Topic: StrongPerf CB550 Build, Front end thread

[StrongPerf]

It's been a while... But as promised:

Origional Junk!

[StrongPerf]

New stuff.

Lets start with GL1000 Tripples and forks.

Here's a few pics of the 550 and 1000 stuff. Longer 1000 stem pressed out. 550 shorter stem pressed in and welded. Notice that the 1000 tripples are wider. Also notice that the guage mount bosses are at a different angle. One thing very difficult to notice is that the upper 1000 tripple is much thicker in the nut area. I had to mill it down just to get the nut on. If I had to do this over I would have pulled the 550 stem out and made it a little longer before welding.

[StrongPerf]

more

[StrongPerf]

You can see in these pics that I added taperd steering bearings.

You can also see how much longer the 1000 forks are. This made it impossible to use drag bars or the 1000 master cylinder. Ok so I use a set of superbike bars mounted upside down. This works well. With the long handlebar mounts of the GL1000 upper triple it's about the same as a 550 upper with drag bars. It also clears the forks.

Not much room was left with the master cylinder so I used a 2007 GSXR1000 radial mount master cylinder. 

[StrongPerf]

Guages.

Yuck to wow!

You can see horrible quality of the new stickers. The holes didn't even line up...

I recommend riding with your final combination on the origional guages and compare it to a GPS to find out how off the origional speedo is. You can then slightly rotate the new sticker to correct it some.

Also notice I made a new guage mount bracket. Basically a flat piece accomodated the new angle from the GL1000 upper tripple.

[StrongPerf]

Brakes

CB900F front wheel, CB750F front fender and speedo drive, GL1000 forks and brakes, Galfer steel braided lines in black. Pretty straight forward.

I cross drilled the rotors too. 

[StrongPerf]

You guys probably already noticed the fork brace...

I took the stock fender brace out and made light aluminum fender mounts.

I also added a steering damper. You can see the welded tab on the frame and boss on lower tripple.

Plus one good over pic of the bike with front end mods in place.

[StrongPerf]

Comin soon: Pics of Master Cylinder Resv mounted, front fender in place, new exhaust, tail light and blinkers mounted.

[FunJimmy]

Wow! That looks awesome.
Love the braced swingarm and rear disc too.
Good to see it coming along so well.

[StrongPerf]

Wow! That looks awesome.
Love the braced swingarm and rear disc too.
Good to see it coming along so well.

Thanks FJ. I haven't had time to post much but I've been watching yours come together too.  It looks great. I'm working on fork seals and rebuilding the calipers but plan to ride it soon.

[StrongPerf]

Ok I've done some riding on this thing. Brakes and forks freshened up. New seals and fluids and such. Here is the look so far. I might powder coat everything black later. We'll see.

I still need to check SAG and do some tweaking to the forks but so far so good. They do dive a little easy (soft on slow), and are a little harsh on the big hits (harsh on fast). They are also a little soft on rebound. Overall this bike is very comfortable for cruising and handles great too. I will do mostly canyon riding and comuting to work on this bike. My 03 Z1000 will handle the track. I can't believe how stable the chasis is on this old thing. I guess the swing arm brace, fork brace and the steering damper might be helping and definatly the tapered steering bearings. Now I just need to get the suspension right. I'll check the SAG and spring stiffness perhaps some preload is needed and will help with the brake dive. I know a gold valve emulator would help the fast compression but I don't think I'm that far ($$$) off of making it work. I don't want to use thinner fork oil because I need the rebound stiffness. I'll either open up the compression holes a little or shrink the rebound holes and go to thinner fluid after checking the SAG first of course.

The breaks are great! I might upgrade the organic pads to kevlar or sintered (if I can find them) but they feel very good so far. Especially after riding my buddy's RD400 with stock breaks...

I love fine tuning things. This bike is close to being very good in the twisties. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks 

[StrongPerf]

My other threads if your interested:

Carbs, tank, battery, etc:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=27051.0

Swingarm, chain, wheels, etc:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=28324.0

Thanks

[StrongPerf]

Break clean and rebuild.

New pistons required. At least they were available...