Topic: 1975-76 CB550F colour guide help

[jaytee-nz]

Anything published by "American Honda" will no doubt only specify US bikes - there is another world out there beyond the US. Colour (color) variation between countries is very common so there is no one answer.

[jlh3rd]

exactly, and the colors I have published are U.S. import. I have not done any research on foreign exports. So hondafourfun shows a parts book for the 76 f with four colors. that bike was not offered in four colors, says me?... no, the honda guide book gives only two, i have never seen any other documentation showing more than the two colors mentioned..and last and least my memory from 1976 has no recollection of anything other than shiny orange and metalflake blue....and, to prove a point, look at the spelling of the " shiny orange", it says " shing" ...honda makes mistakes in their publications.
hondafourfun shows a paint guide, has the 75 f model......where is the 76?...not in there, why? ....the 77 is......because this is what you run into when doing research.

[Can550]

Anything published by "American Honda" will no doubt only specify US bikes - there is another world out there beyond the US. Colour (color) variation between countries is very common so there is no one answer.

That’s absolutely correct
For example fenders and handlebars in North America are different than rest of the world (in many cases) so are paint schemes, turn signals, head and taillights. Some due to regulations and some due to consumer preference.

An other example is a 77 cb400f, US bikes received high bars and forward controls but Canadian bikes did not


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[BRG-BIRD]

I have a 75 CB550F with metallic flake orange paint and a brown seat, not sure why unless the seat, tank and side covers were swapped from a 76?

you have a 1975...as far as colors go.......frame and engine numbers can help further identify..

Frame and engine number are 1975 CB550F and the metal flake is quite prominent/large. The seat could have been swapped and likely has been swapped out for something better as it’s in very good shape. I have only owned this machine for a year and outside of the rims and spokes was in very nice physical condition, somewhat poor mechanical condition though and hopefully I am done paying for previous owners past sins.

This is an interesting conversation regarding paint colors and such over the years,

[jlh3rd]

as said before ,documented with honda brochures, part numbers, supported by period magazines, and , i keep saying it, last and LEAST , my personal bike....you have the correct color.

[ralt12]

My '76 CB550F from 1978 was just the "shiny orange", brown seat. Bought it new in '76.

[jlh3rd]

so, this is from hondarestoration.com.......1976 first pic.......1975 last pic.
notice the last letter in honda's paint color for the parts......."c" means " candy"
" F" means "flake"......this is my opinion,based on lookin at multiple cans for sale on ebay, and researching the colors..and talking to my honda expert....I have no documents to support this.....yet...oh, pb is blue,   
also, notice, for 1976, only two colors....in contradiction of hondafourfun' parts list.
this is what you run into......

[BRG-BIRD]

as said before ,documented with honda brochures, part numbers, supported by period magazines, and , i keep saying it, last and LEAST , my personal bike....you have the correct color.

Totally understand that and thank you for clarifying. It just has the wrong seat, brown. No big deal to me though

[seanbarney41]

Guys...Honda is hugely notorious for creating (and selling!) totally undocumented "parts bin specials" and this practice most certainly included colors of tanks and seats..."Boss, we are almost out of the brown seat covers...use that pile of black ones over there!"  These bikes were not sold with pages of options like an old Corvette.  There is no "build sheet".  The factory kept no records or if they did no one has been able to access them.  If asked, Honda will just direct you to what little documentation has already been presented above.  We have build dates, engine numbers, and frame numbers.  Anything else is just a guessing game even if we have strong evidence to support the originality of one part over another. 

Stop stressing.  Go for a ride.  That is all these bikes are good for anyway.

[jlh3rd]

as said before ,documented with honda brochures, part numbers, supported by period magazines, and , i keep saying it, last and LEAST , my personal bike....you have the correct color.

Totally understand that and thank you for clarifying. It just has the wrong seat, brown. No big deal to me though

no...your seat is correct. brown..

[Stev-o]

Here's my '76 550F with the original Sapphire Blue paint on the tank, flake is indeed very small. 
And a brown seat, 1 year only, in '76.

[jlh3rd]

here's my 1975 honda 550F with the original, unrestored  sunrise metalflake orange paint on the tank and a brown seat, stock for 1975.

[Can550]

I always believed brown seat was only 76 one year thing.


