Topic: Famous Last Words: "I'll never own a bagger"

[Doobie]

I've always owned sporty bikes and could never see myself rolling on a bike with a huge honking fairing, saddlebags, top box, and certainly not with a radio. But, then I saw this '78 CB550 and immediately fell in love with its old-school cool vibe. The bike has only 6430 mi and it's a cream puff. Paint and chrome need a good clean and polish but there are no dents or scratches. I'm not sure what I'll do with it just yet -- I just like looking at the way things once were.

[Stev-o]

It actually looks pretty good, but how much does all that weigh?

Whenever I bought a bike with a fairing, taking it off was the first thing I did!

[caluser2000]

I would'd call that a bagger. It is just set up for comfortable long distance touring.

Looks like it is in bloody good condition.

[Doobie]

It actually looks pretty good, but how much does all that weigh?

Whenever I bought a bike with a fairing, taking it off was the first thing I did!

It sure looks like it weighs about the same as a full-grown panda. I'll find out when I take it off to go through the bike. I don't know if I'll put the stuff back on.

[Don R]

 I have a gl1000 with a Vetter setup, I've ridden it 960 miles in a day 4 times and like the Windjammer trim. I do remove the bags most of the time, they quick connect and the trunk lives on a shelf holding my gl1000 spares.  All that said, none of my 750's have fairings.

[Kevnz]

Guy I know bought a 550K fitted with an old 70's police fairing, big ugly old thing. The first thing he was going to do was remove it, but he was stunned at how well it and the bike performed when fitted with it. To this day it remains, he's not too worried abot aesthetics.

[robvangulik]

Function over form works for me every time

[Doobie]

Looks like it is in bloody good condition.

It really is! I've seen a lot of CBs over the years, and this is the nicest one I've seen in a long time. Paint and chrome are excellent, which are the first things I look at when I buy an old bike.

[Alan F.]

The fairing, frame mounting bracket, radio & speakers probably tip the scale around 30lbs. The rear bags are likely in the same neighborhood.

I'll warn you though, if you get used to riding with a little storage space you'll never go back.

[craz1]

Yes that is old school for sure. I worked in a custom shop in the early seventies to early eighties and we sold thousands of the Vetter fairings and bags and other brands. Most of the bikes I have restored had Vetter fairings on them. I used to try and sell them with no luck, now they get cut right down the middle and to the trash. Those things were heavy. Nice looking bike

Looks like the original tires