1976 CB550K Rebuild- Indoor Living, NYC: Lester Mags and Ikon Shocks Version 2.0

[DKB]

Spent hours going through the forum and digging through info and finally got around to joining. Lots of good stuff and inspiring builds! Figured I'd start a thread to document my upcoming winter project. I picked up a 1976 CB550K here in NYC back in July. Approx 20,500 miles and in decent enough condition. Here's the bike as purchased:



Replaced the horn, front and rear signals, installed New Dunlop K70's, and sorted out some electrical quirks to pass NYC inspection. Put a few hundred miles on the bike right off the bat and then got into some basic tune up items. Cleaned the carbs, new points plate and advance mechanism, replaced cables, Valve Adjustments, set timing, etc..

Also spent some time cleaning up the bike, repainting, and polishing parts. Found a nice set of Yamaha Drag bars I liked, installed a Nissan front brake master cylinder and replaced the lines, bar end mirrors, new tail light assembly, and removed the sail grab rail. I don't have access to a garage so all of the works been done out front of my apartment on the street. It's been an interesting experience to say the least.

Here's the bike out and about over the last month or so:







Pulled the carbs again as #4 Cylinder was slow to warm up compared to the others and rebuilt them with new parts and seals. No luck. Still having idle issues and the tach is hanging up. Think I may have an air leak on #4 as the boots are in rough shape and I've gone through everything a few times. Picked up a Morgan Carbtune and have the carbs synced dead on after performing all other tune up items. We'll see how it goes. Everything else on the bike is pretty spot on. This idle/#4 issue seems to be the one sore spot. Runs great overall and I've put around 3000 miles on it over the past couple of months.

Here's a shot from a trip up the the Palisades Parkway. I found the stock tank in great shape on ebay for 30 bucks the week prior with a new petcock. So stoked.



I was riding home from Brooklyn last month and was hit by a taxi while I was stopped at a light. No major damage. Just some minor bumps and bruises, though I've never wanted to strangle someone so bad in my entire life. I was hit from behind and the taxi driver tried to pull around me and split. Got him to stop and he was pissed this was going to cost him money. Hung around till the cops arrived about an hour later to file an accident report and limped home.



Seems I've got a gypsy curse or something as a few weeks after getting all the repairs sorted and the bike back in top running shape it got hit by an overzealous parallel parker. Came home from showing my mom around NYC over the holiday weekend to find my bike in pieces on the street in front of my apartment. I spent the last week working with my insurance company who declared the bike a "total loss" but was able to retain the bike and original title when all was said and done. I spent yesterday morning taking it apart and managed to get everything in the elevator and up to my 4th floor apartment to begin the rebuild process. I really dig the bike and figure it'll make for a fun winter project. I'm kind of curious to see what I can pull off within the limitations of building a bike in an apartment smaller than most peoples walk in closets.



Currently going through the bike and making a parts list and getting ready to get into a ground up rebuild. I figure I've got a few months of crap weather up here to get everything sorted and the bike ready come spring. Planning on a top end rebuild, paint the frame / engine and components, cafe seat, new rear shocks,  relocate battery and electronics, and rebuild the front end. I'm looking for a nice set of 35mm clip ons, cafe seat, Front forks (or a set of top fork bolts), and points cover if anyone has any of these items for sale / trade. I've got a ton of spares and parts I pulled off the bike during the break down process so shoot me a message if anyone needs 550 parts for their build/restoration.

So my first question- Any recommendations for good aftermarket shocks that wont break the bank? I've heard solid things about the Progressive shocks but wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions for other options.

[Big Rich]

That is/was a sharp looking bike man. I'm sure you'll do good work to it. Sorry to hear about your luck! And I'd love to bring mine in the house to work on it but the wife would kill me (I have an unheated garage). I can't help with the shocks. Maybe try some Redwings or Works performance?

[DKB]

Thanks man! I've got a ton of hours into the bike and had it running quite well before the tear down. By far my favorite 70's Honda I've owned to date. I'm going to look into the Redwings...

I just got it into the apt yesterday and am still getting used to seeing it parked 10 feet from the couch. I Huck Finned a few friends into helping me sneak the bike sans front wheel into the elevator and upstairs.  It's a bit odd but a huge relief to get it off the street for a while. The bike was knocked over while parked 3 times in three months. Levers and signals were getting expensive.

