Author Topic: CB550 Cafe - My First bike build : Day... lost track (Read 52954 times)

q2418130103p · « **on:** January 30, 2011, 07:30:39 pm »

Hello All,
This is a 1974 CB550 project that I started around November. I only get 1 day per week to work on it, and I try to take pictures of anything interesting I do on that day. I have been waiting to start a thread because I wanted to be able to post a bunch of pictures all at once. I'll try to add pictures here as I go.

Here are some highlights of the build:
tank, seat, and some other misc pieces for BCR
595cc 10.5:1 pistons
webcam 58a
dynas coils and ignition
mrieck (stage 2?) head port
hardweld rockers

EDIT: So thanks to photobucket most of my images are dead links. I moved them all to this album https://imgur.com/a/Hf8xl

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 4:

Day 5-6:

Day 7:

Day 8:

Day 9:

Day 10:

Day 12 (Didnt do any work, just got parts):

BCR Took these for me:

Day 13:
I used my new 20 tons press to pop out some bearings. Overkill, but who cares. I also used my new HF soda blaster, works good, but not good enough to take pictures. I also got everything our of both case halfs except for the kick starter, I ran out of time.

Day 14 http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=83097.msg938901#msg938901

Day 15 http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=83097.msg943754#msg943754

Day 16 http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=83097.msg947679#msg947679

Day 18 and 19 http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=83097.msg956095#msg956095

albertaboy · « **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2011, 08:34:52 pm »

Nice look so far. Im biased as I recently took delivery of BCR tank and seat also. Is yours the Dolphin?

q2418130103p · « **Reply #2 on:** January 31, 2011, 04:15:37 am »

Quote from: albertaboy on January 30, 2011, 08:34:52 pm

Nice look so far. Im biased as I recently took delivery of BCR tank and seat also. Is yours the Dolphin?

Its a Reck'n Ball. But they are similar. I think the dolphin is the same same, but a bit shorter.

Toxic · « **Reply #3 on:** January 31, 2011, 04:26:21 am »

For only having one day a week to work on it ... you sure are making fast progress.

Great looking build.

ksmith0034 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 31, 2011, 07:22:33 am »

Nice work. You are a wizard with the polishing!!!

How did you do it?

q2418130103p · « **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2011, 07:41:09 am »

Quote from: Toxic on January 31, 2011, 04:26:21 am

For only having one day a week to work on it ... you sure are making fast progress.

Great looking build.

Thanks. As you can probably tell, I am getting less done per day as time goes on. It is getting more complicated, and I am running out of places to put parts.

Quote from: ksmith0034 on January 31, 2011, 07:22:33 am

Nice work. You are a wizard with the polishing!!! How did you do it?

Thanks, but to be honest not all the parts look as nice in person as they do in the pictures. For some reason I keep getting this strange discoloration in some of the pipeces, likes almost like imperfections in the metal. And on other pieces there are still some visible scratches becuase I got impatient. But either way, here is what I do:

1) Buy one of these cheap, 3" DA sanders:

2) Get an assortment of 'hook-it' type sanding discs in grit ranging from 320 - 800:

3) Sand the piece thoroughly with each grit.

4) Hand sand it with 1000, maybe even some water. The DA leaves these tiny circular scratches which are oddly visible in the final piece. The hand sanding seems to lessen that.

4) Buff the piece with emery compound and a spiral sewn wheel, go against the rotation of the wheel to get a better cutting action.

5) Buff with white compound and a loose sewn wheel, go in the direction of the wheel to get nice color.

albertaboy · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2011, 04:09:48 pm »

Quote from: q2418130103p on January 31, 2011, 04:15:37 am

Quote from: albertaboy on January 30, 2011, 08:34:52 pm
Nice look so far. Im biased as I recently took delivery of BCR tank and seat also. Is yours the Dolphin?

Its a Reck'n Ball. But they are similar. I think the dolphin is the same same, but a bit shorter.

