Topic: rebirth of a cb550 road racer

[turboguzzi]

Hei Paul

thanks for the extra pics. could be nice to see better the manifolds as you seem to have the same carbs that I do.

Some extreme shock angle!

Last, if you'll get to race it, then you'll see that there aint such thing as "not so sure how seriously" ;-) , at least from my experience..... What rubber does it have?

TG

[paulages]

Hei Paul

thanks for the extra pics. could be nice to see better the manifolds as you seem to have the same carbs that I do.

Some extreme shock angle!

Last, if you'll get to race it, then you'll see that there aint such thing as "not so sure how seriously" ;-) , at least from my experience..... What rubber does it have?

TG

yeah, to tell you the truth i have a hard time doing anything less than seriously.  like i say, "overdo it, or don't do it at all..."

i'll give you some tire specs after i go to my shop tonight. i'll try to get a picture of the manifolds too.

[pdxPope]

rode it around the block today at the shop...missing two stacks, and won't run too well in an "around the block" kind of way.  need to go totally illegal and take it up the half-mile strip just a bit farther. 

In that torrential downpour we had today??? Yikes!!

-JP

it was clear skies all day in my part of town.

It rained like a pig over here in outer SE. In fact parts of Johnson Creek decided to get out of bed & take as little stroll down Foster.
Glad you had better luck.

What part of town is this mystical shop of yours in?



-JP

[paulages]

i'm in NE, near widmer. you must've mis-read the day i posted it or something, cause all day tuesday it was blue skies.. break in the storm i guess. how about that first ever hurricane warning in oregon? wow, sign of things to come i guess...

[kayaker43]

That double chain idler setup was an attempt to create a parallelagram and isolate the chain pull form the suspension action. I think it was called "ATAK" or something and invented by Horst Leitner??

Love the look of that tank..

Brings back memories, I also raced a cb590 in the late 70's. Mine had a single shock rising rate rear suspension like Bimota and a single disc twin caliper front brake with mechanical anti dive linkage. Oh yeah,, I use a "pro-squat" rear brake linkage that actually cause the rear to squat slightly while the front held level under braking.

I also use Z1 carbs,.. Yosh cam, headers, and CR trans. I still have several motors and may re-create it some day. I looked at vintage racing a while back but the classes only allowed a mostly stock bike,.. too boring! Time to see if the rules have changed??

[pdxPope]

i'm in NE, near widmer. you must've mis-read the day i posted it or something, cause all day tuesday it was blue skies.. break in the storm i guess. how about that first ever hurricane warning in oregon? wow, sign of things to come i guess...

Yeah, crazy! And I heard something about 40' swells out of Astoria. Man, that's a lot of water. (Maybe instrad of Arizona Bay, Maynard should have said 'Idaho Bay')

Yeah, I know the area. Interesting mix: Trendy Martini Bar meets Homeless Crackhead. But hey, that's Portland, eh?

Anyway, back to the bike... So were you serious about making more of those seat/cowl combos???

I'm putting my 500 back together, and kinda stuck on what to do about the back end (and MY back end, too.)

[paulages]

i'm in NE, near widmer. you must've mis-read the day i posted it or something, cause all day tuesday it was blue skies.. break in the storm i guess. how about that first ever hurricane warning in oregon? wow, sign of things to come i guess...

Yeah, crazy! And I heard something about 40' swells out of Astoria. Man, that's a lot of water. (Maybe instrad of Arizona Bay, Maynard should have said 'Idaho Bay')

Yeah, I know the area. Interesting mix: Trendy Martini Bar meets Homeless Crackhead. But hey, that's Portland, eh?

Anyway, back to the bike... So were you serious about making more of those seat/cowl combos???

I'm putting my 500 back together, and kinda stuck on what to do about the back end (and MY back end, too.)

you know, surprisingly i see little of the meth-head contingent on our block. i love that it's still seedy, though... keeps our rent down and the yuppies off our back. i do see broken car-window glass on the street sometimes after blazers games though.

yes, i'm serious about making more of the seats-- tanks too. i just have to finish fabricating my english wheel, and my funds are just spread way too thin. actually, to tell you the truth i have everything to start production but the anvils themselves which aren't all that expensive. i hope to finish it here in the next couple months.

[pdxPope]

Sweet! This may be the makings of a beautiful fiendship...

X-Ma$$ has me also a little strapped for cash (some ridiculous idea about 'presents for the kids', whatever ) but hopefully about the time you are ready to go into production I'll have heavier pockets.
 
