1975 CB550F Brat Project

What's up everyone? My name is Zac and I just joined up this weekend. I live right on the Illinois side of St. Louis and I recently purchased my first street motorcycle the other day. I have been sent to this site via Google for almost every search I've done regarding it, so I figured I'd join up.

No only is this my first street bike but it is also my first project bike. I picked up a 1975 CB550 Super Sport for a good price. The only issues (so far at least) are:
- It doesn't run, according to the guy I got it from it had a bad coil
- The front brakes need some work
- No mirrors (no biggy, wasn't going to keep the stockers anyways)
- No front fender (was going to remove that anyways as well)
- No right side cover
- Dead battery
- Some gunk in the tank (which I discovered yesterday and it kind of worries me)
- She's got a few miles (27,xxx)


The bike is in great shape cosmetically, I'm just hoping the engine is good too. Luckily my cousin builds motorcycles and works on them all the time so he is helping me along the way and lending me his garage.



Onto the details of the build... I have ordered the following parts so far:

RED = Newly Added/Edited Items
From Cognito Moto:
- Headlight Brackets (black)
- NGK Spark Plugs
- Rick's Regulator/Rectifier Combo
- Shorai Battery (LFX14A2-BS12)
- Under Seat Electronics Tray (Deep)
- Rear License Plate Bracket
- Rear LED Taillight
- Rear LED Turn Signals
- Emgo Black 5 3/4" Bottom Mount Headlight
- Cognito Moto Headlight Mount
- Biltwell Black Thruster Grips

From Four Into One:
- Bikemaster Front Brake Pads
- Black Spark Plug Wire
- Emgo Black Drag Handlebars
- Honda Ignition Coils
- K&N Oil Filter
- NGK Spark Plug Resistor Covers (102 and 120 Degree)
- UNI Foam Air Filter Pod Set
- All Balls Sealed Steering Bearings
- Inline Fuel Filter
- Fork Boots
- Rick's Starter Solenoid
- Drag Specialties Mini Speedometer - Black / Black Face
- New Petcock
- Stainless Steel Brake Line Kit (Black)
- New Factory Caliper Assembly

From eBay:
- Dyna S Electronic Ignition

From Sparck Moto
- Custom Harness

From Dime City Cycles
- "Simple & Clean" Starter Switch
- Rear Upswept Tail Hoop
- Frame Slugs
- Nissin Hydraulic Front Brake Master Cylinder
- Black DCC Originals Upswept Leather Wrapped "Brat" Seat
- Black 3" Clamp on Mirror
- Fork Seals
- Headlight Control Switch
- Satin Black GP style Clutch Lever

From Carpys Cafe Racers
- Raw Steel 4 into 1 Exhaust




RED = Newly Added/Edited Items
Plans / Things I need still:
- Clean/Rebuild the Carbs
- Have Tuned
- Replace Fork Seals
- Mount Rear Fender at an angle (painted it flat black)



Here are some pics of the bike:

1)


2)


3)


4)





I'm open to all suggestions on things you guys think I need to do. Thanks!

Re: 1975 CB550 Brat Project

I wrenched on it a little bit yesterday. Here are some things I got done:

- Removed petcock and tank and drain out the old gas
- Removed the seat
- Removed the battery
- Removed front turn signals
- Removed Handle Bars
- Removed rear turn signals
- Removed rear fender and taillight
- Removed side cover
- Removed chain guard
- Removed horn
- Labeled all the wires I need/don't need



1)


2) Draining Gas


3) pre-filter?


4)


5)


6)


7) Everything removed





I'm going to work on it this afternoon some more so hopefully I'll make some decent progress and have something to post later on.

Re: 1975 CB550 Brat Project

All right so I got to put some time into it today, just more removing stuff really:

- Removed Headlight/Turn Signnal Mount brackets
- Removed Steering bearings and order the All Balls sealed bearings
- Removed the turn signal buzzer
- Removed the forks and drained them and cleaned them a little
- Removed the front wheel and brake caliper
- Removed the bike stand
- Removed the stock battery mount
- Removed the air filter assembly


1) Popped of the exhaust


2)


3) Front fork assembly removed and ditched the turn signal/headlight mounts


4) Fork tubes drain and cleaned them up a bit


5) Bike stand gone!


6) Goodbye stock air filter assembly and battery mount


7)


8) Getting cleared out! Should have my under seat electronics tray this week and the rest will be hidden.

Re: 1975 CB550 Brat Project

After working on it today I decided I needed to order some more parts.
So tonight I ordered:
- Dyna S Electronic Ignition
- Inline Fuel Filter
- All Balls Sealed Steering Bearings


Hopefully the majority of what I ordered will come in early this week because as of right now I'm kind of at a stand still on working on the bike.

Re: 1975 CB550 Brat Project

No picture updates today, but I do have a few purchase updates:

- Sparck Moto Custom Harness
- Fuel Strainer for Tank
- New Aftermarket Starter Switch

New Parts and All Balls Steering Bearing Issues

UPDATE

I got some parts in last night which included:
- Dyna Ignition
- NGK Spark Plug Boots
- Spark Plug Wire
- All Balls Steering Bearings
- Emgo Drag Bars
- Fuel Filter
- Ignition Coil
- Oil Filter
- Brake Pads
- Uni Air Filter Pods





Included in the parts was the All Balls Steering Bearings, so I decided to put those on. WELL, I ran into the same problems as most people have had, including Kirkn from the SOHC forum. The top bearing race was sticking out 1/8" or so after being pressed all the way in. (you can see his whole thread and issue here: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=138617.0;attach=267649)

After reading that thread last night I came to the conclusion that this:


Number 10 in this photo:


is as good as a dust cover and if you leave out the dust cover that came with the All Balls bearing kit and just use this metal thread it will all line up correctly. Hopefully I can get some time tonight and see if this all works. The only issue right now is that I don't remember seeing that thread cap thing when I took everything apart last week, but I'm sure it's laying around somewhere.



