Topic: My 75 CB550

[Tham]

Hey everyone,
Here is my Dustin Kott built 75 CB 550 that I have been riding & tinkering with for the last few months.
My Thruxton,Vespas & Lambretta have been seeing zero use since getting this bike back on the road.



Recently I have done the shift seal/ countershaft seal & pulled the 530 o ring chain that he installed before the cases got chewed up.....

Machined a spacer out of delrin to keep the shift shaft from moving side to side. Totally leakfree now.

Also machined a tach drive plug out of t6061 aluminum as there was just a cork shoved in there...Landed on my foot one day while rolling through town....I thought it was funny...people getting smoked out by oil on my header did not.





Love my fork mount speedo from Cycle Xchange...works like a champ & looks great.


Recently picked up a chin fairing from Carpy as well.
My headlight was a little small for his opening. (Patterned after the stock Thruxton chin fairing. standard 8 inch head light) There was a lip inside so I attached some legshield rubber from a 70's largeframe/Rally/sprint Vespa with silicone glue to take up the space.
Worked perfect.
Attached with sealing washers & stainless socket head cap screws into spacers I attached to the headlight mounts.
Fairing will come off in less than a minute.



Looks great with the Halcyon barend I picked up.

Next is the exhaust as I am not as into the straight shot muffler as I thought I was.
Will be keeping the 550F head pipes & trying a couple different of silencers/muffler.




I forgot how much I love old Honda's after owning RD's, Kawi triples,RZ's,Triumphs,scooters & modern street bikes.
This bike is a pleasure to ride,maintain & own.

[dagersh]

Gorgeous bike!

[nvr2old]

I guess I don't entirely "get" the whole non-fenders-thing that I see so many cafe' bikes getting these days.  They could be painted black to visually hide them a bit and then you'd still have a place to mount a plate and tail light, not to mention the protection value.  But I do like the overall look, especially the color combos.  And I think the exhaust looks great, personally.

[Tham]

I guess I don't entirely "get" the whole non-fenders-thing that I see so many cafe' bikes getting these days.  They could be painted black to visually hide them a bit and then you'd still have a place to mount a plate and tail light, not to mention the protection value.  But I do like the overall look, especially the color combos.  And I think the exhaust looks great, personally.

Normally I do not like not having a front fender...(Love a clean tail though...my Thruxton doesnt have a rear fender and it looks absolutely right.)

I am not completely against mounting one & am looking around for something....Hopefully in conjunction with a fork brace/steering dampener...haven't decided yet.


Thanks about the color scheme...It matches my Lambretta..A&W root beer themed.....I always get headscratches until people see it in person. Then they say...ohhh I get it.

[Bonafide]

Tham - love the Fulmer retro helmet. I have one in Gold metal-flake. Where'd ya get the bubble shield?

The bike looks the part. Nice job. Curious to see what it would look like with a white seat cover like what you have on the Vespa.

[Spikeybike]

very cool  ..nice and clean   

... i've always wondered about how visible the cyclex speedo would be ... i assume you gotta lean over a little .. but never had anyone to ask   ....


    .... and the survey says ?

[Tham]

Tham - love the Fulmer retro helmet. I have one in Gold metal-flake. Where'd ya get the bubble shield?

The bike looks the part. Nice job. Curious to see what it would look like with a white seat cover like what you have on the Vespa.

Bonafide?...Triumphrat.net Bonafide?...nice...Good too see you did your other half a beautiful 750...that is fantastic looking.

Fulmer has those bubble shields for something like 20 dollars...Got it when I ordered up the helmet at the local Harley dealer....
It is weird not being able to lift the shield...after wearing full faces for 35 + years it kind of freaks me out...
Next is a set of Halcyon goggles to see how I dig that.
http://www.fulmerhelmets.com/Product/parts.html

The seat is a creme color & I have a love / hate with it...
The cafe seat is Leather with orange stitching...looks better in person....I hear you though....it could work & I was thinking of doing a more traditional cafe style seat with a cream button on cover...just to have an extra..




Spikeybike.
The speedo works really well.
My clipons are severe & I can glance for a millisecond & see it.....I like it a lot....(also everyone always asks about it.)

[Bonafide]

Bonafide?...Triumphrat.net Bonafide?...nice...Good too see you did your other half a beautiful 750...that is fantastic looking.

Same-e-same. Sold my Thruxton back in the early spring .. bought a Ducati and sold it. Got that 72' and re-did for the wife - it rides out as sweet as it looks. We still have a garage-full of Bonnevilles. I dont hang out on TRat since the corporate take over coupled with nazi-style moderating - and I started another forum just for Hinckley built bonnies. www.newbonnevilleriders.com

Fulmer has those bubble shields for something like 20 dollars...Got it when I ordered up the helmet at the local Harley dealer....
It is weird not being able to lift the shield...after wearing full faces for 35 + years it kind of freaks me out...
Next is a set of Halcyon goggles to see how I dig that.
http://www.fulmerhelmets.com/Product/parts.html

Cool - thanks. I have some nice (expensive) goggles I wear with mine - but was wanting a bubble for days I dont feel like getting pelted in the face with road debris. 

