Topic: New bike, new member intro

[Motoshrink]

Hi CB Four folks!

Just picked up a 77 CB550 Four...beautiful and almost stock/orig.  20k mi.  I am in Portland, OR.  Used to race modern sportbikes, always wanted on of these.  Just put cafe drop bars on it.  It needs the carbs gone thru and a little spit polish, bits of touch up.  Interested in getting fat sticky tires for it.  Also interested in changing the front fork oil and perhaps springs at some point.  Rear shocks look aftermkt and feel pretty good, front is a wee bit soft and plush.  Would also drop the forks in the triples a little.

Here's a picture from as purchased.

Anyone in the Pacific NW?  Anyone that can go thru the carbs that is in the area you folks could recommend?
Thanks!
-Dave

[Nikkisixx]

Hi and welcome!  I'm sure someone out west will chime in on a recommendation for you, but why not tackle it yourself?  If you are smart enough to sign into the interweb, you can figure out a rack of carbs 

[Motoshrink]

Love the enthusiasm nikkisix...I know a job best left to someone that has already done it when I see one.  There are FOUR of those dang things on there.  FOUR!  I remember having dual zenith stromburg side draft carbs on my first car in high school that were never once in synch.  Not even by accident for a sec. 

Have you had luck tackling stuff like that?  Good on ya!

[ieism]

Welcome to the forum. And congrats on buying your new bike.

Is there a reason to go through the carbs? Does it run poor? You will need vacuummeters to sync carbs, so probably not a bad idea to let a shop do that. But cleaning carbs is easy enough.Simply taking the floatbows off and checking how dirty they are will give you an idea if you even need to have it looked at. You only need a stubby screwdriver and 20 minutes for this. Post pictures and ask opinions if they need cleaning.
You will do yourself a favour learning basic maintenance tasks when you own an older bike. Lots of help here, so no need to go to a bikeshop that probably doesn't know anything about older bikes anyway.
Syncing carbs is one of the last things I do when doing a basic tune-up. Valve clearances and timing first.

A very fat tire on a 550 will not enhance your handling at all, but more modern dual compound tires will.

You can get progressive springs for the front, but i've seen posts here about putting spacers at the top of the stock springs to stiffen them up to. Check the FAQ for that.

[Motoshrink]

Thanks for the rec's.  Bike won't idle consistently, runs rough at low rpm's and then, like clockwork, will die.  Won't start at all.  5 mins of letting it sit and it will start again.

I like the spacer in the front along with 10-15wt oil.  I am getting "death wobbles" out of the front that could turn into tank slappers if I didn't grab the bars hard and hit the gas.  I think the rear shocks are stiff and high, while the front is soft and low with sag when sit on it.  Funny, I was going to lower the front too.  Not now!

Is there a post on here somewhere about good tires for the 18R and 19F rims?  This has Avons that are old (cracking rubber) but not worn.

[ieism]

The not starting for 5 minutes puzzles me. doesn't sound like a clogged iddlejet at all. I would post these problems here in the sohc/4 part of the forum, i'm sure we'll figure it out.

At what speed is this wobble? Also check your wheelbearings and headstock bearing, 550's shouldn't wobble below 110 mph

I've searched for months trying to resolve a nasty wobble, and it turned out to be old tires that were not round anymore. So if you're changing the tires anyway do that first. Bridgestone BT45 are great for these bikes, but search the forum for other opinions.

I have very stiff springs in the rear of my caferacer, and no wobble.....

[BeSeeingYou]

Nice looking Super sport.  Don't overdo it on the fat tires.  These old bikes have narrow rims and while you can fit a wider than recommended tire on it will wear poorly and cause handling issues down the road.  The jets should be accessible  by taking the bowls off and I would start there. You may also have a fuel flow problem. Dirty tank, clogged petcock/fuel filter/float needle, along with plugged idles jets.

[flybox1]

moto...nice find!
find yourself a Clymer Manual and download a shop manual for your bike.  most of the stuff your bike needs can be done by YOU, on the cheap, over a few weekends and a few cases of beer.  better you doing/learning than paying someone else to TRY and do it better than you.  and eventually, YOU will have to do it yourself to fix what that someone else fu#t up.
not many will touch these old bikes.
its not as hard as you think.  besides...we got your back! 

[Motoshrink]

Looks like two or three problems happening concurrently...one being batt not charging (either batt or some other electrical dealio) AND I was running it with the choke half on which may have been drowning the poor thing.  Guess it runs well with very little choke compared to what I expected.  Still though, perhaps something not all kosher with the carbs.

Have someone (Paulages) checking the synch on the carbs and trouble shooting the electrical.  We are going to put heavier oil and proper level in front with some pvc prelaod spacers.  Not sure how big to make them.  This will be a good start.

Moving along anyway!  Sure like the cafe bars over the stock ones, HUGE difference in riding position and handling. 

Wobble occurs at any speed I roll off the throttle.  I thing the front is way low on fork oil.

I will look into getting a set of bridgestones for it, or maybe avons.  The front is all cracked and I am sure it is leached out and dry even though has little wear.

Picked out some little F and R turn signal lights from Lockhart Phillips.  Also trying to figure out how long the stainless steel brakelines should be with the drop bars.  Then Ferodo pads for front. 

Zoom!       Love this forum!  Thanks everybody!!!
-Dave