Topic: 74' CB550 barn find Original Boss Maroon

[BomberMann650]

I thought I was gonna cap off my bike spending around $700 too.
That was $1300 ago 

Tires alone can run $400 for the nice ones, installed (+/-)

I buffed the oxidation and crud off my motor with a scotch brite pad.  Its a slippery slope once you start polishing stuff.  First you think, oh just this, then you finish and realize the thing next to it looks ugly by comparison.  Next thing ya know, you've worked over the whole bike and everything is shiny!

The exhaust pop could be any number of things.  Lean condition, rich condition, valves, leaks, timing, et al.  Thou shalt obey thy sohc4 commandments and perform thy 3000mile service, in Sochiro's name, Ahonda.

[RAFster122s]

Perform the 3000 mile tune up...avoid using steel wool on aluminum parts.  The steel fibers can embed themselves into the aluminum and then rust.  Creates a mess.  A brass brush can help remove any loose paint and the scotchbrite pads work well.  Roclocs available from 3M at many auto parts stores, online and paint & body suppliers are very handy with both sanding discs and scotchbrite pads and 3 M stripping abrasives available.  Used in your drill they can make the job go faster.  If you repaint the cases after clean up wipe down really well with acetone....

Vac syncing the carbs is a good thing to do as well.  Do the cases from the 500 have frame mounts?  If so, then it should be a bolt up affair for a 74 550.  If the frames have rust you could have them powder coated if not badly pitted.  If baddy pitted you can clean them up, remove any grease or oil and brase the areas and sand/file the problem areas smooth before powder coating.  You would only need to do that for visible areas, unless you want them loooking great with bags on or off...  not that you will usually have hard cases off.

David

[calj737]

Stainless Steel brushes work better than Brass. Knocks off the oxidation and doesn't comes apart. Another member recently posted up using a Sisal rope attachment in his drill/grinder to clean up his motor.

As for your wheels, hard to tell from the pictures, but spokes looks rusted. Replace those as they are a safety item.

[Shtonecb500]

Hey everybody,

Ive been working on the 550, I have the frame painted as of right now and I'm still working on hand cleaning the motor. Keep in mind this is a budget build - I bought the bike for $450, got it running and started breaking it down and now I'm painting it. I love the condition of the tank and have decided to go with a tan colored frame, I think it goes well with the maroon and the gold strip in the decal. The seat is in over all great shape except for a small rip in the vinyl and the bike is going to have the same purple leather trim that is all over my blue 500. Im going to go with a brown seat recover, and I was thinking about 3 or 3.5 inch bars, the original cluster is is fantastic shape and Ill keeping all the same controls. Im still trying to decide if I'm going to incorporate the same tan paint onto the motor.

I picked up a pretty solid CB350 tank from a guy who was parting the bike out, I wanted to take the frame and wheels but I dont think its going anywhere too fast. I have enough projects on my hands as well as a 72' cb500 rebuild haunting me. I got the motor and frame, with good compression for a hundred bucks plus other included parts...it eats at my soul when I neglect a project that could become so much that just cost $100 bucks.

i have all nuts and bolts as well as small chrome parts for the 550 soaking in metal rescue until i can decide on a color scheme for the bike.

I LOVED the green its of a 72'-73' cb350 k4 Candy Bacchus Olive, Im going to repaint it factory color.

I took rattle can (cb500) out and rode around a ton of lakes in Waterford, MI. and it was awesome.. here are some pictures of what I'm doing...me know what you guys think about the tan frame??

[Stev-o]

...me know what you guys think about the tan frame??

Since you are asking, it looks pretty ugly IMO. But, it is your bike...

[Darren Jakal]

It kind of goes with the brown (or is it really maroon in the right light?). I looked again and the side panel shows the colour better, nice.

I just love the profile of these bikes.

Looks great!

[Shtonecb500]

yeah, I do want to hear from you even if you dont think it looks good. You may have some good input but I think when I'm finished it will all tie in nicely....if not I will abandon go a new route.

[martin99]

Hard to decide until you've got everything hanging off it, looks like it's been primed and is waiting for a nice coat of black at the moment. What else you do aesthetically could really pull it together though, so I'll reserve judgement for now.

