Topic: new member, new bike

[apormarkos]

hello all,
i'm the proud owner of yet another '76 honda, this one a cb550k (my other bike is a '76 cj360t).  not so proud of its semi-massive oil leak .  the oil was over-filled by the previous owner at the time of my purchase.  would this lead to any blown gaskets (head, cylinder or valvecover)? would this lead to any leakage in the vicinity of the cam-chain tensioner adjuster or mounting bolts?  or did i just unwittingly buy a bike with a headgasket oil leak? i don't think i have any compression loss (i did not test it) as the bike runs great, but i do end up with oily pants after i ride at speed. i think i have to clean this thing spotless, then warm it up while stationary and observe where the bleeding occurs.  does anybody have any tips, tricks, magical potions or spells to help me fix my bike?  also, does anybody have any experience with "athena" gasket kits (oldbikebarn) for this machine?  they are priced a bit more than the vesrah kits, just wondering about the fit and quality.
-apor

[Serge]

welcome to the club !  My bike also leaks an oil through head gasket. I end up wirth oily pants every time I ride faster than 75 miles per hour . At lower speed oil and wind pressure is lower and it seems fine . -serge

[apormarkos]

hi,
my oil level didn't drop at all, but my side covers were covered, as were my pants.  found a guy who would do my head gasket for 100, but he's a sohc750 fan, never done a 550.  from the manual, it looks like a day job.

apor

[DammitDan]

As much as I love to replace head gaskets (I've taken my head off 3 times now... although for different reasons every time ) I have to admit that it can be dangerous, especially if you've never done it before.

The first time I took off the head to replace my gaskets, I put everything back together and had a head bolt strip out.  Took it all apart, had a helicoil put in, and put it back together, only to have another one strip out.  I can only guess the last guy that took the top end apart torqued those bolts till his arm just about fell off.  I took it apart again, this time installed helicoils myself in ALL of them, put it back together, and then the cam sprocket broke and bored into the head, leaving a nice oily sparkle-paint on the bottom of my case.

At this point, I gave up and bought a new engine for $100 off Ebay.  It lives to ride again!

Now, I'm not saying it's gonna happen to you, but these engines are aluminum...  and 30 years old...  and if someone's worked on it before who didn't know that the head bolts only need 15-25 ft lbs, then I would be careful about it.  If you can avoid taking it apart and deal with the oil spray, or somehow fix the leak, then I would go for that.  But if the guy offers to fix it for $100, and you trust that he won't screw you and leave you with a stripped bolt in the head, then go for it.

[SteveD CB500F]

Hi Apor.

The great thing about the 550 (vs the 750) is that we can do a top-end job without removing the engine !

Take a look at the threads on 750 engine removal ha ha !

You're right it is a day job, but not difficult if you've got the manuals and a decent tool kit.