Topic: CB550 - New Brunswick, Canada

[Pawsoff]

what are scotchbright pads made out of? would they give a simialr result to the "00" steel wool? I will keep the alum oxide paper in mind, I was planning on using a polishing compound on it are I got the rough stuff off.

The carb kits are being shipped tomarrow
I will refer to the retailer to see if they know the code of the needle they match.

Apparently my stock airbox parts have gone the way of the dodo, nowhere to be found, probably got thrown out at some point during a spring clean up.
All I seem to have is the empty box under the seat with a grate at the bottom, a small trapazoidal rubber piece and.... thats it for the airbox. I will take a poke around Ebay and see what the damage might be, might put a post in the classifieds here too. At least these plastic parts are light. There should be some around where people like to put pods on their rides.

Pawsoff

[TwoTired]

what are scotchbright pads made out of? would they give a simialr result to the "00" steel wool?

Plastic
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Manufacturing/Industry/Product-Catalog/Online-Catalog/?PC_7_RJH9U5230GE3E02LECFTDQGLE0_nid=GCL0LWKBG4beH55CPWS904gl

[Hawkster318]

Pawsoff,

Welcome. Nice looking bike.

[Pawsoff]

Thanks Hawk, I gues you can't see all of the flaws from 4ft or so lol

[joecool14u2]

hey i am a newbie and i also went through all you are, second carb from left still leaks once in a great while, i did use the new needles, they seem to be ok, only thing is, at 55-60 or any speed for that matter, when i let off all the way, it sputters very little but it will sputter when just barely getting back in throttle, but at 1/8 throttle it clears right up, and i mean it does it just as the slides start to open, other than that it runs slick and smooth, also, i hand drilled jets to 115 on mains, have new 38 slows, uni-filters from parts unlimited.com, they sell 'em for the cb550, no baffles in 4-4 exhaust, its a little loud, but not bad when running smooth, pretty much a sure way to know when you have a miss, and if you ride a lot set the points and timing a lot, oil the chain every ride, and buy 2 new rear tires at a time, mine are only lasting about 4000 miles, but it was a ching ching, and 18-37 sprockets and chain from parts unlimited was $65, but check you might have to order the longer chain, there back ordered on the 100-530, i ordered the 110-530 and cut ten links off, i cant wait a couple months on chains, parts unlimited also has points for $8 a set, just make sure you order left and right not 2 of one part number, and when i balance the carbs at idle the vacuum gauges bounce to bad, i have to do it at around 2500-3000rpms and get them to about 5-7in. and thats the best i can do and then number four still dont do right but its close i quess, i try to keep it running the best i can its all i can afford and thats bad, any helpful tips will be much cared for and glorified by me, and yes it does take all night and all next week and another and some couple more day to get it all in tune but it sure was worth it, oh here is a link to pis of the dreamhttp://www.cmsnl.com/community/vehicles/Honda/CB550_K/1976/2553.html

[joecool14u2]

oh yeah, my carb is the 087A, guess thats good uhh, well i doubt it makes much difference, i get 40-45mpg, and i read a lot that people post getting 50-55mpg but maybe thats the imperial gallon, i dont know just a thought, isn't the imperial gallon or what ever bigger? oh again that link is http://www.cmsnl.com/community/vehicles/Honda/CB550_K/1976/2553.html  check me out!       and when i got the bike it had a 40 tooth rear that was aluminum, and a 4.50/18 rear tire, i have just about got the life out of my chinchin 3.75/18, in just 4000 miles, i dont ride hard much of the time will a more expensive tire last longer or should i go with a 4.00-18? maybe i will try to post this some where else here and see what others are doing for the high mileage riding, maybe i need to spray my tire with black paint every time i ride lol

[Pawsoff]

US gallon is 3.8 liters, Imperial gallon is 4 liters

[Pawsoff]

Ok, so cleaning up / rough polishing the carb body is MUCH more effort than the carb top cap or fuel bowl
... a no brainer I know but after 2.5 hours of almost finishing ONE carb body I think it merits the statement lol

Sooo much more cleaning / polishing to do... hopefully will have it done by the time the carb rebuild kit comes in

