Author Topic: rosewood's cb550F restomod - damage repair and frame mods/welding-the fun stuff  (Read 8660 times)

0 Members and 7 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline denward17

  • Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,021
That looks really good!

What rear shocks are you running?

Offline HondaMan

  • Someone took this pic of me before I became a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 15,554
  • ...not my choice, I was nicknamed...
    • Getting 'em Back on the Road
Wow! That looks like it will be as tall as a 750!  :)
See SOHC4shop.com for info about the gadgets I make for these bikes.

The demons are repulsed when a man does good. Use that.
Blood is thicker than water, but motor oil is thicker yet...so, don't mess with my SOHC4, or I might have to hurt you.
Hondaman's creed: "Bikers are family. Treat them accordingly."

Link to Hondaman Ignition: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67543.0

Link to My CB750 Book: https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=my+cb750+book
Link to My CB500/CB550 Book: https://www.lulu.com/search?sortBy=RELEVANCE&page=1&q=my+cb550+book&pageSize=10&adult_audience_rating=00
Link to website: https://sohc4shop.com/  (Note: no longer at www.SOHC4shop.com, moved off WWW. in 2024).

Offline rosewood

  • Hot Shot
  • ***
  • Posts: 281
That looks really good!

What rear shocks are you running?

Thanks, they are vintage koni's 76F 1302's.

Here is a thread I posted years ago when I rebuilt a set for the 750's these ones were rebuilt the same but powder coated.

 http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,173257.0.html

Offline rb550four

  • Old Timer
  • ******
  • Posts: 2,541
  • I'm nobody's slave and nobody's master
   I just caught up to this thread , there is some nice work going on here. Thanks for the great pictures too.
A few Honda 500's, a few Honda 550's, a few Honda 650's, '72 cb 450, a couple 500/550/650 hybrids, and 2001 750. 
  550 Snowbike -Somebody had to do it.
  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,101678.0.html             
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,137317.msg1550907.html#msg1550907

Offline Stev-o

  • Ain't no
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 35,303
  • Central Texas
Wow! That looks like it will be as tall as a 750! 

HM - how will this affect handling?
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline rosewood

  • Hot Shot
  • ***
  • Posts: 281
Wow! That looks like it will be as tall as a 750! 

HM - how will this affect handling?

I think these images may have been with the 750 koni's I initially rebuilt (can't quite remember), they are longer and I read peoples comments on handling which was a concern. I did source the correct ones which are on the bike now and same as standard length shocks..

Offline Stev-o

  • Ain't no
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 35,303
  • Central Texas
Wow! That looks like it will be as tall as a 750! 

HM - how will this affect handling?

I think these images may have been with the 750 koni's I initially rebuilt (can't quite remember), they are longer and I read peoples comments on handling which was a concern. I did source the correct ones which are on the bike now and same as standard length shocks..

Ok, good....
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline rosewood

  • Hot Shot
  • ***
  • Posts: 281
Well its been a minute since my last post...apologies but we sold our home last year and finally managed to secure a new place late last year and have been in the process of moving and getting ourselves sorted still. The bike was put in storage early last year while we prepared to sell so its great to finally have it back in my possession at our new place. One downside is that my new garage/workshop has been significantly downsized which will make working on the bike a bit harder but will just have to be a bit more organized. The upside is we moved out of the city so if this bike ever gets on the road again there will be some nice open roads to be ridden on.

Just trying to remember where I left off...I think the bike was finally coming together, there was still some electrical things to sort out and i was slowly working through them as well as some other final details to at least get the bike running again for the first time.

I cant remember if I mentioned earlier but I reached to Daggless888 on this forum who is also from NZ. He kindly sold me some excess parts from his builds and sent them up...(front fender, tank, rear hub, controls etc..) If you are reading Daggless thanks again. I used the controls to help rebuild mine and powder coated the front fender as you see in the images.

The bike was finally ready to fire up again after the rebuild, I was anxious and double/triple checked everything which I will talk about in the next post. hopefully sooner than later..

Thanks for reading if I still have your attention...




Offline BenelliSEI

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 12,275
  • 1969 cb750
Welcome back and looking great!!

Offline denward17

  • Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,021
Still following, it's looking great, can't wait to see it finished!

