Topic: New build, who dis? 76' CB550K Build

[rocs]

Picked up this 1976 CB550 from some guy who had it sitting in his barn for 30 some odd years. Trailered it home from New Jersey with a buddy to give him something to do to keep his mind off his woman problems. Needless to say he took it all apart and lost interest in it before he even started putting it back together.

So now i Have a Frame, engine, and a few boxed of nuts and bolts and other motorcycles parts. The entire bike is there as you can see it was a complete bike in the pictures. I just have to figure out what goes where and put it back together. Plan is to keep it as cheap as possible but make it look decent. Ill also be trying to use all parts I've had laying around accumulating dust in the shop the past few years. So far i have $500 into this as thats how much i have him for the "Bike in a box".

Bike build plans:
 - Weld rear frame hoop
 - De-tab frame and remove center kick stand
 - Prep, Prime and then paint frame with Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy Black paint
 - Paint front forks and wheels semi gloss black
 - Find a wiring diagram and rewire entire bike while trying to hide as much wire as possible.
 - MotoGP Works Four into 1 stainless exhaust system (Pulled this from a bike i bought a while back)
 - Billet Aluminum top triple tree (Bought this off a guy on instagram)
 - Henry Abe Breadbox filter (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=144402.0)
 - Cheap eBay Clip-on's
 - Possibly try and find a set of modern CBR controls. (Anyone have any suggestions?)


So to start, heres the bike on Day 1. We had her running about 4 hours later (Including 1.5 hour commute home HA). Friends suggested I kept the bike as is because of how rad it looks but it wasn't mine initially and my buddy had other plans for it.

[rocs]

Heres the frame and the engine on the left as it was when i got it. Everything else is in boxes.This is probably about 5 months ago. 

[rocs]

Found this guy advertising on Craigslist. I think I'm gonna give him a call and bring the frame to him to have a seat made

http://www.vintagesykles.com/home.html


Anyone know of him?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Never heard of him, but his prices are cheap.

[calj737]

The seats look nice, but they appear to be really thin gauge sheet. That makes the shape easy to create, but makes the seat very delicate to being deformed by pressure upon it. The hard brake line in the seat pan edges should be radiuses, not broken at a 90* to better conform to round hoop tubing as well.

Looks like nice work, but those are my snooty criticisms  For $110 though, easy enough to afford a replacement!

[rocs]

Hes local to me so maybe ill see if he will let me swing by with the bike once its a roller. If i do use him, ill be sure to let you guys know.

[rocs]

Heres som shots wrestling with the engine and frame. The bottom front frame bolts seized and had to be cut out.

[rocs]

Some engine prep pics before paint and after. I must've done 10 rounds of degreasing. I used all sorts of degreasers but my favorite by far is Mineral Spirits. Watched a video on youtube of a guy using it on a transmission bell housing. I was amazed.

I used VHC's cast aluminum paint after using a high temp primer. Did a few engines like this in the past and worked out well. I will be polishing all of the engine covers.

[rocs]

BTW, if anyone sees anything I'm doing wrong please let me know! Ive only been at this stuff for about 3-4 years.

Youtube educated.

[Jnel]

I have a 750 agnd the engine was pretty bad with oxidation.   What did you use to get in there a clean up the fins?  Looks good.

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[Jnel]

I have a 750 agnd the engine was pretty bad with oxidation.   What did you use to get in there a clean up the fins?  Looks good.

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Like you devise to hold the engine. Look similar to my contraption.

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[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I have a 750 agnd the engine was pretty bad with oxidation.   What did you use to get in there a clean up the fins?  Looks good.

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Vaporblasting. Restocycle.com

[rocs]

I have a 750 agnd the engine was pretty bad with oxidation.   What did you use to get in there a clean up the fins?  Looks good.

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I used this 20 pc engine brush kit from harbor freight. Worked great for me. I hooked it up to my drill gun
http://www.harborfreight.com/engine-brush-kit-20-pc-69020.html

[Jnel]

Sweet.... thanks for the info. I would love to have it blasted,  but i have a budget

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[Jnel]

Rocs... i tried to find this at HF.  No luck.  But.... at Wal-Mart, the have a similar product.  But... no luck, out of stock.  But....  while i was there i roamed thru the gun department.... bingo!  Great assortment of bore cleaning brushes.  Under $2.00 each.  Worked great on the drill.  Just like you said.  Great tip bro.

Thanks,
John

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[rocs]

@Jnel If i remember correctly the brush kit is in the same aisle as the paint brushes etc. Either way I'm glad it worked out for you. Hun department at Harbor Freight?!? Ok now your store has one up on mine 

[rocs]

I got the engine mounted with all new stainless nuts, bolts, washers etc. I used my micrometer to measure and ordered off of bolt depot.com. Their shipping was fast and prices were cheap. I probably got all of them for under 25 bucks (not including axles).

Rear shocks are some old Koni shocks i found on an other biked i picked up. I cleaned them up and freshened them up a bit with some paint. I don't think these will be "usable" shocks when the bike is finished but they are fine for now while assembling.

Will be mounting the front forks and wheels next.

[rocs]

Freshened the stock rotor up and installed the wheels tonight.

Tires are AVON Roadriders

90/90/19 fronts
120's in the rear

[rocs]

Wasn't planning on using this tank but damn does it look good.

[SF]

Looks great man......the koni's can be rebuilt


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[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Wasn't planning on using this tank but damn does it look good.

Agreed!

[rocs]

Its been a while since ive updated this post. Ive done some small things here and there but started giving it more attention the last month. I am going for a more modern touch so ill be adding some new controls, levers and LED headlight. Ive since added some clip on's and the Motoworks GP exhaust pipe.

I also started wiring the bike last night. Going to hide everything under the seat and mount the battery behind the engine.

I also picked up a digital speedometer/tachometer i am going to try and install.

Now for some updated pictures

[rocs]

The speedo isn't installed yet but i have it sort of mocked where i think i want it. The controls, grips, levers etc are not in their final position. I am going to place everything where i want them and trim the clip ons if needed.

[754]

 Those aluminum seats are the most basic simple form possible.
 Any one could makevtgat with a cheap brake and bending a piece over a log or pipe or post. The hard part is the welding.... no shrinking, stretching or panel beating..
 You get what you pay for.l

[riverfever]

My god this looks tasty. That tank is gorgeous.