I have decided rather than do a full restore, cafe racer, or rat. I want to modify my 1975 550F into a long distance Adventure Bike. In this effort I will be do some of the same mods done in the 80's before manufactures started producing touring bikes. I purchased the bike in the late 80's. The bike came with a fairing, luggage rack and mid size sissy bar with back rest.
I stopped riding the bike about 1993 and it sat for over 20 years. This summer I pulled the bike out of the raspberries in June and spent until September getting it running and back on the road. New seat cover, electronic ignition, new coils and lots of work on the carburetors. The tank was in bad shape in 1993 and I tried doing a tank liner. By time I got back to working on the bike, the tank finished rusting out. I spent the summer and fall looking for a different tank. I ordered a 5 gallon touring tank and mounted it on the luggage rack. At the moment it is my only functioning gas tank. I did find a replacement tank on e-bay finally. This will give me about 9 gallons of fuel.
When I first had the bike I would ride in the hills of Kentucky. One of the roads had a ford on a small creek. Though it is a street bike the 550 handled the crossing easily. When I moved to Michigan, I started riding the bike on those scary gravel roads. This fall I have been riding the bike on more gravel. I am not planning on running the bike in sand dunes but I do know you can run it in loose sand if needed.
The fairing needs to be replaced. It is cracked and the replacement windshield is too short. It's style is close to a batwing with the addition of running/turn signal lights. I like that it protects the hands.
I have purchased a crash bar. It was an old stock item. I need to lengthen the lower mounting brackets to clear the exhaust.
Another mod I want to add is saddle bags. I do not want them to stick out any farther than the handle bars.
More to come.
-MD
