Author Topic: 76 CB550 Cafe build (Read 94420 times)

tshrey · « **Reply #600 on:** May 30, 2022, 04:43:01 PM »

Beautiful day outside, long ride and a proper bath.

tshrey · « **Reply #601 on:** May 31, 2022, 10:18:35 AM »

This true, I can see rubbing on the underside of the pipe holder. Trying to see if I can get just the collector from Delkevic since I still have the rest of the system.

nvr2old · « **Reply #602 on:** May 31, 2022, 05:43:03 PM »

I just read through your entire thread. Dang, you get a gold star for persistence, seriously. On page 27 you were asking about the paint bubbling up around your filler neck. I've been painting bikes for 50 years and the best way to stop that is get the neck down to bare metal from the opening all the way down the neck until about 1/8 inch from the tank. If you can make a hard paint line there, better to do so. Then mask off your tank around the filler neck to protect it while you put a swipe of JB Weld on top of the paint line. This will seal the paint line and forever stop it from getting soft because of gas fumes. If not, it will continue beyond the bottom of the filler neck and ruin your paint. I've done it 100 times with great success. It's all hidden under the gas cap so you can't see it. Good job on everything you've done. Have another beer, to yourself!

tshrey · « **Reply #603 on:** June 01, 2022, 12:04:16 PM »

Finally rode the bike into work. Couple guys there had (one still has) cb550's so I wanted to ask them about the buzzing under the valve cover. The answer was 'I don't hear what you are talking about' so I guess that valve noise is just normal on these bikes

Makes me feel a lot better.

tshrey · « **Reply #604 on:** June 04, 2022, 06:42:01 AM »

Have a small oil leak behind the alternator cover. Not much, but enough that a long ride ends up with specks on the toes of my boots. Wasn't sure if it was the crank seal or the oring in the bottom of the case.

I guess this winter I'll be splitting the case halves. I assume I can just remove the bottom half and leave the top end alone if I take the cam out?

Ordered 1" riser clip ons from Woodcraft, just too much pressure on the wrists in the current position. Keeps me from wanting to ride this more than 30 minutes at a time.

Also, had a little slop in my steering head. Couldn't get it to go away until I cranked down on the steering nut enough that I now have drag in the bars when turning (this gives a crazy weird feeling when riding). I'm going to drop the steering stem and repack the roller bearing with grease. Seems pretty strange and the whole reason I went with All Balls bearings there in the first place. Have to make sure it isn't the race moving a tiny bit inside the bottom of the steering head. If it is I have no idea how to fix that.

Kelly E · « **Reply #605 on:** June 04, 2022, 06:37:57 PM »

Try backing off the nut a bit. One of the new races may not have been fully seated but should be now.

tshrey · « **Reply #606 on:** June 08, 2022, 09:44:46 AM »

Switched out the clip ons to 1" woodcraft risers. Pretty amazing what that small difference does for wrist comfort.

Original clip ons for GSXR are in the for sale section if anyone is interested.

tshrey · « **Reply #607 on:** June 10, 2022, 11:23:28 AM »

Switched out the throttle valves from 2.5 to 2.0, increases vacuum to richen the mixture just off idle. That made all the difference. At first it felt too rich, but then I turned the air screw out to 2.5 turns and now it is perfect, the extra vacuum must draw more through the pilot circuit as well.

Still have a very slight 'clink' when I roll forward and grab the front brake. Any tighter on my stem spanner nut and I get dragging. The movement is definitely on the bottom of the headset. I'm wondering if when I tapped in the lower race I didn't have a little piece of something in there (I'm on Long Island, sand gets everywhere and in everything) that lets the race rock a little. I don't know what else it could be. It is subtle enough I could ignore it without an issue I imagine but the bike is now sooo close to perfect I need to get it fixed.

Godffery · « **Reply #608 on:** June 10, 2022, 02:35:22 PM »

Quote from: calj737 on June 10, 2022, 02:01:09 PM

Two possible sources: at the bottom of the neck, did you use the dust shield and the correct spacer above the triple? The other, which may be less familiar to you, is the buttons on the rotors. Floating rotors are renowned for those “clicks” at slow speed (parking lot, foot speed) when you grab the front brake. My BMW does it, always has, drives me manic when I hear it even to this day.

My money is on the floating Rotors.

tshrey · « **Reply #609 on:** June 10, 2022, 02:38:50 PM »

I wound up just pulling everything off the front end. I did a pretty good job with connectors and whatnot, only took about 20 minutes to get the whole thing off.

Turns out it was just another bonehead move on my part. The all balls kits comes with different size spacers and zero instructions. I pressed on the bottom bearing to the triple, then tried to assemble to find I should have used the spacer. So I put the spacer in the neck above the bottom race. Figured it was the same thing. It apparently is not the same thing

So now the stem and triple are in the freezer. The last time I tried to get one of these bearing off it was a bear, no room to wedge anything under the bearing to wedge it upwards. Let's hope it is easier this time.

Godffery · « **Reply #610 on:** June 11, 2022, 12:11:01 PM »

Quote from: tshrey on June 10, 2022, 02:38:50 PM

I wound up just pulling everything off the front end. I did a pretty good job with connectors and whatnot, only took about 20 minutes to get the whole thing off.

Turns out it was just another bonehead move on my part. The all balls kits comes with different size spacers and zero instructions. I pressed on the bottom bearing to the triple, then tried to assemble to find I should have used the spacer. So I put the spacer in the neck above the bottom race. Figured it was the same thing. It apparently is not the same thing

So now the stem and triple are in the freezer. The last time I tried to get one of these bearing off it was a bear, no room to wedge anything under the bearing to wedge it upwards. Let's hope it is easier this time.

