Topic: '76 CB550F Super Sport Project

[Smudgemo]

Definitely quiets down and smooths out when it warms up.  I'll probably try to do the sync this weekend when I have some extra time to see what happens.  It smooths out around 1,500 per the tach, although I have no idea how accurate that thing is.

As for the muffler, it mostly looks like the end cap is bad.  I'm sort of thinking I could maybe (maybe!) braze on a new cap maybe from Cone Eng or somewhere if I ground a bit of chrome off the edge.  Probably talking out my ass, but I like to fix stuff, and I'm never sorry to break out the torch.

[Smudgemo]

I popped on the tank and side panels just because.  The tank needs the WD-40 rinsed out and hooked up.  Other than that, I just need to hit each service job in the manual and it will be all done.  I wish I'd have taken a few more before shots, but this is a pretty good comparison.

[Darren Jakal]

That turned out great! Nice bike.

[Smudgemo]

Thanks!  I'm feeling pretty good about it - everything seems to be working properly.  I just checked and the battery voltage is following the revs, so at least the system is charging.  One more thing I don't need to worry about right now.

This is a better before/after shot.

[palepainter]

It really cleaned up nicely!!!

[Smudgemo]

Thanks.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Today I set the points gap, set the timing, sync'd the carbs, installed the fuel tank, installed new exhauset gaskets, new o-rings for the oil pump and painted the kill switch with fabric/vinyl paint.

[evinrude7]

smudge, what paint did you use on the motor?   

[Smudgemo]

Duplicolor engine enamel "Aluminum" plus a coat of their primer.  For prep, I spent a bunch of time with sheets of the red scotchbrite type of abrasive using tongue depressors to get between the fins followed by an acetone wipe-down.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and it looks great with the vapor blasted stuff.

[Smudgemo]

I've been riding the bike, and there are two issues.  One is the engine has a pronounced rattle when it's less then fully warmed.  I think I'm going to do a top end rebuild on the extra motor I've got so I can keep riding this one until it's ready.  Second is cosmetic stuff.  I'm waiting for new gauge faces, so I focused today on the tank.  I decided to spruce up the Honda emblems. 

[

Well, half-way through of course, but they're looking pretty good.

[Smudgemo]

Seems kind of stupid to replace the stupid warning decals, but I'm shooting for the showroom + 600 miles look.



And I like it, so that's all that counts.

[Smudgemo]

Thanks, Cal.  Nils blasted the caps, but they were corroded such that they came out pitted.  I'll probably replace them at some point.  I should have done more clean-up on the carbs, but I have a second set that need a rebuild that I'll do a bit nicer looks-wise.  My neighbor George asked me the other day if it's ever really going to be done, and I said no.  Sure is fun to ride, though. 

[Stev-o]

Seems kind of stupid to replace the stupid warning decals...

Not really, I like them too.....

[Smudgemo]

I just spent some time swapping out photobucket broken links to my long-time Flickr account photos, and I realized there are some other parts of this build that I feel like bragging about sharing.

One rebuild I did was the keyed switch/lock.  Originally, it worked except the tail running light wasn't working properly.  It would come on occasionally, so I knew there was a contact issue somewhere.  I decided to pull the switch apart and see what was what.



Pretty simple, actually.  I did a thread somewhere that's got broken photo links that illustrates how to fix this.  The round piece with the hole in the center used to have two tangs that held the switch assembly in the lock housing, but they were broken.  The switch cover was also no longer whole, but not a piece that you can buy, so I learned how to work a free CAD program and made a replacement via 3D printing.  But because the tangs were gone from the round piece, I added them to the cover as an 'improved' design (the orange part.)



This allowed me to assemble the switch with the cleaned contacts and have it properly held in place as intended.  Here you can see it assembled plus the original cover and a cover w/o the 'improved' tangs.



Admittedly, the cover wasn't a perfect fit (mostly the tangs), but it's just plastic and I was easily able to bring it to size with a few small files.  Here you can see it plugged into the wiring harness.  Perfect fit for that.





Before installing the lock, I decided to make sure it was good to go.  This particular model was only held together by a set-screw and a couple of dimples.  The cover came off fairly easily.



There is another thread on this too, but it all comes apart easily from there.



I took the opportunity to fix the bent key door while I had things apart.



And polish the outer housing.



Came out looking pretty nice.

[Smudgemo]

Decals.  I asked for suggestions on removing the old decals and got a number of responses.  The one I went with was this big-ass 3m eraser wheel https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00063VT0G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And boy did it work well.  Not a bit of paint damage, although I only used it on the tank and fuel door, not the sides.









Not sure what I'll do with the remaining 99% of the eraser wheel, but I've got kids and one really likes stickers..

