Topic: A glutton for punishment... 1973 CB500 resto-mod

[Scott S]

 And you may notice that I have no rear fender/grab bar/tail light.
 I found two chrome shops within 50 miles of me and just picked one. After a few weeks, I called to find out what's up. Turns out the one I chose is a Mom and Pop operation and "Pop" had a heart attack and had a pace maker installed. When he was finally well enough to get back in the shop, the chemicals in the tanks had gone bad. They're replaced the chemicals but are still having problems with flaking. My grab bar and tail light are done. The fender is in a batch with a bunch of other stuff that they can't seem to get right. Just my luck.

 At this point, I'm ready to install a battery and I THINK I'm ready to fire it up. Maybe sometime in the next few days.

[flatlander]

thanks for the pictures. indeed, mine sits now pretty much the same as yours only in the "up" position i could create more space to the pipe with the bolt.
in your other picture i notice that you have much more space between the mufflers and rear axle then i do. they also may be a bit lower but that could be due to the camera angle. i'll need to take some better shots at some point to show how everything sits on mine.

[Scott S]

 I could have tucked the RH side in more, but I made them match the LH side, and those had to be there to wrap around the kick stand bung.
 I mentioned it in your thread, but I don't see a kick stand on the "jig" frame they used.

 I'm pretty happy with mine. They line up nicely from side to side and up/down. They "seem" wide at the rear, but it's not too much. And, I think when the rear fender, seat and bodywork are on it won't look as splayed out as it does now. It's probably a little wider than stock 4-4's would be, but it's certainly not fanned out like a peacock or turkey tail!

[flatlander]

yes they did seem wide to me, too compared to stock but in fact, they're fine.
i actually had to bend them outwards a bit otherwise they would have been too close to the axle nuts.i still have a bit less space there then you do. but yeah, they are hand made and small variations are to be expected.

[Scott S]

 I was watching a video of a 550 this morning and the spacing on the stock headers are about the same width as mine. My mufflers are about an inch away from the axle nut on each side. The outer width is approximately 22" (hard to measure with the rear tire).
 Looking from the front, they actually seem narrower. I think it's just an optical illusion when you view it from the rear.

[flatlander]

quite possible. although, don't they say that black makes you look slimmer?

[Scott S]

 Heard from the painter today. The tank is done and side covers should be done in the morning. The tank started out as a nice original paint tank with zero rust inside and no dents or dings. Another find at the Spring meet at Barber last year.





 And here's a teaser pic from my paint guy. I usually install the cap, badges, etc., but this time I asked the painter to do it. Replaced the gas cap with a nicer one; new rubber seal and hinge pins.Badges are new. I have a new genuine Honda petcock for it. The stripes are painted on, not decals.
 I have the original tank trim but it seems to have a gold tint to it and just doesn't look right with the silver paint. Maybe I'll find something to replace it, maybe I'll just leave it off.

[BLAC]

looks great!

[Camrector]

Looks great.
Theres a guy on fleabay that sells a real close tank trim cheap. I've used it on 2 tanks now and it looks great.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/120983035836

[Fezzler]

That is going to look great with those pipes.

[Scott S]

Looks great.
Theres a guy on fleabay that sells a real close tank trim cheap. I've used it on 2 tanks now and it looks great.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/120983035836

 I've used that before, too. Or, something similar from Pep Boys or wherever. It's slightly thinner than stock, though. The body shop said to check with an upholsterer. He said they often have chrome strips in a slightly wider width. That's something that's easy enough to add later on if I find it.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I like the silver for something different.

[Scott S]

 Picked up the bodywork today.





 The tank badges are new. The gas cap was replaced with a nicer one and a new seal and pins installed. The side cover badges are super nice originals that were removed from broken original side covers years and years ago.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Absolutely beautiful paint.  I cannot wait to see it all together and to hear a sample of those pipes in ANGER! 

[Scott S]

 Thank you! It's hard to get a shot of how it shins in real life. And the stripes are painted on, not decals.

[Stev-o]

Absolutely beautiful paint.  I cannot wait to see it all together and to hear a sample of those pipes in ANGER! 

+1!   

[Scott S]

 Well, I heard the pipes today! Hooked up an IV and fired her up. There's a little more valve noise than I'd like (sort of to be expected after a full top end rebuild). I adjusted the valves, but I'll go back through them again. The carbs were pissing fuel out the overflows. Again, I gave them a quick clean and once over. They were really nice carbs to begin with and I was hoping I could get by but, alas.... I'll pull them and have my carb guy do his thing. I was able to set the timing. I need to play with the Speedhut tach and get it the correct signal and pulse.
 The idle seemed high, but wanted to die if I cut back on it too much. I mostly just held it as it was and even a little higher to help seat the rings. No smoke, no big oil leaks that I can see, no exhaust leaks that I can tell.
 As a "proof of concept" start, I'd say it went OK.

 (Can someone embed the dang video for me? I do NOT know why I can't get that to work.)

[flatlander]

the first sign of life - nice 
if all goes well i take mine to the dyno on saturday to sort out the jetting.

[Scott S]

 The carbs for this project, I picked up at Barber last year. They were super clean, had some chrome bowls and tops, and supposedly were on a bike not too long ago.
 I took a quick look inside, sprayed a little carb cleaner through them, and slapped them on. That was a mistake on my part. Fuel pissing out the overflows like crazy. I've been through CB550 carbs plenty of times, but I have a carb guy within walking distance of my house. Yanked them off yesterday and dropped them off. Sure enough, the one area I didn't get into was the issue. I didn't pull the floats and fuel valves. The O-rings were crumbling.
 Rick has a method of polishing and seating the needles and he installed new O-rings on the fuel valves, main jets and drain screws for me. He also cleaned them up a bit better. Ought to be good to go this time.
 Hope to get them back on in a day or two and fire it up again and make attempt #2 and tuning it. I also re-adjusted the valves yesterday.

[Scott S]

 Just got through vacuum syncing them. Can't go for a real test ride until the tank is on, and I think I could use a larger pilot jet, as I ended up at ~3/4 turn out and stock is 1.5.
 I think I can tune it this way, but if I ever have to go back in them, I'll go up on the pilot. I can't remember if there's a 38 or 40 in there right now.

[Scott S]

 Rear fender, grab bar and tail light are FINALLY on their way here from the chrome shop. I plan on finishing up the wiring now. I'm still trying to figure out why I have a lag in the tach on the Speedhut gauge.
 I think I'll go ahead and install bodywork and seat and maybe ride it a little bit. I have access to a dyno shop in Concord. I think I'll ride or haul it up there and actually have the carbs tuned and jetted properly, depending on what I find once it moves under it's own power (other than up and down the driveway with the fuel in the bowls).

[flatlander]

sounds promising 
how do your centre and kickstand fit? all clear?
i also didn't make it to the dyno yet, wanted to plug those bloody gas leaks first.

[Scott S]

 Center stand clears fine. I re-bent the hanger I made. I picked up a NOS kick stand and dropped it off at my buddy's shop last Friday. He's going to drill and tap a hole for a screw, like you did. I only need 3-5mm to keep it off the #1 pipe. That reminds me...I need to go pick that up today.

[flatlander]

that's good news. i'm going to bend the lever thingy on the centre stand some more. when it gets pulled up by the spring, the rubber stopper gets compressed a bit for a split second and then it gets too close to the muffler, for my liking.

[ChromeDreams]

WOW! this bike is shaping up to be all kinds of amazing, love it