My first new motorcycle was a 1976 CB550F, and I put a lot of miles on that bike, and it never let me down. I was away from bikes for quite a while, but then moved to sunny SoCal, where everything you ever wanted, two wheels or four, was still here and running. Got back into bikes (Ducati/Laverda) but boy, a long ride on a 916 is a ticket to carpal tunnel, even with the bar risers.
So I'm starting again with the CB550F., and I'm building it up as a cafe racer-ish, but with rational bars, say CB400F bars.
This is the "donor" bike--an eBay special:
http://nelson-motorsports.com/IMG_1980.JPGIt wasn't in bad shape, and it "needed a battery and it's carbs cleaned"....how many times have we heard that??
But the good news is that after changing the oil and plugs, setting the points and making sure the cam chain had the proper tension, and rebuilding both the carbs and the petcock (which was the real issue with the bike--it had the mother of all clogs in it, so the inboard line was just getting a trickle), the thing runs again, and pretty well, which is a complete surprise--a one-kicker again....
The bad news is the PO painted everything in sight. He actually did a pretty good job, as long as you had no expectation of adjusting anything. Changing to stainless allen heads has been a chore; lots of work with an impact hammer to budge the old bolts, now painted over, loose.
The plan here is to go on a real diet, and do some serious polishing as well. If I can get the bike down to the 360-370 range, that would be good. Maybe a better goal would be 380-390, but you've got to set good goals, or you'll never reach them. At least it's nice to start with a bike that runs, and seems to run well.
If I could get the bike to look a bit like this, that'd be a good start:
http://www.benjiescaferacer.com/images/cust1.JPGSo--other than Mac, does anyone have a line on a good 4 into 1 ??
