Author Topic: Cb550 Hooligan  (Read 3769 times)

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Offline Wreckitralph54

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Re: Cb550 Hooligan
« Reply #50 on: August 05, 2022, 12:02:42 PM »
Man, just getting caught up on this. I love it.
 Have you considered a KZ style tailpiece? There are boxy, square-ish ones and longer, boat tail ones. Either would look great,  IMO.

No I always envisioned making my own. I didn’t intend on it being boxy but I’m limited on the tools I have. I need a shrinker/stretcher to give the radius edges I want for the tail. So I’ll end up making a entire new piece. And when I do I’ll post it on here

I'm not a super matchy-match person, but if you do make a new tail, it would be cool to have the paint and maybe some of the graphics continue onto it.

Honestly that’s the plan and put my number on it

Offline tshrey

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Re: Cb550 Hooligan
« Reply #51 on: September 13, 2022, 07:22:38 AM »
Are you riding that without a front brake and only a drum rear?  That is bold.  Where I live it would be suicidal.

Offline SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan

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Re: Cb550 Hooligan
« Reply #52 on: September 13, 2022, 08:41:05 AM »
Are you riding that without a front brake and only a drum rear?  That is bold.  Where I live it would be suicidal.
For me, I would die, too, given the efficacy of the stock Honda rear drum brake.  I have a buddy that lives in Denver who for many years rode a Yamaha XS650 with only a rear brake - in the winter weather too.  So, I tip my hat to Wreckitralph54 if that's enough for him!
1975 CB550K1 "Blue" Stockish Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135005.0)
1975 CB550F1 frame/CB650 engine hybrid "The Hot Mess" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,150220.0.html)
2008 Triumph Thruxton (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,190956.0.html)
2014 MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800
2015 Yamaha FZ-09 (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,186861.0.html)

"There are some things nobody needs in this world, and a bright-red, hunch-back, warp-speed 900cc cafe racer is one of them — but I want one anyway, and on some days I actually believe I need one.... Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba." Hunter S. Thompson, Song of the Sausage Creature, Cycle World, March 1995.  (http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html and https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1995/3/1/song-of-the-sausage-creature)

Sold/Emeritus
1973 CB750K2 "Bionic Mongrel" (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=132734.0) - Sold
1977 CB750K7 "Nine Lives" Restomod (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=50490.0) - Sold
2005 RVT1000RR RC51-SP2 "El Diablo" - Sold
2016+ Triumph Thruxton 1200 R (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,170198.0.html) - Sold

Offline Wreckitralph54

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Re: Cb550 Hooligan
« Reply #53 on: September 25, 2022, 04:19:49 PM »
Are you riding that without a front brake and only a drum rear?  That is bold.  Where I live it would be suicidal.
I have a entire new front brake system that I will be installing. Bike still isn't completely finished.

Offline Wreckitralph54

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Re: Cb550 Hooligan
« Reply #54 on: January 28, 2024, 10:27:42 PM »
Posting an update on the cb, thank [mention]Gurp [/mention]since he gave me the motivation. I hadn’t done much on the bike since the last push for born free. Recently I had a flat track race in Huntington Beach which was the moto beach classic. I had a great time and the bike was not competitive as expected but it got a lot of attention and was the only vintage Honda at the race. Yesterday I ran the bike at the mooneyes New Year’s party at irwindale dragstrip. I had to do some maintenance before so I’ll list that off and show some photos.
After the flat track race I noticed the bike felt loose and down on power. I did some research and went up on my jets (115 to 125) it helped after I pulled off the air cleaners.
Went ahead and installed new wheel bearings, swing arm bushings, rear shocks and shock bushings. I wanted to take the extra step so I installed a steering stabilizer. After all that the bike feels way better. I noticed the front tire I have on the bike wouldn’t mount properly so I threw a spare front wheel assembly that I had laying around and it all worked out and I’m starting to like the mismatched wheels.

Irwindale is a 1/8 mile track so my first pass was a 10.62 @ 61 mph. Then after plug change, carb sync and air pods removed my best run was a 10.03 @ 65 mph.

The bike is nearing completion. I’m just taking all the necessary steps to make sure this old machine is good to go.
Other parts I installed was a used set of forks since my last set were mismatched. 37 tooth sprocket and completely new front brake system with a drilled rotor. I tried honing and rebuilding my original master cylinder twice, but it kept leaking so I used another master cylinder from the spare front assembly.











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Offline Gurp

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Re: Cb550 Hooligan
« Reply #55 on: January 28, 2024, 10:46:55 PM »
Saw your stories on Instagram look like the bike was running and sounding good. Glad to see you post again. Would love to see you post about some of the other cool things you post we've got a section in the forum for pretty much everything. Keep on keeping on buddy!

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slow Progress 74 cb550.

Poor boy chop 73 CB500 chop

Future project 77 Cb750 Amen Savior