[joecool14u2]

why are you so concerned with the outside of the carb? 2 and three you can't even see, are you going to be showing this bike or riding it, i ride mine, and it still took first place in a show here, only one in its class lol, but seriously if you are planning on riding it, you will be sourly disapointed in what is going to happen to all that polishing, trust me, its not going to shine long, the good parts that stand out i take time to polish are front wheels fenders, forks, shocks on rear and grab rail, and clean the rear wheel but if you ride a lot oil from the chain kills that shine quick, so i only do that on special occassions and dont oil that morning, the chain i mean lol, the carbs are old, they will leak, get grimey, and need tinkering with when you do something like set the timing(needs about every 2000 miles according to "dan's motorcycle .com" just google it and read what dan has spent his life learning, this takes about 2 days but well worth it ok, also check out "oldmanhonda.com" check under repair tips, then look at the timing page, this shows you what i can never explain, and its a lot harder on the bike, this is what your brother never had to make the bike "run like it should" hope this helps you out along the way, and any questions just ask i ride the beast every day, 60 or more miles, i go between 0-90 at any given point, but i mostly accelerate easy from 0, due to having to buy so many tires chains and sprockets lol going to experiment with a slightly larger tire of a different breed next time

[Pawsoff]

Joe, don't worry I am not driving myself insane with the cleaning and I hear ya about Showing and Riding.
This is what I am doing to fill some time while waiting for the carb rebuild kit to come in, I know they have never been cleaned REALLY well and this way I will know that when this kit goes on they should be good for quite some time.
I will take a look at the links you listed, alway looking for usable info

[andy750]

Hey Joe,
Some good advice there but i would disagree with you on the cleaning part. Having a clean bike (reasonably clean as opposed to showroom) means you can work on it easier, can see leaks developing (if there are any) and allows cables, lube points, etc to operate smoothly without dirt/grime building up. I do agree though that it shouldnt take away from the riding time  But in Pawsoff case hes biding his time and using it wisely to make sure the machine is ready to go when the parts come in. I ride everyday, 7 days week and my bikes are clean. Take care of your ride and it`ll take care of you 

cheers
Andy

[Pawsoff]

thanks andy, I am filling time while waiting for parts, the cleaning makes me feel useful in the meantime lol. I have some silver metalic paint that I am using for my car (another project   ), was talking to my brother (a body man and painter) and think we may use it to paint the tank and side panels with, he is trying to come up with a two tone scheme for it, will let you all know what we come up with. First we must get it running.

[joecool14u2]

i keep my bike clean, just not mirror clean on parts like the carb, but i like it to look good, hey andy, how many miles do you get on rear tires, i was running a chin chin 100/90/18, i ordered a new tire today, its a continal 120/90/18, maybe i'll have better mileage this time

[joecool14u2]

http://www.cmsnl.com/community/vehicles/Honda/CB550_K/1976/2553.html 
check out my bike here

[TwoTired]

i keep my bike clean, just not mirror clean on parts like the carb, but i like it to look good, hey andy, how many miles do you get on rear tires, i was running a chin chin 100/90/18, i ordered a new tire today, its a continal 120/90/18, maybe i'll have better mileage this time

Probably not. The tire is too wide for the rim width.  It will wear out in the center and have really big chicken strips.

Cheers,

[andy750]

i keep my bike clean, just not mirror clean on parts like the carb, but i like it to look good, hey andy, how many miles do you get on rear tires, i was running a chin chin 100/90/18, i ordered a new tire today, its a continal 120/90/18, maybe i'll have better mileage this time

Hey Joe,
Well your bike looks pretty clean to me  I have a CB750K2 and K4 so tire miles may not be directly applicable to you. However...I had a set of Dunlops (K491s) that got 16,000 miles. The K491s are now discontinued and Ive been using GT501s instead 9K4 -long distance bike). The last set lasted 12,000 miles before getting replaced and that was done over 3 years. Got another set of GT501s and so far so good after 2-3000 miles. On the K2 I have Bridgestone BT45s - very sticky tire and great for corners. Still early days yet for mileage (2000 so far I think). I ride fast and hard.

I only buy brand tires (Dunlop, Metzler, Bridgestone).

cheers
Andy
 

[joecool14u2]

i just got my continal tire, it looks really good for $70