"Reck'n Ball" - nice!! very good choice for a 550. I cant wait to see how it turns out. Cheers.

q2418130103p · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2011, 06:20:03 pm »

Quote from: albertaboy on January 31, 2011, 04:09:48 pm

Quote from: q2418130103p on January 31, 2011, 04:15:37 am
Quote from: albertaboy on January 30, 2011, 08:34:52 pm
Nice look so far. Im biased as I recently took delivery of BCR tank and seat also. Is yours the Dolphin?

Its a Reck'n Ball. But they are similar. I think the dolphin is the same same, but a bit shorter.

"Reck'n Ball" - nice!! very good choice for a 550. I cant wait to see how it turns out. Cheers.

They say I should have it in my possession by the end of next week. I'll take some more pics when I get them.

q2418130103p · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2011, 06:24:54 pm »

DAY 14

One of the crank bearings has a nick in it, it is not big, but I can feel it with my finger nail:

Here is an up close of the bearings (I deleted one of the pictures because it was blurry). How do these look?

Soda blasted cases, using my harbor freight 10lb can. They came out fairly good, but will still require some prer work, and I ran out of soda:

Back to post #1 http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=83097.msg935255#msg935255

q2418130103p · « **Reply #9 on:** February 14, 2011, 06:42:42 am »

Day 15:

ksmith0034 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2011, 06:53:32 am »

Yikes!

Don't let the little lady see that!

q2418130103p · « **Reply #11 on:** February 14, 2011, 07:15:46 am »

She wasn't thrilled. I bleached the tub afterwards. I had already soda blasted and power washed them so they weren't too bad.

q2418130103p · « **Reply #12 on:** February 20, 2011, 04:30:49 pm »

Day 16

q2418130103p · « **Reply #13 on:** February 23, 2011, 08:25:55 pm »

So I was looking at the bike later and noticed that it looks like the loop that we welded on dropped a bit when we welded it up, probably because we only tacked it in one spot before welding. I say that because after I bolted the seat to the loop it drew the front of the seat up, so now the line between the seat and tank does not match. The seat is pivoting on the part of the frame near the strut mount. Not sure how I am going to fix this problem, but I have an idea.

My current plan is to use some threaded screw bumps the hold the seat 1/16" above the loop in the back. To make the gap a bit less noticeable I will weld on a 1/2" round bar, with a similar radius to the loop, underneath the seat. I also got some long rubber bumpers that I was planning to mount between the seat and the frame rails, closer to the tank. This will both fill the gap between the seat and the frame, and isolate the metal seat from the metal rails (both of which will be painted).

I am open to suggestions for the problem.

q2418130103p · « **Reply #14 on:** March 01, 2011, 04:51:13 am »

Quote from: q2418130103p on February 23, 2011, 08:25:55 pm

So I was looking at the bike later and noticed that it looks like the loop that we welded on dropped a bit when we welded it up, probably because we only tacked it in one spot before welding. I say that because after I bolted the seat to the loop it drew the front of the seat up, so now the line between the seat and tank does not match. The seat is pivoting on the part of the frame near the strut mount. Not sure how I am going to fix this problem, but I have an idea.

My current plan is to use some threaded screw bumps the hold the seat 1/16" above the loop in the back. To make the gap a bit less noticeable I will weld on a 1/2" round bar, with a similar radius to the loop, underneath the seat. I also got some long rubber bumpers that I was planning to mount between the seat and the frame rails, closer to the tank. This will both fill the gap between the seat and the frame, and isolate the metal seat from the metal rails (both of which will be painted).

I am open to suggestions for the problem.

Never mind, we fixed it the right way... Day 17 was basically cutting off everything from Day 16 and welding it back on again. It looks perfect now. I am still going to make rubber mounts to hold it off the frame.