[Tham]

Bonafide?...Triumphrat.net Bonafide?...nice...Good too see you did your other half a beautiful 750...that is fantastic looking.

Same-e-same. Sold my Thruxton back in the early spring .. bought a Ducati and sold it. Got that 72' and re-did for the wife - it rides out as sweet as it looks. We still have a garage-full of Bonnevilles. I dont hang out on TRat since the corporate take over coupled with nazi-style moderating - and I started another forum just for Hinckley built bonnies. www.newbonnevilleriders.com

Awesome, I will check out your forum as I was turned off for the exact same reasons..I had exhausted what I was going to learn from there as I had other projects so I just stopped using it..plus I was getting random emails from moderators for very low key stuff & it turned me off the whole thing.
I even turned everything down a notch when posting there.....jackasses


Talk to me about your Duc?....did you get a sport?
What turned you off it?...I have ridden a a few & liked them ...but not enough to plunk down that kind of money for some reason.....I expected much more in the suspension dept on the GT's & lower model sports for the money.

Your wifes Honda is talking to me....that is a clean looking bike....great touches like the exhaust tip...the Black rims....And that seat.

[Bonafide]

Awesome, I will check out your forum as I was turned off for the exact same reasons..I had exhausted what I was going to learn from there as I had other projects so I just stopped using it..plus I was getting random emails from moderators for very low key stuff & it turned me off the whole thing.
I even turned everything down a notch when posting there.....jackasses

EXACTLY!! The only hiccup on NBR forum is you have to register with an ISP email (no gmail, hotmail, yahoo for registration). Once you authenticate the email - you can go back and switch to a yahoo, etc. This cuts down the number of aholes moderators/trouble makers ... er ... trolls from registering on the site for ill will purposes.

Laid back atmosphere .. and you'll probably recognize a bunch of people from TRat as there's over 2,000 people on it now.

Talk to me about your Duc?....did you get a sport?
What turned you off it?...I have ridden a a few & liked them ...but not enough to plunk down that kind of money for some reason.....I expected much more in the suspension dept on the GT's & lower model sports for the money.

I had a Sport 1000s. LOVED the bike. It would cruise along at 80 mph and get 50mpg (even in the mountains). I'd put Ohlins on the rear - the fronts were too soft but too expensive (for me) and I just dealt with the crappy suspension. I did a couple (affordable) mods to it, but my Insurance was killing me. Couple years ago I had encountered some landscaping rocks in a blind curve while out for a ride on my Bonnie and low-sided. Because I did not get an accident report showing the accident was a result of some one's road debris ... the insurance company labeled me as the 'at fault' driver in a single vehicle accident. I didnt know this til I after I bought the Duc and insurance premium showed up. $900 a year for the Duc .. yeah, $900 a year is more than I pay for the other 5 bikes in my garage total. I tried to just suck it up and say that's the cost of having such a sexy bike ... but my common sense kicked in and I sold the Duc. It's not that I couldn't afford it, but I hate getting cornholed for some bs. I miss it - but there's a bunch of toys at this house .... so I'm not too torn up about it. I never had an issue with my bike - but they seem to have a few if you poll their owners as a group. Big thing would be the tank spreads and bubbles.

Here's a pic of my old Duc ...

Your wifes Honda is talking to me....that is a clean looking bike....great touches like the exhaust tip...the Black rims....And that seat.

Got the seat from RickyRacer here on this forum. Top notch quality. Deb got to ride her bike today for the first time. Rode in to work and called me as soon as she got there - babblin something excitedly goofy about how cool it was, how nice it rides, and how some one pulled up next to her at a red light and took a picture with their cell phone.

[jesus freek]

 .

Next is the exhaust as I am not as into the straight shot muffler as I thought I was.
Will be keeping the 550F head pipes & trying a couple different of silencers/muffler.


[/quote]IMO  the exhaust looks great. any idea on the make of the muffler. I am looking for something  like this for my 75 cb550, but cant seem to find anything that would fit.

[douft750]

Great looking bike Tham. You should also post it over on Classic Honda Bulletin Board

http://www.classichondabb.com

I know the guys over there would love to see the bike.

[Tham]

Thanks for the kudos.....I am fine tuning what Dustin Kott did to begin with....I will check out the other forums for sure.



I am unsure what the original exhaust tip was on there.
Thinking it is a cut down stocker off another Honda?...Or possibly an Emgo?....
It had to have enough cut off to get it to mate up to the 550F header which is 2.125.....It still needed a double hose clamp thin sheet metal clamp around it.....That is what kind of threw me off the muffler.


I switched it out for a MAC can with the up sweep. (Still want to do a dunstall or peashooter with a more severe angle just for #$%*s & giggles.)...Need to do suspension first. (Progressive springs & shocks)

I pulled the baffle & punched some .500 in. holes along the length of both tubes & am still trying to dial in the sound & backpressure a bit.
It works really well with the 550F header which I absolutely love.
Mounted it with a bit of .005 shim stock on the header joint & it is solid.




I am looking forward to running the Conti GO's on this bike

[robdrobd]

Hey,what I love is the seat. Did you make it or buy it? If you made it, please let me in on the process. Thanks