Topic: My $300 77 CB550F Project

[chesterburnet111]

I picked up a second rotor. The existing caliper was nasty so I bought 2 new ones and an extra bracket.  I sent my rotors out to Truedisc spoke to the owner. They grind them rather then cut them and claim that it's a much better surface. I'm having them ground from 7 mm to 6. He also drills them. I told him I want as many holes as possible. He said he'll make em look like swiss cheese.

I'm using the Motogadget speedo set up and eliminating the mechanical one. I got a blank out cover. I thought I saw somebody say that you need a spacer if you do this. I was wondering if anyone knows if I do and what to use as a spacer.   


I spent a few hours this week sanding the front hub. Sanding metal is very tedious but the polished hubs are worth it. Hopefully I can get the polishing done this weekend and build the wheel. Then it's on to building new forks. I plan on assembling the entire front end and then pack it away and move on to another area.

[seanbarney41]

Once again....Godfrey's Garage has the speedo elimination parts you need plus trick goodies to make your dual disc set up easy (without them it is harder than it looks! believe me I have done them) and yes he does grind the discs, not cut them (I don't believe many will try to cut these as they are extremely hard and would require relatively exotic tooling)and has any hole pattern you can imagine...

[chesterburnet111]

I finished building and truing the front wheel. It took about a quarter of the time the rear did. I bought a Tusk truing stand and it's paid for itself even if I never use it again. Surprisingly, truing wheels is pretty easy. I had the 2 discs machined....took a MM off the thickness and had them drilled. I'll get them back tomorrow and then I'm on to building a new set of forks. It's satisfying to move beyond cleaning and refinishing old parts. In a lot of cases I've just bought new.

[chesterburnet111]

What is the best black rattle can paint for small parts. 

[Godffery]

What is the best black rattle can paint for small parts.

Eastwood sells a 2K Paint in a Rattle can. It has a special design can with a built in chamber for the activator. It's a bit pricey but will hold up to oils and solvents. Standard Rattle Can paint will come right off.
 https://www.eastwood.com/search/?q=Eastwood%27s+2K+AeroSpray

[chesterburnet111]

I got my rotors back from Trudisc. He took almost an eight of an inch off the thickness, resurfaced them and drilled them. $274 including tax and shipping. I think they look wicked cool.

[newday777]

I got my rotors back from Trudisc. He took almost an eight of an inch off the thickness, resurfaced them and drilled them. $274 including tax and shipping. I think they look wicked cool.

My 76K6 back in the day got a pair of discs with that pattern and they were great stopping power.

[chesterburnet111]

I got my rotors back from Trudisc. He took almost an eight of an inch off the thickness, resurfaced them and drilled them. $274 including tax and shipping. I think they look wicked cool.

My 76K6 back in the day got a pair of discs with that pattern and they were great stopping power.

Good info to know. Thanks

Are you from Nashua NH area? I used to live in Pelham. Now I'm down in Swansea MA.

[newday777]

Yes in Milford. When summer gets around ride it up to the Milford Bike Night, Wednesday nights at Station 101. It starts at 4pm-9pm. I can even put you up overnight if you want so you don't have to ride back in the dark if you can get away overnight. I have a spare room and can usually find a spot to put your bike in the shop or the garage.
We usually get a good assortment of SOHC Fours and lots of other cool vintage bikes. I'm on my K5 750 most of the time.

[chesterburnet111]

It looks wicked cool seeing the Hondas in the middle of all of the Harleys. I may take you up on the Milford bike night. I doubt I'll have my Honda done by this summer but I have an MT10 that I need little excuse to ride somewhere. 

[newday777]

Cool looking forward to it bro.

