Good Morning! In May(?) last year I had a moment where I decided a years experience on a little cafe'd CG125 was enough and I needed to get myself a new project. Ebay came up trumps with a 76 CB550F... "recently fitted with a new full motad system, it ran once... a couple of months back, now it doesn't run, also needs new battery". I hired a van and picked it up from Derby.
So first things first... Quick wash, drain and replace fuel, check the plugs, insert key, start pressing buttons. To our astonishment... the battery was fine, and in a couple of clicks of the start button it was firing on 2. A short time checking the wiring and I found that the previous owner had "rewired" at some point. This turned the cut off switch to a cylinder selection switch, allowing me to choose between OFF, 1&4 or 2&3. This was bypassed... its a runner!!!!
And then... in what seems like minutes... this happened...
So the plan was just a strip down, rebuild and replace until road worthiness. I had wanted to start chopping and modifying but I felt the bikes a little too complete, a little too nice and actually quite pretty so I think I'll make some adjustments and see how I feel later. The engine sounded strong so I decided just to clean that up and pop it back in until funds allow me to play with that a little. I didn't get too many pics of the strip down, it all just happened so fast!
As usual I glanced in the general direction of the haynes manual and then decided to start taking stuff apart... if I had actually read anything I would likely have loosened the allen bolt in the bottom of the forks whilst it was still under pressure rather than having to sharpen the end of my best broom handle to wedge it tight inside the leg.
I have what is known as the "tight" gene, or as Dad refers to it "frugal" so with access to a large selection of hammerite and various primers from previous projects and repairs I set about making things look new. (There was a fair amount of wire brushes on drills and wet and dry involved too)
I have been a lurker on the forums for quite some time so I decided to go with the All Balls steering bearings... which are probably fine for the bike, less so for my thumb when you just happen to "miss" while knocking the old race out of the frame.
#WETTY
The engine got a very thorough clean...
Sticking with the "tight" theme I opted for a "Simoniz 5 Wheel Silver" finish on the engine, which came out surprisingly well!
It's amazing how much of the bike cleaned up and with a few coats of hammerite on the older looking bits.
The old rear shocks were fu..... rubbish and I'm a little short in the leg and the bike seemed rather high in its original stance so I managed to find 2" shorter shocks from the states and the spacer trick in the front. dropping the whole bike down to a more "manageable" level.
The PO's attempt at a rewire meant I wanted to start from scratch. This took a couple of evenings with the old as a template and a wiring diagram (just to be sure)
The old panel came out for a clean and a lick of paint and popped back together...
Brakes were stripped back, overhauled, new piston and seal required.
Had to replace the swing arm, sounded like it was on its way out, also had to source a new front wheel, (rusted through despite looking semi acceptable) Managed to get hold of a replacement which was just scruffy, so in keeping with the theme... they were hammerite'd too!
Whilst at this stage I was busy pouring vinegar into the fuel tank and getting ready to seal that... oh... and booking my test (would be nice to actually ride the bike when finished).
