Topic: More power for my cb550

[DaveBarbier]

You guys are telling the guy to just enjoy his bike as is when he wants more power? That's terrible advise! People want to go faster, nothing wrong with that. The 550 is not fast and you can easily grow out of it.

I say drop the 650 cam in there as a test. Won't take longer than a day to do. See if you like it. If not, it'll be a pain to put the 650 top end on the 550 motor. Check out Paulages 550/650 hybrid to drool over. The 650 has some nice upgrades in the bottom end anyway. Primary chain tensioner, primary chain oiler, ability to run an o-ring drive chain if you desire.

I found a complete 650 for $300. I could have easily just dropped that in my frame and ran with it. Much more power than the 550 and as said before, it drops right in. But there's some electronic stuff to sort out. But the answers are out there. If you're interested, skim through my build thread, link in signature.


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[Lostboy Steve]

Good stuff, Lloyd.

I try not to do too many freeway miles on my 550.  It's fun to take into canyons and to scoot around in town. 

I have the 1/4 turn throttle on it, but I don't get wheezing or bogging, but I also try to be smoother on the gas.  I just found I was having to twist the throttle quite a bit on the stock throttle.

Like I posted previously on another thread just easing the throttle spring to loosen up the throttle makes a huge difference in performance. A quicker easier throttle even with stock "two handful" configuration is a good upgrade and makes the bike seem peppier.


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[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Agreed, Dave. Even a stock 650 motor dropped in will provide a nice bump in power relatively cheaply.

[FunJimmy]

You guys are telling the guy to just enjoy his bike as is when he wants more power? That's terrible advise! People want to go faster, nothing wrong with that. The 550 is not fast and you can easily grow out of it.

Agreed! I'm sure most who have done performance upgrades have enjoyed the benefit.
I certainly have and love it. There are many degrees of performance upgrades and they don't all lead to bankruptcy

Check out Jonsey's CB550 Performance Mods thread for some DIY head work. That'll put lead in your pencil and pride in your step.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=17374.0

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

You guys are telling the guy to just enjoy his bike as is when he wants more power? That's terrible advise! People want to go faster, nothing wrong with that. The 550 is not fast and you can easily grow out of it.

Agreed! I'm sure most who have done performance upgrades have enjoyed the benefit.
I certainly have and love it. There are many degrees of performance upgrades and they don't all lead to bankruptcy

Check out Jonsey's CB550 Performance Mods thread for some DIY head work. That'll put lead in your pencil and pride in your step.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=17374.0

Jim,

That's a great DIY thread I had missed before. Thanks for posting it.

I do tend to think that swapping in even a stock 650 engine will yield a decent performance bump, but the Original Poster could start with a 650 cam swap and some DIY upgrades.  That said, once he proceeds down the Dark Path, it will be hard to stop! 

[DaveBarbier]

You guys are telling the guy to just enjoy his bike as is when he wants more power? That's terrible advise! People want to go faster, nothing wrong with that. The 550 is not fast and you can easily grow out of it.

Agreed! I'm sure most who have done performance upgrades have enjoyed the benefit.
I certainly have and love it. There are many degrees of performance upgrades and they don't all lead to bankruptcy

Check out Jonsey's CB550 Performance Mods thread for some DIY head work. That'll put lead in your pencil and pride in your step.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=17374.0

Jim,

That's a great DIY thread I had missed before. Thanks for posting it.

I do tend to think that swapping in even a stock 650 engine will yield a decent performance bump, but the Original Poster could start with a 650 cam swap and some DIY upgrades. That said, once he proceeds down the Dark Path, it will be hard to stop! 

Hard to stop!? Tell me about it, haha.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

You guys are telling the guy to just enjoy his bike as is when he wants more power? That's terrible advise! People want to go faster, nothing wrong with that. The 550 is not fast and you can easily grow out of it.

Agreed! I'm sure most who have done performance upgrades have enjoyed the benefit.
I certainly have and love it. There are many degrees of performance upgrades and they don't all lead to bankruptcy

Check out Jonsey's CB550 Performance Mods thread for some DIY head work. That'll put lead in your pencil and pride in your step.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=17374.0

Jim,

That's a great DIY thread I had missed before. Thanks for posting it.

