Author Topic: CB550 Cafe Interceptor - Gentleman's Roadster (Read 506347 times)

FunJimmy · « **Reply #325 on:** October 06, 2012, 02:57:03 PM »

Although a good protector, I often thought the front fender looked a bit heavy for a lean Cafe Racer, so out came the saw.

\

After a couple of creative cocktails, I think it turned out quite well.

Dimitri13 · « **Reply #326 on:** October 06, 2012, 04:07:14 PM »

Lookin nice Jimmy!

I ended up selling off my R6 front end because the bearings were unavailable for a while and the bearing shop couldn't help me out. By the time they were being sold again, I had already sold most of the parts :/

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #327 on:** October 06, 2012, 04:07:47 PM »

Looks good Jimmy....

brandEn · « **Reply #328 on:** October 06, 2012, 04:39:21 PM »

Yup, I like it better trimmed up like that. Lookin good!

Syscrush · « **Reply #329 on:** October 09, 2012, 07:12:33 AM »

Love this bike. The new cut on the fender is looking awesome.

Now, ask me what I think of the red tappet covers.

RAFster122s · « **Reply #330 on:** October 09, 2012, 10:06:55 PM »

Quote from: FunJimmy on October 09, 2012, 08:03:02 AM

Quote from: Syscrush on October 09, 2012, 07:12:33 AM
Love this bike. The new cut on the fender is looking awesome.

Now, ask me what I think of the red tappet covers.

Where does it end!
First the blue caliper caps, then the excess caliper mount and now what?
Tappet covers?

W ell let me tell you Mr. Syscrush, stay tuned and one of the three will be resolved come spring.

Cheers
FJ

You going to add some blue or red anodized cap head bolts to the fork's unused caliper mounts?

Did you find an anodizer who could match the blue in your paint for a new set of valve adjustment caps? Or, is he matching the caliper's blue anodizing?

The FZ6 quad piston calipers used a silver anodized screw(?) In the caliper instead of the blue anodized part...
Maybe Syscrush can buy you one of them to modify and send you the rebuild kit for it as well.

I love FJ's Cafe Interceptor.

You Canucks should settle this on the ice...

David

Syscrush · « **Reply #331 on:** October 11, 2012, 05:23:04 AM »

I never thought there was anything wrong with the fender until you cut it down and it looked so much better.

That's why you've got such and awesome bike.

But god damn I hate those blue caliper caps.

lucky · « **Reply #332 on:** October 13, 2012, 05:20:50 PM »

I love the made up names..."cafe interceptor" Sort of like, " Laid back, but aggressive"

??

Like "street fighter" Ken at Cycle -X says. "Build a street fighter and go look for a fight." LOL..lol

FunJimmy · « **Reply #333 on:** October 13, 2012, 09:25:26 PM »

Quote from: lucky on October 13, 2012, 05:20:50 PM

I love the made up names..."cafe interceptor" Sort of like, " Laid back, but aggressive"??

Like "street fighter" Ken at Cycle -X says. "Build a street fighter and go look for a fight." LOL..lol

Funny, I never thought of it like that.
I always liked the Honda VF750F Interceptor and chose the colours based on that.
The Interceptor tag wasn't given to the bike until February 28th 1009 (page 4) after final paint.

Hence, Cafe Interceptor.

Thanks for the chuckles

FJ

FunJimmy · « **Reply #334 on:** October 14, 2012, 04:36:08 PM »

Well, it's the end of another great motorcycle season on the Interceptor and the fun hasn't let up yet.
If you've been following along you will have seen the lessons learned on the dyno and later with my cam/rocker issues.
All good lessons, but a PITA too.

I also had time for a few minor tweaks mainly to the suspension settings and the front fender.

The bike is working great, so what better time than now to mess up the formula.

Maybe that's overstating it a bit, cause you won't see major changes to the appearance of the bike, but I hope to feel big changes in the performance.

Greggo scored me this Über rare billet NOS Yoshimura Daytona camshaft and my first thought was just drop it in and go but after reading the cam specs I realized it might benefit from having a bit higher CR and more displacement.

FunJimmy · « **Reply #335 on:** October 14, 2012, 04:59:01 PM »

I've got this 550 engine that I purchased quite a while ago sitting under the bench.
The fella I bought it from assured me that it only had some 4000 miles on it before being stored all these years.
Got a bridge for sale, I could use one of them too.
Anyhow, I pulled it out the other day to clean it up and get a better look at it.

After a good exterior cleaning to ensure no crud gets inside, I pulled the oil pan and clutch cover and the oil that flowed out was remarkably clean.