[Smudgemo]

Gauges.  I bought a set of gauges from a '74, I think, but the faces were the blueish color, not the proper green.  I decided to try to refurbish the set I got with the bike, so I tried ordering new faces from an outfit on ebay.  My mistake that they didn't fit my model as I didn't pay enough attention to the measurements.  But I was very underwhelmed by the quality of the lines and wouldn't have wanted to use them.  Then I found a set of gauges on ebay where the odo had less than 2k miles, but the housing was damaged and had some rust.  No trouble as I've got a couple of sets worth of parts.  The red zone on the tach was faded, but my brother suggested this outfit he and my dad get R/C airplane graphics from.  The owner scanned my tach face but misunderstood my ask and sent me red numbers and hashmarks to put on the faded pie slice.  This should be rectified shortly and I'll post my results.

Meanwhile, I was able to find a way to make the retaining bands easier to reassemble.  Some guys cut/JB Weld them together, some guys buy new ones.  I think this way to smooth out the band plus a flat face pliers to re-crimp will be fine.  A bigger diameter piece of scrap would be better, but this is working well.



Results:


I'll add some more on this when I get the decals and have some time to get this assembled.  The hard parts is getting the band off, and next hardest is to carefully remove the needle if you want.

[Smudgemo]

Just a shot in the Berkeley/Oakland hills.  Good roads to ride for fun.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Looking great Ryan.

[Smudgemo]

Thanks, Don.  I just took a look at your 550 build thread and like the look.  Might be where I take the floor-sweep special I'm accumulating parts for.

[nvr2old]

I've been riding the bike, and there are two issues.  One is the engine has a pronounced rattle when it's less then fully warmed.  I think I'm going to do a top end rebuild on the extra motor I've got so I can keep riding this one until it's ready.  Second is cosmetic stuff.  I'm waiting for new gauge faces, so I focused today on the tank.  I decided to spruce up the Honda emblems. 

[

Well, half-way through of course, but they're looking pretty good.

Something to try if you ever do that again, is to spray paint the entire emblem, and then with a rag tightly wrapped around your finger tip and dipped into acetone or lacquer thinner then just wipe off the letters.  Takes less then 5 minutes.

[Smudgemo]

Something to try if you ever do that again, is to spray paint the entire emblem, and then with a rag tightly wrapped around your finger tip and dipped into acetone or lacquer thinner then just wipe off the letters.  Takes less then 5 minutes.

Good idea.  I've got another set for a future project that I'll probably give that a try on.

More recently, I got my red zone decal back from the maker and got it installed.  The face was otherwise in great shape, so I think this set of gauges is going to mostly look new when I'm done.  I just need to remove the red paint and get some orange on the needle.  I tried the red in error because I had it on hand.

[Smudgemo]

Ready to assemble the gauges.  If anyone wants this decal, let me know and I can see about getting some made. 

[RAFster122s]

Ryan, gauges look nice. Is it Calliegraphics?  She does phenomenal work! Not to mention lightning quick.
David

[Smudgemo]

Indeed it was Callie.   Just out of curiosity, how'd you know?  Are you into R/C planes?  I got the referral from my dad and brother who are.

If you need the decal, she scanned the whole face and can do the whole thing or just the red zone (I think.)  PITA to take the band off, but it really looks good.  Can't wait to get them together and on the bike.

[RAFster122s]

Yes, I have had Callie do some work for me.  She's great. She's cute too...But very married...
Her parents ran a hobby shop in Albuquerque.


Learned about her from Pat Tritle and Charlie who were in Albuquerque area near her before she moved north of ABQ in the mountains.  She's really incredibly skilled and very very good at what she does.
She does lots of model stuff, but if you can dream it up for vinyl or printed vinyl she can do it.


David

[Smudgemo]

Well, I finally decided to finish the gauges.  Thanks to eBay, I found a set with under 2k miles that had some damage to the housing.  Maybe they got crashed up and replaced with new ones once upon a time?  Who knows.  I already wrecked one crimp ring trying to close it with a pliers so I decided to make a fixture.  Oh sure, go to Home Despot and buy some PVC pipe that's the right diameter for a fixture.  Not me.  I've got a bunch of tools in my shop  that hadn't gotten a lot of use lately so I cut a piece from the scrap street plate I had left over from other projects, cut the sides flat on the mill, drilled bolt holes and mounted it to my lathe's face plate so I could open it up.  When that was done, I smoothed the hole with some emery cloth and wrapped a bit of tape for paint protection.



Now just drop in the crimp ring, the glass and the housing.



Then gently and carefully close up the ring with a drift and small hammer.  No points for perfection since you can't see this side once it's in place.  This is another gauge that needs a new red zone and some cleaning.



And, all finished.



Super-easy job when you don't have to fight the crimp ring.  For the record, I cleaned the faces and added the decal for the red zone, and then picked the best parts from a three sets of gauges I had on hand.  The set I took off the bike are older and have a blue face, but the red zone looks the same (I've got a few more decals) and on the whole should clean up nicely.