1974 Honda CB550. Monoshock. Engine Build. "BLAC"

BLAC

See Bee Five Fifty
Hello all!

Im midway through a build and decided to finally get a thread going.

I started with a mostly stock and complete 1974 CB550 with 8k miles on it, rode it once (home from the previous owners house) then tore into it.

Here are some of the highlights thus far and I will update this thread as I make progress.

The starting point:
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The workshop:
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GF is a photographer. Had to document that I was doing all my own work :p
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Rebuilt the stock carbs with factory rebuild parts:
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More disassembly:
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Naked frame!
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I decided to go with aftermarket wheels. Excel Shouldered wheels (18's). Time to chop:
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I contacted Cliff Meyers via Cognito Moto and had this beauty made:
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For the front suspension I went with new TNK fork tubes, Racetech springs, and gold valve emulators:
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Installed in my rebuilt and polished forks.. I sanded my fingerprints off getting these things shiny...
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Wheels came in from Buchannan's (avon Roadrider tires):
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I had to stage a pic:
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after going back and forth, I decided to cut the read subframe off and rebuild it how I wanted it, instead of just adding a hoop to the rear section:
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(small tacks to help me see what I want it to look like)
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I built a new subframe and tacked it together to see what it would look like with my Hagon springs:
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Starting to come together:
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I fell out of love with the Hagon setup and decided to go the monoshock route:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,154614.325.html

Milling the channels in the hoop.
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Added the front brace bar (I'm finally getting decent at fish-mouthing!)
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Test fitting... Getting Closer...
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Ahh there it is.
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Mock up.
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Looking good for now!
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I contacted Cliff Meyers again about making a front fender.. he is amazing:
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Im going to have Racetech make me a custom Monoshock, here was my notes from my first call with their team.. I think its making sense..
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Snagged a new upper tree from Cognito:
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Got a new welding mask, Digital Elite from Miller just in time to patch up my frame:
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I needed one more thing to spend too much money on, so I decided to open up the motor, send the head off to Mike Reick for headwork, 59mm Weisco pistons, megacycle cam (still decide which profile) and balanced crank+rods.
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Re: 1974 Honda CB550. Monoshock. Engine Build. "BLAC"

Wow dude. Nice work. Love those high shoulder rims. Cliff over at Meyerbuilt sure knows how to push metal through an English wheel! Keep the updates coming!
 
Sent a couple pieces off to Noblehops to be vapor blasted.. amazing work...

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Are you kidding me, this is amazing...
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I fell out of love with the angle that I had my subframe braces, so I cut them off and made new ones:
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Got the rest of the engine broken down, ready to be vapor blasted by Niblehops:
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Time to get this monoshock mounting business wrapped up...

I decided to make a mock up of the monoshock with an adjustable section so I can set my desired ride height. Here was the workflow:

Make the ends based on what I am having Racetech make for my spring ends:
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Didnt spend much time making it pretty, but it should work!
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Re: 1974 Honda CB550. Monoshock. Engine Build. "BLAC"

hurco550 said:
Wow dude. Nice work. Love those high shoulder rims. Cliff over at Meyerbuilt sure knows how to push metal through an English wheel! Keep the updates coming!

Thanks! I will definitely keep the updates coming. It has been about a year into the build (almost) so I apologize for the heavy datadump getting y'all up to speed, but progress from here out should make more sense ;D
 
Looking good! And some familiar looking general direction so far as well, not to mention posting all at once! Race Tech - great people to work with.
 
I officially approve of how the new subframe looks, so I sealed it up with a couple welds ;D

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I also mounted and welded in (top and bottom) the plate where I will mount the top monoshock mounting plates:
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Wow! Subscribed! Nice work so far; I'm impressed with your fabrication skills. It's almost a shame that your start point had to be such a fine example of the breed; but it's evolving into something stunning!

Gonna need more info on that rod hanging from your cieling, too!
 
This is looking nice, my first project bike was a 550 and there are still the bike of choice in my group. Excited to see what you make of it

BLAC said:
I built a new subframe and tacked it together to see what it would look like with my Hagon springs:
yd6t9xm.jpg

By the look of how the top of your new sub frame hits the old frame, there doesn't seem to be a way to reinforce that. Did you get an inner-slug or something to help reinforce that join? The lower would be ok, but I wouldn't want that one without something to reinforce my ass from falling into the wheel. If not, you may want to put a gusset at least under there.
 
Re: 1974 Honda CB550. Monoshock. Engine Build. "BLAC"

That's some solid work! Looking forward to see this finished!


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Re: 1974 Honda CB550. Monoshock. Engine Build. "BLAC"

Looks great man! Been following along on SOHC4... keep it up!

Side note-do you still have your stock side covers?


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Thanks for the kind words everyone!

I totally understand some people wishing I didn't modify a stock example, but honestly I have never worked on a cb550 at all so I wanted to start with a complete on so I wasn't trying to build something with parts I have never seen.

@jsj I too would like to keep my ass out of the rear tire, and I did make a slug that went into the front where the hoop bar meets the frame. Being fully welded with the two supports and out of 4130 chromololy (.08 wall) I bet I could put 1,000+ lbs on it with no issues. The stock frame is going to crumple up before that subframe gives out.
 
JSJamboree said:
This is looking nice, my first project bike was a 550 and there are still the bike of choice in my group. Excited to see what you make of it

By the look of how the top of your new sub frame hits the old frame, there doesn't seem to be a way to reinforce that. Did you get an inner-slug or something to help reinforce that join? The lower would be ok, but I wouldn't want that one without something to reinforce my ass from falling into the wheel. If not, you may want to put a gusset at least under there.
I'm not trying to be smart here but if you weld those two tubes together properly there is no need to reinforce it or use a slug.
Oh and by the way nice project :)
 
johnu said:
I'm not trying to be smart here but if you weld those two tubes together properly there is no need to reinforce it or use a slug.
Oh and by the way nice project :)

True, I did it more for alignment than structural support, but I figured it couldn't hurt.
 
johnu said:
I'm not trying to be smart here but if you weld those two tubes together properly there is no need to reinforce it or use a slug.
Oh and by the way nice project :)

+ 1! Certainly looks like you know where you are going, but This:
BLAC said:
looks like a lot of forward pitch to the frame making for a lot of swingarm rotation and some very steep rake for the chassis. Only mentioning that as you look to have the mock up bar you made for the shock in place which would seem to have the swing arm rotated quite a lot for full droop. Man - those are some very nice mig welds!
 
I made that mock up bar after I took that photo. I just put a wood-handled hammer in there for the pic :p

I think it looks cool like that but I'm not going to have have that much rake once it's put together.

Thanks, I keep practicing on the welding. I have access to a tig welder also but have never tried it...
 
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