First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k, Back on track

Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k,

Had some free time and I thought I'd play around with the seat hump.. Didn't find an old seat at the shop last week so I'm using my good seat as a mock go get an idea.

Tools were : knife , measuring tape , pool noodles , and spray adhesive.

I think it was a waste of 45 minutes and made a huge mess in my backyard but atleast I had a beer and enjoyed the sun.

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Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k,

teddpage said:
Bike looks pretty decent! I say, since summer is almost here, clean it up a bit, throw a set of clubmans on it and a new tank and cruise it! Then, come winter time, tear it down and build it the way you want it. Be it stock or cafe!
Click to expand...

I agree. If you do throw some clubmans on it, make sure to see if they are gonna mar up your tank. If they do, a quick bubble weld on the fork as a steering stopper works pretty well
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k,

So I am back from my trip and while i was in LA stopped by a shop that had OODLES of cafe bikes and parts. As i am chatting with the owner, a bike pulls in, a stunning cb750K, just over seven thousand miles and total original/ restored. Now it might have been the LA sun but i was memorized by the sparkly chrome, 4-4 exhaust and well, the whole bike. Which made me think.... Should I put the same effort and do a restore? or live out my Cafe dream.

This is the 750. the guy payed just over 5500 for it...
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also a cool cafe parked next to it. the guy is using his GPS as a spedo and such... thought it a neat idea.
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Soo I am kinda stuck. If i decide to sell this bike down the road, which would be worth more? I think the restored 550, especially one with just over 8000km.. I guess I am just looking for some guidance from the gurus of DTT.
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k,

The problem with a resto is while it may re-sell for a lot more, it costs a lot more to fix up. Check ebay for NOS parts for your bike - big $$$

If you want a cool ride, you don't have to cut all the tabs and mounts off. That way if you do decide to sell, you can add "Have the parts to return it to stock".

Oh yeah, welcome back!
 
1978 Honda CB550k DEADLINE SET! WEEK OF JULY 26

Finally the bike is home and the maelstrom of work is about to begin. With some advice from my dad and our friend, he said to at least keep the option of going stock when / if i decide to sell it. SO this will be my resto/cafe Hybrid.

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The goals:
Total strip and polish.
Strip and paint side covers and tank. Maybe front fender too.
make single seat with fiberglass cafe hump
restore original 2 person seat
sandblast rims and powder coat. new chrome spokes
install the Zocci Shocks
Replace the Tach housing as its dented as eff.
Clubman handles
Possible 4-1 exhaust with Pod filters. ( Not decided on this yet)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Deadline: week of July 26th. Will be on vacation all week and it will either be done BY then or AFTER that week.

With that being said, I am off to the garage, with possible Iphone updates later tonight.
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k,

got some work done tonight.
Removed the front end. Lights . Handle bars. Wiring and had the bike started before all this. Sounds great. Will post video when I figure it out.

Also the zocci shock was good as far as space goes but the way to bolt it to the bike is wrong! The bottom as seen in the pic is an O Rather then a |-| shape... Any advice? As I would love to use the shocks!
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Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k,

I am now on my third evening of disassemble. from 6-8pm I have gotten at it and after much thought, decided to tear it all down, start from scratch.

Evening 2 progress.
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Evening 3 Progress.
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Removed all the electrical, air box, filters, battery, front fender, and well, u can compare the pictures yourselves.

This is for Saturday as tomorrow I am at a chairty golf tournament from 12-9pm then straight to work... sigh, night shifts killing me. BUT the funds from it are very nice :)
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ALso ordered a brand new choke cable as this one was beyond saving. So much for tonight, off to work, and my thoughts for the colours are black and red. but I am reconsidering. maybe a gunmetal and red? I want red in there for sure for accents.
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k,

Soo she's all apart and ready for a major war on rust/ oxide. On schedual as my first week goal was to take I all apart.
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Now tomorrow I start sanding buffing and all that good stuff. Giving it two weeks for all the Work
And then a week for assembly and shes finished! A little stuck on the paint scheme. Defintely a few coats of clear to get that high gloss shine. And definitely red inthere as well.

Well break is over.
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k,

SouthPaw said:
Soo she's all apart and ready for a major war on rust/ oxide. On schedual as my first week goal was to take I all apart.
362bae96.jpg


Now tomorrow I start sanding buffing and all that good stuff. Giving it two weeks for all the Work
And then a week for assembly and shes finished! A little stuck on the paint scheme. Defintely a few coats of clear to get that high gloss shine. And definitely red inthere as well.

