Topic: '76 CB550 - Off the deep end [now with swingarm swap]

[Statenheimer]

Well I though it was about time I got this started.  Since I was little, I have wanted a cafe type bike.  I recently found myself looking for a new project and in lieu of a Type 3 VW or MGBGT which I simply do not have the room or funds for at this point, I stumbled across this site, and, Inception.

The idea continued to grow and I was soon combing CL and eBay daily looking for a perfect candidate.  I really wanted a project, not a perfect bike.  I wanted to work for it, plus with the modification ideas rolling around in my head, I didn't want to dismantle a survivor.  This would be my first bike, and I wanted it to have a lot of my own blood, sweat and tears in it.

Late night Memorial Day CL trolling [btw, if you have never used SearchTempest to view craigslist, you are missing out] led me to a curious ad in Southern NH.  It would be a 2 hour drive up.  Contacted the seller the next day, first speedbump: no paperwork.  NH only requires a hand written bill of sale [if only it was that easy in every state]  So many calls to the NYS DMV, and what I need is two forms filled out, and a notarized bill of sale.  Long story short, the seller agreed to do the extra work  .  So a 6 hour trip later and I arrived in my driveway with my new project.

This brings us to the title of this thread: The curious nature of the ad was that it was not 1, but 3 bikes. A '73 500 [fairly complete, but no carbs & seized], a '76 550 [fairly complete] & a '78 550 [no forks, wheels, tank].  All basket cases, and not running, but 2 out of 3 turn over.





I will plan to keep this thread as up to date as possible.  I am taking a metric #$%*-ton of pics, and will also try to keep them up to date on my Photobucket [http://photobucket.com/SOHC4].  Right now the pictures are up to today.

I have set a goal of having a bike ready for next season, giving me just under a year for completion.  I have a lot of work ahead of me, and shift between excitement and apprehension on a daily basis...

The 500 is seized and I am continually soaking the cylinders with seafoam, to no avail thus far.  I stripped that entire bike, and have moved it off to the side.

The '78 550 is just sitting as of right now, but it does turn over.  I have taken off the carbs, but if I get another set, the PD's will go back on this, and it will be the next project, or a good one for someone else...



Where I stand right now is as follows:  Need to get the '76 550 to run verifying I have a platform to go off of, and then proceed with the complete teardown, and start from the frame up.  There are a few things I need to accomplish this:

- Exhaust - did not receive any  - 4-to-1 on the way from Tango911, thank you

- Carbs - Came in a bin at different levels of disassembly.  Quick review revealed that two of the bodies have a float tab broken off, crap. - took the PD's off the '78, 3 are free, one is severely stuck.  Currently alternating soaking in simple green and gunk.


I am not certain that I want to use the PD's and may buy a complete rack of correct carbs from another member and use those.  Any advice is welcome.

I have already gotten a new battery and plugs, and given it it's first oil change [only about a shot glass of water came out first].

Oh, and I built a motorcycle dolly out of a 700lb engine stand.  It works great, and best of all, was free.


Thank you to anyone who read through, and thank you to everyone on the forum for the knowledge that I have already gained only being here a few weeks. 

[D.WHO]

Subscribed! Looking forward to this build, outta be interesting. 

[hyde7278]

keep up the good work

[scartail]

I have a 76 CB550 myself. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Bakeoff]

I just got a kickstand from Tango911.  Steve seems like a really good guy and he's super reasonable on price!

Looks like a fun project! 

[Statenheimer]

Just a quick update, no pics right now as I am at work:

- Forks were removed and cleaned up a bit
- master cylinder un-stuck
- exhaust arrived [thank you Tango911]
- Another rack of correct carbs are on their way [thank you Tango911] and the PD's are going to go back on the '78
- currently re-assembling the front end so I can get it down off the stand

Next steps:
- install exhaust
- put new fuel lines on carbs, and install
- attempt to get running

At this point people are going to say "why not just rebuild the carbs?" etc, etc, but my plan is to just get it to fire and run whether or not the carbs leak like crazy is not my concern as of this moment.  I want to ensure that this engine can and will run, and then the complete teardown and rebuild can commence, accompanied by a greater confidence in my machine.

The result of said experience will also determine to what extent I tear apart the motor.  If it seems sound enough, and doesn't pour oil from any orifices, then I may leave it alone for now, and focus on the rest of the bike.  It has 21k on the clock, but don't see any reason I shouldn't be able to add some of my own miles to that before tearing it down.

Only time will tell.

[Statenheimer]

Ok, a little bit of progress has been made, I haven't had much free time this week.  Various things off, cleaned and on again.  Not final cleaned, but enough to try to get the bike running...

Got my "new" exhaust in the mail from Tango911 [Thank you].  I believe it is a MAC as it looks exactly like all the pics I can find of them... cannot find any markings though.


Upon cleaning I found 3 through holes in the header collector...


I plan to weld these up when I get the chance.

Now to the questions:

1. How do I get out a baffle that is VERY stuck in?[the bolt does come out]

2. Is there any sort of a rinse or coating [sort of like tanks are done] that I can do to the inside of the header?[sorry for the crappy pic]


It looks worse than I think it is [or than I want to think...].  Other than the 3 small holes, everything is rock solid, even around the edges of the holes, and I would REALLY like to save them if possible... 

Also after it rolling around in my head for a week, I finally put my bars up next to each other, and the clubmans I have are SERIOUSLY shorter than the normal bars, I don't even know if all the controls will fit... Thoughts?