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[jlh3rd]

I always believed brown seat was only 76 one year thing.


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exactly, 75 models come with black seats only, as proven by bikes found in junkyards..

[TwoTired]

I always believed brown seat was only 76 one year thing.

exactly, 75 models come with black seats only, as proven by bikes found in junkyards..

...and American Honda publication.  ...and the Honda parts department that sent me a Black one back in the 90s.  Had to reorder to get the brown one.  Of course some insist there is no confusion in Honda part numbers...  The world makes perfect orderly sense to some experts.

[jlh3rd]

I always believed brown seat was only 76 one year thing.

exactly, 75 models come with black seats only, as proven by bikes found in junkyards..

...and American Honda publication.  ...and the Honda parts department that sent me a Black one back in the 90s.  Had to reorder to get the brown one.  Of course some insist there is no confusion in Honda part numbers...  The world makes perfect orderly sense to some experts.

and Honda Powersports here in Pa. who sent me a brown one back in the late 90's before i even had any idea of how this worked and CMS who sent me the brown one back around 2008. Both for 1975, and one before any internet.
I'm the first here to mention confusion about this process. I'm no expert.
Somebody asked a question and i answered it. I thought that's what this forum is about. or is it reserved just for " tenured " posters. I offered positive proof and some people either can't accept that or get upset because they can't refute it so they have to offer insults as their arguments. I don't care. I don't need a safe space.....

To each his own....If you don't want answers, don't ask for any.

[Deltarider]

Over the years I have learned that of all documents, the Honda Parts Lists are by far the most thrustworthy. That doesn't mean, one will not meet 'black swans' in reality. In fact, I've met one myself. In the pic below is a CB550K2 (aka CB550K76). I took the numbers and compared them, studied all details (like the central grease nipple and the 7mm bolts at the yoke top and it was indeed a K2 (US licensed). But... what to think of that colour? In the Honda documents it mentions Candy Garnet Brown only. Would be interesting to know if anyone else has a CB550K2 in that colour.

[jlh3rd]

interesting research into your bike. hondarestoration.com shows two side cover colors made for this bike . One part # ends in "ee" ,has a picture which appears to be the brown. The other ends in "LV" , no picture. "LV" is sunrise metalflake orange.
But here's the interesting part, it only shows one tank color, yr-2c,...part number ends in ZA.  One source shows yr-2c as brown ( honda 750 expert)
 lubritech shows garnett brown only for that year.
For my 75F, the tank is r-2c-f, part#ends in "zb"...sunrise metalflake orange...
...."za" for my F is for the blue tank and side covers....go figure.

[BrianK]

I realize this is an old post, but I thought I would contribute something to the brown seat vs. black seat and color debate in regard to CB550Fs manufactured in 1975 and 1976.

I have three Honda sales brochures from that era pertaining to 550Fs.  One is from 1975 and one is from 1976. The third is not entirely clear as to the date but in small print indicates “CB550F 1” and shows gauges with green faces, so I believe this pertains to the 1976 model year.

 As to the 1975 brochure (featured with the CB750F) with reference to the seat, it says nothing about the color.  It says only “New contoured seat for riding comfort.” The photos show a seat that is not definitively black or brown.  Offered colors are “Metallic Blue and flake orange.”  (The same colors are offered for the CB750F, which I think is incorrect.)

As to the 1976 brochure (featured with the 400F) it states “A comfortable seat-in brown, rather than black-finishes off the upper profile.”  Offered colors are “Solid Orange and Flake Blue.”  The photos again show a seat that does not look definitively black or brown.  It does appear to be a different shade of color than the CB400F that it is pictured with. (P.S. I did not know that the CB400F has six gears!).  It shows seemingly incorrect non-green gauge faces.  Perhaps the CB400F didn’t have those(?)

The third brochure (presumably 1976) is not particularly helpful.  This one, unlike the firs two, does not appear to be published by “American Honda.”  Only the CB550F is featured.  The seat is mentioned: “Contoured double-seat.”  The color is not.  The seat looks very black in the photos, but given considerations of color control and lighting, no definitive conclusion can be drawn IMHO.  A rider with a brown jacket and black pants and boots is shown riding the motorcycle.  The seat seems to match the black pants more closely than the brown jacket.  Interestingly, offered colors are not mentioned at all.  The motorcycle pictured is red-orange.  The paint does not look metallic to my eye.


