Topic: Lester mag find (and some Enkei's, too)

[Scott S]

 Stopped by a local shop today and was rummaging around out back. They have two CB550's. One, interestingly enough, has the CB500 627B carbs on it. I thought about picking them up for parts, but they're pretty rough. Stuck tight.

 One of them had a drum brake mag wheel on the back. It's in a tough spot to get to, so I couldn't find any markings, but it's a 16" wheel. It looks like the Lester mags I've seen posted on here. Very similar to the factory mag wheels for the XS650.
  They just threw out a price of "around $50". There's not a matching front, unfortunately.

 There's also a Kawasaki out there with the same style mags and I DID see Enkei on them.

 Anything to these wheels?

[754]

 Enkeis and Asahis ore OEM on many years of Kawis.

 Try to get the 550 mag, its worth more than that, of its in nice shape.. then run it or trade it..

[Scott S]

 If I get it, is there a similar mag wheel from a different model of bike that would work on the front of my CB500?

[Scott S]

 Both bikes also have 4-1 headers on them. A little rough from sitting outside, but pretty solid overall. One looks like a MAC header but the muffler is different.
 The other collector is shaped like the 400F collector. What should I offer for these?

[754]

 Just buy the whole bike.. with Header and wheel you are at around 100.00 already.. they may want it gone..

[Scott S]

 They're a little proud of their stuff, but I got both headers, the bank of 627B carbs (which I was able to free up, even if they are stiff), the mag wheel and a cowl that I'm going to use for my "Super Sport" cafe' style seat. All for $100.
 I sprayed everything with PB Blaster today and will go back in the morning with my tools to get everything. Pics to follow.


 Now, what about adapting a front "Lester" mag wheel? Are any of the XS400, XS650 or Kawasaki wheels even close to mounting up to the front of a CB500? Even if I need a spacer or different bearings, etc.?

[scottly]

Enkeis and Asahis ore OEM on many years of Kawis.

Did Kawasaki have Lester look-alike wheels? I know they made Morris clones. I have an Enkei wheel from an '82 550. The axle is the same diameter as my 750. (.589")

 

[bird]

My CB750K2 has HA brand mag wheels. They were around back in the 70's, were called 7-spoke wheels,  and made by Henry Abe Japan, now known as Daytona accessories.
You could have found a set of those. Good luck.

[scottly]

bird, got any pics? Attached is a pic with '70s Morris on the left, and the Kawi clone on the right.

[754]

Some of the bigger Kawis may have bigger axle on the front, and speedo drives are a lot different that Honda (but can be adapted to Honda drive unit). Some Kawis have 4 bolt brake mounts, some have 6 with big center hole.
K
 Scottly what is the number of bolts on the 550 Kaw mag?

 Some 4 bolt Kaw rotors are close to 550 Honda diameter, drilled, and thinner than any Honda sohc discs.

[scottly]

Scottly what is the number of bolts on the 550 Kaw mag?

 Some 4 bolt Kaw rotors are close to 550 Honda diameter, drilled, and thinner than any Honda sohc discs.

6 bolts, with the large diameter hub. The discs are thin, about 4.6 mm? and drilled (I would drill them even more ) and are smaller in outside diameter than 750 discs, but I don't remember the actual size off the top of my head.

[754]

You could probably run 550 calipers and hangers on them discs... they are close, but offset may differ.
 Are the rotors the wonky pattern or the consistent one (like , I think Z1R)? I thnk the wonky one is balanced, but it may be trickey to add holes and stay balanced

[faux fiddy]

Enkeis and Asahis ore OEM on many years of Kawis.

Did Kawasaki have Lester look-alike wheels? I know they made Morris clones. I have an Enkei wheel from an '82 550. The axle is the same diameter as my 750. (.589")

 

Campagnolo 5 spoke

[scottly]

Campagnolo 5 spoke

I thought Lesters were 7 spoke, like the Morris?

[Scott S]

 What about the mag wheels that came on the XS400/XS650? They are very similar in style. I wonder how much work it would be to get an XS400 wheel to work. If it's even possible.

Here's a great page showing the different styles of mags available "back in the day":

http://www.fishheadbigbrakes.com/Wheels.html

[fishhead]

 Most of the early Kaws (pre 1975-ish) had 6 bolt brake discs with the larger center hole (pictured is the 72-75 Z-1 900 disc).The 4 bolt Kawa discs were used in the late 70's and early 80's (and on some pre 1975, smaller bikes). Some of the later KZ's (shaft drive 1000's) had 7 bolt brake discs(with the small-ish center hole). The later KZ's then went to the larger center hole disc with 7 bolt brake discs (often referred to as the GPz style- pictured above next to the KZ 4 bolt Morris front wheel).

   The Yamaha XS rear drum mag wheels look similar to the Lester wheels, but the XS have a 4 or 6 bolt sprocket that bolts to the mag (no separate "cush" drive). Most (if not all ) of the XS rear drum mag wheels were 16 inch.

  Most Lesters have "Lester" cast in them some where. Usually in a spoke or in the drum brake area. (2nd pic is the Yamaha wheel, I don't have any pics of the rear wheels, but they are very similar/matching style to the front wheel shown).

[faux fiddy]

Campy 5 spoke are very desirable. Kind of similar to the  others with 7.



7's.

[Scott S]

 Well, it's defintely a Lester! I can't make out everything on the top row, but the second row says  "Lester 3 14 77". Probably a manufacture date?
 It was mounted on a '74 CB550.

[Scott S]

 I also picked up some 627B carbs, complete except for one drain screw on the float bowl, and stuck....but they want to move. I'm soaking them with PB Blaster.
 I also grabbed the air box. These were on a 500 engine in a '76 CB550 frame.

[Scott S]

 This is header #1. It was on the CB500 engine in the '76 frame. It has that neat CB400F bend to the header. The muffler is marked "Jardine 9651". Not sure if they're a matched set or not, but I think they're cool.
 Crusty, but overall very solid. The muffler has a baffle inside.

[Scott S]

 This is header #2. No markings on  this one. Big collector where the muffler meets the header. Also crusty with one hole on the headers that I didn't see until I got it home. Overall, very solid and probably can be patched and saved.

[Scott S]

 I also noticed a VF700 front end up there. The mag wheel on it is similar to the Lester. I wonder how much work it would be to mount it up to the CB500 as a "match" for the rear Lester?

[HB-1fan]

Scott, the first header is the factory cb550ss head pipe with an aftermarket muffler. If the second pipe comes apart at the collector only, than it is a very desirable Bassani pipe that worked very well and sounded beautiful.

Hope it helps
HB

[Scott S]

 The second header DOES come apart into two pieces. It will take some penetrating fluid and a little work, though.
 I think the hole could be patched, even if you had to wrap the headers to cover the patch.
 I'll be working on cleaning these up in the near future.

[bird]

My mags.bird