Topic: 1975 CB550K Restoration

[HondaAddict]

Beautiful!  Does the motor need a respray?

Thanks!

Yes, I'll be refinishing the entire engine. I put the alternator cover back on just to keep everything closed up until I get time to do the rest of the engine.

[HondaAddict]

Did you sand blast or bead blast your fenders?  The chrome is nice.  Mine is going to gone with the tiny black dots where the chrome is reacting with the steel.  They are dissimilar metals and have galvanic corrosion.  I wasgoing to ask if you did new fenders until you showed the undersides.

Very nice work.

Thanks!

No blasting for the fenders. I soaked them for a few days in Evapo-Rust. It also removes any surface rust on the chrome. I use Autosol to polish chrome, which seems to work well.

[HondaAddict]

Usually the shocks are gone and you could tell how bad they were with springs removed.  The Hagons and Ikons are excellent replacements, better to spend that much to get a good shock, you won't regret the expense.  Consider it a safety item like tires and a good helmet.
there are sintered caliper pads available from EBC, worth choosing.

With a lathe you can fab several things.  Look up FunJimmy's Cafe Interceptor build, nice resto mod front end.
You could do that hub work and earn a few $ doing it for others.

RaceTech gold valve emulators for your forks if you stay with original forks are recommended.
likely your fork springs are toast and need replaced.  Most were needing replacement with 12-15k miles max.

You can skim the center of your fron hub's raised cooling ribs as the front does not need that and a cut and polished hub center is very nice.  Waxing the back of the fork ears helps keep rust at bay and wax on chrome will make it easier to wash and clean and maintain the shine.

Great info - thanks! Sintered pads are now on my list.

My fork spring lengths are within service manual specs and the shocks are passable. I'm hanging on to as much original equipment as I can for now, simply because I don't see this bike getting many miles and my project budget is stretched these days. There are quite a few handling upgrades I'd like to make if it becomes a regular rider.

I bookmarked FunJimmy's build thread for reading over morning coffee tomorrow. Much education and inspiration to be gained there. Like Jimmy, many folks here set the bar damned high!

[HondaAddict]

So, I realized today that my engine has a bad case of the infamous wear problem in the #1 intake rocker shaft bore. On the upside, I hadn't started sanding this piece.

I guess I'm on the market for a 77/78 CB550 cylinder head cover. So far I haven't seen any on ebay, etc. Does anyone here know where I can buy one? I'll post an ad in the classifieds as well.

[HondaAddict]

Rear wheel hub B/A.

[calj737]

You didn't remove the bearing and replace it? It looks beautiful though-

[HondaAddict]

You didn't remove the bearing and replace it? It looks beautiful though-

Thanks.

Bearings are on my list. I didn't have the replacements and I needed to make some form of visible progress for motivation. This rocker arm shaft issue has been a bit discouraging.

[HondaAddict]

I found a replacement valve cover. It cleaned up fairly well.

[HondaAddict]

Clutch cover cleaned up. With all the covers finished, the next step for the engine is to get it ready for paint.

[HondaAddict]

Rear wheel re-assembled (waiting for new sprocket). Attached are a few B/A shots.

[HondaAddict]

Carbs completed.

[seanbarney41]

beautiful work man

[HondaAddict]

beautiful work man

Thanks!

[HondaAddict]

Engine painting finished.

Before














Cleaned up, after about a week of my spare time.





Masked. I sacrificed my old valve cover & gasket as a masking shortcut.







Underside painted.



And the rest.



A day later.

[HondaAddict]

Swing arm and stands finished.

[HondaAddict]

And... painted the rest of the frame. Clear coat to follow.

[HondaAddict]

Gauges finished. I opted for the chrome aftermarket covers. I wasn't sure I'd like them, but they're growing on me.

 

[HondaAddict]

Seat before/during/after. I didn't anticipate how much work it would take.

[HondaAddict]

And... back in with the engine.







I tacked on the covers to see how it all looks. My new stainless bolts should arrive any day and I have to make a gasket before buttoning it up.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Looking good!

[calj737]

I can't tell precisely from the picture, but, it looks as though you may have the fork gators on wrong. The "seams" should be oriented to the rear of the bike, and the weep holes on the bottom pleat, not the top. That allows moisture to drain out.

Could be the pictures, but you do want to verify that installation...

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I can't tell precisely from the picture, but, it looks as though you may have the fork gators on wrong. The "seams" should be oriented to the rear of the bike, and the weep holes on the bottom pleat, not the top. That allows moisture to drain out.

Could be the pictures, but you do want to verify that installation...

You must have a great monitor, Cal. I can't see that on my stinking iPhone!

[calj737]

I can't tell precisely from the picture, but, it looks as though you may have the fork gators on wrong. The "seams" should be oriented to the rear of the bike, and the weep holes on the bottom pleat, not the top. That allows moisture to drain out.

Could be the pictures, but you do want to verify that installation...

You must have a great monitor, Cal. I can't see that on my stinking iPhone!

Bottom picture is the one I'm looking at. Appears that the seams are "forward".

[HondaAddict]

I can't tell precisely from the picture, but, it looks as though you may have the fork gators on wrong. The "seams" should be oriented to the rear of the bike, and the weep holes on the bottom pleat, not the top. That allows moisture to drain out.

Could be the pictures, but you do want to verify that installation...

Thanks for pointing this out. I haven't yet stretched the gators onto their seats, so I'll be able to turn the seams to the back. However I'm unsure about the gators being upside down. You mention the weep holes need to be at the bottom of the pleats. That makes perfect sense to me and mine are in the upper part of the pleats, so I was initially convinced you're right.

Then I googled a few photos and it seems like the longer cuff (as shown below in a gorgeous photo from the SOHC/4 Gallery) is always at the bottom, as I've installed mine.



Is it possible that the weep holes are not for moisture but for air to exit/enter when they're compressed/stretched? If so, it would make sense for them to be in the upper part of the pleats to hide them and allow less moisture in.

If I need to flip them, now's the ideal time, so any advice you or others can offer would be much appreciated.

[calj737]

With respect to the photo, I defer to the penultimate authority for 550 restorations, SohRon. He made this point specifically in his thread that the hole needs to be at the bottom of the fork, on the underside to let moisture (from condensation) week out and to help prevent corrosion.

I have no particular data which is correct, but if you spent the time that he did to get everything factory perfect, I’d respect his opinion on the matter. It is possible the pictured bike is incorrectly restored too. But it sure is beautiful!