Topic: 76 CB550 Cafe build

[GV1390]

Definitely have stated value or appraised value insurance coverage.

Sound advice!

+1 indeed! Out of all my bikes I pay the most for my 78' Café CB550. Mine is assessed/stated value for $20k with a $0 deductible. If you want more info on this I can PM you.

Great start! I look forward to seeing progress.

[tshrey]

So apparently I didn't take enough pictures.  Can anyone tell me where the hell this thing goes? 



It was in the bag of stuff that was the last few pieces removed from the bottom half of the case before cleaning.

[bill440cars]

I have no clue as to what it all would cost, but I can clearly see the benefits of going for it. Now, where did I stash that "Money Tree"? Still pretty cool though. 

$300 for the M-Unit, another $175 for the M-Lock. No worries, Bill, the Spring bloom of fresh Franklins and Grants is just around the corner....

            Yeah, there is something besides Warmer Weather coming in, in just a few months. Now, if I can just manage to get everything else done, that I hope to and have some, to "Play With", that will be nice. 

[Godffery]

 *LIKE*   

[tshrey]

So I think I"m all ready to join the case halves together and I looked in the manual.  'Install the crank and primary shaft in the lower half, install the shift drum and transmission in the upper half.  Join the two.'

Uh, any more specific guidance?  The transmission will fall out if I flip the top over and the crank will fall out if I flip the bottom over.  Do you line up the ass end and stand both halves up?

Also, the neutral indicator cam for the neutral switch - what prevents it from spinning on the shaft?  There are two tiny holes 180 degrees apart on the underside of the cam, are they supposed to hold some kind of key to go into the slot on the shift drum?

[tshrey]

Got the case halves reassembled.  Put the tranny in upside down in the bottom of the case and had a friend help guide everything in while I set it down. 

I almost screwed up the kickstart mechanism until I decided to look at it carefully.  I had the 'nub' on the large ring sticking up instead of down in the keeper.  That left the mechanism engaged all the time and whenever you turned the transmission you get the constant clicking sound.  Tried the other position 180 degrees away and hey, that makes more sense.  In the service manual the only picture of the kickstart shaft shows the gear engaged - that is pretty confusing.

Good thing lots of people on here take pics of their rebuild, I almost left off the bearing retainer ring for the shift drum until I found the part and went back through a bunch of builds to figure out where it went.  The factory service manual is almost useless for most of this with the number of errors it has in it.  After putting all the shifting mechanisms back together I put the shift lever on and ran through the gears.  The damn thing actually works!





I'm going to go with a dynoman 592 piston set, but that is a lot of dough and I don't see getting this thing done for riding this summer so I'll push that back, seal up the motor and get back to working on the frame and suspension.

[RAFster122s]

Glad you got her buttoned up and she is shifting well. Did you use any assembly lube on the primary chain?  I don't see your cam chain...are you riveting it to proper length or did you purchase it already assembled to length?
David

[tshrey]

There is assembly lube all over everything inside. 

Bought a new preassembled cam chain, it is just sitting down in there.

Also figured out the answer to one of my questions above - the neutral switch rotor should have a little nub on it to fit in the keyway of the shaft.  My nub is gone so I have to look at a way to fix that.  I think I might put a tiny bolt through the plastic so that the head of the bolt goes in the keyway.  I'm leery of any other way to bond to 40 year old plastic and no one has any replacement rotors that I can find.

[tshrey]

Pulled my oil pump apart and it looked new inside, so I just put it back together with new o-rings.  I've heard people say they can't find them anywhere except in the rebuild kit - I got them from Partzilla without a problem.



Also, got my Cognito Moto rearset brackets.  I love everything he makes, but DAMN these are heavy.  They will almost offset the removal of the kickstarter as far as weight is concerned.  I have to get things assembled to see if I really want them or if I can get away with just welding a tab on the frame.  3/8" thick steel seems like overkill to me, I may have some Ti plate I could use instead if I decide I really want the position these brackets put things in.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Why did you go with his older brackets and not the newer lighter billet ones? Cost?
https://cognitomoto.com/collections/rearsets/products/cb500-cb550-billet-aluminum-rearset-brackets

Devin will VERY likely exchange/credit them if you want.

[tshrey]

Because I'm a moron.  Those looked like the same shape as the cb750 ones so assumed they were without even looking.

Yeah, I'll be contacting Devin.

Thanks.

[SF]

3/8's! You could drill a bunch of speed holes in them.....


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[RAFster122s]

That 3/8" thick steel/ or aluminum needs to hold up with your weight plus a good hard bump or two if you have the displeasure of hitting a pothole  (deep one) or otherroad debris with you up on pegs for a railway tracks, etc.
David

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The billet brackets are robust, but are lighter and are machined.

[tshrey]

Did some more metal work and powder coating today.  Sprocket cover was a mess, lots of scrapes in it as well as pits and veins from just being old cast aluminum.  Used hi temp Lab Metal and some 100 grit sandpaper to fill in everything and then powder coated the whole thing in the black texture that I did on the case halves.  Found a fantastic trick as well - the Lab Metal doesn't conduct the electric field the same as the aluminum, so you get some funny patterns on the coating.  I did the coating once, baked it and as soon as my timer went off I pulled the whole shelf out of the oven and did a light dusting coat with no voltage applied.  The powder melted into place as soon as it hit the part to give perfect coverage.  Another bake in the oven and it came out great.



Got the gloss coat on my rim done today as well, going to start lacing the front wheel up in the morning.  Very exciting, should be interesting as I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.  How did anyone learn to do anything before the internet?

[tshrey]

Thanks for that, I definitely would not have laced it that way.

[tshrey]

So I'm about ready to chuck this wheel across the driveway.  The people that work at Buchanan's must be mental doing this all day.

I figured you do one half of the wheel and then the other.  That clearly is not correct because then you can't get the spokes in for the other side.

Someone want to give me a hint?

[Flexia]

Do every forth spoke all the way around then do the same for the next open hole.  The again and again and your done.  Then true the wheel up

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[tshrey]

There are two sets of spokes.  Do I start with the ones that have a short leg or a long leg first?

[tshrey]

Thanks, that's what I was looking for.

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[bill440cars]

      Too bad that a person can't get things done, correctly. Glad the discrepancy  was caught though. Better now, than later.

[tshrey]

huh?

[tshrey]

I've never given up on anything in my life but fuc! this lacing crap.  After six different attempts I happened to look at my freshly powdercoated rim and realized that the threads on the stainless spokes scratched the #$%* out of it.  Now I have to strip it and have it repowdered (it is just a tiny bit too big to fit in my oven) and send all this crap off to Buchannans.  Ugh.

[tshrey]

After a good night's sleep and the realization that I've already screwed up the powder and will have to redo it I tried again. The critical thing is that you get the spokes ordered correctly before you start. All spokes in, alternating short and long legs on one side and then flip the wheel over. Identify a short leg spoke on the bottom and back up half a position (top and bottom holes are offset by half a position) and start with a short leg there.  Lay all the spokes out like the pattern in the pic above that Cal posted. Rotate the rim until the holes line up and start in one position and do them in order, don't go all the way around the rim doing every fourth hole. You want to thread the nipples on up to where the threads aren't showing - this way the hub gets pulled toward the places you've already done and gives you room to move the spokes on the other side into position.

If you started with a powder coated rim (or polished), put a couple layers of masking tape down to protect the surface.



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[tshrey]

I've just read through a bunch of build threads and can't find it - how does one get in touch with Nils about vapor blasting?