Author Topic: 76 CB550 Cafe build (Read 91514 times)

tshrey · « **Reply #200 on:** May 23, 2018, 09:31:15 PM »

Please let me know if you do. Thanks!

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Godffery · « **Reply #201 on:** May 24, 2018, 09:06:47 AM »

Quote from: tshrey on May 23, 2018, 09:31:15 PM

Please let me know if you do. Thanks!

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Okay; Well... I don't have a loose 650 Cam but I do have another good motor I could pull one from. What's it worth to you?
Also; will you wanting a Tach & drive unit to go with it? (Your 550 one will not work with the 650 cams)

tshrey · « **Reply #202 on:** May 24, 2018, 09:10:13 AM »

PM sent

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #203 on:** May 24, 2018, 10:20:37 AM »

Quote from: Godffery on May 24, 2018, 09:06:47 AM

Quote from: tshrey on May 23, 2018, 09:31:15 PM
Please let me know if you do. Thanks!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Okay; Well... I don't have a loose 650 Cam but I do have another good motor I could pull one from. What's it worth to you?
Also; will you wanting a Tach & drive unit to go with it? (Your 550 one will not work with the 650 cams)

Good point. I'm not sure that you will need the change the tach, but if you are using a cable-driven tach, you will need the 650 drive.

tshrey · « **Reply #204 on:** May 31, 2018, 10:47:53 AM »

So I have a 650 cam coming now. Mike has my head, so engine work is close to done.

Was getting ready to take the frame and swingarm for powdercoat and realized I don't have any rear spring mounts

I'm sure the Cognito kit is great, but I would rather spend an hour in the garage than pay another $100 for something I can easily make myself. Cut the flat pieces last night and chucked up 1" steel rod in the lathe to turn the mounts themselves this morning. Forgot to take pics, just have to cut threads on the ends of the mounts and then weld everything up. With powder and a motor ready this is going to get very exciting!

As an aside for you welding experts... I read that one can TIG stainless to mild steel using ER308 filler. I tried it last night; kind of scary results. As soon as I struck the arc I started getting this really weird fast pulsing 'wahwahwahwah' sound like something from a Transformers movie and my Tungsten instantly started glowing for the full length it was exposed. I had all my settings per the book for stainless. Any ideas?

Cal is going to respond in minutes and tell me why I'm an idiot

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #205 on:** May 31, 2018, 11:43:27 AM »

Quote from: tshrey on May 31, 2018, 10:47:53 AM

Cal is going to respond in minutes and tell me why I'm an idiot

It's coming, I'm sure.

tshrey · « **Reply #206 on:** May 31, 2018, 05:30:25 PM »

Thanks. All that sounds like good advice, but I never even got that far. As soon as I struck the arc things went sideways. Maybe I'll try to get a video of it.

tshrey · « **Reply #207 on:** May 31, 2018, 07:39:03 PM »

That's exactly what it was! I was using a welding magnet underneath the stainless to hold the mild steel in place. You're a freaking wizard.

Maybe I'll try again now that I know what was going on.

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tshrey · « **Reply #208 on:** June 01, 2018, 08:20:20 AM »

Did some plastic welding last night and added metal rod into the joint to make it stiffer. The lines on the base are just to locate the holes that I'm going to drill into it to make it lighter - a large area of cutting board material is stupidly heavy. Wound up with a removable single piece seat pan for the upholstery work. Sending that out once I get the head back.

tshrey · « **Reply #209 on:** June 01, 2018, 08:29:31 AM »

Doesn't an upholsterer then have to add something like VERY dense foam on the base to absorb the sharp end of the upholstery staples? The reason I did it this way is that Mac's can just put the seat foam down, wrap it in the cover and staple the cover to the plastic base.

I'm totally fine with scrapping this and doing it out of aluminum, just trying to make the job better for them. Maybe I'll contact Mac and see what he says.

tshrey · « **Reply #210 on:** June 01, 2018, 08:38:24 AM »

Didn't think about glue, figured the heat from the motor underneath would prevent that. Every seat cover I've ever seen or done myself was held in place with 1/4" staples.

I have an email out to Mac, I'll do whatever he prefers. I think after I drill out 24 1/2" holes the weight won't be too bad.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #211 on:** June 01, 2018, 11:32:40 AM »

I opted for industrial velcro to bond my seat to the seat pan. No bolt holes through the upholstery,

tshrey · « **Reply #212 on:** June 01, 2018, 12:11:45 PM »

That would be a separate issue. I won't have any holes in the upholstery either, the foam and cover get stapled to the blue plastic. The blue plastic has threaded nuts embedded in it and the seat base attaches to the bodywork by bolts on the underside going into those nutserts.

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tshrey · « **Reply #213 on:** June 11, 2018, 08:22:51 AM »

Got the suspension mounts cut and welded on to the frame. Last step is turning the slugs. Can anyone tell me how far out past the upper frame tube the shoulder should be that the shock sits against? I have all the other dimensions I need except that one.

tshrey · « **Reply #214 on:** June 17, 2018, 04:47:19 PM »

Gussets are welded in and I turned one of the mounts. Other end of that rod is chucked up now for turning, should have them done and parted tonight. Welding this week and then off to the powdercoaters.

grades · « **Reply #215 on:** June 20, 2018, 05:22:43 AM »

When I had to redo the rear shock mounts on my 750 I just rotated the swing arm up and lined the shoulder of the upper mount with the inside of the swing arm mount. It will put your shock pretty close to straight up and down.

