Topic: Plastikjock's CB550 Caf'

[Joksa]

why not flip it around (and hide also the original bar mounts at the same time).

like this http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=32693.msg455991#msg455991

[plastikjock]

It's been a long time but I have done a few little bits and pieces. I've now got two drilled discs fitted. I made a BCR rip off alternator trim. I threaded my lower tree stop, so the bars don't hit the tank. I've bought a lathe to make some bits, spacers, footpegs, etc. I'm currently smoothing my triple tree, it's been welded up before cutting the clamp mounts off. Now I'm smoothing them out during a heatwave in England!

[FunJimmy]

We were wondering what happened to you.
Glad to see that you're still making progress.
The lathe will open up so many opportunities.

Have fun

Cheers
FJ

[plastikjock]

I shredded the cruciform (gear selector) on my Vespa, that required a full engine strip & rebuild to put right. That took quite a while.

I've had some brake caliper pistons on order for about 3 months from M&P in UK, finally given up waiting and have swapped the order for a front tyre and some indicators.

I'm going to make my brake pistons on the lathe in stainless steel.

 

[greenjeans]

I like the holes in the stator cover - do they go all the way through ?

Looking faster & faster

[plastikjock]

A couple of hours later:





The black bits are small gaps in the weld. The guy that welded it for me said there will be some voids that he can weld up afterwards.


New tyre turned up:



 

[plastikjock]

I like the holes in the stator cover - do they go all the way through ?

Looking faster & faster

A bit late greenjeans I didn't see your question, no the holes only go through the dished piece of ally that I made. I feel drilling into the stator housing would only create water ingress issues.

[plastikjock]

Thought I'd post a bit more progress, haven't done much for a while as have been doing bathroom up, which took far longer than anticipated.

I have been trying to complete my front brake setup. I got some nice braided hoses on ebay. Also found a guy in Germany who makes stainless brake pistons at a reasonable cost. Bought some new seals for the calipers from wemoto. Installed all of these and realized that one of my disks is warped - arse. Found replacement on ebay, £12 + postage, a few days later it's cross drilled and bead blasted to match the other. I sourced a large box of stainless steel bolts M8x110mm for the dual disk setup. I have turned down (on lathe) the tops to clear speedo drive, although there is enough room.



Ok, so now tried to bleed brakes, no pressure from master cylinder - bugger. I am now convincing myself that the TZR250 that it came from only had one disk (but 4 pot caliper) so there is not enough fluid transfer. However found elsewhere on here 5/8" master cylinder should be ok. So bought master cylinder repair kit, installed it, bled brakes - voila good brakes, well in shed anyway now need private road to go and try them!



In the mean time my lazy arsed Mum has finally got round to covering the seat squab for me - bloody pensioners!! I've just got this back today.



It's not quite how I'd asked her to do it, but I am coming round to it.





Oh, I've also turned some footpegs for my rearsets, which came out ok.

So I've now got a bike which will run and stop. I'm chomping at the bit to go and take it for a spin, but it is firework season in the UK, so knowing my luck some copper will lose interest in harassing kids with bangers and give me a 12 month ban for riding an uninsured, untaxed, unMOT'ed, unillumated bike while I'm wearing my helmet with illegal tinted visor at night. I don't think i'll try my luck.

 

[plastikjock]

I am drawing a schematic out so that I can get the electrics sorted out in my head (sounds like I need a shrink?). I think I'm going around it the right way. My yamaha switchgear has extra functions to the original 1973 stuff, so I might as well use them. I'm only gonna use a single pole single throw ignition switch. And I don't want the lights on from the ignition switch. I am aiming to create a neat loom, no birds nest in headlamp bucket that I have heard about, with neat separate ends split into 4 at headstock. Left switches, Right switches (connectors under tank), headlamp (inc. front indicators) and gauges (backlights, neutral & oil press. (in gauge))

So I am thinking of running multiple fuses, immediately after the ignition switch. Is there any need to do this? Was thinking -

Fuse1 Coils
Fuse2 Lights
Fuse3 Starter Solenoid
Fuse4 Rectifier

Any suggestions/ arguments welcome.

 

[plastikjock]

Schematic so far:

[plastikjock]

My Christmas present turned up today...



Ventured out to shed to trial fit them, they are approx 1" shorter than the shocks the bike came with. The old units measure 13" and a bit, while my new hagons measure 12 1/2" between centres. Which is correct? I have done a quick search and seen other 550's have 12.5" shocks, now i've lost some height I'm concerned it will bottom out on my rear end mods!!







