Topic: Here goes nothin.. a 550 build *new completed pics!*

[Bunicula]

Welp after a long time mulling over wether or not i should buy/build a bike i finally pulled the trigger. A few of you may recognize it from the classifieds as its been for sale for a bit. It actually belonged to a very good friend of mine and ive wanted it ever since i first saw it years ago. Ive had it now for about 2 weeks and have began taking it apart litterally as soon as we unloaded it at my shop. im bummed i didnt think to take pics of it while it was still somewhat put together but here are a couple from the for sale ad





and one of the awesome tank



first on my list of things to sort out was to fix a leaky float bowl and get it fired up.
So off came the carbs to replace the bowl gasket.. unfortunately as we all know its never that simple..



After staring at what looked to be some sort of relic pulled from the titanic for about 30 minutes.. i came to realize there was no saving it. From there i got a bit nervous thinking water may have gotten into that cylinder as well, although i knew the engine wasnt locked up i still wanted to hear it run to make sure everything was kosher. I decided to try and clean the one carb up as best i could and see what would happen.. to my suprise it fired right up!



After that i was super pumped and knew i had a decent platform to work from. needless to say the day it looked like this..



The next night I moved the bike over to my side of the shop and onto a temporary "stand"  i knew i would be going the Cafe route with the build so i got a little silly with some cardboard and tape.. also pulled the front end apart to try on some clip-ons . this is pretty much how the it sits now.



knowing I would need replace the one bad carb, i opted to try and find a complete rack in good shape and ended up sourcing a clean set on Ebay. those arrived yesterday and i was def happy with how they looked..



so thats where im at so far.. Ive had the bike for just over a week now so hopfully i can keep the pace up and be riding by my july goal. i have lots to do but i think i can get it done.. A big part of why i started this thread is to hear feedback and have a place to ask questions as this is all new to me, so please dont hesitate to post sugestions and comments...  lots of Paint,Polish and new parts are in store 

[Bakeoff]

That tank is....awesome?  lol

I remember you said in my build thread that you're a v-dub guy.  I've always been a honda car and CBR guy.  So, we're kind of in the same boat.  Keep up the nice work, and definitely keep cracking jokes (the titanic comment was perfect).  It keeps it fresh and makes it a build worth reading instead of just looking at pictures.  I'm following this one for sure.

What's the plan on the tail?  Fiberglass?  Making your own?  Buying one?  Mine is steel, welded straight to the frame, and god was that a mistake! lol

[Bunicula]

thanks for the kind words dude. your build is def one of my favorites for sure. I love the shape of your rear section (as odd as that sounds  ) as of now i plan on doing some metal shaping for the seat and tail section like you did, ill make mine removable though aahhaha. As for the car stuff, yeah i have been into VW's since day one.. its so frustating being so familair with those then getting into this and not having any idea what im doing ahahha.. guess thats the fun of it though right?!


Anyway tonight i made my my way back to the shop and got a bit done.. gave the bike a good cleaning, took the pipes off, sandblasted the clamps for that , the battery box and the triple tree. then i got a little ambitious and detailed the motor a bit.
since im not completely taking the bike down this season this is good enough for now..

came out ok for a quick job..






from here ill remove all the polished covers and give them a good clean up as well...actually while removing one of the little covers on the sides of the head it cracked on me.. not sure what its called but im going to need a new one.. can anyone help me out?

finally i just want to share with Bakeoff and anyone else interested my other money pit... i know this is a bike forum so hopefully you guys wont mind

[Bakeoff]

Nice!  That's a clean little dub! 

Not to thread jack at all, but this is my other bike, the daily driver, and you can see my silverado poking in on the side.  The pic is from the first time I got the bike out this year.  The sol has a 2.3l from a 2001 Accord in it and I also have another one that is my track car (caged, currently blown up 1.6 turbo that put down 270whp before spinning a bearing).



But back on topic.  I know what you mean about feeling lost.  I've done 50+ engine swaps on various cars, mostly import compacts.  I'm working on cracking my engine and can't believe I need to look at a manual for tear down... 

The tail was the hardest thing I've dealt with on my project.  If I had taken more time (hind sight) to smooth out the steel  with body hammers, I wouldn't have had a need for any filler.  Then I could have powder coated the whole frame (with the tail attached) and had far fewer headaches.  Bolt on is totally the way to go. 

