This is a slow starting thread about my original 78 cb550k. The green machine. This machine has lived a hard life, I'm sure, with irregular maintenance, poor storage conditions and the like. My goal is to go the cafe racer route with this bike, while simultaneously going the stock route with my bike, the black bomber.
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http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=57905.0)
I've been toying with the idea of making a fiberglass tank and seat cowl, OR just buying something already fabbed for the ease of it. Wiring will probably need to be redone, updated fuse box and AGM battery to go under the seat clearing the triangle so you can see through it. Ideally, new rims, powdercoated frame and all the other aesthetic crap that costs a lot of money.
First things first, the motor. This old girl idles pretty rough and has a pretty nasty grind at low RPMs. Probably the primary chain thrashing around. I'll have to pull the oil pan and see for sure. But, provided it is what I think it is, the motor will get broken into pieces to be reassembled. Originally I thought of following in Paulages footsteps and overboring to a 650 with all the trimmings. Well, I could probably pull it off, with enough expletives to to make an old sailor blush, but I've decided to mostly stay stock. Items I will change for sure are:
the cam (still looking for a 650 sohc to drop in...)
the air filter setup
Brakes (going to dual disk with braided steel lines)
Possible changes include
Wheel/rim
port polish
overbore (depending on the condition inside when I get there.)
A point of interest with some of you may be that I am switching off of the stock air filter setup, but I intend NOT to use pods. Instead, I intend to fabricate some sort of 4-1 pipe and use a short air filter and the whole contraption should stop before it hits the 'triangle' where the air filter setup is usually stored. I would like this item to be a mod that could be attached to a stock carb setup with no rejetting needed (but... we'll see... I'm sure this will be more difficult than I currently imagine) If I succeed, I may make them and sell them on the forum.
As with all quality, underfunded builds, this will probably take me quite a while. For anyone who doesn't know it's the middle of october '09 right now. I don't even intend to break the bike for another month or two (or three) so long as I can tolerate it leaking oil all over my boot and jeans until then. I'll probably be at it for a while, but I don't want this to be another half-baked cafe build... the kind that are for sale all over craigslist. I'm going for quality. Hopefully I don't lose interest or get funds cut off by my (loving and extremely motorcycle tolerant) wife. I'm still in the planning stage for a while.
And, I've been told the green machine name is already taken. This bike started as 'the yellow machine' back when it looked like a school bus. It's come a long way since then.
