Topic: Indyracers 77 550 Super Sport (Just started)

[indyracer]

Hey gents. So glad this forum is here. I watched Craigslist for over a month before I found her in the middle of nowhere Indiana. Only paid $200 bucks.  So far I've just stripped it down for cleaning. Buying clubmans tomorrow, and doing a compression test this weekend. Not sure what mods I'm going to make yet, but need to check the engine first. For the price, I didn't ask the owner many questions, only know that it hadn't been ridden since the 90s. I'll probably stick with the stock tank, and I like some of the stock look, but really going for the cafe racer look. Silver and black most likely. Anyone ever see this seat before? I can't find it anywhere? Is it OEM or aftermarket or custom?

[scunny]

that seat is not original, but could make a good candidate for trimming down to the shape you want

[CBJoe]

Welcome to the Forum. 

Looks good and you cant complain for $200  .  Was there gas in the tank / carbs?

Cheers, Joe 

[IndyFour]

Hey gents. So glad this forum is here. I watched Craigslist for over a month before I found her in the middle of nowhere Indiana. Only paid $200 bucks.  So far I've just stripped it down for cleaning. Buying clubmans tomorrow, and doing a compression test this weekend. Not sure what mods I'm going to make yet, but need to check the engine first. For the price, I didn't ask the owner many questions, only know that it hadn't been ridden since the 90s. I'll probably stick with the stock tank, and I like some of the stock look, but really going for the cafe racer look. Silver and black most likely. Anyone ever see this seat before? I can't find it anywhere? Is it OEM or aftermarket or custom?

Wow....nice find for a great price!

I'm in Indy myself (obviously)....Irvington area on the East side.

Hope you get it running soon.

[DavePhipps]

Dang, that's in better shape than both my barn find cb550's. I got both for 300, also in the middle of nowhere indiana.

[indyracer]

Thanks guys for all the replies. This forum is great. Ya, the previous owner listed in on the Bloomington Craigslist as a "CB554SS". It was on there a week with no calls. I guess not many people do a search for 554's. I think I found it just searching for "Honda" and under $500.There was a little bit of gas in the tank, oil in the engine was at its proper level, but one of the intake manifold boots is missing on one of the carbs. There was some sitting water in there when I picked it up, but it was raining that day.  I went by Cycle Recycle II today over lunch and picked up some pod filters, as well as clubman bars and some grips. Hopefully I can bring the carbs in for cleaning tonight, and possibly have them back on by the end of the weekend. I REALLY want to have this bike up and running by beginning of September.  Also a police officer buddy of mine is suppose to run the VIN for me to make sure it wasn't stolen. The guy I bought it off of claimed it wasn't, and he wrote me a bill of sale, but just to make sure I'm running the VIN to avoid any complications during registration. Crossing my fingers all is legit.

IndyFour,
I passed a cafe on the East side of 465 this morning. It was a 80's Suzuki...made me want to take the day off and come back home and work on this bike. I'll check out the pics of your bike once I figure out how on here.

Scunny,
Exactly, I'm hoping to shape it down then pass it off to some friends in Shelbyville, IN to do the seat work. Anyone know of a good place in Indy? Seems like Cycle Recycle had piles of seats in their place today. It may be easier to just go pick out a used one that I like.

[carlsboss550kay1]

if memory serves, cycle/recycle usually has copious seats out in their dumpster, usually look like pretty good ones, too.  might snag a freebie!!
i'm from bloomington myself...thought about getting yours as a parts/donor, but i'm glad it went to you instead!!

see you on the road, brother!

[CBJoe]

Wow....nice find for a great price!

I'm in Indy myself (obviously)....Irvington area on the East side.

Hope you get it running soon.

Small world...  I'm in Irvington over off of Lowell and Arlington

[IndyFour]

Wow....nice find for a great price!

I'm in Indy myself (obviously)....Irvington area on the East side.

Hope you get it running soon.

Small world...  I'm in Irvington over off of Lowell and Arlington

Oh yeah, I know exactly where that is....right by the little charter school, right?  I go by there several times a day.

I actually live in Emerson Heights on the "other side" of Emerson Ave.....so technically not in Irvington.  I'm in the 700 block of Wallace Ave.  I take Pleasant Run Pkwy to Arlington to avoid Washington street on my way to the store all the time.  Maybe I'll see you riding around the area one of these days!

