How much would it cost to get something close to this?

I've been toying around with the idea of building a cafe racer for a few years. I have a 2005 R1 that's my baby, and I won't sell her so if I build a cafe it will be on a budget.

I found this 1980 CB 550 K3 (?) and absolutely fell in love with it and I think it would be an easier conversion than the Virago I previously considered. For a first cafe I won't be very original, it will be very similar to something someone has already done. I'll save my creativity for future projects when I have more confidence.

I was thinking about getting a tank and seat pan/hump from India on ebay. I know I may have to fix leaks in the gas tank, but that's okay if that's the only problem. Does anyone know what tank this is? It reminds me of a Mojave but I don't think it's exactly the same. The hump was custom made, and I have no idea what I would look for to get a similar look.





How much would the exhaust be? I could find cheap rearsets that would work. I assume a scooter battery would be enough for this bike since it has a kickstart. I just need enough to help it start and then run the headlight.

Is this a build that could be done for a donor bike+ $2000 if I paint everything myself? Thanks

I might be wrong, but the tank looks like a Honda CB500 twin tank. A much much better choice than some made in India junker.

To achieve that look with a stock CB550 is not a big deal and won't cost a ton. All depends on how fancy you get.

Now, the $1,000,000 question is the bike - I've never heard of or seen a 1980 CB550K. Where are you located? 1978 is about as old as I know of.

theadamie said:

Is this a build that could be done for a donor bike+ $2000 if I paint everything myself? Thanks

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You would need to do a fair bit of small parts fab yourself as well. I think even without the cost of paint, you may have a hard time keeping your Dime City Cycles bill under 2K for that bike. All those little things add up. Its not hard to have a few hundred a piece in wheels (spokes, powder coat, tubes, tires, bearings). That said there is no reason you cannot have a nice running, ridable classic bike for well under 2k.... it just may not be as shiny.

IMHO

Tim said:

I might be wrong, but the tank looks like a Honda CB500 twin tank. A much much better choice than some made in India junker.

To achieve that look with a stock CB550 is not a big deal and won't cost a ton. All depends on how fancy you get.

Now, the $1,000,000 question is the bike - I've never heard of or seen a 1980 CB550K. Where are you located? 1978 is about as old as I know of.

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I was thinking 500t as well at first, but I think the knee dent "ridges" are a bit more defined and sharp on that one... hmmm




Didn't they make a DOHC cb550 "nighthawk" ??

It is a far different look than a 550k

I think it is a CB500T tank with some Massaging to the dents. and you can do this for bike + 2K but you will need a lot of elbow grease to not get too spendy.

You can donit for under $2000 but how meticulous are you? If you want it perfect and exactly the same then your looking at a bill 3 times that.

Rattle can the frame, creep your buy and sell adds for parts bikes with the parts you want ie; exhaust, rims already painted, used but good tires and you can keep within budget.

Dont rush....it will cost you more if you do ;-)

I'll sell you this 500 and you can save both time and money.

Du tra said:

You can donit for under $2000 but how meticulous are you? If you want it perfect and exactly the same then your looking at a bill 3 times that.

Rattle can the frame, creep your buy and sell adds for parts bikes with the parts you want ie; exhaust, rims already painted, used but good tires and you can keep within budget.

Dont rush....it will cost you more if you do ;-)

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I wasn't talking about rattle cans lol. I've been wanting to learn how to do automotive paint for a while and if I did this I would use a real HVLP gravity feed paint gun. Do the wheels look bad if they're stock? I wouldn't think they would need a ton of work, just getting them shiny again.

Thanks for all the posts guys. I'm going to try to look into more parts and see if this is worth doing and how much it would cost to do right. If I could get a cheap donor bike I might be willing to put more money into it. I'm in Nursing school right now, but when I finish in a year and a half I should start working at around $25/hr. If I wait a little longer a bigger budget shouldn't be an issue.

How reliable are these bikes when you guys finish them? Is it possible to build a CB 550 to where you could go for a day trip without worrying about it breaking down? I regularly ride my R1 on multi-hour trips and never think twice about it, but it's fuel injected, only 10 years old and meticulously maintained. I average about 15K miles a year on my bike, so I probably ride more than most people, but not crazy mileage either.

I put right at 60K on a CB500 over 2012-2013. Rode it every day it wasn't pouring rain. Never so much as a hiccup. Great bikes.

My buddy (a member here) has a 500T tank he'd sell ya for a fair price. And on tue plus side, it would get the damn thing out of my house

That kinda looks like the stock K3 tank with knee dents added- it has the flush hinge flap, rather than the raised filler cap like the 500.

theadamie said:

How reliable are these bikes when you guys finish them? Is it possible to build a CB 550 to where you could go for a day trip without worrying about it breaking down? I regularly ride my R1 on multi-hour trips and never think twice about it, but it's fuel injected, only 10 years old and meticulously maintained. I average about 15K miles a year on my bike, so I probably ride more than most people, but not crazy mileage either.

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I've had a CB550 for 25 years in Seattle, rode it all the time when I lived there, never had a problem. I moved to AZ in 1997, and then Boston in 2013, and I left it at my dad's place. I go home twice a year, summer and Christmas, and tune it up when I am there. In the summer, I always ride it to Portland, OR and back (3 hours or so with a stop) and never have problems. I always drain the carbs when I park it, so they never gum up. Dead reliable once they're tuned in.

J-Rod10 said:

I put right at 60K on a CB500 over 2012-2013. Rode it every day it wasn't pouring rain. Never so much as a hiccup. Great bikes.

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My ass squinted reading that ???... 60K is a shitload of miles for anything in that two year span, I though I did good riding 10K in a years worth of weekend trips.

I've always found that cost is directly proportionate to the amount of work you can do yourself. The less work you have to farm out (welding, engine work, etc.) the more you'll save. That said, you could build that bike for a couple grand (utilizing CL, eBay, friends network) if you're smart about it.

With a lot of discipline it can be done for even less. Most of the parts are made or available very cheap... lots of work, but not lots of high tech. it's all a matter of time management and will.

Tune-A-Fish said:

My ass squinted reading that ???... 60K is a shitload of miles for anything in that two year span, I though I did good riding 10K in a years worth of weekend trips.

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Ha, yeah, it was a lot of miles. I was living in Tampa back then. I sold my Infiniti suv. Broke up with the girl I had been dating for 5 years end of 2011. Told her that her little G37 coupe that I had bought her, was coming with me. I bought it, I paid for it. Well, she carried insurance in her name. She dropped down to liability a couple days after that, and pulled out in front of somebody at a stop light. Totaled that car. So, I just biked it for the next two years.

Tune-A-Fish said:

My ass squinted reading that ???... 60K is a shitload of miles for anything in that two year span, I though I did good riding 10K in a years worth of weekend trips.

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haha im with ya, I put 11k or so on in a year and thought I was doing pretty well =)