Topic: 1977 Honda CB550F2 SuperSport (England)

[helloluketurner]

How do!

New to this forum, new to riding & new to Hondas.

I bought this 1977 Honda CB550F2 SuperSport on the Saturday and then passed my Module 2 on the Monday.. good job really ey!

It was purchased from a 77 year old fella called John, it's been in the same family for 36 years! His son had it since 1979 and then sold it to him. But on the last trip down to the garage for it's MOT he didn't feel confident riding so decided to pack it all in.

I'm not new to motorbikes as I'm also restoring a 1956 BSA Bantam D3 Major, which was my late grandads. I'll pop a photo of that up too..

As found in his garage:


After I got my hands on it (she's not running, yet):


But I am new to Hondas!

I have no idea which direction I want this build will go.. initially I want to give it some proper love & attention as despite the fact it's been MOT'd every year, it's only covered 1,000 miles or so in the last 20!

I'll post up some photos of when I got her home, before I faffed with anything..

My old man with her:

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

That's a good-looking 550.  And I have news for you -- your "old man" isn't that OLD! 

[Tews19]

That's a great find. Hard to find them in that condition. 3k tune up, new tires and you should be good to go.

[helloluketurner]

That's a good-looking 550.  And I have news for you -- your "old man" isn't that OLD! 

Thank you! She's a little rough around the edges, lots of dirt, grime, hardened polish & pitted chrome. Nothing a bit of elbow grease won't sort!

That's a great find. Hard to find them in that condition. 3k tune up, new tires and you should be good to go.

Cheers! Yeah she's going for new tires this weekend. I was told by the previous owner that the front tire is brand new and the rear had a new tube.. which is true but the rear tire itself is 20 years old and rock solid.. it's also the wrong size! So as I'm fitting a new & correct size Avon RoadRunner to the rear I'll fit one to the front as well.

[calj737]

And I have news for you -- your "old man" isn't that OLD! 

Said the reflection...  but you're right, Don, the OP must be all of about 7 years old? Pretty neat that child of his at can type and write so fluently at such a tender young age. 

Welcome, Luke! Stunning result on the BSA. Bodes very well for the future of that 550. Now, off to bed, it's getting late and you have Primary School in the morning. 

[helloluketurner]

And I have news for you -- your "old man" isn't that OLD! 

Said the reflection...  but you're right, Don, the OP must be all of about 7 years old? Pretty neat that child of his at can type and write so fluently at such a tender young age. 

Welcome, Luke! Stunning result on the BSA. Bodes very well for the future of that 550. Now, off to bed, it's getting late and you have Primary School in the morning. 

Cheeky sod!

Aye the BSA has been done in honour of my grandad so I had to do him proud, it's been a total nut & bolt restoration.

The Honda won't be as extensive as I want to ride & enjoy it, but it'll still be done to the best of my abilities.

Can you lot recommend some spares shops in the UK..? I've got David Silver bookmarked.

Oh and what should the resting idle be?

I took a video of her running cold so I'll upload that as soon as.

Cheers!

[calj737]

Many find an idle near 1,100 to be about perfect.

Cheeky is right! All part and parcel to this forum I'm afraid 

You can also use www.cmsnl.com for factory parts fiche and part numbers.

[helloluketurner]

Short video of her running cold the day after I bought her.

I haven't done anything to her yet, apart from peel off some stickers & clean off some dirt & grime.

There sounds like a bit of a rattle when she idles? Normal?

Apologies for the drone of a lawnmower in the background!

[Tews19]

Do the 3k tune up. Adjust valves, cam tensioner and that may help with the rattle. Also when the bike is idling pull the clutch in. It may help with the rattle as its normal on the CBs to have a little clutch rattle.

[Stev-o]

Welcome from Texas, Cheeky!

[Scott S]

 Nice bike. Well worth keeping it stock.
 Sometimes a carb sync will help with that clattering sound, but do the 3K tune up first.

[helloluketurner]

The thorn in my side with this motorbike & my BSA is that they are kept in the garage at home. I'm working & living in a shared house 60 miles away. I'm hoping that when my girlfriend moves up from London we can rent a house with a garage! & I can bring them here.

I haven't ridden or worked on the Honda since passing my test and buying her! But I do have the first weekend of September pencilled in to go home and make some headway.