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tshrey · « **Reply #216 on:** June 20, 2018, 05:47:21 AM »

Holy hell that is an easy way of doing it. I have a ridiculous combination of square and plumb lines to try to get things set. I'll do your method.

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tshrey · « **Reply #217 on:** June 21, 2018, 09:13:21 AM »

Everything is welded up. What is causing the occasional pinhole in my weld? If I try to go back over the area I get all kinds of spitting and that hole doesn't want to fill in. Both parts were ground down with a flap wheel, then brushed with a stainless brush and wiped with acetone.

Backside of one of the mounts. I'm pretty happy with it, it looks like I might have some idea of what I'm doing with a TIG welder...

Dropped off the frame at the powdercoaters this morning.

tshrey · « **Reply #218 on:** August 06, 2018, 06:28:53 AM »

Got the head back from Mike. Guy does gorgeous work, but I needed new valves and a valve job goes along with that so I almost fell over when I got the bill. Picking up the frame and swingarm this week from the powdercoater so I can start assembling it for the last time. I just finished rebuilding my blast cabinet and converting it to a gravity feed and top load so the finishing of stuff can proceed quickly from this point. Next up is to start the wiring. Anyone recommend a source for wire? Everything will be led and motogadget so I don't need to carry much current.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #219 on:** August 06, 2018, 07:04:56 AM »

Another JMR work of art. You'll thank him when you feel the added grunt to your engine.

tshrey · « **Reply #220 on:** August 06, 2018, 07:07:45 AM »

Now that I have a lathe and a mill I fully appreciate what he does. In my head I had budgeted for his porting work and didn't think about the price of anything else so it was just a shock. I also didn't really understand what requires what, so when he said I needed new valves I thought it was just valves. I was too dumb to read his sheet to see that new valves meant a valve job too.

No way I'm going to add up how much I spent on this thing when I'm done, because I definitely could have gone out and bought a new Ducati for the same dough

The biggest expenditure is yet to come when I order the CR26 carbs, oof that is a chunk of change.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #221 on:** August 06, 2018, 07:10:24 AM »

Quote from: tshrey on August 06, 2018, 07:07:45 AM

Now that I have a lathe and a mill I fully appreciate what he does. In my head I had budgeted for his porting work and didn't think about the price of anything else so it was just a shock. I also didn't really understand what requires what, so when he said I needed new valves I thought it was just valves. I was too dumb to read his sheet to see that new valves meant a valve job too.

No way I'm going to add up how much I spent on this thing when I'm done, because I definitely could have gone out and bought a new Ducati for the same dough The biggest expenditure is yet to come when I order the CR26 carbs, oof that is a chunk of change.

The good news is that Ducati service and parts are even pricier than cheap and readily available Honda parts.

I thought I saw someone selling their project CR26s in the For Sale section. Hunt for a bargain on those. The price shifts widely between sources.

tshrey · « **Reply #222 on:** August 06, 2018, 07:11:06 AM »

Quote from: calj737 on August 06, 2018, 06:55:29 AM

For your wiring with the M-Unit, you can run 22AWG for inputs and 18AWG for outputs. Only LOCK on the input side needs 18AWG. Makes everything smaller and more compact. I buy 25' spools from McMaster-Carr in "stock" colors as much as I can.

I know you said you can wire these in a few hours. You have a build sheet by any chance? Like which color you use for which thing? I don't mind doing stuff on my own but if someone has already gone through and done the meticulous recording I'm happy to use their info.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #223 on:** August 06, 2018, 07:14:40 AM »

Quote from: tshrey on August 06, 2018, 07:11:06 AM

Quote from: calj737 on August 06, 2018, 06:55:29 AM
For your wiring with the M-Unit, you can run 22AWG for inputs and 18AWG for outputs. Only LOCK on the input side needs 18AWG. Makes everything smaller and more compact. I buy 25' spools from McMaster-Carr in "stock" colors as much as I can.

I know you said you can wire these in a few hours. You have a build sheet by any chance? Like which color you use for which thing? I don't mind doing stuff on my own but if someone has already gone through and done the meticulous recording I'm happy to use their info.

CAL can wire a bike in a few hours. It takes most of us more.

flatlander · « **Reply #224 on:** August 06, 2018, 07:21:00 AM »

Quote from: tshrey on August 06, 2018, 07:07:45 AM

Now that I have a lathe and a mill I fully appreciate what he does. In my head I had budgeted for his porting work and didn't think about the price of anything else so it was just a shock. I also didn't really understand what requires what, so when he said I needed new valves I thought it was just valves. I was too dumb to read his sheet to see that new valves meant a valve job too.

No way I'm going to add up how much I spent on this thing when I'm done, because I definitely could have gone out and bought a new Ducati for the same dough The biggest expenditure is yet to come when I order the CR26 carbs, oof that is a chunk of change.

well you didn't get "just valves" but a stage 2 head from mike which is a lot more. maybe should've asked upfront what it costs and what he does for that, complaining afterwards only seems a bit unfair.

anyway, get it all bolted up and after a good (not too gentle!) break-in give it a proper twist - and you'll forget the pains

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Author Topic: 76 CB550 Cafe build (Read 91514 times)