So are you an actual 'motorcycle shop'-shop? I didn't think there was anyone left here in town that worked on these, ahem, antiques professionally.

Any chance I could swing by sometime & check out the operation?

-JP

[paulages]

not a public shop-- besides my own projects, i just put together or fix up bikes to sell to pay for my own addictions (too many projects). i do occasionally work on other people's bikes, but i don't usually stray from the 70's hondas. i'm currently doing a bottom up build for joe (who the racer came from), . i'll PM you my number is you want to swing by sometime.

[bill440cars]

         Man, That 550 Racer looks and sounds like it should be an Awesome ride!    The work that's gone into it is really something!


          Joe's Street Bike sounds like it's going to be something else, in it's own right!

           Can't wait to see and hear more about both bikes!


                                  Later on, Bill

haven't heard from you in a while, bill.. good to "see" you!

            I've had a number of things going on and had gotten sidetracked. I intended to keep up with the things going on here and the folks involved. Will, it hurt if I ask how the 550/650 hybrid is going?   Too late, I've already asked.   I hope to stay in touch on this one too! I haven't made hardly any progress on my 77' CB550 Cafe, because my plate's been pretty full for a bit. I think things are slowly coming around though. Good to "see' you too, take care.

                                         Later on, Bill

[paulages]

         Man, That 550 Racer looks and sounds like it should be an Awesome ride!    The work that's gone into it is really something!


          Joe's Street Bike sounds like it's going to be something else, in it's own right!

           Can't wait to see and hear more about both bikes!


                                  Later on, Bill

haven't heard from you in a while, bill.. good to "see" you!

            I've had a number of things going on and had gotten sidetracked. I intended to keep up with the things going on here and the folks involved. Will, it hurt if I ask how the 550/650 hybrid is going?   Too late, I've already asked.   I hope to stay in touch on this one too! I haven't made hardly any progress on my 77' CB550 Cafe, because my plate's been pretty full for a bit. I think things are slowly coming around though. Good to "see' you too, take care.

                                         Later on, Bill

it's coming along, bill, albeit slowly. couple really minor details for my machinist to finish, then it's rebuild time, but i'm at his mercy. over a year since i dropped the stuff off to begin with.  he's a good guy though, and his quality of work and cheap price will be worth it in the end, i think. still have to buy all of the wear-items for the rebuild too...

[agiyo]

On the street CB550/650 bike, I'm currently debating with myself which of my CB650 engines to use.  I have an aluminum one and a black one from a CB650SC, both said to have been low-mile bikes but neither of which I've seen running.  I'm currently thinking that as long as they're both on the floor, I'll pull the top ends and see which one's better, re-ring and do a valve/port job as needed, then maybe put the black jugs on the aluminum lower end for a really trad look.

I'm considering retro-style to the extent of using alloy fenders, especially if Paul will pound out an aluminum cowl seat for it.  Kind of a CB AJS, if you will, with the option of going back to the nicely padded seat on a stock pan I have, for longer trips.

A question now pending is whether we can get this thing under 400 lb with full street equipment.  Might not, but it's going to be pretty close and will certainly be fun.

Joe C

[bill440cars]

   
            I've had a number of things going on and had gotten sidetracked. I intended to keep up with the things going on here and the folks involved. Will, it hurt if I ask how the 550/650 hybrid is going?   Too late, I've already asked.   I hope to stay in touch on this one too! I haven't made hardly any progress on my 77' CB550 Cafe, because my plate's been pretty full for a bit. I think things are slowly coming around though. Good to "see' you too, take care.

                                         Later on, Bill

it's coming along, bill, albeit slowly. couple really minor details for my machinist to finish, then it's rebuild time, but i'm at his mercy. over a year since i dropped the stuff off to begin with.  he's a good guy though, and his quality of work and cheap price will be worth it in the end, i think. still have to buy all of the wear-items for the rebuild too...
[/quote]

           Hey, sometimes ya gotta go with the flow, huh? If the flow is slow ( but quality work and decent price is involved and I know that helps make the wait worth it ) I'll bet you are more anxious that I am (and I'm pretty anxious myself) to see the end result of all that work! I'm wishing you Major Luck with that rebuild!

