My Honda CB550 Bike Restoration Project

MOAR WORK

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blaro/2009/07/28/3.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blaro/2009/07/28/4.jpg

Wet sanded the rear fender with 1200 grit and some dishwashing detergent to eliminate the orange peel, then hit it with 1500 grit and it came out like this.

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blaro/2009/07/28/after_sanding_1500_grit.jpg

The goal here is to get a smooth satin finish: next up, 2000 grit then hours of buffing with a microfiber towel and a bottle of Meguiar's Swirl Remover. (Unless anybody's got any better ideas.)

Also, the first coat of my gas tank:

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blaro/2009/07/28/tank_first_coat.jpg
 
looks like your doing a great job to me. but if your feeling like you dont wann put all the work into it by hand, you can take the parts to a local auto body shop and see if you can get them to paint them fairly cheap.
 
Clubman bars. And yes, they are. :)

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Also, this thread shows up on the first page when I GIS "clubman bars." :think:


Heat wrapped the exhaust:
https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blaro/2009/08/19/IMG_3744.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blaro/2009/08/19/IMG_3742.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blaro/2009/08/19/IMG_3746.jpg
Mockup with the $30 tailpipe I picked up.

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blaro/2009/08/19/IMG_3747.jpg
 
Hey I was following your rebuild and had a question about where you got your fork dust covers. I have a CB550 and I want to ditch the boots for smaller covers. Any information is appreciated. Thanks.
 
trebordog said:
Hey I was following your rebuild and had a question about where you got your fork dust covers. I have a CB550 and I want to ditch the boots for smaller covers. Any information is appreciated. Thanks.
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The sliders/scrapers/squeegees on the forks (replacing the accordion-style boots) came in with the 1977 model year for all Honda SOHC/4 motorcycles and will interchange with prior year SOHC/4 bikes of the same model. In your case, you will want to order the ones for a 1977 CB550K. You need part number 51425-375-003 - one for each fork leg. MSRP is about $21.

Be advised that the newer style scrapers are not nearly as protective as the original bellows type boots. The boots are still available, part 51611-300-000, and retail for about $33 each.

Trivia note: the scrapers were intially introduced in 1975 on the ill fated CB500T parallel twin (which only ran from 75-76) as a cost cutting measure. They worked fairly well (unlike the rest of the bike) so they were introduced into the SOHC/4 line in 77 - the year Honda had the big refresh for the F-variant of the 750 and the front-end update for all the K-bikes.
 
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Spectre said:
The sliders/scrapers/squeegees on the forks (replacing the accordion-style boots) came in with the 1977 model year for all Honda SOHC/4 motorcycles and will interchange with prior year SOHC/4 bikes of the same model. In your case, you will want to order the ones for a 1977 CB550K. You need part number 51425-375-003 - one for each fork leg. MSRP is about $21.

Be advised that the newer style scrapers are not nearly as protective as the original bellows type boots. The boots are still available, part 51611-300-000, and retail for about $33 each.

Trivia note: the scrapers were intially introduced in 1975 on the ill fated CB500T parallel twin (which only ran from 75-76) as a cost cutting measure. They worked fairly well (unlike the rest of the bike) so they were introduced into the SOHC/4 line in 77 - the year Honda had the big refresh for the F-variant of the 750 and the front-end update for all the K-bikes.
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Thanks for the information. I also ditched the chrome covers that held the the headlight for some aluminum ones. As a result, I no longer have a flange to hold the accordion style covers at the top--just under the lower triple tree. That is one of reasons for the switch.
 
I love what you have done, and now I am hype about getting myself a crummy cb550F to fix her up. Yes, I am a noob and too poor to afford a brand new bike.
I got a few questions and hoping if you could help me out,
1) How much did you pay for project in the beginning?
2) Where did you look to buy this bike?
3) Where did you buy the extra bike parts?

Thanks in advance, I love what you have done!!!
 
You know, many people let it warm up first before blipping the throttle. :p
 
Congratulations!
 
Congrats Blaro!
 
Spectre said:
You know, many people let it warm up first before blipping the throttle. :p
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That's what fucking Pauly senior and fucking Pauly junior do on fucking American fucking Chopper. Now go find my fucking drill bits or I'll kick you in the ass with my fucking size 12. :p

Blaro you should really change your name, the L, R, and O are unnecessary.
 
