Topic: **Updated 5/20/13** In over MY head 1975 cb550 cafe. thanks...Dave500, Twotired

[dave500]

good luck.

[xsmooth69x]

sorry for the sudden stop in my epic build thread.....

finals killed my precious time left before the winter and stopped me dead in my tracks....

on top of that thank god that i didnt lose my finger......



i was working on my subaru and my finger got caught in the belt and went through the pulley    it was a stupid mistake and im pretty ashamed but ya stupid me

so this really sucks.... not only working on my car and bikes but i also build and design websites on the side, bartend and DJ so i litterally F'ed myself......

i guess i didnt really realize or appreciate my fingers and with this extremly close call these meat sticks of mine are gold right under the family jewels 

i smooshed and fractured my finger tip bone, 4 stitches, lost the nail (hopefully not forever.....) i have a good chance it will come back.

[xsmooth69x]

[Syscrush]

Wow.  NASTY.

Hope you heal up well.

Was the motor running at the time? What were you doing?

[dave500]

looks like your finger got mugged?man thats gotta hurt.

[maduncle]

Bummer!

That is one good reminder to wear gloves when ever you can - I get real slack in the workshop, but I think if I print out your mangled finger picture and pin it up next to all the bike photos I might get better at safety.

Hope it all comes good for you and you get back to tinkering, web designing and Djayin real soon.

And ave500 - love the mug shot. 

[MCRider]

I got my thumb pinned under a heavy immovable object once. I pulled it out and left the nail behind, pulled out by the roots. Man that hurt!

Anyway to answer your question the nail grew back,and the only repercussion is the moon has an odd shape.

As to the rest of the damage, well...

I zinged the very tip of the same thumb off in a table saw. No stitches as the skin was gone, just bandages, and it healed back over. No more fingerprint at that spot. But there was under the skin scarring which leaves a lump I can feel when grasping with that thumb tip. 

I assume you'll have something similar.

I often have these morbid thoughts about what would happen if I stuck my hand/fingers in a moving belt/pulley; chain/sprocket, etc. When I hit the open button on my shop doors, I take a step back from the open chain/sprocket.  If I have the thoughts, someone else may have the inclination, and someone else (like you?) may actually do it. The mind is a weird thing. Hope that wasn't your case.

Mind your bandages, change as the doctor says, antibiotics etc.

[Syscrush]

That is one good reminder to wear gloves when ever you can - I get real slack in the workshop, but I think if I print out your mangled finger picture and pin it up next to all the bike photos I might get better at safety.

How would gloves help in this case?

[maduncle]

That is one good reminder to wear gloves when ever you can - I get real slack in the workshop, but I think if I print out your mangled finger picture and pin it up next to all the bike photos I might get better at safety.

How would gloves help in this case?

Well - in the case of getting your finger caught in a running belt - the glove 'may' get pulled off your hand and get caught in the belt, rather than your finger (I have had a glove pulled off by a machine before, and I reckon I was lucky it only pulled the glove off and not my finger).

Plus - even if your finger went through the belt and got crushed inside the glove, the skin damage should be less and there should be less of a chance of infection too - from dirt impregnated into the open skin.

Finally - I reckon the greatest safety measure that things like gloves or goggles offer to you is not just the physical protection aspect - but the behaviour change they make in your work practises - truly, I think you act safer when you wear safety gear.




BTW - xsmooth69x, I am glad you now appreciate your fingers under your family jewels - I often do the same.

[dave500]

i think a glove in this case may have gotten grabbed in worse and even broken xsmooths wrist?who knows?just take care.

[Retro Rocket]

i think a glove in this case may have gotten grabbed in worse and even broken xsmooths wrist?who knows?just take care.

+1, Gloves or loose clothing can be a real problem with moving parts, i have witnessed it and its is not good at all....
Latex gloves are fine if you want to stay clean, but anything that could possibly get caught is not a good option at all.

[seanbarney41]

I spend 8 hours+ mon.-fri. with the most gnarliest finger eating woodworking machines ever created...actuallly, most are quite capable of hogging down a whole human body...but anyway everyone, just make sure you always know where your fingers are at, keep them out of harms way....I've had the same job for 11 years and have only messed up with chisels...when I first started working there, I would have nightmares of lost fingers and not being able to play guitar anymore...

[maduncle]

Totally support and respect everyone's opinion on gloves, as a firefighter I guess my opinion may be biased - as long as we take the time to stop and think about our safety, then that is a good thing.

I still look forward to seeing progess on this bike, once all wounds have healed

[dawdish]

I can TOTALLY relate..got mine caught in my sons Corvair belt last winter, and man I felt stupid too!

[xsmooth69x]

ok winter is officially over so you will be seeing me alot more 

thanks you everyone again for all your help if it wasent for the bomb community my bike wouldnt be where it is today!!

also thanks for all the safety tips so hears a pic of my finger growing back all perfect and health



some updates on the bike......

last we where talking about my rattle can job. i pretty much clear coated and painted everything i need.

i still have my tank graphics and that about it.

i have some kicks on my black section of my motor i have to touch up and i had to pull off my carbs so i nicked that bad boy pretty bad so ill have to touch that up too other than that paint is pretty much done.

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we where also talking about the clip ons and the MC clearance. as of now the way the clip ons are positioned i dont think it will be comfortable so i will probably selling the ones i have on now and getting one that is a little longer to have more clearance.

