed or in tight turns _BUT_ would the bike be safe to ride?

What would you guys recommend? would it be better to modify the tank to reduce the gap between the steering stops? That would imply a complete paint job again, not to mention ugly dents to fit the bars forks, I would totally loose the straight line I wanted in my tank 
 
Any thoughts?

Thanks.
-Josh

[flybox1]

If you are set on only clubman style bars and that tank, look for WIDE clubmans. 
they'll solve your problem right away.

here you go..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/221087132420?lpid=82&chn=ps


Norman Hyde M Bars would be another option.

[strynboen]

drill some 5 mm holes ,and cut 6 mm threds..put a umbrako bolt vith a kontra..so you can adjust it in and aut ,,and finaly lock it..
by driving it are not a problem..you never hits the auter post...but by move raund in garage ..it is a  small problem ..

[Joshevelle]

If you are set on only clubman style bars and that tank, look for WIDE clubmans. 
they'll solve your problem right away.

here you go..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/221087132420?lpid=82&chn=ps


Norman Hyde M Bars would be another option.

Thanks flybox1. I think I didn't explain it very well, the clubmans are NOT hitting the tank, the front forks are. So wide clubmans would not fix the problem.

Thanks thoug.

Josh

[Joshevelle]

drill some 5 mm holes ,and cut 6 mm threds..put a umbrako bolt vith a kontra..so you can adjust it in and aut ,,and finaly lock it..
by driving it are not a problem..you never hits the auter post...but by move raund in garage ..it is a  small problem ..

Thanks strynboen, drill and tap is the solution I was thinking about, however do you think that it would be safe to ride with 20mm less steering travel range?

[strynboen]

make some driving..on a closed area..irs only at slov speed the stering needs full travel..by high speed..you almost steer contra and neutrall all time

[flybox1]

My misunderstanding.  sorry.   
how about relocating your tank rearward 1" ?  do you have space between the tank and the seat to do so?

i would hate having less steering travel.  it'd make parking a biotch. 

[Joshevelle]

make some driving..on a closed area..irs only at slov speed the stering needs full travel..by high speed..you almost steer contra and neutrall all time

I will try to ride it in a closed area, thanks for the suggestion.

My misunderstanding.  sorry.   
how about relocating your tank rearward 1" ?  do you have space between the tank and the seat to do so?

i would hate having less steering travel.  it'd make parking a biotch. 

There is no space between the tank and the seat, the fit is very tight (see picture). However even if I could relocate the tank rearward, the front end would look weird, like empty...

If parking would be the only problem, then I think I would tap and drill, or perhaps welding something to the steering stop.

-Josh

[strynboen]

i had problems by the safty thek..on my 400 four...the handel almost toutch the tank..the safty ifficer said that my hand not must be pressed /hold ..there must be some free air..i said i vill move the handel ..and got through the inspektion..

[Joshevelle]

i had problems by the safty thek..on my 400 four...the handel almost toutch the tank..the safty ifficer said that my hand not must be pressed /hold ..there must be some free air..i said i vill move the handel ..and got through the inspektion..

Great for you.  There is no inspection for that in my country. I live in Mexico. So, as long as you stay off trouble (no smoking bike, no speed racing, etc, etc), cops would simply ignore you.

-Josh

[Powderman]

During normal riding the forks are only turned 2-5*. The only time you will have an issue is your turning radius in parking lots or whatever. My bike has a turning radius of about 1/2 mile, but it doesn't effect road riding.Turning around takes about 5 moves in a tight place.

[calj737]

I'm not a fan of drilling a hole in the lower tree and using a threaded bolt as a steering stop. Couple of reasons: usually, the bolt is not strong enough in the shank to prevent it from being sheared under a front end "slap". Second, the lower tree is cast aluminum and not particularly strong, so drilling can create a crack. Adding a bolt as a stop without adding a steering damper is like wearing your seat belt without buckling it..

If it were me, I'd remove the lower tree, weld a block as a new stop to the lower, add a steel block to the neck, and use a steering damper. Otherwise, when you do have a tank slapper, your "stop" will break and your tank will be damaged. (The damper won't prevent the forks from hitting the tank under normal turning, but it will aide in preventing a tank slapper from occurring).

[seanbarney41]

Lower tree on all 1970's Honda's I have seen is not aluminum, it is steel....It is hard to say what kind of forces are involved, but I have seen many crashed bikes that ended up with bent and/or broken STOCK steering stops and the rider walked away.  I have the same fork tube/gas tank interference problem with a Gl1000 front end conversion on a cb750.  I chose to drill and tap for 5mm socket heads with jamb nuts.  I don't think I am losing quite as much steering travel as you need though.
550 etc 033 by seanbarney53, on Flickr
550 etc 034 by seanbarney53, on Flickr

[scottly]

I had to reduce the steering travel on my bike to keep the fork tubes from smashing the front of the tank when I fit a Kawi 550 front end on it. It sucked at anything below about 30 MPH.
BTW, welcome Josh! What tank is that?