I plan to do some painting of engine pieces next week. I am still trying to decide on black or silver for the engine cases. The cylinders will be black, de-finned, thats not a question.

q2418130103p · « **Reply #15 on:** March 05, 2011, 03:33:09 pm »

DAY 18 and 19

ksmith0034 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 05, 2011, 03:49:10 pm »

Nice. Is that paint or powder? How did you get it off the fins after baking?

DarcyCB400F · « **Reply #17 on:** March 05, 2011, 05:46:37 pm »

Nice work!
How's the divorce proceedings coming??

I just showed my happy wife these pics and she is very understanding.... NOT!!!

She doesn't like ANYONE using her Dawn dish soap!!

q2418130103p · « **Reply #18 on:** March 05, 2011, 07:02:44 pm »

Quote from: ksmith0034 on March 05, 2011, 03:49:10 pm

Nice. Is that paint or powder? How did you get it off the fins after baking?

It is VHT. I used a DA sander, and some sander paper on a block. I had already shaved the fins flat before painting then.

Honestly, I don't know if i would recommend this procedure. It looks nice in the pictures, but it chipped in a few spots from the sanding as well as from the removal of the masking tape. I will have to touch up the paint after assembly.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

q2418130103p · « **Reply #19 on:** March 05, 2011, 07:09:24 pm »

Quote from: DarcyCB400F on March 05, 2011, 05:46:37 pm

Nice work!
How's the divorce proceedings coming??
I just showed my happy wife these pics and she is very understanding.... NOT!!!
She doesn't like ANYONE using her Dawn dish soap!!

So far I have used the tub, Sink, oven, and dish soap while keeping the marriage in tact.

The key has been making sure she its not home, and that there its no sign of grease or oil when she does get back.

I'll post from my best friends fold out bed after I bake the engine cases, because there is no way I can keep up the act.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

chronic_rider_550 · « **Reply #20 on:** March 06, 2011, 12:38:18 pm »

Where did you get that triple tree top? I've been looking for one for a while and can't seem to locate one that fits a cb550. I am doing a 1975 Honda CB550 Cafe project. I'm in college and poor so my project is going slowly. And my bike is my only transportation so I haven't been able to really do any engine work so far. But that triple tree top looks sweet and I want one. Sweet build by the way. I like it a lot.

q2418130103p · « **Reply #21 on:** March 06, 2011, 02:47:37 pm »

Quote from: chronic_rider_550 on March 06, 2011, 12:38:18 pm

Where did you get that triple tree top? I've been looking for one for a while and can't seem to locate one that fits a cb550. I am doing a 1975 Honda CB550 Cafe project. I'm in college and poor so my project is going slowly. And my bike is my only transportation so I haven't been able to really do any engine work so far. But that triple tree top looks sweet and I want one. Sweet build by the way. I like it a lot.

Thanks for the compliment.

That is the factory tree with the handlebar supports cut off and then polished.

I could do one for you if you want, however it takes a number of hours.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

Zaipai · « **Reply #22 on:** March 06, 2011, 03:26:12 pm »

VERY Nice!!! Can't wait to see it finished!

.: Scott :.

q2418130103p · « **Reply #23 on:** March 06, 2011, 05:14:51 pm »

Quote from: Zaipai on March 06, 2011, 03:26:12 pm

VERY Nice!!! Can't wait to see it finished!

.: Scott :.

Me too! I'll leave a note in my will for my great grand son to post the pictures when it is finished. Assuming this internet thing is still around then.

Zaipai · « **Reply #24 on:** March 06, 2011, 08:39:23 pm »

Quote from: q2418130103p on March 06, 2011, 05:14:51 pm

Quote from: Zaipai on March 06, 2011, 03:26:12 pm
VERY Nice!!! Can't wait to see it finished!

.: Scott :.

Me too! I'll leave a note in my will for my great grand son to post the pictures when it is finished. Assuming this internet thing is still around then.

Lol.. I feel that way some times too.. However I believe it will be done sooner then that..

.: Scott :.

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Author Topic: CB550 Cafe - My First bike build : Day... lost track (Read 52954 times)