Main things to remember are to build it properly and enjoy yourself in the process, and as Stev-o says, it's your bike so you can do what you want. 

You can always repaint that hideous frame later on...

[calj737]

If the motor will be silver/aluminum in color, I don't think the tan will be too fetching next to it. But hard to say, as I've never seen one in this combination. I don't have an objection to the tan, but as Martin pointed out, sitting naked as without contrast, it's hard to fathom.

[Shtonecb500]

Hey all,

I wanted to add some lighting around the bike, specifically a light under the rear fender and underneath the tank to highlight the motor. I want these lights to make me more visible on the express way, traveling between Michigan and Chicago this summer. I also want to install two smaller lights on the front,both sides of the bike or just one. In addition to the accent lighting I want to be able to charge my iPhone while its using my gps as well as an led headlight upgrade. What kind of upgrade do I need to make to the charging system, whats the best battery out there and what should my budget be set around?

74 cb550 is the bike in question...would consider upgrading the 73 cb500 as well.

thanks in advance.

[geoluv]

i purchased a '74 BMM 550 last spring.  I live in Brooklyn, looked for 550's for half a year on CL and eBay, everyone wants $2,000-3,000 for a nice example in the new york metro area.  I ended up buying a basket from a dude in western PA for $1,300 in an eBay auction.  I could tell someone put a bunch of new o-rings and parts on the bike at some point because the points were new and the seat was NOS with the plastic still on the chrome trim so I wasn't too upset with $1,300.  11,000 miles on the odometer and it needed it's carbs cleaned but then it fired right up.  Mine was in nicer condition than yours but not by much.  Hell, I bet I could have sold your bike in its found condition for $1,000 easy in NYC.  Get it running then it's $1,500. 
One thing I have noticed is the cafe racer fad is waning a little and value has plateaued over the last few years.  They were super popular during the recession 'cause you could buy them super cheap, they were easy and cheap to work on, and they are great first bikes and outstanding city bikes (mostly from being not as desirable to thieves).  Now that the value on them has gone up a good amount and the economy is getting better people who would have gotten a cafe racer are considering nicer, more expensive bikes.  There is also currently an overstock of new motorcycles in the USA.  There are still TONS of 2015 and 2016 bikes still on showroom floors, and even older models.  In 2010 a $1000 cb550 in excellent condition is a lot easier to justify than 3k on a beat up late model crotch rocket.  In 2017 where everyone has a little more money in their pocket and consumer sentiment is much more positive spending 2k on a cb550 in excellent condition but still needing all the continuos love and care that vintage bikes require is a lot harder to justify when you can get a still new 2015 cbr500r for 4k+ with a warranty or a used sportster for 2k or a nice condition used crotch rocket for 3k. 

[calj737]

I'd definitely make sure the accent lighting was all LED, and had a manual switch to activate. There really isn't any upgrade to increase the output of your stock system, although, a well serviced, super clean system should handle your objective. If you limit your usage of the lighting to highway driving (where the stock charging system is operating in surplus) it won't be an issue. If you want to stroll around town in stop-go traffic, you may certainly see issues anyway.

The battery (other than it being in condition) has zero impact to your objective. That is unless you plan to illuminate the bike in a parking lot and be an attraction? Then you'd need a healthy unit, and probably a jump box.

You can find small directional LEDs to illuminate things. Small "projector" type lights for highway usage should be installed below your knee line if pointed towards oncoming traffic.

[geoluv]

^ switch headlight and tail light to LED, then install cheap LED strips.  The great thing about the 74 cb550 is it is the last year where you could turn off the headlight, after that all street motos had to have running lights by federal law.  So just switch ALL bulbs to LED (something you should do to any cb550 anyway unless you are only riding over 4k rpm usually) then you just attach your illumination lights to your headlight switch.  install an inline switch if you don't want the illumination lights on all the time.   