On a happier note, I got my rack of carbs [thank you again Tango911].  Sans rebuilding right now as I have said, I just took them apart and threw all new hoses on them, hoping they will function enough to tell if my motor will run... [he had already been soaking them, and they are all free, and pretty darn clean compared to others I have seen]


Progress continues, slowly but surely...  Hope to try to get it to fire/run this weekend if I can figure out how to jump around some of the connections as I have no ignition and my start button exploded...

[Tree]

I have the same MAC Exhaust on my '77 550. I got the baffle out by using a broom handle inserted from the other end of the megaphone and then tapping the other end of the broom handle on the cement floor so it pushed the baffle out.  (The correct tool is probably a slide hammer, but I don't have one).  The baffle is probably the two opposing tube type per the picture below.

[Statenheimer]

Thank you Tree.  Looking in the end of the baffle it definitely looks like that is the type that it is.  I do not have a slide hammer either, so a broom handle it will probably be.

Just curious, do you run it without the baffle?  If so how loud is it?

[Bakeoff]

So, you're the one that got that exhaust!  I hit him up too late!  I was planning on running a small, modern can on it.

Its coming along nicely!

[Statenheimer]

Ha, yeah, I was pretty psyched, he gave me a great price. 

Today.... well today was a big day.  I worked all day.  I:

- Installed right side controls, throttle and cables
- Filled and charged new battery
- Checked voltages and continuity EVERYWHERE
- Checked points
- Checked coils
- Checked plug caps - had 3 bad out of 7, luckily that leaves 4 
- Cut plug wires and re-installed ends
- Made a jumper for the ignition

This all culminated with running some gravity fuel lines, and....


 

I tried putting the yellow/red wire to black, but only got a clicking noise, so I had to use the wrench on the solenoid.

The first start it ran for a much longer period of time, but of course the camera wasn't ready for that one   .  The video shown above is start #4.

This marks a great day for me as it is the beginning of the big picture project.  I am now more comfortable stripping the bike down and really getting started.  The only hold up left is waiting on the paperwork from the PO before I start with the frame modifications, other than that, there's nothing holding me back!

I am elated.  I want to thank you all because without this site I wouldn't be as far as I am.

[Tree]

Thank you Tree.  Looking in the end of the baffle it definitely looks like that is the type that it is.  I do not have a slide hammer either, so a broom handle it will probably be.

Just curious, do you run it without the baffle?  If so how loud is it?

I've never run it without the baffle so can't really say.  Others mentioned that it was too loud without it.  I know one person that bought a performance baffle from mac for theirs and liked it, saying the volume was somewhere in between. 

[Statenheimer]

I've never run it without the baffle so can't really say.  Others mentioned that it was too loud without it.  I know one person that bought a performance baffle from mac for theirs and liked it, saying the volume was somewhere in between.

Cool, thank you for the info.

Little update, did a compression test today because I found out my housemate had a tester just lying around    Got around 115-125 for all cylinders, so I'm very happy with the way things are looking.

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's!

[Statenheimer]

Well after a very busy work-week and a weekend filled with obligations, I finally got into the garage for a little time.  I have also been waiting on the paperwork from the PO before diving in much further... however I still have not received a return phone call 



So I said screw it, and got to work.  Gave her a good bath, and got busy ripping her apart.


actually worked pretty well











Also found that my 500 has this swingarm bolt:


While both of the 550's only have a normal bolt head and nut on the ends. Is this a factory bolt or something aftermarket?

[Statenheimer]

Sorry about the engine on stand pic, it is right on photobucket, but something is screwing it up somewhere in-between...

Also found out that the gearing currently on the bike is 18-37, from what I have read, 17-37 was stock.  I still have a long time to think about it, but I am debating about what I want to do in the end.  I have read that going to a 16t in front and leaving the rear at 37 is a great improvement for the 550.  Any suggestions?

[Statenheimer]

Decided that I wanted to run a longer swingarm on the bike for a variety of reasons, and searched through a couple threads on here, deciding on a DOHC CB750.  I got lucky and scored one from a '79 CB750K 10th Anniversary LE on eBay that came with all of the axles, hardware, etc.  It comes out about 1" longer giving the shocks a nice angle, and more importantly it should be stiffer with larger dropouts and much more gusseting.



Had to cut just about 1/2" off the longer side of the pivot point






My circumstances seem to be different because on all the other swaps I saw the bolt holes in the frame needed to be modified, but my bolt and sleeve from the 550 arm are the same diameter and fit right into the 750 arm, woo-hoo


A little mock-up on my extra 550.


I have a cut down fiber [??] bushing in there right now, just for fitting purposes, but will have to get the inside lip machined back the same 1/2" to allow new bronze bushings to fit when I get them. Would it be safe to cut the bushing down instead?

The original swingarm is 10.5" between dropouts, and this one is 11.375".  Therefore I need to add 0.875" of spacers to the the stock 1.75".  Theoretically I believe it would be 0.4375" to either side, but I will have to play with it to ensure the chainline is proper. 


Also, the question asked before.  My 500 had a swingarm with no zert, rather the bolt has them on either end...




and it is the same size as the 550's bolt.  Can I use this in conjunction with a swingarm with a zert for enhanced lubrication?  Does anyone see an issue with this?  Will it be inherently weaker due to being hollow?

The 550 motor will remain stock for the foreseeable future, so is the bolt strong enough for the HP and the stress of extending the swingarm?

As always, thank you for looking