Topic: '73CB500

[rusty2078]

Sunday afternoon garage time...picked up a smaller (16l) ultrasonic cleaner form Amazon, and started in on the carbs...previous owner had taken everything down and soaked them in something, but this seemed to be a good justification to purchase the cleaner and run the carbs through a couple of cycles prior to vaporize blast and rebuild.

[rusty2078]

Dang...should really edit these pics first...you get the idea. Did a bit of disassembly as well, removing the stator and clutch covers...was amazed at the cleanliness of the rotor/stator, as some bikes I've done previously were absolutely filthy with oil/dirt, or had lots of condensation/rust. Looks promising...all the fasteners are coming out easily, and even the dowels on the sprocket cover pulled out easily, without having to resort to vice grips. Good times.

[rusty2078]

R6 front end swap question for you all: in reading through multiple threads, I can't recall anyone speaking specifically to using a fork brace with this setup....for those of you that have been running this in a street application, do you feel the need to have one? My engine will be stock, bike is being built as a daily rider/commuter and won't be pushed around a track....(barely even have moderately winding roads here in north-central Alberta).

Thanks yet again!

Russ

[RAFster122s]

Flex in front end on our CBs is largely a function of the fork tubes flexing. The beefy 43mm(?) Tubes the R6 use are not going to flex enough for you to tell. The frame is going to flex before they do...it does in normal riding.

[Scott S]

 That's pretty much what I was told, too. The forks are beefy enough.

 FYI: I used Buell 43mm headlight ears and a chrome front fender meant for a Harley.  I had to notch one side of the mounting holes on the fender to match that holes on the forks.

[rusty2078]

Thanks fellas, have pretty much everything pretty much ordered for the fork rebuild, with the exception of fork springs...my follow up question to the topic of chassis flex...is there a point to adding a brace to the front engine mount, that ties the down tubes together at the front? I was looking at a brace from Ripple Rock, but again thinking for my intended riding that this might be a bit superfluous??

[Scott S]

 R6 forks/brakes, braided stainless lines, EBC pads and shoes, Ikon shocks, tapered steering bearings, new bronze swing arm bushings, good tires.....go ride.

[rusty2078]

Solid copy, sir.

[RAFster122s]

650 cam and camgear with a little clearance for cam lobes needed in head and then a 650 or 750 tach and you will enjoy a little more grunt without a lot of expense on the motor side.  Hard welded cams need hardwelded rockers, 650 cam avoids all that.  Or plug the tach cable opening and fit an electronic tach.

+1 on Scott's recommendations

[rusty2078]

Interesting.....! I like added performance with modest expenditure!

[cwchan]

Interesting.....! I like added performance with modest expenditure!

I think i have a spare 650 camshaft and tach if you're interested... i'll have to check

[rusty2078]

I'll keep that in mind, it sounds like an interesting low-budget upgrade to the stock engine...hoping that they'll be no surprises when I split the cases!

[rusty2078]

Upper end looking to be in great shape, rockers and camshaft!

[Scott S]

 Look up the rubber band trick for putting the valve cover back on, to keep from binding and damaging any rockers.

[RAFster122s]

Check for any shaft wear on your rocker shafts...they can wear eccentrically in the head which if left too long will ruin the cam and rockers. Yours likely is in great shape given how things look.

David

[rusty2078]

Scott: I'll file that away for reassembly, I like that there are many ingenious ways of simplifying some of these tasks

David: planning on taking the head and cylinders for proper decking, honing and inspection...as well as the .020 milling that you out me onto for the head/cylinder/head gasket clearance issue...btw, if I'm referencing the diagram is there a proper name/terminology for "pucks"? I've acquired most of the suspension components for the front end swap (with the exception of Race Tech springs) and will most likely be proceeding with the engine this winter...loose plan is to rebuild the engine and chassis, then get everything together and running on the stock electrical system prior to making a few modest changes with switchgear, etc.

Yet again, thanks!!!

[RAFster122s]

I think it is part #91318-300-013
That is #41 on the microfiche parts for a 74 cb550.
Rubber, sealing
Six are required.
Great descriptive term for them, eh?



FWIW, South Sound Honda of Olympia, WA has them selling for $2.61/each


But, I would go with HondaMan’s current source of
https://www.partsnmore.com/parts/?q=91318-300-013


$2.50 each


If you buy some of the Orings from Mark (or from his source or the size he can tell you) that he used on Mooshie’s 550 then you would only need to mill off 0.010 to account for the modern head gasket thickness issues...


David

[rusty2078]

Great to know! This is certainly one area that I don't want to "cheap out on"! I'd have to kick my own butt if I rebuilt the entire engine, and it started weeping in short order...only to necessitate doing it all again!

[rusty2078]

Another source question for you all...looking for good quality carb kits, and assuming that it's the same as gasket sets, etc...some good, some, not so much...

[RAFster122s]

Honda OEM kits only is my opinion...only non Honda gasket I would consider is a formed carb bowl gasket, makes installing easier.  But, that said have heard of many bowl gaskets swelling when exposed to fuel...making it a real pita when you drop a bowl to check something or need to change a jet and cannot get the bowl to seal because the gasket is swollen.  They dry out and shrink back to size but it can take days...
Not sure if Honda's bowl gasket suffers from this malady.

[rusty2078]

Strongly leaning towards sitting down, and going through Honda's parts diagrams (I really want to keep referring to microfiche here!) and putting git all together with OEM seals/gaskets/bearing/etc etc. Certainly far more effort than sitting down and just clicking a "parts package" of dubious origin, but certainly the best option, from all of the experienced/informed minds here.

[RAFster122s]

I downloaded the large images from the parts ordering online catalog and then copied and pasted the part number, quantity and price info into Excel files for each diagram. Honda used to have parts manuals for a model bike...essentially the same info in the online catalog. 
Yes, microfiche was where these came from. 
I have a microfiche reader...even have microfiche...just not for Honda motorcycles...

[rusty2078]

One of my cousins was getting married (more than a few years ago now), and my brother and I found a microfiche reader in a second hand shop and made that a wedding present...and he did end up using it!

[rusty2078]

Had a bit more disassembly time today, got most of the clutch and shift mechanism apart, cleaned and bagged...looking at this gear, it appears to require a puller (as the shaft it sits on has an internal thread), and it doesn't really want to come off easily...snap ring was removed through...is there a specific puller to remove this, or just keep tenth working at it?? Not enough clearance on the back between the gear and the casting to get 2 arms of a generic gear puller in place.

[rusty2078]

And I have no idea why the pics keep getting posted sideways...