Topic: Why does my 74 CB550 have a 16 inch rear wheel?

[DCDeBolt]

The manual says its supposed to have an 18 inch wheel. This 16 incher appears stock. Did some of these bikes come with a special rear wheel?
The tire it has is a 130/90/16. Is that a bit large? How will that effect handling?
-Daniel

[fastbroshi]

  None of the Hondas from the 70's came with a 16, to my knowledge.  Stock fronts were usually 19s, rears were 18.  And having that 16 with the fatter rubber does look cool, but you'll hear from others that it will adversely affect handling.  Never had one like that, but I'd suspect it wouldn't bother anyone below 7/10ths riding.

[Patrick]

A 16-inch rear wheel was a common mod back in the day. I have one on my K0 750 and it handles just fine.

Patrick

[DCDeBolt]

Why were people motivated to do this mod? Handling, looks or better traction in a straight line?

[lone*X]

Pure aesthetics.  That's the sum total of it. 

[Hush]

Yay the cheapest chopper look available.

[bryanj]

Didnt happen in UK, only reason i can think of you yanks doin it is cheap harley tyres

[Spikeybike]

Didnt happen in UK, only reason i can think of you yanks doin it is cheap harley tyres

then why does carpy do it so often *snicker*

 

[Tower]

Its not rim height that effects handling as much as the ratio of rim width to tyre width (of any height rim).  If the 16" rim is also wider than stock, it will be able to take a "fatter" tyre and still retain similar handling characteristics to the taller yet skinnier wheel. 

Besides making it look more chopper-like, lower rear wheel height primarily lowers the bike's centre of gravity and improves straightline stability at the expense of cornering.  This can be compensated by lowering the front end to match, but that would defeat the chopper look.

[75cb550 (kyle)]

okay, i know this is an old one. just wanted to let you guys know i could use the search feature...

alright.. what 16" rims fit? where do you find them.

[754]

There were several reasons for doing it.
 18 in tires back then (at one point)were 4.25 wide at the widest.
 So a 16 could get you more rubber on the road + more traction for dragracing.

 A 16, not fully inflated on a rigid has a better ride than an 18 in.

 16s tended to last longer, cheaper per mile if you rode a lot.

 They dont lower the bike much, maybe 1/4 or 3/8 inch using the profiles they had then. They make a bigger optical difference, back then big meats on cars was what everyone did..

 So some folks that were not into choppers did that mod.

 Remember back in the day there were many Hondas with 8 or 10 over forks, they resembled a dog trying to have relations with your leg, now some of them bikes have had the "chopper" taken out of them. They actually would say I got 8 inches if chopper on my bike..
 

[Hannibal Smith]

Is it possible that the bike was a stunt double in the first installment of the Billy Jack series, the 1967 "Born Losers". Or perhaps in "Angels Die Hard"??

That would explain the smaller rear wheel.

[75cb550 (kyle)]

i can start a new thread to ask the question i guess.

[vorhese]

It was common for people to want to make Jap bikes more like "american cruisers" with bigger tires and bars, and such.
The 18" is good for curvies.
The 16" is good for long straight cruising.


The 18" has a skinnier look, and the 16" gives it a fatter look, but the over all tire diameter is about the same.

My 76 CB750 came with a 16".  Avon MKIIs look FANTASTIC on a 16" wheel.

[MCRider]

I agree with 754.

Back in the day, we did it primarily for the look. Side benfit was the tire would last longer as the 4.00-18s available back then could be chewed up easily in 3500 miles. But, people who bot the 16s didn't tend to ride that much so ...

As said, the overall height of the tire wheel combo wasn't much if any lower, as the 16 sidewall was so tall. But you could run lower pressure and get a better ride with struts, or short shocks. Now I think you can get shorter 16" tires.

I don't for the life of me know why Carpy does it. Its a heavier wheel and unsprung weight goes against the Cafe Racer build theme. Its not a performance tire for racing.

To the original posters question, if yours looks stock, it must have been done nicely as its not stock. As to handling... go ride it. If it feels OK, not squirrly, etc. that's the main thing in my mind.

[ironbutter]

75cb550 (kyle),

To answer your question, I see them on eBay all the time, basically you need to buy a 16" rim, and lace it up to your hub. Also there is a guy on Los Angeles Craigslist sellling a combo 16" rear 19" front Powder Coated black sets for $240.

[Deltarider]

It's silly, ment for Yanks who are afraid of curves.

[MCRider]

It's silly, ment for Yanks who are afraid of curves.

Would that be Yanks east or west of the atlantic ocean, and north or south of the mason/dixon line?  Or all inclusive?
"Word History: The origin of Yankee has been the subject of much debate, but the most likely source is the Dutch name Janke, meaning "little Jan" or "little John," a nickname that dates back to the 1680s. Perhaps because it was used as the name of pirates, the name Yankee came to be used as a term of contempt. It was used this way in the 1750s by General James Wolfe, the British general who secured British domination of North America by defeating the French at Quebec. The name may have been applied to New Englanders as an extension of an original use referring to Dutch settlers living along the Hudson River. Whatever the reason, Yankee is first recorded in 1765 as a name for an inhabitant of New England. The first recorded use of the term by the British to refer to Americans in general appears in the 1780s, in a letter by Lord Horatio Nelson, no less. Around the same time it began to be abbreviated to Yank. During the American Revolution, American soldiers adopted this term of derision as a term of national pride. The derisive use nonetheless remained alive and even intensified in the South during the Civil War, when it referred not to all Americans but to those loyal to the Union. Now the term carries less emotion--except of course for baseball fans."

      

[75cb550 (kyle)]

75cb550 (kyle),

To answer your question, I see them on eBay all the time, basically you need to buy a 16" rim, and lace it up to your hub. Also there is a guy on Los Angeles Craigslist sellling a combo 16" rear 19" front Powder Coated black sets for $240.

thanks... i've actually got one now. found one from Maasey Racer that was already laced with tire... score...

thanks again

[Frankenkit]

I was going to say- the cb650c had 16" rear comstars...

[75cb550 (kyle)]

we're talking about real SOHC's, Kit

come on, come on. give it to me...
i can take it.

[Frankenkit]

what do you mean, "real", you mean the ones with silver-dollar sized tappet adjuster holes?  Points that get wet and stop working?  big ol' flat headed pistons instead of the hemi'd 650 pistons?

oh, no, my friend, you don't even know what a real SOHC is.

[75cb550 (kyle)]

woo!

[75cb550 (kyle)]

that was good...
(total thread hijack)
sorry

[Frankenkit]