Sorry to hijack your thread, Indyracer! 

[indyracer]

No problem guys, hopefully we can all ride together soon. Is there a club in Indy for these types of bikes? It seems I saw an ad for a classic bike show or two,  near 38th somewhere.  I'd like to see some local CB's sometime. Thanks for the tips too about the free seats. I've got no wims about dumpster diving to get a freebie.

As far as the build goes, I got the carbs off this morning. If anyone needs the airbox or any associated stock intake components, I'd be glad to donate them. I'm putting the pods I bought on the bike. It looks like a mouse setup shop inside the air filter, but the related plastics are good. Two of the intake manifold boots were cracked beyond repair. That leaves one descent one if anyone needs it. I plan on cleaning the carbs in the morning. Surprisingly, they didn't look too bad. I'll check out the Carb threads to see how to judge if I need to rebuild them or not.

Note the Harbor Frieght $16 dollar dolly cycle stand built up using 4x4 posts. Not sure if I saw that tip on this forum or another, but man that little thing is handy!

[FunJimmy]

Nice find, and at a great price.
Have fun, but loose the seat!

Cheers
FJ

[CBJoe]

Do yourself a favor and clean those carbs REAL good while you already have them off.
Nothing worse than getting everything back together and having to pull 'em off AGAIN and AGAIN and etc... (although it's not too bad with pods I suppose).

Not sure about what Bike Clubs are in Indy.

Cheers, Joe

[indyracer]

I decided to remove the engine from the frame yesterday, before diving into the carb cleaning. I pulled what now looks like a dumb move and removed the case covers for cleaning, then pulled the engine mounts. This resulted in my engine shifting lower in the frame, preventing me from re-attaching the covers. I had to give up for the night yesterday without case covers. Tonight I managed to remove the engine from the frame by gently laying the bike on its side in a bed of mulch, and using my back as a hoist to remove the engine from the frame. The engine came out and is now sitting on the rolling mount, while the frame is propped up on two by fours. I still can't seem to get the right side crank case cover (the one that covers the clutch) back on. Seems everything is lined up correctly, but the area around the kickstart bushing doesn't want to sit flush. Is there a trick to putting this cover back on?  I'll investigate more tomorrow.  Once the cover is back on its a complete cleaning and painting of the engine and frame.


FJ: Consider the seat gone. After viewing your ride, I've got new inspiration...amazing bike!
CBJoe: Will do. I'm still deciding if I should attempt to clean only, or go ahead and rebuild. The rebuild kits are a little pricey, so I'm hoping a good cleaning will be good enough.

[delay pedal]

hey indyracer, i live on the northside. i have a 74 cb550 also.  where is  cycle recycle id like to swing by there

[indyracer]

Hey delay, cool man I work on the north side. I'll have to checkout pics of your bike. Cycle Recycle is on 10th street, near downtown on the east side. If you google Cycle Recycle II (ya, the roman numeral two...) you will find it. Its kind of tricky though because the original building is right down the street, and there are some competitor cycle parts stores around there as well. Do a google street view of the store just to make sure you know what it looks like. I was blown away by the amount of used everything that they had. Bought my pods, handlebars, and grips there for cheaper than ebay. Ok, enough with the promo...see ya around.

Now, out in the rain to get that crankcase cover back on...

[Zaipai]

Now, out in the rain to get that crankcase cover back on...

Wow I hope you have the bike covered from the rain!.. GL with the bike looks like it could be the start of another sweet CB back to life!!
P.S., I have ordered 2 times from Cycle Recycle II and it was fast and the parts were awesome and the prices were outstanding.

[IndyFour]

Now, out in the rain to get that crankcase cover back on...

Wow I hope you have the bike covered from the rain!.. GL with the bike looks like it could be the start of another sweet CB back to life!!
P.S., I have ordered 2 times from Cycle Recycle II and it was fast and the parts were awesome and the prices were outstanding.

I was just there today....got new ignition coils and spark plug caps for my bike.  If you don't mind making the trip to the Near East side of town, it's worth the trip.....that shop is a one-of-a-kind and the guys know EVERYTHING about just about any bike.  There is stuff literally hanging from the ceiling and every open spot is covered with parts.  It's quite an experience.

[indyracer]

Exactly! Pretty impressive that they run a successful online business out of that shop too. It reminds me of stepping back into Duke's of Hazard garage when I walk in there.

