Topic: Another Noob. Another cb550 Build

[rcrivera]

Hi Guys,

I've trolled this forum for the past 2 years and I've always admired the amount of talent and information you can find here.  Long story short I've been inspired to post my build as well. 

I got this bike of craigslist for $500 in Late 2008. Its a 78 CB550K. It was in fairly decent shape till the gaskets blew and got gunk all over the engine/bike. I used her till winter 2009 and a gasket replacement turned into a rebuild. I'm a newbie into motorcycling and motorcycles so I thought I'd take a crack at it to learn more. With the help of the local honda guy - charlie o'hanlon http://www.charlies-place.com, youtube, sohc4 and the internet - I'm rebuilding her piece by piece. I'm already in the home stretch through the re-assembly but I thought I'd share the progress.  Hopefully it inspires someone else to tackle their big project.

Here's a before shot of the bike late 2009.

The Breakdown




The culprit


Random Parts & Reference Shots













more pics to come soon...

[ej18816672]

You might want to change the break rotor while your at it. The factory ones are no fun in the wet.

[Stev-o]

First off, welcome. The "before" pic looked pretty good, thought is was the "after"!

What are your plans to the cosmetics of the engine, I's like to suggest paint and polish.

Good luck.

[Raef]

welcome

That is a pretty cool seat is it a custom or were they available

Mark

 I have 2 550's an 1975 F and a 1974 K

[db22]

Thank you for the inspiring pix -- you have a lot more courage than I do!  Might try it with my '75 someday, if I have another bike to ride.  Looking forward to more pix and reading of your progress.

[Greggo]

Looks like a great place to start!  Those later 550's are great bikes.  You in the Bay Area?  Always looking for more SOHC4ers to ride with in the city.

Have fun!

Gregg

[rcb550]

Hey Guys,

I had to delete my old username because of an email change.  I'm back now.

First off, welcome. The "before" pic looked pretty good, thought is was the "after"!

What are your plans to the cosmetics of the engine, I's like to suggest paint and polish.

Good luck.

Ok I might have forgotten to mention that the before pic is after I repainted the tank and added the seat and drag bars. Here's the BEFORE BEFORE picture the day I picked it up.

[rcb550]

welcome

That is a pretty cool seat is it a custom or were they available

Mark

 I have 2 550's an 1975 F and a 1974 K

Hey Mark - its a custom.  It's the old seat pan with new foam.  I got this guy Ron Acker here in SF to make the leathers. 

[rcb550]

Looks like a great place to start!  Those later 550's are great bikes.  You in the Bay Area?  Always looking for more SOHC4ers to ride with in the city.

Have fun!

Gregg

Hey Greg - I'm in SF.  Nice to meet you.  We should definitely hook up and ride sometime.  You should check out http://www.bayareavintageriders.com.  It's got a lot of good info and rides for bay area people.

[rcb550]

You might want to change the break rotor while your at it. The factory ones are no fun in the wet.

Any suggestions for a new rotor?

[rcb550]

Here are pics of the carbs (before and after). 



Reference shots so I don't forget where everything goes.








I was being stubborn and didnt want to give all the things I needed to re-zinc plate to a local guy because they usually will only take it in a giant batch and you get it all mixed up.  So I thought I'd give this one a try.  Eastwood Home Zinc Plating Kit!
http://www.eastwood.com/ew-electroplating-system-tin-zinc.html




After -  some parts were so rusty I need to eventually replace them but here's what it looks like now.

[rcb550]

Just some random pics. 

The powder coated frame


I wanted to make the tank all black and smooth out the logo mounts but for now this will have to do.


more painting...


New levers


Cleaning tach and speedo


Making a new face for the pilot lights.  Hoping to put it inside the old tach housing.  Notice the scissors?  Yeah.  So... I got in trouble for that.


More parts from Bike Bandit!


New lights from Charlie (www.charlies-place.com).  They were perfect since they were 3/8 and bolted on straight to the frame ( front ones into the headlights also ).


Cut the rear inside fender so I can shorten the outside fender


before - Old Fender


now - New Fender!


Cleaning the forks




and the cat getting in the way.

[CBGhia]

what is the exhaust in the before pics?  Did you change the exhaust?  It looks like you switched to a 4 into 2. If you did switch, are the old pipes for sale?

[Greggo]

Nice Progress!  The fender and new signals look great.  It makes the whole back end look much cleaner, especially with the seat.  

[rcb550]

what is the exhaust in the before pics?  Did you change the exhaust?  It looks like you switched to a 4 into 2. If you did switch, are the old pipes for sale?

Hey CBGhia - There are the stock 4 to 4 pipes.  I still have them but they are not in the best condition.  They look better in the pictures than they do in real life.  If you look at the first picture (before pic) you may be able to see the welds on the bottom of each pipe.  Looks like the previous owner messed with the baffles.  Anyway, it has holes and rusting here and there.  If you are still interested - let me know.  I can take better pics.

[rcb550]

Here's a small time lapse of my rebuild (only to 90% of the build).
[youtube=425,350]J9Y7NZD7Zic[/youtube]

Here's what I have so far.