Not done much else though too cold outside. I also got a live centre for my lathe and a knurling tool which I've tried out on a footpeg. Ok I reckon for a near antique lathe!!




I've also made a couple of spigots to mount indicators direct to the headlamp bucket, will post pictures next time I go out there.

The next major job is still to tackle the wiring loom project, when i get paid I'm going to buy all the ends and plugs I need from Kojaycat, they do repair kits on ebay and i'll add a couple of 9way plugs for my newer controls.

 

[sinister902]

great build you have going here....I look forward to more updates

[Holdingfast]

i love the "paint job" it looks ratty and awesome. especially because you re taking such care with the rest. the blue fender sticks a bit out but whatevs. nice!

[plastikjock]

Thanks for the comments. Because I started off with so few parts for the bike, it's turned into an ongoing dry build. I didn't or in fact still don't know if the engine is any good although it does start easily and sounds fine now carbs are bench synced and have larger jets fitted.

When it warms up a bit I will give the seat, tank and mudguard a nice paint-job!!


 

[plastikjock]

I've been shopping! Got myself a sound CB750 supersport tank.








I love Squirley's Cafe build thread, which I've read about five times now, an inspiration to us all.  So I'm gonna shamelessly copy his tank idea.

I am going to attempt to cut in some large knee inserts into the sides. I have always been quite nervous about making the tank petrol tight after welding as I am only a hobby welder, but I figure if I take my time and weld, grind, reweld I might be able to do it. If I ruin this tank, I'm not that bothered as it was only £15 !!!!!

So far I have shortened the tank mount posts by approx 5mm each side and fitted some smaller tank rubbers that I had kicking about. The front fits straight on. I will figure out how to mount the rear after my modifications.

 

[plastikjock]

Started tank inserts today, really had to um and ahh before cutting into perfectly good tank........... sorry. I'm going for vertical inserts with a single bend (around used gas bottle). This way I can square it up on the bench and gradually cut away at the tank until the piece fits. When it fits I'm going to draw a line around the piece and cut it down to suit. then repeat for other side. Thats the plan any way.

Probably shouldn't be posting as had too many g&t's.

Regards.


 

[plastikjock]

A bit more progress on the tank:


Insert offered up to tank



Tacked into place, at this point I could pass as a welder


Welded, ground, welded, ground, still got holes in it.

I have my Mig SIP Weldmate T130P set on minimum with argon/CO2 mix gas. It still blows holes through, but with the mig it's quite easy to repair them. I have definitely decided to not be too fussy with pin prick holes though as I'm going to por 15 it when finished.

 

[plastikjock]

I have also bought this:



and this



on Ebay.

When those photo's disappear, its a mini (as in the car (proper one, not the BMW)) monza filler cap. And a simple, cheap petcock to fit a 16mm thread, which I will make.

 

[SoyBoySigh]

WOW plastikjock that's some FANTASTIC work on this bike! Great fabrication skills.

Hell - if there's anybody out there who's good with the yoke mods like this, who'd be willing to weld in the undersides? I'd do all of the file and sander work afterwards - but if a person can do a good colour-matched filler weld like this on the yoke undersides?

I'd ship 'em both top AND bottom of some 39mm CB900F yokes and ask that they be filled in solid all the way left to right. Oh yeah, and I'd send some $$$ along with it. Ha-ha.

That top yoke is GORGEOUS.

Just think of it though - if it's filled in all the way, left to right, then it could be rounded edge to edge like a Ceriani yoke. Or more to the point, like the '76 RCB Endurance Racer's flat-top yoke. THAT'S what I wanna do with my "CB900K0 Bol Bomber"!

And by the WAY - wtf is the diameter of those CB550 front rotors? I realize the 500 & 550 have the smaller lighter DRUM hub for a lighter rear wheel - but I'M concerned with a smaller lighter rotor for the rear DISC brake. I wanna swap the 296mm discs onto front carriers to use with my CBX caliper hangers, instead of the '83 CB1100R type vented rotors like I've got on my Comstar wheel right now, cross-drilled for weight of course - AND I wanna use a 276mm MAX diameter rear brake, with say, a CBR1000F rear caliper & hanger. A CB350F/CB400F four-bolt/six-rivet disc also has it's appeal at 260mm - but if there's a six-bolt/nine-rivet version somewhere close to that 260mm or even better the 240mm of the GL500 (CX) Silverwing front disc (five-bolt Comstar type) that I could mount to the OEM rear carrier for the CB750F1 '75-'76 rear disc-brake wire-spoke hub, then I'd be happy as all get out! Of course, I've got an additional 4.25x18" Akront rim which is drilled for the Harley rear hub ergo it can work with a Honda FRONT hub, and I suppose if I could flatten the 2nd face of a DOHC CB750K wire-spoke front hub OR a rare Unobtainium front hub from the SOHC Canadian Police model CB750P7, which is a dual-disc five-bolt hub, from a wire-spoke wheel in a CB750F2 type fork, VERY interesting wheel that one! Anyway yeah, at THAT point I could build a rear wheel using the GL500 240mm rear brake. But in the MEANTIME using this identical rim with the larger heavier hub is far simpler & cheaper, and a 260mm/270mm-ish brake rotor would make it work!

