Topic: Finally the CrisPDuk project 550 gets under way

[CrisPDuk]

After a long, work related, absence from, and much buying of parts from various sources, I am now in a position to start the rebuild of my '78 CB550K3

Acquired in September 2006 as a non-runner that had spent several years unused in her previous owners garage, this is what she looked like by the time she was roadworthy:



I had already added the headlight ears, turn signals and DOHC mirrors by this point, and a better quality rear fender to replace the rotten one that originally there.

During my first stint abroad I ordered a new exhaust system from BCR, and dropped lucky on a cheap, unused set of Tomaselli clubman bars on ebay, these went on during my first return home in May 07



The bars made for a far better riding position as well as looking rather    and the exhaust sounds fantastic and allows the motor to rev more freely. As a bonus the whole Benji system weighs less than just one of the original 4-4 pipes.

At this point I had already acquired a Giuliari seat and a K0 tank for my project but decided to hold back from fitting them as the weather was so good then that it would have been rude to not ride the tyres off her

Fast forward to today, and it is decidedly not riding weather, so fitting of the new tank and seat commenced. At this point the seat was off but the original tank was still fitted:



Fitting of the K0 tank was a lot easier than I thought it would be, requiring only shortening of the pegs and rubber bungs at the front and relocation of the rubber mount at the rear:



The Giuliari seat however was going to require a bit more work:



Because it was designed to fit a 750 all the fittings and mounts were in the wrong place, and the brace across the rear of the frame got in the way.  I stripped the cover and padding from the seat, cut of all the brackets that were in the way, and cut out the brace (don't worry, a new one will be fabricated) in order to get the seat pan to a position where measurements could be taken:



After a bit of cutting, grinding and drilling, I managed to get the seat pan sitting where I wanted it, using the lock from my original seat, the hinge from a 550F seat that I'd bought along the way ands a selection of rubber mounts form a variety of sources:



I have loosely refitted the padding and cover to stop them losing their shape.  They will be refitted properly once the new brackets and spacers have been welded in place by a welder friend of mine.

The steering is likely to be a bit restricted with the new arrangement, but I'm sure I'll be able to live with it

[gerhed]

Looking good !
I like the seat too.

[CrisPDuk]

The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed amongst the clutter some hints as to the future.

The wheels are from a Bol D'Or DOHC 750 and will allow me to run a disc brake rear and a dual disc front, once the trial build is completed they will be stripped then painted black with polished rims and edges

The rearsets are stock items from a 2002 Suzuki Hayabusa, I will be attempting to retro-ify them somewhat so that they suit the bike a bit better

The handlebar switchgear will be upgraded with CBR600-F parts and I will be building a complete new loom eliminating many of the block connectors and all superfluous wires.




PS: The polished front forks (on the bike when purchased), will be coming off and put up for sale if anybody is interested, although they do look good, my future plans involve a lot of riding, with as little polishing as I can get away with

[bryanj]

Chris remember there MUST be a "finger" gap between switch and tank wnen forks hit stops or it will fail MOT---Also number plate rules were really tightened earlier this year and basically only one style passes

[CrisPDuk]

Thanks for the warning Bryan, a good friend of mine runs a bike MOT place though, he's sure to let me know if he spots anything that's likely to be dodgy in that respect as I go along.  He owes me anyway, since he's also the one who finally convinced me (and taught me) to do my DAS.

The lock stops look likely to be a pretty simple mod, but I'll not do anything there until I've got the replacement switchgear sorted out, and I'll just take the MOT legal number plate off once it's got it's certificate


I'm going to have a play with the rearsets today (in between helping MrsD get everything sorted for tomorrow, obviously), once I've got those figured out, I reckon I should be safe to pull the motor out for bringing down to you.
I got a mail off Mr Rieck last week to say my head had gone of to the machine shop, so it shouldn't be long before that's winging it's way over

[cleveland]

Looking good!!!

[CrisPDuk]

Got up early to finish the Christmas shopping this morning, then got busy with the grinder.

The brackets for the the pillion pegs and the rear brake pivot are now on the scrap pile, the rearsets are positioned and the templates for their brackets cut:



As can be seen, I've also trial fitted the new wheels and reversed the forks.

One of the next jobs is to source a rear caliper, I'll probably go with a DOHC CB750 item as it should be a straightforward thing to fit


Looking at these photos, I'm now contemplating modifying my swing arm in a style similar to this:



Mainly to create a more flowing line from the bottom of the frame into the swingarm, but I'm sure it will enhance the arm's stiffness too

[bwaller]

Chris, a swingarm brace needs to be wide enough to allow the chain to pass through, but you'll want to check closely that your pipes don't disagree with it. I bent a piece of chromoly tubing for this purpose then couldn't make it work because the exhaust pipe I made routed up in the way on the right side.

It can be made to work, but plan ahead, Gordons worked out nicely partly because he lenghtened the arm.

[CrisPDuk]

Measuring that up is tomorrow's job, but don't tell the wife


I should still be able to find time to get to my mothers for some turkey though
 

[Terry in Australia]

That's looking good Crispy, what other engine mods do you have planned? Big bore kit? Cam? Carbs? Have fun mate! Cheers, Terry.

[CrisPDuk]

Cheers Terry

Apart from the Mike Rieck head and a megacycle cam (to a spec recommended by Mike) the rest of the engine will be remaining stock for now.  Although it is coming out and heading down to BryanJ's for a rebuild and freshen up along with the transmission

According to Hondaman Mark, the stock carbs are more than sufficient to cope with any mods you care to do to the 550 so they will just be getting a rebuild.  Because I'm retaining the side covers, I will be sticking with the stock airbox too, although I may modify it to give better airflow.

