Ive never been a huge fan of pristine paint and glossy finishes. Not that i don't appreciate craftsmanship and attention to detail, its just not what appeals to me. Raw metal, rust and black are the things that catch my eye and that's where i decided to go with my build.
The bike is a 77 cb550 and this is the second rendition ill be documenting as the first wasn't much to look at. It made its way to me in a couple boxes and within a couple weeks i had her back together and running. Any parts that were missing i filled in with whatever i could find in the old parts boxes i had kicking around from former builds and bikes. Rearsets off a gsxr600 tank from a cb500 and a bunch of misc stuff that just seemed to fit.
So this is what I threw together with a couple hundred bucks and some free time. Carbs and forks were rebuilt and i threw on a new back tire and started to ride.
![](http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l121/vr6lvr28/Cb550/image.jpg)
The seatpan was really thrown together, basic sheet steel and the taillight was one of those cheap round pieces with the "STOP" thing on the brake light. Always hated it, looks like a terd sticking out the back but for free i couldnt do much else.
![](http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l121/vr6lvr28/Cb550/image-3.jpg)
And i really rode. Put about 5000 miles on her over the course of the summer, fall and even a bit into winter.
![](http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l121/vr6lvr28/Cb550/image-2.jpg)
I was really surprised it held up to my abuse. I beat the snot out of her on a daily basis. Some things started to give at the end, the master cyl started to leak and i believe one of the shift forks was a little tweaked, popped back into N from 2nd and 3rd on hard accelerations.
Over the past winter a lot has changed and this is where the real progress starts.