Yes, bike is covered from the rain. No garage in my backyard, but a healthy slab where one once stood. Instead of messing with the engine tonight. I grabbed the seat and brought it inside. Decided to strip it of its old, soiled, torn leather and begin the effort of reshaping and reupholstering. Due to the odd shape of it, making it into a cafe style seat was pretty simple. I'll probably run a sanding wheel over it to shape to the exact form before I cover it and make the cowling. I think I'll make the cowling removable so my wife can hop on the back and ride on the top of the rear "hump". I was amazed how well the foam rubber looked. See pics below. Bedtime now.

[Zaipai]

I was just there today....got new ignition coils and spark plug caps for my bike.  If you don't mind making the trip to the Near East side of town, it's worth the trip.....that shop is a one-of-a-kind and the guys know EVERYTHING about just about any bike.  There is stuff literally hanging from the ceiling and every open spot is covered with parts.  It's quite an experience.

Wow I am so jealous I wish we had some thing like that around here. <sigh> Then again you are not that far from the ill/wi boarder! :-) Road trip!!! lol

[bzr]

Note the Harbor Frieght $16 dollar dolly cycle stand built up using 4x4 posts. Not sure if I saw that tip on this forum or another, but man that little thing is handy!

Ha, I've got that same dolly too. Man I love Harbor Freight.

[indyracer]

Today I finally managed to get the right crankcase cover back on. Apparently, something prevents this if the cover if facing up (gasket parallel to the ground). Once I turned the engine back to its natural position and applied the cover from the side, it fit on flush. I'm not sure what the issue was, but I haven't yet tightened down all the replacement cover bolts (Lowes knows CB550 crankcase metric bolts). Should the clutch lever near the kickstart be easy to pull once the whole thing is put back together, or should it be hard as hell. As mine doesn't seem to want to budge, yet with the cover bolts out, I can tell that the clutch plate is applying pressure towards the clutch. Anyone have any tricks to putting the cover back on correctly? Any way to check that all in the clutch plate area is put on OK. I'm afraid to tighten all down and torque too much on the clutch cable.

[MCRider]

Today I finally managed to get the right crankcase cover back on. Apparently, something prevents this if the cover if facing up (gasket parallel to the ground). Once I turned the engine back to its natural position and applied the cover from the side, it fit on flush. I'm not sure what the issue was, but I haven't yet tightened down all the replacement cover bolts (Lowes knows CB550 crankcase metric bolts). Should the clutch lever near the kickstart be easy to pull once the whole thing is put back together, or should it be hard as hell. As mine doesn't seem to want to budge, yet with the cover bolts out, I can tell that the clutch plate is applying pressure towards the clutch. Anyone have any tricks to putting the cover back on correctly? Any way to check that all in the clutch plate area is put on OK. I'm afraid to tighten all down and torque too much on the clutch cable.

I'm a CB750 guy, but I'll give you my take. All covers should go on without resistance from what they are covering. And it shouldn't matter if the engine is upside down or not.

On the clutch side, back whatever adjuster you have all the way out so the cover goes on easily. Then snug up the adjuster. You do not have enough mechanical advantage at the cover to actuate the clutch ie overcome the spring pressure. That can only happen at the handlebar lever.

But you need to hear it from a 550 guy.

[Zaipai]

I'm a CB750 guy, but I'll give you my take. All covers should go on without resistance from what they are covering. And it shouldn't matter if the engine is upside down or not.

On the clutch side, back whatever adjuster you have all the way out so the cover goes on easily. Then snug up the adjuster. You do not have enough mechanical advantage at the cover to actuate the clutch ie overcome the spring pressure. That can only happen at the handlebar lever.

But you need to hear it from a 550 guy.

I agree, from what little exp I have with my CB550. It sounds right tho.

[indyracer]

Zaipai, MCRider: Thanks guys. I'll hook up the clutch lever and ease it in. I think your right about the lack of mechanical advantage. This forum is great.

[indyracer]

Finally cleaning the carbs. Frame ready to be repainted. I don't feel like spending a bundle on powder coat, so a friend of mine that restores cars recommended spray on Rustoleum  brand "Appliance Paint". It is epoxy based. Dries hard as a rock, with a super glossy, even shine. I test sprayed it and it came out looking great.  I'll post pics when finished. Pics below are current state. Engine is still out. Working on buffing and painting the engine as well. Its getting there...