Spectre said:
You know, many people let it warm up first before blipping the throttle. :p
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I had let her warm up for a while before my friend got out his shitty Blackberry. Also, cuz I'm wicked fahkin' hahdcoah.
 
Amazing timing that I found this thread just after you did your first start. Awesome work and a great job on sticking with it. I just started riding this year and started by rescuing an 82 CM450 that had been sitting in a friend's barn for 3 years. Up to this point in my life I have rebuilt just about every system on a car (though not all on one car) and I always avoided carbs. That bike was my first crack at rebuilding carbs. I found it so refreshingly easy to work on I started doing all kinds of maintenance on it while I was waiting for the carb kits. I have been busy putting miles on it since the beginning of July.

My neighbor is getting on in years and got excited by the success I had with the 450. He was often talking about his CB550 and how he fell in love with the sound. He had tried unsuccessfully to get it running last year and asked if I would have a go at it. This one is a 76 and has been sitting since 87. It was parked under a cover in a heated garage and was remarkably preserved. It still has the original tires on it with no dry rot (don't worry it is getting fresh rubber) and has 7900 miles on it. I do have to say it is very clean as is, though it could use some engine paint and has some minor surface rust on the chrome here and there.

It didn't take much digging into the carbs to be sure of the problem. Only #4 seemed to even be flowing any fuel. #1 was so bad the fuel had formed crystals. I think I used the same carb kits you had pictured after unsuccessfully trying to just clean them. It all went together fairly easy and started with little fuss, though I have noticed once I got the idle set warm at just a tick over 1k rpm it is very sensitive about the choke. It seems to not want much at all though I find it best to keep the throttle just a tad open for about a minute (is there any kind of fast idle setting I missed?).

The remarkable thing is the noise. It has a vintage set of after-market pipes on it (Alphabet Headers), but given the layout and displacement I expected it to sound somewhat like a low revving 600. Boy was I wrong, this thing has a presence and nastiness no modern four seems to muster. I have been listening to others online and it seems to be this style engine. I am simply amazed at the sinister sound that comes out of this little motor. Is this due to the 2 valves per cyl or just the exhaust?

The best moment came the next day when the owner was there. I saw he was over there when I got it started it and I saw his face immediately appear in the back door of the house. He came over and blipped the throttle a few times and the smile that came over him was worth a million carb rebuilds. Apparently his aim in all of this was to get it running to find it a new home. He has basically made me an offer "I can't refuse" so it looks like I will be taking it off his hands. It is certainly an upgrade from my current ride (though I will steer anyone learning to ride toward the CM450, just absolutely brilliant. Light, low seat, forgiving, simple to wrench on, great on gas and enough power to keep up with my cruiser friends and (just) hang on the highway at 75). Due to an anticipated $300 in tires I will be holding off on getting the CB on the road until next year. I was interested in a 750, but if this one does ok on the hwy I may stick with it for a while. I love the classic "brit bike" look with the Japanese dependability. It is great to see there is so much support for these machines.
 
The unique sound of the SOHC Honda four is a product of the relatively long stroke of the engine and the more 'square' resulting bore, plus the valve configuration aids a bit.

A modern 600, like the CBR600RR, that is optimized for revs has a short stroke. The aforementioned CBR600RR has a 67mm bore, but only a 42.5mm stroke. The CB550 has a 58.5mm bore and a 50.6mm stroke. The parent 750 has a 61mm bore with a 63mm stroke and even more 'presence'. My own 750 relative, the 700SC, has quite a bit of bass rumble from the redesigned twin cam engine, though not as much as its parent due to its 'Harley Tax' destroking to avoid the 'over 700cc tariff' - thanks to the 49.4mm stroke. The Rest Of World 750SC had a bit more bass with the 67x53mm cylinders; it was a transitional engine between the 'old world' of the SOHC/4 and early DOHC4 Honda engines and the post-1986-Hurricane liquid cooled rev-seeking fours.

The longer the stroke, the more bass 'rumble' you get in the exhaust in general - but due to the physics of piston speeds, the lower max revs you can turn out. 'Modern' fours tend to be optimized for higher revs, so they have shorter strokes - and little bass. They also tend to be liquid cooled, which quiets them further.
 
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It also tends to annoy the hell out of your neighbors at 3 in the morning.
 
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