Topic: whats the difference?

[hotwire]

i was wondering what the difference between a 550 and a 550 ss?

[bollingball]

SS

[gmonkey]

Trim, exhaust, looks a bit different, fancier name.  Pretty sure the engine's the same.  Those that know what they're talking about will correct me.

[flybox1]

i think the SS had 4 into 1 exh.

[IHWillys]

Others are more knowledgeable than I, but these are some differences:

 - fuel tank
 - seat
 - carbs(slightly leaner jetting, IIRC)
 - exhaust(as mentioned, 4-1 vs 4-4)
 - frame(small differences to accommodate 4-1 exhaust)
 - side covers
 - an "F" in the serial vs "K"
 - perhaps the front fender with the single brace is F specific(?)

Ken
(1975 CB550F)

[TwoTired]

Lots and lot of little things that make one as a spare for the other nearly useless.

Engine and performance specs are the same.

I don't know of an exhaustive list.  There is a shop manual supplement for the F model describing some major differences.

A better question would be what specifically you wish to compare between models.

[hotwire]

thank you for the pointers i guess what i was really wondering and should have stated is the rake. there seems to be a significant differance between the 74 550 and the 77 550 ss. i am looking to cafe the bike and also looking to do the suspension conversion with dual disk setup but was wondering how that would efect the rake?

[TwoTired]

The trail length is listed as 4.1 inches for both the F and the K.