I know this isn't a measure of usage, but it gave some hope that the story may have merit.
Digging deeper into the top end found very little indication of wear at all.
I pulled the cam, head and cylinders to find the rings and bore in great shape.
Once the circlips where removed the piston pins slid right out with just my little finger.
Even the cylinder studs came out without to much of a fight.

I'm feeling like this is going to be a great platform for my next Interceptor engine.

TwoTired · « **Reply #336 on:** October 14, 2012, 05:04:04 PM »

The timing of the yosh cam looks like it should add 1 or 2 thousand RPM to red line, and it will not help low RPM power (Tag doesn't state what the lift is). The RPM increase usually means stiffer valve springs will be required, and probably titanium retainer/keepers. With a higher CR the pistons may be pretty close to the valves making less tolerance for valve float.

...Just some thoughts...

Oh, and with the higher RPM, expect to do ring jobs more often.

Good luck!

Tews19 · « **Reply #337 on:** October 14, 2012, 08:07:50 PM »

FJ- that engine looks spotless inside! Are you going to keep the same paint scheme or change it up with the engine build?

Dimitri13 · « **Reply #338 on:** October 15, 2012, 01:13:37 AM »

Jimmy, have you decided on whether or not you're going to go for bigger displacement and higher CR? If so, you going with Dynoman parts?

That engine looks mighty clean. How's the primary chain slack in there?

FunJimmy · « **Reply #339 on:** October 20, 2012, 06:06:17 PM »

End of season photos before I strip the head off and send it out to MRieck for some more magic.

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #340 on:** October 20, 2012, 08:26:12 PM »

Great shots Jimmy, it looks like Honda's version of the Triumph Thruxton...

mazen0822 · « **Reply #341 on:** October 21, 2012, 05:54:55 AM »

Jimmy the bike looks great. Love the way the front fender came out. Your bike is truly an inspiration.

FunJimmy · « **Reply #342 on:** April 09, 2013, 01:52:18 PM »

Before I button it all up for the summer, I'm going to try some POR-15 engine enamel on the head and valve cover.

**WARNING** Do not use POR-15 on engine components. Engine heat causes serious discoloration.

brandEn · « **Reply #343 on:** April 09, 2013, 04:55:43 PM »

I have a top end I need to paint. I will be looking forward to your results. Tige used Por-15 on his scrambler and loved it.

FunJimmy · « **Reply #344 on:** April 15, 2013, 05:45:16 PM »

For aluminum engines, POR-15 Engine enamel is a two stage paint process.

The first stage is applying Prep & Ready to etch the surface while simultaneously leaving a zinc phosphate coating to ensure chemical bonding of the paint.
This is a pretty easy, but time consuming stage as the parts must be rinsed and bone dry prior to applying the enamel.
Thankfully my wife didn’t object to me using the oven as a dryer.

FunJimmy · « **Reply #345 on:** April 15, 2013, 06:04:41 PM »

According to the people at POR-15, their engine enamel is a premium quality high solids enamel that offers better coverage and durability that other paints.
This is a fairly thick product and there is nothing in the instructions that suggest it can be spray applied so I went at it with a 2” bristle brush. Aluminum (metallic) paint is very difficult to apply evenly at the best of times and metering the amount of paint to maximize coverage and minimize paint runs is nearly impossible with a brush on a part with so many nooks, crannies and crevices.

Notice how streaky the first coat looks on the smooth valve cover?

FunJimmy · « **Reply #346 on:** April 15, 2013, 06:11:13 PM »

Things start to look and feel a whole lot better with a second coat. I especially like the way this paint looks and feels on cast parts like the head, but not on smooth surfaces like the valve cover. If you chose a solid colour like black or can get it thinned sufficiently to apply with a sprayer, I think it would be an awesome paint system.

I’ll leave it on the head and will consider using POR-15 on other cast engine components, but the valve cover will get striped, etched with Prep & Ready and sprayed with Duplicolor.

Results may vary!

brandEn · « **Reply #347 on:** April 15, 2013, 06:18:45 PM »

Thanks for the update Jim. So you think brushing this on the finned components like the head and cylinders is the way to go? Also seems like the temps are kinda low today to be painting. Could that have affected anything?

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #348 on:** April 15, 2013, 06:21:27 PM »

You can spray it Jim, at work, we use high solid epoxy paints every week , roll, brush and spray....

Godffery · « **Reply #349 on:** April 15, 2013, 07:37:22 PM »

I spray it all the time; thin it with this:

http://www.por15.com/SOLVENT/productinfo/SVQ/

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Author Topic: CB550 Cafe Interceptor - Gentleman's Roadster (Read 506347 times)