Anyway that's allfor now folks, Merry Christmas

and don't stay too sober

[MRieck]

Thanks for the warning Bryan, a good friend of mine runs a bike MOT place though, he's sure to let me know if he spots anything that's likely to be dodgy in that respect as I go along.  He owes me anyway, since he's also the one who finally convinced me (and taught me) to do my DAS.

The lock stops look likely to be a pretty simple mod, but I'll not do anything there until I've got the replacement switchgear sorted out, and I'll just take the MOT legal number plate off once it's got it's certificate


I'm going to have a play with the rearsets today (in between helping MrsD get everything sorted for tomorrow, obviously), once I've got those figured out, I reckon I should be safe to pull the motor out for bringing down to you.
I got a mail off Mr Rieck last week to say my head had gone of to the machine shop, so it shouldn't be long before that's winging it's way over

It should be in the mail by the end of the week Noel.

[Spikeybike]

looking sweet Crispy,  witch megacycle cam are you useing

[CrisPDuk]

Thanks for the warning Bryan, a good friend of mine runs a bike MOT place though, he's sure to let me know if he spots anything that's likely to be dodgy in that respect as I go along.  He owes me anyway, since he's also the one who finally convinced me (and taught me) to do my DAS.

The lock stops look likely to be a pretty simple mod, but I'll not do anything there until I've got the replacement switchgear sorted out, and I'll just take the MOT legal number plate off once it's got it's certificate


I'm going to have a play with the rearsets today (in between helping MrsD get everything sorted for tomorrow, obviously), once I've got those figured out, I reckon I should be safe to pull the motor out for bringing down to you.
I got a mail off Mr Rieck last week to say my head had gone of to the machine shop, so it shouldn't be long before that's winging it's way over

It should be in the mail by the end of the week Noel.

Thanks Mike   I assume you'll want paying before you send it though?

Which reminds me, our work server has crashed, so my email address isn't working at the moment, I'll PM you an alternative email address.

[CrisPDuk]

looking sweet Crispy,  witch megacycle cam are you useing

Don't know at the minute Spikey, the final decision will be based on Mike's advice , but megacycle are proving exceedingly difficult to contact recently

[Sam Green Racing]

That'll be a nice present to your self Noel.

Sam.

[MRieck]

looking sweet Crispy,  witch megacycle cam are you useing

Don't know at the minute Spikey, the final decision will be based on Mike's advice , but megacycle are proving exceedingly difficult to contact recently

Yes....very difficult.

[Spikeybike]

looking sweet Crispy,  witch megacycle cam are you useing

Don't know at the minute Spikey, the final decision will be based on Mike's advice , but megacycle are proving exceedingly difficult to contact recently

Yes....very difficult.

hmmm... thats not good , i was gonna build another 550 in a year or so (when/if my work and side jobs slow down a little)

[CrisPDuk]

That'll be a nice present to your self Noel.

Sam.

Not to myself Sam   MrsD is paying for it, in the form of a much reduced shoe budget for the next 12 months

[Sam Green Racing]

 

[Terry in Australia]

Cheers Terry

Apart from the Mike Rieck head and a megacycle cam (to a spec recommended by Mike) the rest of the engine will be remaining stock for now.  Although it is coming out and heading down to BryanJ's for a rebuild and freshen up along with the transmission

According to Hondaman Mark, the stock carbs are more than sufficient to cope with any mods you care to do to the 550 so they will just be getting a rebuild.  Because I'm retaining the side covers, I will be sticking with the stock airbox too, although I may modify it to give better airflow.

Anyway that's allfor now folks, Merry Christmas

and don't stay too sober

Well I definitely didn't stay sober Crispy, you would have been proud of me, I feel like I've been run over by a beer truck!

Now I know you said you weren't going to go any deeper in the engine mate, but this looks like a bargain, another 55cc's of brand new performance parts, and a big bag of "street cred", all for the price of a cheap pair of ladies shoes!



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-CB500-Four-BIG-BORE-605cc-Performance-Rebuild-Kit_W0QQitemZ220185467492QQihZ012QQcategoryZ35595QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Sam Green Racing]

Hey Noel, £65 + postage + import duty must be worth it.

Sam.

[CrisPDuk]

Was staying sober ever an option Terry?   I know it wasn't for me, I spent the day with the rest of the family at my parent's   Even my Father can't handle a full day with my Mum without a drink
On the plus side, amongst all the usual clutter, my CD collection has had it's ranks swollen by The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead, John Forgerty/CCR and some early Van Halen


You and Sam are definitely bad influences   That kit is now on my watch list, I think I'm going to have to PM Bryan now to see if he fancies fitting one for me, since he'll be taking the motor apart anyway


On the plus side my CD collection has had it's ranks swollen by The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead, John Forgerty/CCR and some early Van Halen

[bryanj]

If you go for the kit Chris, I have one here and can use that till yours arrives BUT the maching cost local to me is about £300 + vat as there are 3 big amount rebores to do.
I think that seller has about $120 reserve as i remember.

Happy Hangover
Bryan

[Terry in Australia]

300 squids? What a bloody rip! No wonder the British bike industry went tits up! It's a pity you don't live closer mate, I've got a boring bar in my garage that could hog those holes out for the smallish price of a big bottle of Makers Mark! (And I promise I won't drink any until I finish your job!) Cheers, Terry.