Offline newday777

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 7,245
  • Avatar is my 76 K6 in Colorado w/Cody on back 1980
Congratulations on the new digs
Stu
Honda Parts manager in the mid 1970s Nashua Honda
My current rides
1975 K5 Planet Blue my summer ride, it was a friend's bike I worked with at the Honda shop in 76, lots of fun to be on it again
1976 K6 Anteres Red rebuilding project, was originally my brother's that I set up from the crate, it'll breath again soon!
Project 750s, 1 K2, 4 K6, 1 K8, 1 F1, 1 F3
2008 GL1800 my daily ride and cross country runner

Prior bikes....
1972 Suzuki GT380 I had charge of it for a year in 1973 while my friend was deployed and learned to love street riding....
New CB450 K7 after my friend returned...
New CB750 K5 Planet Blue, demise by ex cousin in law at 9,000 miles...
New CB750 K6 Anteres Red, to replace the totaled K5, I sold this K6 at 45k in 1983, I had heavily modified it, many great memories on it and have missed it greatly.....
1983 GL1100A, 1999 GL1500 SE, 1999 GL1500A

Offline Stev-o

  • Ain't no
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 35,303
  • Central Texas
We're watching...BTW - what ohms are the Dyna coils?  5 is recommended, 3 may put unnecessary load on the alternator.
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline MauiK3

  • A K3 is saved
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 5,320
  • Old guy
Yes, looks very nice.
Dumb question, what is the wrapping on the headers for? I've never thought about it. Keeps some heat away from nearby parts?
1973 CB 750 K3
10/72 build Z1 Kawasaki

Offline rosewood

  • Hot Shot
  • ***
  • Posts: 281
We're watching...BTW - what ohms are the Dyna coils?  5 is recommended, 3 may put unnecessary load on the alternator.

They are 3ohms and came with the bike from the PO, if you look closely there is also a resistor pack/kit from Hondaman to effectively convert them to 5ohm...

Offline rosewood

  • Hot Shot
  • ***
  • Posts: 281
Yes, looks very nice.
Dumb question, what is the wrapping on the headers for? I've never thought about it. Keeps some heat away from nearby parts?

In 'theory' they are meant to help with insulation and keep the exhaust gases hotter which increases exhaust gas velocity for better performance. In a car yes also helps keep engine bay temperatures down. I am not sure it will make any real world difference here and they also have some cons. These headers were quite dented up and I needed to do some welding repairs and mods to fit the muffler the way I did, it just helps hide the damage to the headers which is why I did it. Aesthetically its personal taste, I'm sure many will hate it, kind of an old school cafe look. If my headers were in better condition I wouldn't have wrapped them..

Offline rosewood

  • Hot Shot
  • ***
  • Posts: 281
Prior to firing this thing up I had rebuilt the original 069a carb via ultrasonic cleaner etc...a couple of the carb bodies had corrosion on the main jet post. The PO also supplied keyster kits and I had also picked up some NOS pilot jets (38's) and mainjets (100's) from Harusluv from the group early on. All my stock brass was in bad shape but i managed to rebuild the carb with the jets mentioned above (factory 550f is 98's but were told these would be close enough). Fuel valves I had a hard time getting to seal and I had to resort to using a couple from the keyster kits and a couple of the originals. The rest of the carb was as factory and factory settings bench sync'd etc. Used the o-rings from the kits also from memory.

I had installed spectrum mineral oil in the engine and primed with a impact driver on the alternator crank side, I remember having to brace the oil galley plug on that side with a piece of ali plate as there was no cover holding it in, first attempt blew the plug out once the oil pressure built!) oil light was going off and it appeared to have good oil pressure. The oil pump had all been rebuilt with new o rings.

Static timing was done with a NOS ignition plate. Nos air filter, tappets adjusted etc, I felt I had done everything correctly. The moment came to finally hit the start button..To my surprise after a few turns it fired up and seemed run ok! I played around with a bit but found after revving the idle would hang and not come down easily. I didn't want to let it run too long like this but knew there were a few gremlins to still sort out. After checking the plugs all four were covered in black soot and it seemed to be running overly rich especially at idle. It also started leaking fuel from the carb overflow tube/s so i new id have to also do something about the fuel valves still.

Here are a couple of vids of the initial start up i uploaded to youtube back then. The second one was uploaded to my instagram account..









Offline Stev-o

  • Ain't no
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 35,303
  • Central Texas
Here are a couple of vids of the initial start up i uploaded to youtube back then.

Sounds good, I'd be riding it!
'74 "Big Bang" Honda 750K [836].....'76 Honda 550F.....K3 Park Racer!......and a Bomber!............plus plus plus.........

Offline MauiK3

  • A K3 is saved
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 5,320
  • Old guy
Sounds very nice, really making some progress!!
1973 CB 750 K3
10/72 build Z1 Kawasaki