==================

now i took off the carbs and got it all adjusted doing the bench sync with the 1/8 drill bit.

the only problem now is when u sync the carbs from what i understand u need to be at 1500-2000 rpm. but the thing is my tach is broken and messed up.

so i will be rebuilding my tach which i was going to do anyways and place the LED ring inside of it and also get a vinyl face plate replacement. also repaint the tip of the needle.

the bike idles great. all 4 headers pipes are warm so al 4 are firing and the half fast sync test all 4 carbs where at the 10 psi or something on the gauges i was using

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i also took the time to properly get the cam tensioner tensioned and i have to wierd rattling noise now when the bike is running.

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after i get the bike all tuned up i will start going through the rest of the wiring and putting my hid headlight on, horn, blinkers, stop and licence plate led on.

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also need to get my seat re upholstered.

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heres a quick vid of the bike

1975 cb550 almost done

[Tews19]

Bike sounds good in the video. Have you engaged the clutch to see if the rattling becomes less? I have a slight clutch rattle and when I engage it it goes away

[xsmooth69x]

Bike sounds good in the video. Have you engaged the clutch to see if the rattling becomes less? I have a slight clutch rattle and when I engage it it goes away

ow no no the rattle came from the top end because of the loose cam chain tensioner. the last time i worked on the motor switching out the cam i forgot to tighten it and it was bothering me until i remember i forgot to tighten it.

after i tightened it everything is like butter!!

[xsmooth69x]

since i havent updated by build thread in forever because of school and now in the summer im in over drive trying to finish my bike so i can ride ride ride !!!

since i have these pics on hand i thought id share!

just my quick tach resto

cost-
2 X 24cm Car Blue 24-LED Neon Flexible PVC Strip Light $4.99 free ship
misc solder, paint $5

to take off the outside ring i decided to make a very very small slit (then like ive heard you can drop a bead of solder to later re connect the ring on the bottom out of sight) well later when i got to the point to solder the ring back on.... well that was horrible!!! i do not recommend it at all. for one the solder did not want to stick to the ring at all!!! but if you do decide to do the solder you must sand the ring in the section where you are going to solder. then instead of heating the solder and dropping a bead use the highest temperature setting on ur soldering iron and heat the ring up then drop the solder. this took forever and multiple attempts i used a shiat tone of solder because the bead kept on rolling off. i eventually got it

i did the usual painted my tach needle and cleaned up the gauge face

went through the tach mechanics clean and re lubed it

i also painted the inside of the gauge white so the light will pop more (when reassembling the gauge i had to sand down all the ring edges because apparently

 its such a tight squeeze the dismal amount of paint i used to spray the gauge it actually made them stack a little higher and couldnt fit the outer ring i cut earlier back on)

then i decided to take out the stock bulbs and replacing them with LED string things

check it out





i used 2 string LED strips and they both fit in pretty nice



*** this is just a google image but this is what i used but in blue



i used the stock wire harness for the original light bulbs and cut off the light bulbs and soldered the LEDs on. i also used the stock water proof grommet things

heres some pics lite up





heres everything re assembled





beautiful!

[xsmooth69x]

also an update on post #153 the broken stop section of the kicker i decided to JB weld....

well it broke off again. so now ill probably get it brazed or welded or something

as of now though it has no effect on the bike. the only thing is now the kicker when it is up kinda rests on the little clutch part.

kicking it there is no difference the spring still holds on the case and there is no problem

***ill take a pic on how the kicker sits when i get back to my bike***

[xsmooth69x]

also just some fun pics i soda blasted my carbs and painted them incredible hulk green





** my bike is much further along than this but this is the only photo on hand that i have with the green carbs

love it hate it guess who cares.... not this guy i love it!

[OneWheelDrive]

Wow, those carbs POP.  Is the Hulk Green going to be a theme?  You should paint the rear shock ends (that are yellow) to match.  Where did you get the LED strips?  Part number?

[mono]

loooking good!   love the carb bodies.  REALLY love the LEDs (wish i'd have done this when i had them apart...) -- bike's looking sharp!  i think you'll really have something to be proud of riding.

[xsmooth69x]

Wow, those carbs POP.  Is the Hulk Green going to be a theme?  You should paint the rear shock ends (that are yellow) to match.  Where did you get the LED strips?  Part number?

wow thats a great idea about the shock end caps!!!! i will for sure do this

the green is kinda just a fun thing. the carbs brake and clutch lever are green

its just the homedepot florecent green spray paint 

also the brake calipers on my subaru are the same color 

the LEDs i got off ebay 2 X 24cm Car Blue 24-LED Neon Flexible PVC Strip Light
4.99 free shipping
they are 12v so they can connect straight into the wire harness they arnt like raw let that need a resistor or anything like that

[xsmooth69x]

loooking good!   love the carb bodies.  REALLY love the LEDs (wish i'd have done this when i had them apart...) -- bike's looking sharp!  i think you'll really have something to be proud of riding.

ow yes this is my baby!! since this is my first one i really wanted to do everything myself! this 550's theme is like a down and dirty garage build. very raw, simple kinda road warrior type bike (other than the green carbs lol)

the only thing i had a shop do what mount tires and balance. i decided not to bother doing that myself

when i do my 1972 cb750 i will take some more time get things powder coated and the paint done professionally

[Operator]

Nice work man, love the green carbs, and the leds in the guages...nice touch. I am glad to see you are totally making it your own!!

Good luck, can't wait to see it finished.