[chesterburnet111]

I've attacked the things that seemed like they'd be the most difficult. The motor is done, the wheels are polished out and built. I pulled the forks apart to start building. They are so simple compared to the Ohlins cartridges on my MT10. I have to sand and polish the lower tubes but that's substantially easier then wheel hubs. That will be the last polishing I have to do. The actual polishing is pretty easy....it's the sanding out the nicks and scratches that is tedious and time consuming. It feels like it's all getting a lot easier now. This is not a whole lot more complicated than a motocross bike.

I have a few questions about the dual disc set up for the front wheel. I am doing Motogadget electrical and using their speedometer set up and deleting the stock speedo. I bought a speedometer blank from a company called JW Design about a year ago. It is a nice quality piece but it seems to be designed using the gearbox retainer cover and gear box retainer (#'s 5 & 6). The blank out cover will not sit flush without using the gearbox retainer. It's not going to work together from what I'm seeing. I'm sure the are people that are adding a 2nd disc and doing a speedo drive delete. How did you accomplish this?
     

[newday777]

The speedo drive acts as a spacer so you will need to make a spacer to replace it.
I imagine that there must be some sort of signal for the speed. I haven't gone that route so I  can't really answer your questions on it.

[calj737]

It's not going to work together from what I'm seeing. I'm sure the are people that are adding a 2nd disc and doing a speedo drive delete. How did you accomplish this?   

That’s where SeanBarney was encouraging you to contact Jeff @Godferrets Garage for the blank/spacer pieces you need for a dual disc.

As for the MotoG speed sensor, you can install the sensor opposite the front sprocket bolt beneath the cover for a concealed install. Tricky bit is adjusting it to sit the preferred 4mm distance from the sprocket bolt (you can buy a bolt with a rare earth magnet in it already for ease).

[Godffery]

It's not going to work together from what I'm seeing. I'm sure the are people that are adding a 2nd disc and doing a speedo drive delete. How did you accomplish this?   

That’s where SeanBarney was encouraging you to contact Jeff @Godferrets Garage for the blank/spacer pieces you need for a dual disc.

Hey chesterburnet111, Contact me threw PM and I'll give you my phone number then we can discuss it in detail.

Also here a couple links to my work to give you an idea of what I do: 
 https://www.facebook.com/godfferysgarage
 https://www.instagram.com/godfferysgarage/

[chesterburnet111]

I'm finally in to building the forks. There are a lot of companies selling suspension for vintage motorcycles but most are junk. Then there is the problem of 1 size fits all. It takes a little more digging to find companies that offer the correct stuff. Fortunately Racetech is an excellent source for vintage suspension. I can do Ohlins type cartridges without having to think about it at this point but although the old stuff is simpler, I had to speak to tech support to get some answers on the cartridge emulators today. They were excellent and totally helpful.

I also watched 3 different websites showing how to assemble the forks that come on the CB 550 & 750. Specifically, I was looking for a trick to tighten the screw on the bottom that goes into the damping rod and holds the entire fork together. I'm sure a lot of people have seen videos of people doing wheelies and the lower tube and wheel falls off. 2 of the 3 how toos were young guys and they were tightening the screw into the rod with an impact gun without securing the damping rod. If you don't secure it, then it just spins the rod and you don't get it tightened enough to be sure the bolt won't come out. I also guessed that you should use some type of thread locker. The 3rd video I watched was from Common Motor Collective. The guy that does their videos  addressed the issues that I was looking for. My forks will not fall apart because I listened to idiots. You have to be very careful who you listen to online. There are people out there that seem to be competent and professional that are giving advice and making how to videos that in reality have no clue.

Yesterday I spoke to Jeff from Godffrey's Garage. Glad I did. He gave me a lot of great info. I sent my 2 front brake calipers to him so he can modify them and installs banjo fittings so I can use braided stainless lines. Cool detail. Cool guy.

Today I dropped the top and bottom triple trees, the caliper brackets and a few other parts at the powder coat guy. I'll get them back next week and then I can assemble the entire front end, wrap it in plastic and stick it in the back of the garage while I move on to other parts of this build.

