Topic: The Lost Socket Garage

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

What a fantastic job, Scott. That bike is so cool.  I wanted one sooo bad when I was a kid.

[Scott S]

 I think I have the carb/jetting figured out on the CT70. I uncapped the bleed/injection port and screwed IN on the mixture screw. It acted like it was rich, but the plug didn't agree with me.
 Talked to Vince at T-Bolt and he said what I was describing was common and is actually LEAN on the pilot circuit.
 Starts much easier now and revs throughout the range. I see wheelies in my future! (And hopefully no more scabs or scars).

[Scott S]

 Still enjoying this one, too. Runs even better after a valve adjustment and slight timing advance. It's loud, has great brakes and a nice suspension, and I sure like looking at it. It doesn't feel that fast anymore, as I get into newer and newer bikes, but it sure fits well and is fun to ride.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Those Spanish Benelli replica pipes sure are pretty (and sound great, too, I bet).  That bike and the CT are perfect for what they were built to do. 

[MauiK3]

Two superb bikes.

[flatlander]

they both look great. i'm sure you'll have lots of fun with them!

[Scott S]

Slow going on this one, but getting some research done and making baby steps.



 Rick at OldSkoolCarbs took care of the  '95 GSX-F carbs for me. He found a few bent and rotten choke parts and will also assist with jetting for the pods when the time comes (this build, with the GS550 frame, doesn't allow for the stock air box and these carbs are supposed to play better with pods than the '00 models). I plan on using the K&N dual intake filters. I believe that RU-2922 is the part I need.

[Scott S]

 Also figured out the front end/triple tree. The 1980 GS550 used tapered bearings and the 2000 GSX-F uses caged bearings. I used the GSX 750 lower triple, a top triple from a same year 600, and bar risers from a Bandit 600. My Dad did a little grinding and modifying, and I ordered new tapered bearings from AllBalls, and now I have a '00 front end, forks, wheel and brakes on an '80 GS550 and still retain the handlebars. Ignore the tall bars....they're just for mock up and pushing it around the garage.









 Next up is to rebuild the forks and brakes and do a little detailing. We also have a pretty good plan on getting the Katana swingarm to fit.

[DurangoCB]

I can't decide which bike I like more, the CT or the CB.  Nice work. 

It's unbelievable what OldSkool can do with carbs.  They look photoshopped (I know they're not).  Amazing. 

The GS didn't come stock with those top clamps, did it?  If not, who did you buy those from? 

[Scott S]

 No, that's a Katana 750 bottom triple and a Katana 600 top triple. We drilled it for risers, since they both come with clip-on bar's. The risers are for a Bandit 600.
 This allows me to run 41mm forks vs. the stock 35mm, as well as dual floating, drilled rotors and twin dual piston calipers. And the much lighter 17" Katana wheel. The forks are also adjustable.

 It'll look "stock" from 30 feet away, but be much more modern and beefier.

[Scott S]

 I was leaning towards keeping the outward appearance on the GS550/750 "old school", but I found this Yoshimura slip on and was able to get it for $130 to my door. It's a $400 pipe and the dyno graphs show (presumably) big increases over stock. I figured that, along with the pods, jetting and some dyno tuning and I ought to be able to get to 100HP vs. the 94HP Suzuki claimed. And it would probably be easier to tune for this pipe vs. some cobbled together system. 

 No matter, it ought to be a good bit more than the 49HP that the GS550 was rated!

[Scott S]

 I also found clevis mounts to convert from mono shock to dual. Hope to get the swing arm fitted next week.

[Scott S]

[flatlander]

the first one sounds vaguely familiar 
but what about that clown bike, would that not scare the kids in the circus??

[Scott S]

the first one sounds vaguely familiar 
but what about that clown bike, would that not scare the kids in the circus??

 It scares the crap outta me!! 44.25" wheelbase, 12" wheels/tires and geared for ~62 MPH.

 And, honestly, the Passolini pipes on the CB sound better in the video than in my helmet. They're LOUD when I'm on the bike but sound much better as an observer, IMO.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

the first one sounds vaguely familiar 
but what about that clown bike, would that not scare the kids in the circus??

 It scares the crap outta me!! 44.25" wheelbase, 12" whee;s/tires and geared for ~62 MPH.

 And, honestly, the Passolini pipes on the CB sound better in the video than in my helmet. They're LOUD when I'm on the bike but sound much better as an observer, IMO.

Those pipes sound fantastic!

Your CT reminds me of a Honda Grom fitted with a modern CB300 single!

[flatlander]

the CT is fun, though. over here they were called "dax" for some reason.

i have the same with the pipes, very loud in the helmet even with ear plugs especially when spending more time at high speed on the highway. i might try a lollypop at some point to see if it dampens the sound a little, for longer trips.
but as you say, they do sound very good from a spectator point or view.

[Fezzler]

[/quote]

And, honestly, the Passolini pipes on the CB sound better in the video than in my helmet. They're LOUD when I'm on the bike but sound much better as an observer, IMO.
[/quote]

The day I heard them when following on my cb550 they really did sound awesome.  Very impressive. 

[Scott S]

Took a band saw and a belt grinder to the Katana swing arm...







...did a whole bunch of measuring to find the center...







 ...and then a whole bunch MORE measuring to center it in the frame. Here, my Pop is mocking up the shocks and getting the angle correct so that we can get the lower clevis mounts welded on.

[Scott S]

 For some reason, when I tried to stabilize the video YouTube loses over 30 seconds of it. Here it is in it's (shaky) entirety.

[Scott S]

So, this happened....





 Found a local guy that's an engineer and has some gab skills. He's doing all of this from his home garage. I couldn't be happier. He truly "gets" what I'm trying to accomplish and is doing quick, neat work. Today was just a "touch base and check on progress" kind of day and I'm thrilled.

 The rear upper mount is very nice and it, along with the lower RH mount, will be removable and make getting the engine in and out very easy.

[Scott S]

The front mounts are the stock Katana mounts that he cut/modified and welded. The rubber dampener inserts were rather worn, so he made these aluminum spacers.




 He wasn't quite happy with that though, so he made theses Delrin spacers.

[Scott S]

 I think it's gonna look really cool...and function great, too. He's still working on two of the lower middle engine mounts. We also checked header fitment and discussed the oil cooler mounting today.
 He's already checked chain alignment with a straight edge. Today, we ran the chain across the sprockets (I'm gonna need a longer chain) and it clears the frame, but is tight. The upper run can probably be cured with an acetylene torch and a ball peen hammer. The lower run may require some minor clearancing around the foot peg mount bosses. Switching to a 520 chain really helped.
 I'm also going to take the muffler with me next time I go and discuss a rear hanger for it.
 Oh, and he's going to work on the steering stop to prevent the larger forks from hitting the tank.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Those are some meats (tires)!

[Scott S]

 Picked up this neat little 1972 CL175 a few weeks ago. Found a nice stock exhaust for it and got it on today.
 Here's a thread I did on it (don't know why I didn't add it here):

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,172385.0.html