First Build CB550 Brat Style Cafe

cr550

New Member
So, I've been reading a bunch of threads on here for a while and just recently became a member. I bought a cb550 almost three years ago and have always wanted to cafe it. Well, I'm finally starting. Here's a couple of pictures of the bike. It has just over 14 thousand miles. So far I have put 500 of those miles myself. Due to being away at college I have not ridden it much. It has good compression and runs pretty good.
 

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Ok, so I took the carbs off and brought them back with me to college to rebuild them. I have been disassembling them one at a time and then cleaning it then disassemble the next leaving it in the carb cleaner while I organize the previous one. I got 4 rebuild kits from 4into1 with a 10% discount and am waiting for some new bolts to come in. Here's some before and after pictures along with the old jets all in a zip lock and the new ones in the 1st carb.
 

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So, as I was taking the second carb apart when I took out this o ring which seems to be made of some type of fiber or paper and it kinda just crumbled. Does anyone know where I can find another one? Any advice? I couldn't find anything on any other posts so far. Here's a picture of the ring from the first carb which is still holding up and from the second carb which is in two pieces. I am also thinking of later down the line in about a year when I'm out of school getting the CR26 carb kit from power barn.
 

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I believe that washer would be made of felt, not sure that it's easy to come by.

Those carb rebuild kits you've got usually aren't made to the exact specs of the original brass hardware, and can often lead to tuning issues down the track. If you still have the original brass hardware from the carbs, and it is in usable condition, you would likely be better off cleaning it up & reusing it.

The link below has some handy info that should be relevant to 087A, 022A & 627B carbs.

http://blacksquaremotorcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/HOW-TO-REBUILD-KEIHIN-CARBURETORS.pdf
 
Those felt washers are not a part you easily find. Fortunately someone has remade them and you can get them here... http://www.motorcycleproject.com/
 
Bootsey said:
I believe that washer would be made of felt, not sure that it's easy to come by.

Those carb rebuild kits you've got usually aren't made to the exact specs of the original brass hardware, and can often lead to tuning issues down the track. If you still have the original brass hardware from the carbs, and it is in usable condition, you would likely be better off cleaning it up & reusing it.

The link below has some handy info that should be relevant to 087A, 022A & 627B carbs.

http://blacksquaremotorcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/HOW-TO-REBUILD-KEIHIN-CARBURETORS.pdf

I still have the old one's but some of them are pretty bad. For the most part the old main jet is fine but the idle jet and slow jet seem to be in the worst shape. Would you recommend mixing and matching, going with the old one's or stay with the new one's? Also, I want to run pods so will be rejetting later down the line. And I do have that link and have been using it! I also have the shop manual which was helpful when disassembling.

firebane said:
Those felt washers are not a part you easily find. Fortunately someone has remade them and you can get them here... http://www.motorcycleproject.com/

Thank you!! I couldn't find them anywhere!
 
cr550 said:
I still have the old one's but some of them are pretty bad. For the most part the old main jet is fine but the idle jet and slow jet seem to be in the worst shape. Would you recommend mixing and matching, going with the old one's or stay with the new one's? Also, I want to run pods so will be rejetting later down the line. And I do have that link and have been using it! I also have the shop manual which was helpful when disassembling.

What do you mean by pretty bad?
As long as they aren't visibly damaged or corroded they're likely ok, even if a bit tarnished. A soak in some carb cleaner or acetone, followed up by running something like a 0.010 guitar string through all passages, followed by a blast to compressed air to ensure everything is clear & you should be set.
 
Ive mixed and matched.i bought carb kits from common-motor last year. Kits wernt exact but has idle and slow jets that were factory spec but they came with 100 instead of 110s so i Cleaned out my 110 jets like bootsey said and carb dip, didnt have any guitar strings but did have bread-ties and pipe cleaners. Came out nice.
 
Bootsey said:
What do you mean by pretty bad?
As long as they aren't visibly damaged or corroded they're likely ok, even if a bit tarnished. A soak in some carb cleaner or acetone, followed up by running something like a 0.010 guitar string through all passages, followed by a blast to compressed air to ensure everything is clear & you should be set.

Ok, I have pipe cleaners that I will use and re use the one's I have. The slow yet looks bad since it has that green layer around it. I have a round of tests coming up but I'll try and post pictures of how they look before/after
 
cr550 said:
Ok, I have pipe cleaners that I will use and re use the one's I have. The slow yet looks bad since it has that green layer around it. I have a round of tests coming up but I'll try and post pictures of how they look before/after

0000 steel wool and carb cleaner and those thing will clean up like new. I literally just went through this with my own bike as all slow jets were horribly plugged. Unless you can't clean up those small holes then replace.

Otherwise given them an awesome cleaning and spend a few minutes on each and save the money.
 
Looking good! Keep up the good work.

What are the future plans? Keeping the front end stock or going inverted sport bike front end?
 
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