PS: that engine looks immaculate compared to mine!  I'd ride it like that without a second thought!  As for the cap that broke... I just searched ebay for "cb550 head cover" and quickly found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1976-HONDA-CB-550-CB550-CB550F-Cylinder-Head-Side-Cover-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem35b1fdb46cQQitemZ230619460716QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[Bunicula]

Great thanks dude! ive sent a bunch of IM's to people parting bikes out.. im sure ill have one soon 

Sounds like you have  fun little fleet of cars too.. the Del must rip with the 6 in it. cool you got the hood to close too..

[Bunicula]

quick little update.. i have a replacement head side cover on its way from a fellow member.. did a bit of work last night but didnt think to take any pictures.. maybe tonight..

on a another note im super bummed about missing a new looking set of front forks on ebay by seconds today.. would have been a big step forward for the build.. im hoping another clean set pops up sooner than later

[Bunicula]

Got alittle polishing done today..



I've always used a 3 inch air buffer or my 7 inch electric for larger flat surfaces.. But with these little bits I thought a rouge wheel would be a better option.. I did get my chain cover looking pretty good as well but not quite finished with it yet.. Im also waiting on new head side covers that I'll be cleaning up too

[D.WHO]

 Good job on the engine dude! I have a 550 as well I hope to start on later this summer, you're giving me all sorts of ideas I don't need...     

[Bakeoff]

Those look awesome.  A lot of people stop polishing a little early and get that hazy look.  You're steppin' it up man.

[Bunicula]

Thanks guys! Ive been polishing for quite a long time but this is the first time ive used the rouge process.. im pretty please with how they came out for sure  

Quick update.. tonight i got my front and rear wheels off and then dismounted the tires. what a pain in the ass that was, the old tires were rock hard.  the plan is gloss back spokes and hoops.

after that i decided to tackle my dragging front brake once more after reading some great info here in the forums..im happy to say i think i got it squared away but found that the master was weaping a bit after i had a solid feeling lever. so ill have to rebuild that and once thats done hopefully ill be in good shape brakes wise.

finally i think i decided to give up on the idea of building my own seat/rear section.. the way things are going im def going to have to focus on other areas of the build more to get her road worthy. Tomorrow im going to be ordering some parts and im pretty sure a seat will be on the list.. 

[Ringo]

That carb!  Nasty!

Polished bits look great, man.  Looking forward to more updates.

[kck3]

Looking good.  What did you use to detail the motor?

[Randy]

Sweet start..love the Mk1... I'm looking for one of those too.. But have my eyes on a 63 corvair for now..

[Nortstudio]

Your polishing work looks amazing.  What exactly is a rouge wheel?

Can't wait to see where to take it.

[Bunicula]

That carb!  Nasty!

Polished bits look great, man.  Looking forward to more updates.

thanks man! your workmanship is unreal so thats a great compliment coming from you

Looking good.  What did you use to detail the motor?

I used straight purple power and a stiff brush to clean it, I also have a small electric power washer that works great for this kind of stuff so that helped alot..

after it was cleaned and dried I used duplicolor engine primer and silver paint.. this stuff is awesome.. drys SUPER fast and looks very close to a clean aluminum finish.

Your polishing work looks amazing.  What exactly is a rouge wheel?

Can't wait to see where to take it.

thanks man! a rouge wheel is a cotton polishing disk used in conjuction with a series of dif polishing compounds.. for these bits i used 1. black emery (High abrasive more for cleaning and prepping) 2. tripoli (less abrasive polish) and finally white diamond (gives a nice luster)

polishing metal is alot like buffing paint.. the more heat you can produce on the surface of whatever your polishing  the better the end rusult will be.

[Bunicula]

Only spent about an hour on the bike tonight.. Have to spend time with the girlfriend once in a while too 
I did get my front fender trimmed up and played with some ideas a bit.. I think I'm into it. What do you guys think?

[D.WHO]

I like it, I take you're gonna do that on both sides?

[Nortstudio]

I like it.  Changes it up a bit. 

I have been messing around with buffing wheels, just never heard them referred to as "rouge" wheels.  I'm waiting on a sisal wheel - which has taken over a month from Caswell, but should be better at cutting with the black compound.