None of this seems to definitively swing the debate one way or another, but the explicit mention of the brown seat in one of the 1976 brochures at least suggests that this was something new in 1976.


I have a 1975 CB550F with a black seat, but given the condition of the seat, which is very good, I cannot vouch for its originality.

[Nurse Julie]

Over here in UK, the 1976 550F1 came in Shiny orange with a brown seat. The 77 came in Candy Presto Red and Candy Sword Blue, both had black seats.

[bryanj]

The only Honda model guide i know of is the US Honda one and only gives details of bikes officially imported into US by Honda.

In contrast the perts books tend to be multi country and usually tell you what parts are different by country, this does not necessarily aply to online parts lists

[jlh3rd]

I realize this is an old post, but I thought I would contribute something to the brown seat vs. black seat and color debate in regard to CB550Fs manufactured in 1975 and 1976.

I have three Honda sales brochures from that era pertaining to 550Fs.  One is from 1975 and one is from 1976. The third is not entirely clear as to the date but in small print indicates “CB550F 1” and shows gauges with green faces, so I believe this pertains to the 1976 model year.

 As to the 1975 brochure (featured with the CB750F) with reference to the seat, it says nothing about the color.  It says only “New contoured seat for riding comfort.” The photos show a seat that is not definitively black or brown.  Offered colors are “Metallic Blue and flake orange.”  (The same colors are offered for the CB750F, which I think is incorrect.)

As to the 1976 brochure (featured with the 400F) it states “A comfortable seat-in brown, rather than black-finishes off the upper profile.”  Offered colors are “Solid Orange and Flake Blue.”  The photos again show a seat that does not look definitively black or brown.  It does appear to be a different shade of color than the CB400F that it is pictured with. (P.S. I did not know that the CB400F has six gears!).  It shows seemingly incorrect non-green gauge faces.  Perhaps the CB400F didn’t have those(?)

The third brochure (presumably 1976) is not particularly helpful.  This one, unlike the firs two, does not appear to be published by “American Honda.”  Only the CB550F is featured.  The seat is mentioned: “Contoured double-seat.”  The color is not.  The seat looks very black in the photos, but given considerations of color control and lighting, no definitive conclusion can be drawn IMHO.  A rider with a brown jacket and black pants and boots is shown riding the motorcycle.  The seat seems to match the black pants more closely than the brown jacket.  Interestingly, offered colors are not mentioned at all.  The motorcycle pictured is red-orange.  The paint does not look metallic to my eye.


None of this seems to definitively swing the debate one way or another, but the explicit mention of the brown seat in one of the 1976 brochures at least suggests that this was something new in 1976.


I have a 1975 CB550F with a black seat, but given the condition of the seat, which is very good, I cannot vouch for its originality.

there is no debate. The U.S. 1975 honda 550F came with a brown seat only. The part # of the seat coat for '75 and '76 550F's are  the same. The part # also is what my first addition (1975) Honda parts book has.
It is also the same and only part # in my UK honda parts for the 550F (FO).
I have no idea if the '77 550F , which had a black seat,  will fit on the earlier models. However, that is the only , reasonable explanation for a '75 or '76 550F having a black seat. I think the K modell seat pan and seat coat are different and the seat coat pattern is different.
Finally, there is no evidence other than hearsay, as to a black seat on a '75 550F.
You can't have a debate unless there are facts to support a side.

[jlh3rd]

+
the magazine is an early fall 1975 print.
It's 7:00 here, 30 degrees and my stuff is out in a shed. I have multiple artifacts on this subject.

[jlh3rd]

"I have three Honda sales brochures from that era pertaining to 550Fs.  One is from 1975 and one is from 1976. The third is not entirely clear as to the date but in small print indicates “CB550F 1” and shows gauges with green faces, so I believe this pertains to the 1976 model year."

For U.S. models, '75, '76 550F's. The '75 had dark green instrument faces, the '76 had light green.
does this seat look brown or black?....and the paint in no way is '76 shiny orange. So this is a '75 550F.

[bryanj]

The CMS parts list showing seat "skins" has to be pattern parts as Honda only every supplied the seat complete