Topic: La Cucaracha; My CB550 Build

[LorenzeTorres]

Hello All!

My name is Lo, and I present to you La Cucaracha; my 1975 CB550. The name was given by my friends because the seat resembles the back of a Madagascar Cockroach.



This my first motorcycle and I'm slowly learning about it as I replace old or broken parts. A little back story, I purchased La Cucaracha pretty much how it sits today. The first owner (not the one I bought it from) did a majority of the work and the most most recent owner had neglected it. Aside from bringing the carbs in to be rebuilt and the electronic ignition installed, I have done a majority of the work myself which includes, wiring the digital cluster, installing new coils, replacing the whole front brake system (because the last one was seized up from the brake fluid crystalizing in the lines), and some little stuff here and there.







The direction of this build is to go for a resto-mod look. The bike has a brat style to it and I want to add a little modern street bike flare. I commute about 180 miles on it a week and I ride the canyons to relieve stress on my weekends.





The current job I'm tackling is getting the rear-end squared away with the wide tire. I know that many people have suggested against it because it ruins handling but I just can't shake how good it looks. I recently purchased the 17x4.5 rear kit from cognitomoto and I'm trying to figure out how to accommodate the rear sprocket spacer. I'm currently not running the rear spacer because I do not have enough thread to bolt it on the rear hub but I am running the front offset sprocket. The chain is straight but my issue is that the outer edge of the tire hits the chain by a little bit. Can anyone shed light on this issue.





The next thing I anticipate doing is dropping the rims size from 19" to 18x2.5 in the front. I want to keep the stock forks and my thinking is that dropping an inch in the front will compensate for the changes made in the rear and bring back the regular suspension geometry. Being aware that the bike is not setup for optimal handling with the wide rear, I'm trying to figure out a solution to minimizing the negative effects without having to run a GSX-R front fork.

With that said, I hope you guys and gals enjoy. I plan on documenting and sharing any changes I make to La Cucaracha.

[calj737]

The rear sprocket should offset by a "dished" bevel and not be any different in thickness at the face of the sprocket. If you use a spacer, you will not have sufficient stud length to bolt it on. So either get an offset rear sprocket, or take the hub to a machine shop and have the studs replaced with longer units.

What width tire are you running? It must be over 150 to conflict with the chain...

I think you'd find moving the footpegs rearward a little bit will improve your comfort and handling of the bike coupled with the clip-ons. I don't encourage you to install the pegs into passenger slot, but back a couple of inches and use a rearset, and it will be a whole different animal. That and a decent seat with some contour for your body... Flat seats deprive you of friction and leverage.

Changing tire diameters in pairs is a good idea. But, you need to take into account the tire aspect ratio as part of the equation, not simply the rim diameter.

[Lostboy Steve]

Nice bike! I'm not particularly fond of the wide tire, mostly because it takes power to turn it. To each their own though. The seat is very cool. Welcome to sohc4.

[LorenzeTorres]

Hey Calj737,

Thanks for your input!

The rear sprocket was not dished. I'll most likely have to replace the bolts with longer ones.

I'm running a 160 width (as recommended by Cognito Moto) on the rear and I believe the spacer for the rear sprocket is supposed to fix that.

I'm looking to purchase to rearsets for the bike once I iron out the funny business in the rear end.

I'll keep you posted with the progress!

[LorenzeTorres]

So I've heard

and thanks for the compliment!