Topic: performance CB550 engine

[Brentadour]

Is anyone building 550 engines out there. I want a bad ass 550. I dont know what stock horse power is, but I would like some more punch out of my bike. Nothing crazy, but close. The equivalent of the cb750s 836 kits.

-Brent

[MRieck]

That's hard...really hard. Alot of compression, big cam, big valves, big headwork etc....

[SteveD CB500F]

You used to be able to get 605 kits for the 500.
I seem to remember that they had poor reliability probs (or maybe it's just poor memory probs...)

[Ibsen]

You can put in a 650 engine in the 550. It should fit right in.

[Glenn Stauffer]

Is anyone building 550 engines out there. I want a bad ass 550. I dont know what stock horse power is, but I would like some more punch out of my bike. Nothing crazy, but close. The equivalent of the cb750s 836 kits.

-Brent

Some suggested reading material:

http://sohc4.us/?q=node/142

http://sohc4.us/?q=node/140
http://sohc4.us/?q=node/141

Rob Lloyd provided these articles a while back.  If you come across any more CB550 performance tuning information, please let me know where to find it so I can add links to the SOHC4 site.

--Glenn

[MRieck]

That's hard...really hard. Alot of compression, big cam, big valves, big headwork etc....

Sorry, I thought you meant you wanted your 550 to perform like a 750 with an 836 kit. How about stock 750 pistons in your 550?

[Brentadour]

750 pistons sound good. What else do you have to mod to made them work. Heads, carb etc.
-Brent

[MRieck]

750 pistons sound good. What else do you have to mod to made them work. Heads, carb etc.
-Brent

Well I haven't done it myself but wiith the pistons some headwork, extra compression via milling and a light cam would really wake it up. There are some variables like pin height etc but I'm very sure it is basically a "bore in" deal. You'd have to watch out on the cam lift secondary to shallow OEM valve pockets but they(the piostons) can be fly cut. An interseting possibility for sure.