[Shtonecb500]

This bike has been sitting for a while now and I'm finally coming back around to it. I've been at a stand still because I was lacking fabrication equipment but have since acquired a mig and torch. I want to make my own rear hoop and was flirting with the fill the pipe with sand and weld on the caps technique. I threw out some feelers to find out who has access to a hydraulic pipe bender and I hope I hear something tomorrow. Since I got the welder I've been seeking every opportunity to use it, I learned how to weld with a stick welder about 10 years ago but haven't since then. It really is liberating to no longer have to "wonder" what something would look like on the bike in question. I practically ruined the original gas tank, I put a dent in it, put a hole in the dent using a stud gun welder, had that brazed over and ruined the paint job...anywho.

Ive decided to move forward with a CB750 tank, I love them and it will give me a little more fuel for my trips between Chicago. I raised the tank about an inch higher and shaved down the tank mounts to get it to fit right, no need to worry about the extra inch or so it sticks out since the seat will all be custom. I'm going with an all black "dripping" in chrome theme eventually. I used a sissy bar and cut it in half to get some practice welding on a hoop, I don't like drastic swoop right now and the frame needs to extend out another 3-4 inches. I wanted to to see frame brace ideas and mock up side mounts for tach and speedo, idk why I mounted it to the left side but I was calling it a night...I will design something and post what I come up with. I love the look of that x brace on there and just started researching different frame reinforcement processes. I really love the idea of the side mount for the gauges, the guys over at Kinetic make some nice mounts for Harleys. I had some pipe laying around the shop so I gave an attempt and trying to cut and fit the pipe and more of tack welding. Once again...I love being able to see it with my own eyes rather than look at pictures.

I sprayed the tank this primer camp color and I kind of liked it especially imagining a nice black decal ripping across is and painted badge. I like the bates head light on there but the stock lamp would go with my color scheme better because I have a brand new chrome bucket rim but who knows...its good to have options.

I'm eliminating the stock suspension mounts and cleaning up the frame and installing some nice simple bright LED lights inside the frame tube for a minimalistic look, I'm going to buy those from revival cycles. The picture of the bike with the clean brown cardboard seat pan is the exact shape I want my seat...So I have some work to do compared to what it looks like now lol.

I picked up 3 GSXR front ends last week for $175 bucks, 2 complete front ends and one partial. I have a 98' 600, 96-03' 600, and a partial 07' 1000 so I guess I have some options right now, the gsxr stems are a perfect fit for 500/550 and all is needed are conversion bearings so that will be happening soon. I'm going to pull the motor for new top end gaskets just to do it, I'll clean and polish the motor properly and Chrome whatever my budget allows. I was thinking about running a 16" Honda hog rim that I have and keep a 17' rim like the gsxr front ends come with. I was going to go with the Harley narrow glide wheel and hub, it seems to be the cheapest almost bolt on conversion. The 550 fork lowers are machined to become a dual disk set up so I may even go that route. I was thinking about using a false oil tank under the seat as a tool compartment/ electrical box and have it one of the chrome focal points. One reason Im going with the black and chrome scheme is because I acquired chrome 70's air box and would love to put it to use.


I'll keep you updated on the final frame mods because its sent off to get blasted and coated.

[Shtonecb500]

I bought  a new Hobart and finally assembled it today, didn't use any gas just the provided flux core and started tacking/mocking up my subframe. I love having my own welder.

What do you guys think about the sharp lines? This is my first time really trying to cut saddle joints so I can achieve flush joints, I must admit I got in over my head chopping the shock mounts off the bike. I could have achieved a look that I would have been happy with if I hadn't, I think I wanted a challenge though and my ambition was derailed by not always having access to a welder. I'm using an angle grinder and have been eye balling a tube notcher, eastwood sells one for 150 bucks. I'm doing a full mock up with tube I bought to practice with and I will pull it all apart and cut new lengths and do it right but that should be sufficient practice, I plan on adding gussets similar to most here on the forum have done to their bikes.

This set up will force me to get experimental with the shock mounts. The shock set up on the CB from House Rockers (red tank) interests me and provides the aggressive stance Im looking to maintain. There is another 750 build floating online, although it looks concerning....if it actually works and is safe than I want to explore it.

What do you guys recommend for longer shocks because I was thinking about grabbing a set off a cb900 or something.

[calj737]

Learning to weld with Flux Core on your motorcycle is not a sensible idea. First, Flux Core is not a great process for thin tubing. Learning to weld on something that travels at high speeds, carries humans, and could easily kill you, another motorist, or pedestrian is just this side of insane.