Well break is over.
Click to expand...

My lord, your bike looks like mine did when I first got it. I hope you got a sand blaster. Make sure you buy the black aluminum oxide too, don't use play sand.. You can buy some cheap ones from harborfreight that will save you boat loads of time if your sanding everything by hand. I thought I was gonna have mine rid of the cancer (rust) in no time, so far it's been a year of me working on the bike. I think you got your work cut out for you on this one but I definitely think you can do it.

Here's mine just in case your interested: http://picasaweb.google.com/Cichocki.T/1975YamahaXS500B?feat=directlink
 
On the way to the Deadline :D week of July 26TH

Got a fair amount of polishing the little things today. turn signals, pedals of all sorts, mirrors ( even though im getting bar ends, so if anyone needs a pair of almost new mirrors let me know :p )

Cleaned and Old passenger footpegs ( might need new rubbers for all footpegs so if anyone has some that will fit let me know )
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More shinyness
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Not done yet :)
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Just one footpeg left!
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Clean foopeg and the dash mount.

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I had to take some of the rust off of the metal bracket and i am going to prime and paint ( or just paint ) So do I have to remove all the old paint off completely?
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k, Came to a grinding halt

I come to you guys with some bad news. This project has been on hold for the past few weeks,and probably the next few as well depending on how things pan out.

I found out recently that my mom has been diagnosed with cancer, again. She had beaten it once when she was in her 20s and once again 2 years ago. Now it seems to have come back in a different location. This has taken up all of my free time and financially has changed everything. I had really hoped to get everything done by now and get lots of riding time this summer but that will have to wait. Thanks for all the support and being an infinite pool of knowledge, once things go back to normal ill get back to finishing the bike.

Anywho, just thought id let you guys know why nothings happened in over a month.
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k, DEADLINE SET LAST WEEK OF JULY

Sorry to hear the bad news. Sounds like she is quite a fighter though. Take care of the family, that's the most important thing, and DTT will still be here when you need it.
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k, DEADLINE SET LAST WEEK OF JULY

Take care of your Mom, the bike will wait patiently.
 
Re: First bike ever!!!! 1978 Honda CB550k, Were Back on Track!

Well guys I am back on track. Update on mom is shes doing experimental treatment that was proven 89% effective in treating kidney cancer. they are trying this out on different types and shes the " perfect candidate" So now that her treatments are twice a week and things have settled a little bit I started things up again this week. Got the frame and rims tank and little bits blasted, and powdercoated the frame and the rims, will be taking the fenders back and the kick stand to powder as well i think, or just paint them? I am waiting on my spokes to come from Japan, its been a few weeks but hopefully itll come in a week or two.
Sandblasted part lot
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Coated frame in mirror finish Mercedes black. Pricey bit this powdercoating stuff but it looks SWEEET!
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Really Happy with the way it worked out! Rim pics to come up as they are resting in my bedroom :)
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Rims in the same finish.
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I thought I would loose the printing on the rinms, nope :)
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Next steps
Sandblast and paint/powder the triple tree, engine covers and other little parts
fab a new seat out of old tank and or wood
clean up engine
reassemble
 
geez man, that frame looks super nice. I'd be afraid to remount the motor... lol
 
Haha yea no kidding. I saw a trick on a build here to wrap pipe insulation around the impact points when mounting stuff. Ill def be doing that. And I will probably get my fenders powdered as well. I am very happy as to how everything is turning out.
 
I come back to you guys and my bike after quite a while. Things in life are still hectic, but i figure thats not a valid excuse anymore... things will always be busy but I still have to keep chipping away. Since the last update I have sandblasted and painted some more parts, big project for this week will be to put together the wheels, new spokes are here, rims are powdercoated and hubs are painted, now to get to the fun stuff.

I would like to know if anyone has a measurment of a 78 CB550 front and rear wheel just to double check mine with. Id like to get it as true to the center as possible before truing and taking it into a proffesional to double check and balance. So if one of you guys wouldn't mind measuring your wheel it would be greatly appriciated :) there is also the pure math way which ill use to triple check.

The site looks sweet and Im rather impressed with all the changed.
 
Man, I know a lot of people have said this already, but that frame looks super nice. Can't wait to see this bike finished.
 
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