                                 Later on, Bill

[bill440cars]

On the street CB550/650 bike, I'm currently debating with myself which of my CB650 engines to use.  I have an aluminum one and a black one from a CB650SC, both said to have been low-mile bikes but neither of which I've seen running.  I'm currently thinking that as long as they're both on the floor, I'll pull the top ends and see which one's better, re-ring and do a valve/port job as needed, then maybe put the black jugs on the aluminum lower end for a really trad look.

I'm considering retro-style to the extent of using alloy fenders, especially if Paul will pound out an aluminum cowl seat for it.  Kind of a CB AJS, if you will, with the option of going back to the nicely padded seat on a stock pan I have, for longer trips.

A question now pending is whether we can get this thing under 400 lb with full street equipment.  Might not, but it's going to be pretty close and will certainly be fun.

Joe C

          Okay Joe, now you've done it, you know we're gonna expect updates on what you've got going with yours too, don'tcha? Might say most of us are Suckers for UpDates!

                                  Later on, Bill

[scunny]

black top silver bottom 650, ask and yee shall receive

[bill440cars]

black top silver bottom 650, ask and yee shall receive

           scunny, That is one mighty Fine looking motor!


                                   Later on, Bill  

[pdxPope]

i'll PM you my number is you want to swing by sometime.

Sure.
From the sounds of it, there is an entire local SOHC network I never knew existed!
(My wife is always telling me I need to make some grown-up friends  )

Or e-mail me directly, if you want. (Throbbing_taco@yahoo.com)

-JP

[paulages]

i'll PM you my number is you want to swing by sometime.

Sure.
From the sounds of it, there is an entire local SOHC network I never knew existed!
(My wife is always telling me I need to make some grown-up friends  )

Or e-mail me directly, if you want. (Throbbing_taco@yahoo.com)

-JP

don't know much about a network, but between myself and the 6 people i share my garage with there are about 30 CB's in my garage!

[bill440cars]

i'll PM you my number is you want to swing by sometime.

Sure.
From the sounds of it, there is an entire local SOHC network I never knew existed!
(My wife is always telling me I need to make some grown-up friends  )

Or e-mail me directly, if you want. (Throbbing_taco@yahoo.com)

-JP

don't know much about a network, but between myself and the 6 people i share my garage with there are about 30 CB's in my garage!

        Holy Cow Paul , Sounds like your Garage is probably bigger than my HOUSE! Take care Paul.

                               Later on, Bill

[pdxPope]

don't know much about a network, but between myself and the 6 people i share my garage with there are about 30 CB's in my garage!

30 Bikes??!?!?!!
Dude, that's not a network, that's a dealership!!! 

Oh, and BTW, the Mrs. Clause photo.......

I really don't appreciate you putting pics of my mother up on the internet.


-JP

[DarkRider]

Now this is something im gonna keep tabs on..i may be interested in one of those seats if you can make it to work with the stock hinges there paul. If not..i may be asking some tips as i may attempt to recreate a simular seat using the stock seat pan.

[paulages]

Now this is something im gonna keep tabs on..i may be interested in one of those seats if you can make it to work with the stock hinges there paul. If not..i may be asking some tips as i may attempt to recreate a simular seat using the stock seat pan.

the one on the bike mounts to a stock 550 seat hinge.

[agiyo]

Paul and Billy, all by themselves, are a network.  Nice guys and brains bulging with talent.

Y'all just wait till we (mostly Paul) get my street bike done.  It's going to be the custom/cafe CB550 (627) that I promised myself nearly 3 decades ago, when I was still riding a Bonneville in Manila but one of the AP photographers had a new 550.  And Paul might be the best man on the planet to build it.

Frame back from powder coating soon, hubs are polished w/ alloy rims laced, it should be a roller in about a week.  Can't decide what color to make the tank etc.; I waver among red, black, cream, British racing green and permutations thereof.  Might flame it, who knows?

In any case, this is tremendous fun and isn't that why we're here!

And Paul, I think we can make this 650 Nighthawk caliper work.

Joe C

[LoopsAndLogic]

I had a chance to purchase one of those ATAK swing arms for my 400F, for $92.50.

That was the biggest mistake in life

I've been pondering a way to make a front air-ride in the front of my 400F.

I had a set of caps from a CB650, but there shocks are 35mm as mine are 33mm.

My most favorite part of your bike, is the the gauges and the angle of which they sit. Especially the digital gauge!!!

I have a keen eye for those things

LL

[FunJimmy]

Joe C

Your enthusiasm is definitely a reminder why we do these thing and just what fun it is.

Thanks for that!

Cheers
Jimmy