Author Topic: CB500/550 Standard/Restomod (Read 7910 times)

AMD500 · « **on:** November 24, 2018, 04:39:14 PM »

Figured I would post some pics of my recently "finished" cb500four. Not much of the original bike left. It's been a long ass process. These will be in semi chronological order.
Fist pic is the bike after around 8 years of ownership. Got me through grad school and had a number of mods, but it was dying a slow death due to living outside in DC. Oil leaks, wonky wheels, rusty frame...the works.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #1 on:** November 26, 2018, 08:46:15 AM »

That's respectable daily, even with some rust, oil/gas leakage. What was "wonky" about the wheels?

AMD500 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 26, 2018, 05:03:07 PM »

Thanks. She's been a good stead but has earned some TLC.
Rear wheel had a hop, and the front a bit of a wobble. Tied to true them but they were pretty far gone.

As soon as I can figure out how to make pictures smaller I will update. my Avitar gives a sneak peek of the finish line.

AMD500 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 27, 2018, 06:05:01 AM »

Okay figured out how to resize pics on my phone, so back at it.

Below is the engine out and a look at head cracked open. The 40K engine had low compression in 2 of the cylinders a myriad of leaking gaskets, and a general sense of malaise.

Rather than do a complete rebuild decided to buy a "rebuilt/refeshed" CB550 engine from another forum member. Some of you might recognize it. Also snagged his excel wheels.

calj737 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 27, 2018, 06:13:24 AM »

If those items came from upstate NY, then I laced those wheels.

I wouldn't trust them

AMD500 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 27, 2018, 06:18:31 AM »

Funny you should say that. They were VERY out of true when I received them...willing to caulk it up to their transport down to DC, but they where hardly plug and play. Ended up having to pay a local shop to replace them for me. All good in the end.

AMD500 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 27, 2018, 06:18:57 AM »

*relace not replace

calj737 · « **Reply #7 on:** November 27, 2018, 06:45:42 AM »

Well, it WAS 3 years ago, so there's no telling how they have been treated since.

AMD500 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 27, 2018, 06:52:25 AM »

Yeah like I said, all good in the end😎

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #9 on:** November 27, 2018, 09:08:18 AM »

Is the new motor fairly stock or is it modded (overbore, cam, porting)?

AMD500 · « **Reply #10 on:** November 27, 2018, 12:28:41 PM »

Motor was sold to me with the expectation that it would be plug and play ( it was not cheap, but I tend to have more money than time). New rings, cleaned pistons, new valve seals, Kibble White dual valve springs, 650 cam, new gaskets, powder coated pieces and an oil filter relocation kit.

Upon installing noticed that there was a pretty nasty oil sweep from the head gasket. Installed a new gasket and in the process found that the valves had be "kissing" the pistons, and that the cam chain tensioner was not working. Luckly a buddy of mine specializes in cb550, and ended up going through the whole thing to make sure there wasn't anything else, and so turned out to be okay. Undoubtedly a better starting point than my tired old CB500 motor, but again more work than I anticipated. Think thats just how these things go.

It really is a beautiful engine.

Her it is installed in the bike with some more seat options and trying to figure put the side covers.

AMD500 · « **Reply #11 on:** November 27, 2018, 06:14:05 PM »

At this point the time project became too much for me. With a new baby on the way and a very full time job, my buddy who owns a custom shop took over. I gave the design direction and Motohangar did the flawless execution...

Pipes refitted. Realized these side covers just were not going to work.with the cb360 tank, so ordered some smaller 550f side cover repops.
Rewired with motogadget m-unit and battery somhow tucked into a cognito moto battery box.

AMD500 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 28, 2018, 12:12:02 PM »

New wheels on the bikes, bates style headlight, trimmed grab bar, mini speedo and tach, drilled rotor, motolanna stainless fender, cognitomoto breadbox... Basically everything but the bodywork.

Oh yeah, my favorite part of the build...new passenger peg mounts from a Honda XL250L to replace the stamped stock mounts. It's the little things

AMD500 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 29, 2018, 09:58:15 AM »

Paint!
As cool as the candy blue on the cb360 tank was, there was a fair amount of surface rust and I knew that even if it cleaned up well, there was no way the side panels would match.

I always loved the CB750 K0 candy ruby red, so figured why the hell not. The thought behind this build was always to keep it looking like a stocker that never was.

Paint was again done by Motohangar. Think it turned out pretty rad. Lots of depth. The photos really dont do it justice.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #14 on:** November 29, 2018, 10:11:29 AM »

Very nice.

