Topic: Admitting you have a problem is the first step. CB550 build

[Willy D]

Here's the left side rearset finished with linkage installed and bracket polished. I took the original shift lever, cut it off and rotated it. Had to bend it a little to work.

[Willy D]

I got the front and rear fenders painted this weekend. Mounted them up tonight.

[MasterChief750]

is that a gto peeking out or am i blind

[Willy D]

is that a gto peeking out or am i blind

The red one is a 64 the turquoise is a 68. Old Pontiacs are something else that can be addictive.

[Willy D]

Time for a couple updates as i have been making progress on the bike lately. I heated and bent my kick starter pedal with a torch so that it would clear the rearset brake lever. It actually was pretty easy to do, they were forged originally and seems to be made of good quality steel.

[Willy D]

I got a decent deal on a cb500t tank on ebay. i have always liked the shape of this tank better than the stock 550 tank. It took some minor modification to get it to fit right, but it turned out good. You could use it without moving the petcock location, but moving it worked out better for me. I took a small hole saw and cut out the original threaded pipe, drilled a new hole and welded it in. There was a small plate spot welded to the inside of the tank in the original location which left a lip so i took and welded a flat round slug in that location.

[Willy D]

I wanted the tank to sit further forward than the stock mounts would allow so i cut off the radius portion and extended the mounts with some 1/2" strips welded to the back portion of the original mounts. In the back i added a flat plate to the stock mount and used some rubber bushings off a shock absorber to mount it to the frame.

[fastbroshi]

Cool mods on the tank.  I see you've got the dual flipped disc figured out.

[Willy D]

Cool mods on the tank.  I see you've got the dual flipped disc figured out.

The disc mount was all stock parts, but I did have to grind one of the mounting bosses down so that the caliper would line up parallel to the rotor and tap the hole.

[Willy D]

Painted my tank and side covers this weekend. First i painted them charcoal grey like the pictures i posted earlier-I hated it! went back and painted them again with black.

[fastbroshi]

Good call, black is classic.

[Willy D]

I finally came up with the finishing details for my tank. Less is more right?

[Syscrush]

Very nice build.

Are you worried about the bent kicker being able to handle the necessary forces?  I'm thinking both of the effect of the heat & bend and the new geometry meaning that there's a pretty large torsional force now.

[Willy D]

Very nice build.

Are you worried about the bent kicker being able to handle the necessary forces?  I'm thinking both of the effect of the heat & bend and the new geometry meaning that there's a pretty large torsional force now.

No not really. When we heated it, it seemed to be forged out of pretty good steel. I have a little experience heating and bending dropped axles ect. I figured worst case if it broke all at once the worst thing that would happen is my foot would hit the ground. I was also worried about shortening the lever arm and making it harder to turn the motor over but it still works fine.

[canibeyou2]

i like what you're doing.  i always appreciate seeing those custom touches.  very nice looking bike.  say hi to the girls in goodletsville for me.

[Syscrush]

No not really. When we heated it, it seemed to be forged out of pretty good steel. I have a little experience heating and bending dropped axles ect. I figured worst case if it broke all at once the worst thing that would happen is my foot would hit the ground. I was also worried about shortening the lever arm and making it harder to turn the motor over but it still works fine.

Good to know, thanks.

I want to put rearsets on mine and go kick-only, so I'm interested in other people's solutions.

[Willy D]

Final assembly today test rode around the yard. I have to work on the front brakes a little more before I will feel comfortable getting on the road. I only took one pic today.

[ScottCB550]

i like that seat...where did you get it from?

[Willy D]

I got the seat off Ebay. check out this thread:  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=83188.msg937557#msg937557
let me know if you have any more questions.

[Willy D]

I took a few more pictures of the finished for now project. I had to sort out some tire mounting issues after a few test rides, when they mounted my new tires, they didn't clean all the rust off the bead seating area so the tire could not move all the way out and seat evenly. I bought a set of tire tools took it off myself and cleaned it up.

[immortal]

Very nice story and very nice build.....looks great!

[Willy D]

Very nice story and very nice build.....looks great!

Thanks to everybody and all the info on this site. I couldn't have done it with out them.

[Willy D]

I thought I would post a few pictures of some work I did over the winter. Because of paint problems I had to repaint my tank and side covers. Got tired of the Honda decals so I went with a new scheme that is more Honda looking to me-sort of Black Bomberish. I also added new exhaust-a 4 into 2 set of NOS I got off ebay, changed the clubmans out for Norman Hyde M bars, added a new larger taillight that I think fits the style better.

[Willy D]

couple more:

[fastbroshi]

That second rendition looks great, good job!