The only thing I did accomplish really was getting the bottom dust cover and bearing pressed on and that fits perfect when I put the triple tree in:




I spent most of the night trying to figure the above issue out so I didn't make any progress on anything else really. I tried to get the ceased brake pad out of my caliper by drilling into it and tapping it but it's still stuck in there...



So after all this heart break and lack of progress :'( I decided to take the stock gauge and dummy light assembly off since I will not be including them once I get my harness from Sparck. There goes 6lbs haha...

UPDATE

I've been wrenching on the bike a little bit but haven't posted any updates. Well, unfortunately I didn't use any spacer under the bottom steering bearing from the All Balls kit and I had to hammer the bearing back off which lead to me ruining it. So I had to buy a new one, lesson learned. Well, I got the spacer on and the stack height right this time and refilled the forks and got those put on. I also got my new drag bars put on and the new brake pads on, so the front end is pretty well back together now.





I also received my custom harness from Sparck Moto, it's the tits and I can't wait to put it on...



My under seat electronics tray also came in from Cognito Moto, so I'm going to paint that (flat black) and get the mounted up. I will try to get to that tonight and post some pics tomorrow.


Last night I put in the Dyna S Electronic Ignition...



I mounted the new coils...



Replaced the old spark plugs...



Goodbye old Regulator and Rectifier...



Ricks Combo...




I'm open to any suggestions, comments, or concerns guys/gals. I love feedback and would like to hear what you all think as this is my first bike build ever. Thanks, Zac.

lookin' good so far, keep up the good work

try to get it to run first... would be a shame if you build it completely and then have to tear it apart again.
Did the same with mine, minimal wiring, takes about 15min to connect everything

koendd said:

lookin' good so far, keep up the good work

try to get it to run first... would be a shame if you build it completely and then have to tear it apart again.
Did the same with mine, minimal wiring, takes about 15min to connect everything

Click to expand...

Will do, hopefully this weekend I'll get the new harness hooked up and get it running. Thanks for the input!

UPDATE

I worked on the CB a few hours yesterday and I got a couple things accomplished. I am starting to understand the wiring and get everything worked out and where it needs to be. I think after searching around SOHC4 that I am going to eliminate the Starter Motor Safety Unit.

Anyways, I got my UNI air filter pods on to just kind of get that out of the way...



Painted my Cognito Moto tray and set it in...



I got the Dyna Igniton wired up to my coils...



And I'm going through this to see what's need and what's going...

that's a lot of wires...

here's what I made of mine:
original on top, new one bottom

koendd said:

that's a lot of wires...

here's what I made of mine:
original on top, new one bottom

Click to expand...

Nice! It's crazy how much stuff is unnecessary (to me at least) in the stock wiring.

You are really diving in on this, nice job. Have you done a compression test or checked valves clearances yet?

those filters sure look restrictive i mean they don't have beans for surface area or flow
why do builders always put on tiny power sapping filters ? :-\

canyoncarver said:

You are really diving in on this, nice job. Have you done a compression test or checked valves clearances yet?

Click to expand...

Not yet, felt like it had pretty good compression just by kicking it a few times but I have run a legit test on it yet.

Well I finally got around to finishing up the wiring as far as getting it sorted out, labeled, and ready to go for the new harness. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I decided to hard wire everything and get rid of all of the huge connectors. I'm going to hit up NAPA tomorrow and get some more shrink wrap and hopefully start on the wiring this week.

I decided I am going to get rid of the headlight switch and just run it with the headlight always on (it's the law to have it always on in Illinois so I figure there's no point in having an on/off switch for it).

I also decided I am not going to run a tach, just a speedo. I know these decisions are going to confuse/frustrate some people, but to be honest, this was my goal with this bike, to make it as bare as possible.


Regulator/Rectifier freed of it's connector, labeled and ready to go (still have to figure out where I'm going to mount it)



Wires coming from the alternator labeled and ready to go...



aaand how it sits right now, messy stock harness out of there and ready for the new one...




I also worked on this wiring diagram in photoshop and would love some input on it and whether I have everything correct on it and if it will work.

My one question is, since I decided to remove the starter motor safety unit, do I have to keep the clutch operated switch?

Also, since I removed the SSM unit, I don't need the red/green wire coming off of the start switch do I?

you need to ground the greenred wire from the starter solenoid if you delete the clutch neutral switch thing.
That's what I did anyways...

koendd said:

you need to ground the greenred wire from the starter solenoid if you delete the clutch neutral switch thing.
That's what I did anyways...

Click to expand...

That's what I've read in other threads (and what I did in the diagram). I'm pretty new to wiring, but from the diagram, I thought I would just be able to get rid of the green/red wire completely and just keep the red/yellow wire hooked up to the start button and run that straight to the starter magnetic switch. Any input is appreciated

Hard to know what you have photoshopped in the diagram, but the simple answer is that according to your diagram, the starter solenoid is engaged when the starter button closes and completes the circuit to ground. For a safety, the clutch lever must be pulled to close an additional switch to complete that same ground leg. In other words, both switches must be closed to complete that ground circuit. In your diagram, the green/red wire from the starter button needs to go directly to ground if you want to eliminate the clutch safety. The green wire you have edited in near the upper right accomplishes this. The red/yellow wire is the ground leg at the solenoid. The black wire is power in, which may be confusing.

jep,
lot's of things work with ground as a trigger, neutral light, oil light, clutch safety switch...

but if you just ground the green red one at the solenoid (no need to run it to the bars) you can just run the yellow red one to the starter switch with a + offcourse