I do tend to think that swapping in even a stock 650 engine will yield a decent performance bump, but the Original Poster could start with a 650 cam swap and some DIY upgrades. That said, once he proceeds down the Dark Path, it will be hard to stop! 

Hard to stop!? Tell me about it, haha.

Yes. Forever will it dominate your destiny! 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

That said, once he proceeds down the Dark Path, it will be hard to stop! 

Ah, now we are on to brake upgrades to help with the stopping power?

I don't know anything about brake upgrades to a 550!

[DaveBarbier]

That said, once he proceeds down the Dark Path, it will be hard to stop! 

Ah, now we are on to brake upgrades to help with the stopping power?

I don't know anything about brake upgrades to a 550!

**cries while researching brake upgrades**

[CBGhia]

Do we think OP is still checking on this thread? 


If it helps, I didn't want to give up my kick starter either.  Guess what's sitting in my 550 frame?  Yep, 650.

[FunJimmy]

I don't know anything about brake upgrades to a 550!

Nope! Me either. 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

That said, once he proceeds down the Dark Path, it will be hard to stop! 

Ah, now we are on to brake upgrades to help with the stopping power?

I don't know anything about brake upgrades to a 550!

**cries while researching brake upgrades**

There's always new and exciting ways to suggest spending other people's bike budgets!   

[Stev-o]

Do we think OP is still checking on this thread? 

He hasnt been on the forum since the day he started the thread [June 25th]

I have a spare 550 motor, a 650 cam and 750 pistons awaiting "more power" for one of my 550 frames one day.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Do we think OP is still checking on this thread? 

He hasnt been on the forum since the day he started the thread [June 25th]

I have a spare 550 motor, a 650 cam and 750 pistons awaiting "more power" for one of my 550 frames one day.

That's the makings for a new project thread!

[RAFster122s]

All that is going to be easily north of $1k and closer to if not more than $2k.

So, a 650 jugs and head won't easily mate to a 550 lower end. If you are determined to keep the 550 lower, your best value is a big bore kit, a 650 cam, and some decent porting work on the 550 head. There's heaps of locked up power in the 550 head, but to really take advantage of it, you'll need a better cam, some higher compression and significant flow improvement. It doesn't have to cost $4,500, but it will be over $1,000 to do it right (pistons/rings, overbore, decking, milling, valve job, porting).

Dynoman.net is a good source for quality piston sets. The JE 600cc kit is good, has higher than stock compression, and is viable with stock cylinder sleeves. Some heavy duty (HD) studs from APE is a must with this kit. A Serdi valve job from Mike Rieck and his Stage 2 head job will wake it up very nicely.

Kick starter saved and goals met! 

[RAFster122s]

Just means he has not logged in since then...he could be viewing as guest in lurker mode...

[Lostboy Steve]

The 650 is a less attractive engine visually imo. Just saying.


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[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The 650 is a less attractive engine visually imo. Just saying.


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It's a lot less knuckled up top.

[DaveBarbier]

The 650 is a less attractive engine visually imo. Just saying.


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I disagree, I think it looks better. To each his own

[HondaMan]

I would suggest the following:
Read the Thoughts of Hondaman forum, for the tips on the 500/550 there. This will get you started. Porting and spark timing on the Mid Four is seldom (if ever) done correctly by dealers and shops, and if yours has more than 5000 miles on it, there's MANY small things that can perk it up, significantly.
If you take it down, install pistons of at least 0.5mm oversize, or the 605cc kit from Cruisinmage, but contact me for some specific details about this one.
Get a Megacycle Cam, and dial it in.

Or, talk with Cameron (look up the Gentleman's Express builds he is doing): he's got some real hotrod 500/550s going lately, too. So does PJ!

[Lostboy Steve]

The 650 is a less attractive engine visually imo. Just saying.


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I disagree, I think it looks better. To each his own

I should change that... it's less attractive to me in a 70s 550. The engine itself is nice looking, but because I have a trained eye, looks queer in a 550 frame. If that makes sense? Lol


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