By make it work, I mean that I've got Marzocchi Strada-II shocks on the bike right now, and the gas reservoirs have to be flipped around forward due to interference with the rear caliper. Now, I'd go with an underslung caliper - easy enough when the DOHC series has mirror image components available from the Goldwing series of the same year - yeah IMHO even the '75 CB750F1 could use a '75 GL1000 caliper flipped upside down and a spare bleeder hole drilled into it's underside. (((OR it could simply be disconnected from the stay arm while bleeding is performed))) But I've also got this Cal-Fab swingarm, meaning it's not as simple as swapping out to the equivalent drum-brake type swingarm for a torque-arm connection on the underside. Well if there's anybody out there who's GOT an identical Cal-Fab swingarm which is made with the lug on the underside, and they want to TRADE....

Anyway suffice it to say there are about a thousand and one reasons to shrink down the rear disc brake diameter and shed some weight. AND increase the front brake diameter. WHILE shedding weight. (At least, over my current '83 CB1100R type vented rotors, it's a decrease in mass!) It's just common sense to do ALL of this stuff. Though a 4.25x18" Akront rim and 160/60ZR18 sport-touring radial is NOT necessarily a sensible choice. That rim weighs up the same as the OEM Comstar 2.50x18" hollow-shoulder rim, removed from it's hub. And the SOHC wire hub weighs more than the Comstar hub. AND the wire spokes weigh more than the ten alloy triangle plates and five bolts, ten small rivets etc. There's only ONE way I can bring the rotational inertia & un-sprung mass down to the OEM levels - shrink the rotor!

It's HUGELY important that I do this right, and just the one time. YEAH I realize that a person can just whip up a rotor carrier and use off-the-shelf CROTCH ROCKET parts from CBR/VFR or Gixxer etc. But I'm shooting for a very "Period-Correct" look here, albeit not for the actual 1982 vintage of the bike itself. The wire wheels are a huge part of the "Retro-Fried" treatment on this bike. So I wanna figure out the best possible combination of '70s-era brake parts so as not to disturb the vintage vibe of the thing. Heck I've spent far too much on original AKRONT rims instead of going with modern replicas from Excel/Sun etc. I don't wanna screw that up with a cheap quick rush-job on the rear brake, let alone swap to the CBR900RR rotors (from the 2nd of the 3 versions of that model) which I know would also fit the GL1000 front hub. This is gonna be a bit of a hassle, and an expense what with drilling all of the rotors, sourcing rotors and multiples of each of 'em at that. Then the replacement rivets, or hardware barring that.

They SELL rotor kits with just the outer disc and bolts to reassemble it - "METALGEAR AU" - so it's not a completely ridiculous idea.

ANYWAY yeah - it would sure be nice to find somebody who would weld-up some fork yokes into solid lumps. Maybe I should just ask my machinist to make a new set from billet? SO much work to get 'em looking like actual Honda parts though. I HATE the look of billet - I've gone to some lengths to disguise any & all billet parts on my bike, filed & sanded 'em down to look like they're cast. I realize they wanted to save some weight, but is it really that much weight? Wouldn't it be better to have solid yokes and drill 'em out to shave some weight? That way we could all feel really smart figuring out where and how big of holes to drill!

Bah. I guess I should ask myself how much STRONGER the thing would be if it were solid. Probably not that much. But it COULD be re-shaped & flat-topped a lot easier! There are other models of bikes which have solid bar clamps - Ducati yokes are simple to cut the clamps off. A lot of the Brit-bikes. Of course, for the most part they're all inferior to the Honda stuff. I should focus on finding the right 41mm yokes to use with the Goldwing 1500 forks, that I can file THAT down to a nice sexy curvaceous shape.....

But I still wanna do stuff with these here TWO sets of 39mm CB900F forks, so if there's anybody offering a service like that, DO please send me a message about it!

Whatever - bloody nice 550 café here. And barely any response to this thread!

"BUMP"!

-S.