I've been thinking of practicing chopping on an old rusted fender I have.  What did you do to get the holes in there?  Freehand with that drill?  Or drill press?  The big holes seem bugger than a typical bit.

Looking good. 

[Syscrush]

Only spent about an hour on the bike tonight.. Have to spend time with the girlfriend once in a while too 
I did get my front fender trimmed up and played with some ideas a bit.. I think I'm into it. What do you guys think?

Speed holes.  Make the bike go faster.

Looking great so far, man.

[Bunicula]

I like it, I take you're gonna do that on both sides?

as of now i think im just going to leave that small section of holes in that one corner.. i dont want to over do it.. esp as ill be doing the same with the rear brake.

I like it.  Changes it up a bit. 

I have been messing around with buffing wheels, just never heard them referred to as "rouge" wheels.  I'm waiting on a sisal wheel - which has taken over a month from Caswell, but should be better at cutting with the black compound.

I've been thinking of practicing chopping on an old rusted fender I have.  What did you do to get the holes in there?  Freehand with that drill?  Or drill press?  The big holes seem bugger than a typical bit.

Looking good. 

everything done so far was  freehand.. i did however cheat a bit and used a round object to cast a shadow to get an idea on the shape i wanted for the ends of the fender. as far as the bit i used, it was just my trusty old unibit...

lots of goodies ordered yesterday.. and hope to have some more updates later tonight!!

[jaguar]

looking good.
could you go into a little more detail about the polishing?
i cant seem to get the "haze" out of some of the more oxidized stuff im doing.
i use a 6in buffing wheel and three rouge compound after sanding to 2000

[Bunicula]

Polishing is alot like painting. It really is all in the prep you do to the surface that will determine how the final product looks, esp in the lower grit sanding. If your working with really oxidized pieces the hazy looking finish is caused by the pitting that's still in metal and or sanding marks that weren't removed in the sanding process. I like to use my 3 inch random orbit sander with the lower grit paper to get a nice uniform surface.. From there I always sand by hand from 400 up and I'll often sand wet from there as well. There are little things that play a roll as well.. Making sure you sand in the same direction as much as possible, using the correct polishing pad/polish together and using good sandpaper. Just like anything else practice makes perfect and yields better results   if you have any specific questions feel free to ask and I'll be happy to help you out!


Now onto this weekends progress. Def made some headway, Friday I got my MC rebuild kit so i got that all squared away. It wasn't too bad, circlip was a bit of a pain but nothing horrible.

Saturday I got my carb rebuild kits and went to town on those right away.. I was kinda bummed though as the pod filters I got ended up being top long to fit between the Carbs and the frame on the to outter carbs.. What length have you guys had good luck with?



That brings us to today.. I really wanted to start on the tank so I went ahead gave it a good soak with POR15's marine clean. I threw in a few nuts and bolts and gave the tank a good shake every so often.. Came out pretty well and so I don't think I'm going to coat it at this point.  From there it was time to get the layers of old paint off. I had tried sanding it a while back but it def wasn't going to cut it not to mention it was pretty ruff around the filler neck.

Out came the aircraft stripper


Cleaned it all up and hit it with 220.. I cant believe how straight the tank is, seriously not a scratch in it.



Lastly I played with the rear drum cover a bit. I'm not quite done yet as I'm going to bevel the holes a bit to clean them up.. I think it'll look pretty cool



Still expecting some more stuff in the mail this week so I'll def have some more updates...
 

[Aladinsane07]

Perfect MK1.  I've always loved that grille/flare setup.  I'm a couple weeks away from firing up my N/A 16V in my MK2.

I'll be watching your bike build.

[Nortstudio]

That tank looks great! Are you planning on paint, or keeping it bare?  I am about to go bare with mine, and was wondering if you have determined what you'll do to it if leaving it bare.

Keep up the good momentum. Seems like the only thing holding you up is deliveries....

[Bakeoff]

Whatever painting you do at home, check out this clear coat.

http://www.amazon.com/USC-Spray-Gloss-Clearcoat-Aerosol/dp/B0043B7UQY

Someone recommended it on my build thread and it is....wow.  I was completely amazed.  Just as good as the professional paints I've used in the past with an HVLP gun, and no clean up.  The only down side is the price.  I used it with Duplicolor paints and it didn't have any compatibility issues.

Totally cool seeing your build come along, man!