Topic: '77 cb550 cafe project

[brady0706]

I was thinking about the stribe combination in black or possibly in a burnt pearl orange. Orange would give the bike a little color and I think would still maintain the old school look.

I havnt considered the pinstripe outlining the tank but that does sound inteeresting. I guess I need to see some examples of that.

I was also looking at black Honda Wing decals but couldnt decide to put them on the tank side or the side covers and would it match the stripes properly was a consideration.

I just want it all to come together and I am not sure if it will.

Dont know if the Honda wing would look right, but the orange and black stripe would look awesome.

I am pretty sure I am going to go with the orange thick stripe with orange pin striped down the sides of the main stripe. The details are very difficullt once you get to this point.

[brady0706]

Here are some before shots. Over-all it was in pretty good shape but definitely needed a frame up re-store.

Gotta love the PO's seat. I opted not to keep that same look.

[brady0706]

The frame was actually very nice but I still decided to powder coat it coal black.

[brady0706]

Messy bearings. Definitely replace these.

[brady0706]

Some more finished pics.

[mgmuellner]

That's a sweet ride you built

[brady0706]

That's a sweet ride you built

I appreciate the compliment. I see you are up north of the cities. I am i SE MN. Nice enough to go riding today!

[mgmuellner]

That's a sweet ride you built

I appreciate the compliment. I see you are up north of the cities. I am i SE MN. Nice enough to go riding today!

It was, but work got in my way today.  Didnt this past weekend though!  You've got some nice roads down there to choose from.  Down by Zumbrota it's like twisty heaven.

[brady0706]

That's a sweet ride you built

I appreciate the compliment. I see you are up north of the cities. I am i SE MN. Nice enough to go riding today!

It was, but work got in my way today.  Didnt this past weekend though!  You've got some nice roads down there to choose from.  Down by Zumbrota it's like twisty heaven.

Oh yes, nice ridin' over there. Should be nice enough today to go ridin'.

[brady0706]

Nooo!!! An inch of snow has fallen today. Time to store this and get the sleds out of storage.

[moham]

Nooo!!! An inch of snow has fallen today. Time to store this and get the sleds out of storage.

I guess this means I'll have to cancel my tee time...I didn't even get the leaves properly raked before the snow started flying...

[Ricisan]

Brady: very nice, you should be proud. The only things I would do is rearsets and turn the forks around so the calliper is hanging on the backside of the fork leg. Back in the day Kawi did this to reduce the wobbles by putting the weight closer to the center mass. JMHO

Ricisan

[brady0706]

Brady: very nice, you should be proud. The only things I would do is rearsets and turn the forks around so the calliper is hanging on the backside of the fork leg. Back in the day Kawi did this to reduce the wobbles by putting the weight closer to the center mass. JMHO

Ricisan

Ricisan, thanks for the compliment. I may still do rearsets but dont want to spend a ton of money. I havnt done any real research yet either. Are there any reasonably prices bolt-on rearsets out there. Interesting thought on the caliper. I never heard of that. Something to think about on my next project.

[SUELZER]

sweet moto brady!
i'm just getting ready to start my cafe project, figure no riding in the snow anyways...i'll be wrenching on a '76 Supersport.
I'll be replacing the tail section, doin the clubman bars, french mirrors and a lot of the cosmetics as you've done.

Out of curiosity, how much did the powder coating cost for the different individual peices you had done? i'm thinkin rattlecan due to expense, but just thought i'd ask.

also, have you thought of adding a headlight visor? this is what i'm planning on gettin from Carpy (http://www.cb750cafe.com/parts.php?id=44)

hope to see some picks w/orange striping up soon!
thanks for all the project postings so far
again great work
~christian

[dagersh]

Keep an eye out on ebay for the headlight visor, they do look pretty sharp.  Also, an adjure diamond cut headlamp looks killer and gives you better light.  I do like Carpy's Norton-esque style Honda decal, especially on BCR Tanks.

Just my $0.06

Bike looks awesome!

Gersh

[brady0706]

sweet moto brady!
i'm just getting ready to start my cafe project, figure no riding in the snow anyways...i'll be wrenching on a '76 Supersport.
I'll be replacing the tail section, doin the clubman bars, french mirrors and a lot of the cosmetics as you've done.

Out of curiosity, how much did the powder coating cost for the different individual peices you had done? i'm thinkin rattlecan due to expense, but just thought i'd ask.

also, have you thought of adding a headlight visor? this is what i'm planning on gettin from Carpy (http://www.cb750cafe.com/parts.php?id=44)

hope to see some picks w/orange striping up soon!
thanks for all the project postings so far
again great work
~christian

SUELZER, great idea on the headlight. I am going to seriously consider it. I think it would add to the old school look for sure! I actually got a pretty good deal on the powder coating. I got the frame, rims, swing arm, kick stands, and other misc items powder coated for $250. I thought that wasnt a bad deal. There were some misc items that I didnt get a chance to send to the pc'er so I just rattle canned them black.

Unfortunately the bike is now in storage so I didnt get a chance to final the bike like I wanted. I'll be doing the final details like the orange striping and decals in the spring. Something to look forward to I guess.

Shoot me a link to your project when you get it going. Good luck!

[brady0706]

Keep an eye out on ebay for the headlight visor, they do look pretty sharp.  Also, an adjure diamond cut headlamp looks killer and gives you better light.  I do like Carpy's Norton-esque style Honda decal, especially on BCR Tanks.

Just my $0.06

Bike looks awesome!

Gersh

Gersh, thanks for compliment and the headsup on the headlight visor. I was eyeing one of those sweet diamond cut headlamps a few months ago. They do look sweet. Where can I find one of these? Fleebay?

[SUELZER]

brady that does sound like one heckuva deal on the powder coating. i think i may just go w/rattlecan on the stuff i'm looking at painting though. really looking to keep the cost down. i definitely like that adjure diamond cut headlamp that gersh talked about. here's what i got by googling:

good explanation of the product
http://www.atvconnection.com/Features/Product_Reviews/adjureheadlight.cfm

nice selection
http://www.jpcycles.com/productgroup.aspx?GID=49305571-E23F-45DD-AAA8-16D4131A4020

dennis kirk
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/search/search.jsp?store=Main&resultType=subCategories&searchString=adjure+light

crazy selection of lighting options
http://www.who-sells-it.com/cy/custom-chrome-3207/lighting-15925/light-bar-bulbs.html

[brady0706]

Great information SUELZER! I think this is a must have.

[brady0706]

I wanna ride...

[Psychoblue23]

Great looking bike, are those K&N pods? Care to toss out the part number? I can seem to find the correct size.

[brady0706]

Yes they are K&N pods. The bike is unfortunately in storage so I cant get you the part number now. I might go take a look in the next week or so.

[Psychoblue23]

  thx!