[scottly]

Sean, if you can, you may want to reverse the screws so the head hits the stop, instead of the threaded end; if they get mushroomed or bent you will never get them out...

[seanbarney41]

Sean, if you can, you may want to reverse the screws so the head hits the stop, instead of the threaded end; if they get mushroomed or bent you will never get them out...

That is good thinking Scottly.  I was unsure which way to put them.

[Joshevelle]

Lower tree on all 1970's Honda's I have seen is not aluminum, it is steel....It is hard to say what kind of forces are involved, but I have seen many crashed bikes that ended up with bent and/or broken STOCK steering stops and the rider walked away.  I have the same fork tube/gas tank interference problem with a Gl1000 front end conversion on a cb750.  I chose to drill and tap for 5mm socket heads with jamb nuts.  I don't think I am losing quite as much steering travel as you need though.

Thanks seanbarney41, while searching for a solution in google, I saw the same solution than yours (drill and tap the steering stops) and I really like the idea. Unfortunately the steering stops of the CB550 are way smaller than the ones in your pictures, so I'm not sure if drill and tap would be a possibility for me, I will take some measurements though. Thanks a lot.

I had to reduce the steering travel on my bike to keep the fork tubes from smashing the front of the tank when I fit a Kawi 550 front end on it. It sucked at anything below about 30 MPH.
BTW, welcome Josh! What tank is that?

Hello scottly, thanks for the welcome.

Actually is the original tank of the CB550K covered with fiberglass, sanded and painted. I wanted to use steel/aluminum but the price would be way too high and since this will be a daily use bike, I just didn't wanted to risk such an expensive body work. So I choose the cheap easy-to-fix option. 

Cheers,
Josh

[evanphi]

Nice job on the tank. Looks really nice.

[Joshevelle]

Nice job on the tank. Looks really nice.

Thanks a lot, it was done by a friend of mine who has a custom shop.

Here: https://www.facebook.com/SeozBikes

[strynboen]

is there a vater drain in that deep hole.. like on a cb 550...oh no it never rain in mexico ...bmw have big problems vith ther tank vith lovered tank filler..it rained dovn in the tank

[Joshevelle]

is there a vater drain in that deep hole.. like on a cb 550...oh no it never rain in mexico ...bmw have big problems vith ther tank vith lovered tank filler..it rained dovn in the tank

Actually!! I never thought about that!! nice catch, I guess I will have to drive my truck if it rains .

-Josh

[DaveBarbier]

Thanks seanbarney41, while searching for a solution in google, I saw the same solution than yours (drill and tap the steering stops) and I really like the idea. Unfortunately the steering stops of the CB550 are way smaller than the ones in your pictures, so I'm not sure if drill and tap would be a possibility for me, I will take some measurements though. Thanks a lot.

I drilled and tapped my 550. It can be done but I don't remember what size tap I used. I can check if you want.






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1978 Honda CB550K

[Joshevelle]

I drilled and tapped my 550. It can be done but I don't remember what size tap I used. I can check if you want.

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1978 Honda CB550K

I would appreciate if you can check that for me.

However, your steering stop looks way different than mine, what year and model is your 550? mine is 550K 1974. Look at the shape yours have and then look at mine.

EDIT:  I just saw your signature! sorry for the dumb question. However 74 shouldn't be that different than 78, right?

I'll take a better picture once I arrive home.

[DaveBarbier]

I drilled and tapped my 550. It can be done but I don't remember what size tap I used. I can check if you want.

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1978 Honda CB550K

I would appreciate if you can check that for me.

However, your steering stop looks way different than mine, what year and model is your 550? mine is 550K 1974. Look at the shape yours have and then look at mine.

EDIT:  I just saw your signature! sorry for the dumb question. However 74 shouldn't be that different than 78, right?

I'll take a better picture once I arrive home.

It does looks different, but I'll check the tap I used when I get home...forgive me but I didn't use a metric tap! It was the only small one I had.


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1978 Honda CB550K

[Joshevelle]

It does looks different, but I'll check the tap I used when I get home...forgive me but I didn't use a metric tap! It was the only small one I had.


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1978 Honda CB550K

Worry not. Actually I can take some measurements and came up with an appropriate drill and tap too, so don't worry about measuring yours. Thanks though.

The problem is that I just find my steering stop too small, that's why I thought on welding something instead of drill and tap.

-Josh