1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

The chewed up slide is probably from a stuck slide that a po pried free with a screwdriver. Be careful on that one if its chewed on the cut out side. May cause some leaning out at idle and low rpm.
 
Why did you not put the UNI filters all the same on, so the words UNI are all horizontal? Would be slicker ;)
I would not be too afraid of the chucks and such. I've had waaaay worse run perfectly.
 
Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

Kanticoy said:
The chewed up slide is probably from a stuck slide that a po pried free with a screwdriver. Be careful on that one if its chewed on the cut out side. May cause some leaning out at idle and low rpm.

thats what i was thinking.

Bert Jan said:
Why did you not put the UNI filters all the same on, so the words UNI are all horizontal? Would be slicker ;)
I would not be too afraid of the chucks and such. I've had waaaay worse run perfectly.

didnt even realize it, i was too excited haha
 
Finally got a decent job and put money to the side. Here's what I've got planned to get her going by May:

Clean and synchronize the carbs again; she's been sitting for almost a year now.
Replace the petcock; I took her apart and the whole thing just shit in my hand. Worn out o rings, cracked stem. What a mess.
Gotta get a new points cover; big ol' dent in the cover, figure I'd replace it.
Replace the points, condensors, and coils; redoing the ignition system just for piece of mind. I already worked on the points before, but they're all corroded now because it's missing the cover.
Replace the front brake control, including the master cylinder; when I got her, it was all locked up. I'd rather just replace the whole damn thing.

If everything works out to my advantage, I'll have her out on the road by May. Here's to deadlines!
 
Anything worth doing takes time :) It's pretty erie how similar your bike looks now to how my 1976 CB550F looked the day I bought mine about 8 years ago. Deja vu. My Before and After:
 

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I know it's been a while, but I've got a 77' 550 F that need some putting back together (PO completely disassembled the ENTIRE THING including motor....) anyways. Where are you at with the beast? Tim, your 550 is beautiful, the stock can is amazing! Mine's missing :(

Hope all has gone well, glad I found this one so I can get jealous and start working on my pile of parts... ;)
 
Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

Oh god here we go... I've been planning on updating this thread but havent gotten around to it.

Cliff's notes:

Wouldn't start, checked points.
Points weren't working properly with the test light.
Stopped working on it due to moving, leaving school, crossed state borders.
Just got her back after over a year.
Just bought wire to redo the harness.
Tested the coils on a whim.
Found my sparkplug boots are toast.
Kicking myself in the ass for doing too much unnecessary crap just to get her running.

So that's where I'm at.
 
Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

How she sits in the new workshop (apartment garage) woo hoo!
 
Well, feel free to bug us if you need any extra help/thoughts on things. She'll be one hell of a looker soon :) At least your engine is together :-\ :'(
 

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Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

As soon as my wiring harness is done, I'm sure I'll be bothering you all again! Here's a question though. Should I be entertaining a Dyna s? Will it make things easier or harder when I first try to start my bike? Overall in this stage is it worth it? My goal right now is to get her running.
 
I've really enjoyed the coils I bought from Dyna, I swear the bike starts more easily on my 71' CB500, but it could be placebo and I just have her dialed in properly. As for the Dyna S, many have bad things to say about it, and then point people to the Pamco ignitions. http://4into1.com/pamco-electronic-ignition-honda-cb500-cb550-cb750/

I for one, Love my electronic ignition on some of my other bikes, so I do believe it's a good call. With that said, points aren't too bad once you know how to adjust them properly. Usually You can get them close with a small 12V light setup, enough get the bike fired up and then get a timing light on it afterwards to verify you did it right. When you do it with the light, make sure you rotate the engine a few times to check that you have it opening right at the "F" mark (NOT THE T!!!!) for the 1:4 and 2:3 sides of the plate. And before you do any of that, make sure your advancer unit is working!!
 
Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

Started laying out the wire for the harness. Trying to plan where to put what is hard! But this is a labor of love, slow and steady wins the race.

30cbd2cf9c7674db8400c7c5604d8cb7.jpg
 
Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

Exactly! Just laying it all down right now, then piece by piece I'll see how it fits on the bike.
 
Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

Good progress today. Got most of the starting system laid out.

1a064b9bd54a9f8735aee7236181ef5c.jpg
 
Looks promising. I was too cheap to buy all the colored wires :( so I just used black with different colored vinyl wrapped around the ends. That looks much nicer.

Just pulled about 150' of 16 or 18 gauge wire with diff color jackets out of the trailer frame I got, should be enough for my next build :D

What you using for connectors?
 
Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

Jeez man! Shop around! I got my wire kit from BCP Garage for $30! Worth it. But I'm sure I would have faired better with sonreirs harness...

As far as connectors go, I'm probably going to buy from cycle terminal or vintage connections. Waiting on that next paycheck to come in.
 
Re: 1976 CB550F "Barn Find"

snmavridis said:
Jeez man! Shop around! I got my wire kit from BCP Garage for $30! Worth it. But I'm sure I would have faired better with sonreirs harness...

As far as connectors go, I'm probably going to buy from cycle terminal or vintage connections. Waiting on that next paycheck to come in.

Truth. Sonreir makes some slick harnesses. I think I'll be too lazy to build my next one and get one of his next time as well :)
 
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