Hmm, If I understand your statement correctly, then I'm thinking that the sound or feeling you had described would not be form having the spacer above or below the bearing. As you had initially bedeviled, the spacing would still be the same. The only difference would be where the bearing is sitting in the lower neck.
I will typically install the spacer under the lower half of the bearing (the part that goes on the stem) just below the dust seal. That way the bearing and seal is more deeply positioned up into the neck of the frame.

tshrey · « **Reply #611 on:** June 14, 2022, 07:10:18 AM »

Right. I had already pressed the bearing onto the stem and they are a #$%* to get off. Once I realized the error I popped the lower race out and installed the spacer above the race. That still gave me the correct total length, but the spacer must not be perfectly flat. Doesn't matter if it is under the bearing, but it does matter above the race, it let it rock just a tiny bit. New bearing kit coming because I destroyed the oil seal trying to remove it from the stem.

On another note, no one, not even sprocket specialists can get an 18 tooth 520 front sprocket right now. Is a standard sprocket hardened? I was thinking of just getting a 530 18 tooth and putting it on my lathe to turn down

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #612 on:** June 14, 2022, 02:15:24 PM »

I have had shoulders machined off a few sprockets...but yeah, they are hhhaarrrdddd! Have seen machinist that really knows his #$%* do this nice and neat with vertical mill. And then the "some guy with a mill" ruin a couple tools and curse and resort to the grinder. lol

Godffery · « **Reply #613 on:** June 14, 2022, 03:00:53 PM »

Have you checked with supersprox?
https://www.supersproxusa.com/

tshrey · « **Reply #614 on:** June 23, 2022, 07:56:54 AM »

So I grabbed a cheap 18 tooth front sprocket and put it on my mill. I tried a 3/4 carbide insert end mill and all it did was make the surface nice and shiny

Stuff is hard!

That means a new 34 tooth rear to get the same effect. Not really what I wanted to spend money on but it will let the wheel move back farther in the swingarm; right now it is pretty close to the front so I would rather do that anyway I guess.

After moving the spacer and putting in a new bottom bearing all the head slop is gone and the forks move very freely.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #615 on:** June 23, 2022, 08:15:56 AM »

Quote from: tshrey on June 08, 2022, 09:44:46 AM

Switched out the clip ons to 1" woodcraft risers. Pretty amazing what that small difference does for wrist comfort.

Original clip ons for GSXR are in the for sale section if anyone is interested.

My Triumph Thruxton had similar ergos (not too aggressive rearsets and clipons with a small rise). Very comfy.

tshrey · « **Reply #616 on:** June 23, 2022, 09:28:41 AM »

I'm not thrilled with the Cognito rearsets and levers, I may machine my own using them as a template. Too far back, at least for my height (my daughter thinks I look a little silly on this bike with how small it is) and I really can't get over the way they make their lever arm tilt away from the bike. Makes it impossible to use the kickstarter. I contacted them about making me levers that were straight and they said they were too swamped to do anything like that. In theory they should fit my bike exactly the same way they fit their 550 project bike but I can't get even the 3/4 kick that they talk about using, it hits my levers.

wolf550 · « **Reply #617 on:** June 23, 2022, 01:33:51 PM »

That is why I made my own from the cognito template but didnt keep the buldge where the peg inserts into and with that I could use the 550 SS kickstart to clear.

tshrey · « **Reply #618 on:** June 23, 2022, 01:40:57 PM »

What did you do for levers? I think I could use the cognito mount if the lever was straight instead of tilted out by 15 degrees.

I think also the original version of the rearsets was 3/8" thick steel, that would probably help me but the damn things weighed a ton so I sent them back to get the aluminum ones.

wolf550 · « **Reply #619 on:** June 23, 2022, 06:31:51 PM »

the levers I used were from some chopper company. they have some allen bolt clamp they used.
Im pretty sure I used a 1/4 inch thick wood template when I cast the rearsets so they were less than that. they dont have all the holes used to make it look spiffy. able to handle all 215 lbs standing on them.

if there is anything specific about those cognito levers that work with the mounts or can you use a universal set.

ill get some pics to see if they help you figure something out

tshrey · « **Reply #620 on:** June 23, 2022, 06:34:51 PM »

The cognitive ones are just real purty. And I love the folding pegs.

I still need to track down that kickstart lever you posted on here many pages back. Once I have that I can see howuch I have to shave off of my current setup. Might be easiest to make thinner steel rearsets.

wolf550 · « **Reply #621 on:** June 24, 2022, 01:23:00 PM »

it is the 550 SS kickstart lever.
I think they were used due to the oem 4 in 1 exhaust is right up against the frame and you need like 2" to clear for the brake and kick lever.
I still have that one in storage I can send your way to get it started. you never know it may clear.

tshrey · « **Reply #622 on:** June 24, 2022, 01:25:36 PM »

Thanks for the offer, just grabbed on off fleabay this morning. Looking at you're measurements you posted a couple pages back just switching to that lever won't be enough, but if I make my own rearset mounts it looks like it just might clear.

wolf550 · « **Reply #623 on:** June 24, 2022, 08:50:25 PM »

sounds good
since you are going hydraulic on the pressure plates, why not go hydraulic on the rear also

tshrey · « **Reply #624 on:** June 25, 2022, 07:13:17 AM »

The rear brake actually works very well for such a simple setup. Going hydraulic adds weight, complexity and at this point costs a #$%* load of money. I'm trying to be done dumping cash into this.

If I could figure out a way to make this clutch as smooth and easy of a pull as my MT09 I wouldn't bother with the hydraulics, but I can't.

Also, why are these bikes so freaking loud? I had a 1000cc FZ1 with a single carbon canister muffler, no baffle, and it was about half the volume of this bike.

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Author Topic: 76 CB550 Cafe build (Read 94420 times)