Topic: 1977 CB550 K cafe racer build

[Elniniomuchachos]

lets see some pics and video of that thing! Would that fit onto the stock 4-1 exhaust without the megaphone?

[traveler]

Nope.....can came in today, and the mouth is 2 3/4 inches.....the mouth on the MAC pipe is 2 1/4, so all that is needed is a simple muffler pipe reducer.

Problem I may have is noise.  Riding the racer around tonight I pissed off ALOT of neighbors....people actually coming out of their houses yelling!

I may have to put the mac muffler back on and see how the jetting acts.....the can isn't going to muffle anything!  the packing and muffling in it is barely even worth the effort of putting it in there!

I put a piece of rubber fuel hose in my throttle to take up the excess slack....works GREAT!  Throttle is now tight....no loose slack...and the bike really rips...you just have to slowly add throttle and just keeping rolling it on until the revs are up, then wack the throttle back......I felt the front wheel come up when I tried to get it to.....bike runs STRONG....but is TERRIBLY/obnoxiously loud!

Clutch slips bad in 2nd If you do a pull power shift under full throttle....have to get it into 2nd and roll the thrrottle on...then WOT.....may have to get some Barnett clutch springs.

Oh....I ordered the booties to put over the stacks....ordered 4 black ones, and will use zip ties to hold them on.

~Joe

[Zaipai]

At the chance of being a nag.. we need photos of the setup with the mac and the new carbs.. But pic's of the whole bike. We need our Cafe Racer porn man!!!

 

.: Scott :.

[traveler]

I'll work on it....but the booties won't be on.

~Joe

[traveler]

As I mentioned earlier...the noise level yesterday was just too much......today I had time, so I put the MAC muffler back on to see how it would work.  no loss in performance at all, sound is pefect.....still growls, but is muffled like it should be.

So...in short, the can I bought I don't need.  Never used, I would like to sell it to anyone who may be interested.  

Aside from the booties which are in the mail, the bike is done.  Future work will mean some tapered head tube bearings.  Only thing left now, is some detailing of the frame and other bits.....but the bike just works great now.

Anyway, just an update.  Once the booties get in, and I do some detailing, I will post some pics.


~Joe

[fasturd]

There is such a fine line between fun noise and tolerable noise. I just removed the baffle on my latest 750 and 2 minutes later I was re-installing it. Sounded cool but way too painful to ride. Yours is still lookin' good. hope you are getting some miles in!

Best,
Bill

[traveler]

little by little.  Thanks.

~Joe

[Syscrush]

OK, I just finished reading this thread.

NICE!

It was pretty emotional to me because I really like Lester's, and hated that airbox/breather thing, not a big fan of the Raasks, and hated to see a bike like this with no kick, AND had serious doubts about getting the stock CV carbs to work with pods.

So you could say I was very pleased/impressed with how your build ended up going... So far.

It's funny, I thought your motor was incredibly clean until I went to the BOTM thread and saw Terry's and Mark's! 

I really love your approach, though - I'm impressed at how much you were able to do with the motor in place, just going bit by bit, making a list and going through the items.  When I first saw the masked off triple tree painted with rattle-can paint I was a bit turned off, but when I saw your Phase I, II, III approach I got it.  VERY NICE!!!

And don't sweat the money spent on the bodywork, wheels, and carbs.  It's stuff like that that sets certain bikes apart - and it's not really a ton of money.  What you paid for those CR's is less than I spent (in total) on many trips to and from the shop trying to get the charging and carburetion problems sorted out on my 2000 SV650 a few years ago.  It's also less money than a nice sofa, and nobody thinks there's something wrong with you if you go buying one of those.   Hell, it's less than I've spent on one particularly egregious speeding ticket.


Congrats on some work very well done.  Looking forward to seeing the continuing evolution of this very fine bike.

[traveler]

Thanks for the kind words.

~Joe

[traveler]

Put some miles down tonight......bike has alof of torque in the mid range, but exhasut turns into a SCREAM at 7,000 RPM, and the speed of the tach needle sweep doubles from 7.000 K to 9,500 K!  Really sweet powerband.

On the way home, it started to get kinda dark, so I threw the headlight on.....when I got home about 5-10 minutes later, my battery was DEAD.

So, I have to recharge the battery....and the headlight is for emergency use only!

Oh, and on a long uphill straightway 5% grade approx., I hit 80 MPH at 7,000 RPM with my short gearing!  Darn thing FLIES!

~Joe

[Zaipai]

Kinda makes all the pain worth while does it not?!   The only issue I found with these little racers, is the front can get a little squirly above 60.. Mine seems to pull like a freight train up to around 7k even then there is some power left.. I can't even imagine what those carbs would make it feel like.. Your a lucky man there Joe!

Your charger should keep the head light burning bright with out much draw on the battery as long as the RPM's are above 3k.. Least that is what I am told I have not yet put it to the test. Even with the small battery you have.

.: Scott :.

[traveler]

Yesterday, I had her out, and had her wound up, looked down at the tach and was between 10,000 and 11,000 RPM and it was still pulling like crazy.

Lucky I didn't hurt her.

CR carbs on these motors, even with a stock cam LOVE 7K+ RPM.

~Joe

[Godffery]

What jetting did you end up using?

[RatFink84]

What do you want for that can?

[traveler]

What jetting did you end up using?

Stock settings, 120 mains, velocity stacks, on a MAC 4-1 exhaust with muffler.

Running stock points, coils, etc. but using one heat range cooler plugs "8EA" NGK's

My booties will be here shortly.

With the 2 tooth smaller front sprocket, I get a little slippage in 2nd gear....so you either ease in to the power on 2nd gear, or get Barnett clutch springs.  With the smaller sprocket, the torque is just too much for the stockers.  No joke, the little bike really hauls a$$.

~Joe

[traveler]

What do you want for that can?

Sorry mate, I just sold it.  Get with member "johnny5" on here.  He is the one who makes them.

~Joe

[traveler]

Okay Scott

you asked for some current pics, here are a few....probably should have waited until dusk, but better than nothing, I suppose...



















~Joe

[bwaller]

Are you not using the upper right engine mount?

[traveler]

all the mounts are there....haven't seen anything missing or removed any of them.

~Joe

[bwaller]

I can see the clutch cable stay but there are no 8mm bolts to attach the upper mount to the frame, so I expect the bracket has been carved up and only the part with the stay is captured by the bolt through the engine case?

[traveler]

I've checked it over....nothing appears to be missing, and the engine is secured well.

Here are a few more pics.







~Joe

[bwaller]

Joe, this is the mount I'm talking about. I can't see well in the picture but there are 2x8mm bolts that secure this bracket to the frame, and yours aren't there.

[traveler]

got cha!  Yeah, I need to get those....keep forgetting to pick some up...thanks for the reminder.....I thought you were talking around the front of the motor near the valve cover.

Hey!  Got the carb all boxed up, will mail out monday....cool?

~Joe

[bwaller]

That's a rog.

[Zaipai]

Sweet bike Joe.. Its fantastic.You have the best of both worlds, a cruiser and a racer!! Gotta love it.

Thanks for the picture update!

.: Scott :.