If you are simply butt welding the subframe, that too is not a great idea. There’s a heat affected zone outside the weld that is prone to cracking, even if the weld holds. Before you weld something that carries lives, learn to weld properly, and perform some destructive tests on your practice pieces to determine if it’s safe.

Welding is super addicting,liberating, and a huge money saver. But it is a technical skill that demands proper instruction, practice, experience and knowledge. Knowing what to weld, and what not to weld is equally important. There’s no amount of money worth your safety or that of another. Rethink your approach please.

[Shtonecb500]

Learning to weld with Flux Core on your motorcycle is not a sensible idea. First, Flux Core is not a great process for thin tubing. Learning to weld on something that travels at high speeds, carries humans, and could easily kill you, another motorist, or pedestrian is just this side of insane.

If you are simply butt welding the subframe, that too is not a great idea. There’s a heat affected zone outside the weld that is prone to cracking, even if the weld holds. Before you weld something that carries lives, learn to weld properly, and perform some destructive tests on your practice pieces to determine if it’s safe.

Welding is super addicting,liberating, and a huge money saver. But it is a technical skill that demands proper instruction, practice, experience and knowledge. Knowing what to weld, and what not to weld is equally important. There’s no amount of money worth your safety or that of another. Rethink your approach please.

Ill be chopping this entire sub frame off and doing it over, Ill be moving the bike to the shop and have a proper welder actually do the work, I wouldn't try to ride this thing with just my guess work, im just playing around.

[Scott S]

 It looked a little too "waspy" to me, anyway. Like a lot of those guys that build street fighters out of Gixxers with the tiny, exaggerated upsweep on the tail.

[Shtonecb500]

Soooo I know this thread is  inside of a few years old but I just haven't finished bc I i dont manage my money well enough to buy the tools i need. So, I bought tools instead of parts this time.

I bought a tube bender off eBay
tube notcher from eastwood
motion pro carb sync
timing light from eBay
hobart welder

Now, for parts on this project, I have an earlier GSXR front end maybe off of a 600, and i have a rear GSXR wheel.
I RECENTLY picked up the front end of a vfr700 interceptor, I have the front end, the swing arm and wheel, and the mono shock.

Ive decided to go mono shock on this project, here are some specs for the vfr bc im going to need some advice or direction on the best way to mount my mono shock.

On this bike the shock is set up horizontally coming through the front of the swing arm, can i mount a shock that functions in a horizontal position in a diagonal position for my application? or do I need to get a shock that functions in the same position as I will be seeking to mount it?

Another thing I like about this swap is the ground clearance from the wheel and fork length sizes. The forks are nice and long and keep the front up nice and high, has a 16" front tire but the rear wheel is a similar to stock 18" wheel. Here are specs on the vfr 
Engine:
    699cc, 70 x 45.4 bore x stroke, compression ratio 10.5:1
    carburetion four Keihin CV 34/31 mm

  Chassis:
    wheelbase 1480 mm
    rake/trail 27.8 degrees/4.3 inches (108 mm)
    front suspension 37mm Showa fork, 5.5 in travel, adjustments for
      air pressure and TRAC anti dive
    rear suspension Pro-Link, Showa damper, 4.1 in travel, preload adjustment
    tires 110/90V16 front, 130/80V18 rear
    weight 501 lb wet, 470 lb dry tank

  Performance:
   (claimed)
    horsepower 92 claimed, torque not listed
   (observed)
    fuel consumption 40 to 45 mpg American
    average 200 yard top gear acceleration from 50 mph results in
       73.4 mph terminal speed
    best 1/4 mile 12.08 sec at 110.3 mph
    projected best 1/4 mile 11.7 at 114.8.

The vfr rear axle is the same size as our cb 550s, So the rear wheel actually fit nicely...ill include some pictures so you can see the gaps i need to fill using some custom spacers or finding spacer, It sort of looks like the sprockets line up and the wheel is on dead center.

[Shtonecb500]

im going to have to reformat my photos before I upload anymore. Il be back tn.

[Bankerdanny]

You aren't the first person to have his project stretch out to multiple years. I'm glad to see you haven't given up.