[chesterburnet111]

I guess a lot of people figure that if their forks aren't leaking oil or some major performance issue they're best left alone. I took mine apart and there was still oil in them, but it was brown. The seal retainers where so rusted that they made it difficult to get the seals out. The bottom studs were rusted enough that I don't trust their structural integrity. I bought new studs, retainers and rebound springs. Started sanding out the nicks and dings on the lower tubes so I can polish them out.

I have some questions and hopefully can get some experiences advice here.
1. When I took the forks apart, I found only 1 rebound spring. I don't think the other rolled away but I'm not sure. The Honda manuals don't even 
     show having rebound springs. Are there in fact 2? 
2. I saw a video somewhere about removing studs from forks. I can't find it but figured that if there are any tricks to doing it without wrecking the   
    tubes I want to know them. Any suggestions?
3. Any tips on getting inside the lower tubes cleaned out? 

[newday777]

The longer the fork tubes are left untouched, the results will be like you have found, rusted and corroded parts. Honda has always recommended fork service to be done 2 years maximum to get the best possible working suspension and is known as preventative maintenance......

1. 2 rebound springs, 1 in each fork damper.
2. Double nut tightened together to unscrew the studs. PB Blaster is a good penetrating fluid to bust corrosion loose, a little heat helps too.
3. Bottle brush for the bore size, use a powered parts cleaner or spray in brake cleaner.

[calj737]

2. I saw a video somewhere about removing studs from forks. I can't find it but figured that if there are any tricks to doing it without wrecking the tubes I want to know them. Any suggestions?

The best and proper way is to use a stud puller. It essentially slides over the shank, much closer to the bottom of the stud than the threads, and grips the stud. You can find/buy one online and for every stud I have ever removed, I have never bent nor sheared one yet. Use ample heat on the fork leg. Propane is fine, MAPP is better.

When you reinstall, use green LocTite.

[chesterburnet111]

2. I saw a video somewhere about removing studs from forks. I can't find it but figured that if there are any tricks to doing it without wrecking the tubes I want to know them. Any suggestions?

The best and proper way is to use a stud puller. It essentially slides over the shank, much closer to the bottom of the stud than the threads, and grips the stud. You can find/buy one online and for every stud I have ever removed, I have never bent nor sheared one yet. Use ample heat on the fork leg. Propane is fine, MAPP is better.

When you reinstall, use green LocTite.

Any suggestion as far as a specific type brand. There are quite a few different types for sale online.
The longer I work on motorcycles, the more colors I find out that Locktite makes.

[chesterburnet111]

I got the studs out without much problem. I bought a stud remover but didn't open it as I tried my brothers method, 2 nuts tightened against each other, a wrench and a Vice grip, heat and PB Blaster and they spun out fairly easily. Very few things have disassembled without being a minor ordeal. I got 1 leg polished and need to finish the other and I can start putting the front end together. I am not doing anything original or that hasn't been done before but I have a nice combination of new parts and old style.   

[calj737]

When you reassemble the forks onto the wheel, take note of the axle clamp. It has a front and a rear orientation. There should be a small gap to the rear of the bike and the “dot” on the bottom is facing front.

[chesterburnet111]

When you reassemble the forks onto the wheel, take note of the axle clamp. It has a front and a rear orientation. There should be a small gap to the rear of the bike and the “dot” on the bottom is facing front.

TY. I really appreciate how the old timers on this site stay active and throw out tips and tricks. Thanks.

[alexZan]

Hey guys, quick question...The headlight on my '77 cb550k isnt working. Im reading only 6volts at the bullet connectors terminating at the headlight. Any ideas why I am not getting 12?
Thanks in advance!

[calj737]

Hey guys, quick question...The headlight on my '77 cb550k isnt working. Im reading only 6volts at the bullet connectors terminating at the headlight. Any ideas why I am not getting 12?
Thanks in advance!

Bad battery. Poor ground.