My old man and I are friends with Ant & Ron (Ant's Father) Hart, Ant races classic motorbikes and Ron is his mechanic. Ant races a Yamaha TZ350 and a Honda MT125R, so Ron knows Japanese motorbikes inside out. If you're from the UK and in to that calibre racing, you've probably heard of them as Ant is a rocket & they're both bloody lovely blokes.

A local chap composed a short film about them, it's worth a watch if you've got a spare 12 minutes.

<a href="Not a valid vimeo URL">Racing with the Harts[/url]

Ron is part of a mechanic team for this years Isle of Man Classic TT, which is the last weekend of August (I'm going again this year, is anybody here?), so he'll be fretting about that at the moment and won't be home till the first week of September. He'll hopefully be up for taking my CB550 in for a couple of weeks so he can give it a once over and get her on top form!

[Tews19]

Great video. Makes me want a Yammie! Crazy how he said the pistons are good for only 400 miles??!!!!!!!!

[helloluketurner]

No real progress other than riding & enjoying her!

I've fitted a pair of genuine mirrors & handlebar grips as the others were fairly tatty. I also opted for those little anti-vibration mounts & they seem to work fairly well! They're perfectly clear for 30mph zones but as soon as you hit any proper speed or higher revs they start to vibrate.

It's also being handed over to Ron (the chap a few posts above) in a couple of weeks time so he can give it a proper fettle & a shake down.

[Restoration Fan]

Well, I'm a bit late to the party but welcome to the forum.  I absolutely love what you've done to the BSA....all the better that it was done to honor your grandfather.

If I may make a suggestion, if you are going to take it to Ron (must be an outstanding fellow with such a name, by the way) for him to work on, I suggest that you ask if you can come look over his shoulder to learn about these bikes.  One thing about riding vintage bikes that you probably have already learned from working on the BSA is that they require much more attention than newer, fuel-injected bikes.  If you're going to ride one, it would benefit you greatly to learn to work on it.

Just my 2 pence.

Ron

[helloluketurner]

As you can tell by the BSA, I'm not scared of getting my hands dirty.

I know it's unheard of for anyone on here to give their motorbike to someone else to work on, but with work on the BSA still very much underway, I don't want to put a foot wrong with the Honda and then not have a motorbike to ride when I find the time to go home.

I'll make a definite effort to get stuck in with him when he has a look at her though, I'm keen to suss out how these things work. The BSA was my first motorbike, the engine isn't quite the same as the Honda!

[helloluketurner]

I've taken the silencer off due to a nasty rusty hole that had appeared on the underside, I was chatting to a friend of mine and apparently if you turn over the engine every now & again but don't give it time to warm up it can cause corrosive acid to condense & form inside the silencer from the exhaust gases, thus causes it to rot.

I'm opting for an 18" 'quiet-core' silencer from Cone Engineering so I'll place an order for that soon! & then when it turns up I can set about working out how to mount it & all that.

I couldn't resist seeing how she sounded without a silencer, pretty bloody nice!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[calj737]

The internal corrosion is primarily due to moisture forming in the pipe. Until the motor runs hot enough long enough, the pipe is not fully heated and thus allows condensation to form internally. A fully heated motor run through will evaporate the moisture and prevent this. There is a small drain hole in the underside that needs service to prevent any corrosion or clogging, preventing the drainage of any moisture from sitting and eating your pipes out.

[ceebee ninja]

Got exactly same model & colour except mine is T (1979) registered. Try & weld up the silencer - not available now as NOS all gone. Electronic ignition that use points - same as from hondaman is good - keep carbs in tune, check float heights & regular oil changes - got 50,000 miles on from new with no probe.

[helloluketurner]

She's for sale.

Photos, a description & a price will follow soon.

But you can contact me if you're interested now.

[FunJimmy]

She's for sale.

Photos, a description & a price will follow soon.

But you can contact me if you're interested now.

Just stumbled into the conversation. You're 550 looks great.
Beautiful condition. I'm surprised it's up for sale already.
That was a short chapter.

[helloluketurner]

She's for sale.

Photos, a description & a price will follow soon.

But you can contact me if you're interested now.

Just stumbled into the conversation. You're 550 looks great.
Beautiful condition. I'm surprised it's up for sale already.
That was a short chapter.

Aye it was.

She's been a blast but I just didn't connect. My heart lies with 1950s British bikes!

[helloluketurner]

**eBay link!**

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222060697442?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649