AMD500 · « **Reply #15 on:** November 29, 2018, 10:22:45 AM »

Quote from: SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan on November 29, 2018, 10:11:29 AM

Very nice.

Thanks!

AMD500 · « **Reply #16 on:** November 30, 2018, 04:09:13 AM »

So at this point, if anyone is actually following along, you might thinking to yourself "Wow didn't realize a cb360 tank fit so nicely on a cb550. Looks so easy!"

Well that's what I was thinking at least. Had banged out the tunnel a bit to get it to sit lower on the frame, but other than that seemed like a direct fit. Test fitted it many times before painting. The problem was when I test fitted it either the petcock wasn't on the tank, or the carbs weren't on the bike. Fun thing to find out after a candy paint job.

fragalerock · « **Reply #17 on:** November 30, 2018, 04:19:13 AM »

I am really liking that color.

kerryb · « **Reply #18 on:** November 30, 2018, 05:08:10 AM »

Well that's what I was thinking at least. Had banged out the tunnel a bit to get it to sit lower on the frame, but other than that seemed like a direct fit. Test fitted it many times before painting. The problem was when I test fitted it either the petcock wasn't on the tank, or the carbs weren't on the bike. Fun thing to find out after a candy paint job.
[/quote]

How about a custom made elbow to clear the carbs? Petcock could then be a 1/4 turn shutoff valve. Too bad you would lose reserve function.

AMD500 · « **Reply #19 on:** November 30, 2018, 06:10:04 AM »

Quote from: kerryb on November 30, 2018, 05:08:10 AM

Well that's what I was thinking at least. Had banged out the tunnel a bit to get it to sit lower on the frame, but other than that seemed like a direct fit. Test fitted it many times before painting. The problem was when I test fitted it either the petcock wasn't on the tank, or the carbs weren't on the bike. Fun thing to find out after a candy paint job.

How about a custom made elbow to clear the carbs? Petcock could then be a 1/4 turn shutoff valve. Too bad you would lose reserve function.
[/quote]

Yeah, was thinking the same thing, but as you can see in the first pic, it almost touching the carb. Ended up moving it 4" to the front.

. My welding skills are not that good. Urban East, a shop in VA, cut out the petcock bung tig weldedit it at a very low heat and then painted the bottom. Can even tell It was done, and the paint survived.

RAFster122s · « **Reply #20 on:** November 30, 2018, 07:50:21 AM »

Have a Nov 69 build S90 SPORT 90 in Candy Ruby Red.
Nice paint work!
David

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #21 on:** November 30, 2018, 08:32:06 AM »

Quote from: AMD500 on November 30, 2018, 06:10:04 AM

Quote from: kerryb on November 30, 2018, 05:08:10 AM

Well that's what I was thinking at least. Had banged out the tunnel a bit to get it to sit lower on the frame, but other than that seemed like a direct fit. Test fitted it many times before painting. The problem was when I test fitted it either the petcock wasn't on the tank, or the carbs weren't on the bike. Fun thing to find out after a candy paint job.

How about a custom made elbow to clear the carbs? Petcock could then be a 1/4 turn shutoff valve. Too bad you would lose reserve function.

Yeah, was thinking the same thing, but as you can see in the first pic, it almost touching the carb. Ended up moving it 4" to the front.

. My welding skills are not that good. Urban East, a shop in VA, cut out the petcock bung tig weldedit it at a very low heat and then painted the bottom. Can even tell It was done, and the paint survived.
[/quote]

Good post-paint solution. Nobody will see that portion of the paint except you.

AMD500 · « **Reply #22 on:** November 30, 2018, 09:22:24 AM »

So that's about it. Drum roll for final photos....

As you can see the cb550f sidecovers slim the bide down even further. I suppose I could have left the triangle empty as there is nothing behind the covers, but again was trying to make this thing look like the stocker that never was.

The tracker bars are stainless and give a great position for city riding. The push buttons are Motone.

Still getting everything tuned up, and I'm sure there will be future work as projects are never done. The future holds a stainless rear fender, and some sort of modern front brake upgrade. For now I'm pretty happy with the semi-final result

AMD500 · « **Reply #23 on:** November 30, 2018, 09:23:39 AM »

A few more pics

754 · « **Reply #24 on:** November 30, 2018, 09:46:12 AM »

Looks great.
Re petcock, there may have been room to shorten the threaded part, tap it to 1/4 NPT,and use a Pingel petcock.

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Author Topic: CB500/550 Standard/Restomod (Read 7910 times)