Was really bummed to find the bike laid out on the street last week, but I figure, timing wise it could be worse. Supposed to get our first light snow tomorrow night so I'm not missing out on to much as It'll be cold for a while. I have good insurance and got assigned a really cool claims adjuster who knows a bit about old bikes and he was helpful in getting things sorted to fund the repairs and rebuild. Looking forward to taking some time and building the bike back up all proper this go round.

[Big Rich]

Be sure to look around on this site about the shocks. There are plenty of options out there. What are you going to do about parking on the street once it's rebuilt? Be a shame to get knocked over AGAIN.

[Rocan]

are you in brooklyn or manhattan?

im in brooklyn 5 minutes from the brooklyn bridge... my bike currently isnt anywhere near running condition, but if i see ya around ill send you a salute.

[DKB]

are you in brooklyn or manhattan?

im in brooklyn 5 minutes from the brooklyn bridge... my bike currently isnt anywhere near running condition, but if i see ya around ill send you a salute.

I'm in the East Village on 3rd St.

I've been working my the bike out front over the last few months to sort out repairs and mods but am going to keep it in my apt over the Winter to finish up. Hoping to find a garage space out in Williamsburg or Greenpoint come April. Hope to see ya out and about soon...

[DKB]

I spent the weekend cleaning up parts and getting some items ready for paint.

The bike came with the stock 4 into 4 exhaust which I really dig. When removing the pipes, I noticed a very small rust hole on the bottom of #1 and was wondering if I could use JB weld or some type of filler/epoxy to patch the hole. Any suggestions?

Just ordered a Roadster Fiberglass Seat from Roc City Cafe Racers and picked up some grinding discs to remove the seat latch and side cover tabs. Also scooped up a nice finned points cover off ebay on the cheap. Planning to clean up the rest of the frame and remove the rest of the seat latch components and side cover tabs this afternoon. Will post some pics of the progress later on.

[Rocan]

jb weld works if its small enough, but a good clean weld is pretty cheap and the real way to do it.

[diesel450]

Hey, no one has said welcome, so I will. Welcome! I joined this forum last spring and I cannot tell you how great it has been. A really strong base of knowledge and experience from people who are neither judgemental nor condecending. I have had a tremendous amount of help from this group and I'm sure you will too. All us North Easterners should plan a meet at some point next year.

[DKB]

Hey, no one has said welcome, so I will. Welcome! I joined this forum last spring and I cannot tell you how great it has been. A really strong base of knowledge and experience from people who are neither judgemental nor condecending. I have had a tremendous amount of help from this group and I'm sure you will too. All us North Easterners should plan a meet at some point next year.

Thanks! I spent countless hours looking around and gathering info and ideas from site members before actually getting around to joining. Great resource and community.

On an unrelated note- I just scored a nice donor bike on ebay that was local for 300.00 bucks. Same exact year and model. Getting it delivered tomorrow and have to figure out how to sneak a second 550 upstairs and past the super. Should be fun. Any ideas on what kind of exhaust this is? The owner said he thought they were an old Jardine set but wasn't positive.

[diesel450]

If its a donor just take it apart and bring it up in pieces. Either that or hang some christmas lights on it and slip the super a $20.

[DKB]

My new seat arrived yesterday and seems to be a pretty nice fit on the 550 frame. I've got to sort out a mounting system but it should be straight forward enough.







Spent a bit of time cleaning up the pipes I snagged of the new parts bike and setting up a make shift work bench out of this perfectly timed 100lb piece of wood I found out front.





This morning I conned some unsuspecting friends into helping me drop the engine out of the frame.





And the bike as it sits now...

[midnightcafe]

for shocks, try some MDI shocks, I bought some for my GS750. https://www.partsnmore.com/cat_index.php?model=gs&category=chassis

They're stiff, but you can't beat the price.

[Rocan]

black and white is retro and all.... but come on! Color!  

and supers are good people... hell, i wouldnt be surprised if the super wouldnt mind helping you out with the project for a couple extra bucks.

For the record... My dads a super, my grandfathers a super, my uncles a super, a couple of cousins of mine are supers, i know lots of supers, hell, i even worked as a super for a couple of months last summer.

 


the projects looking good! hope all goes well

[nols]

I rebuilt a few bikes in the house when I was younger. My girlfriend at the time really loved it! lol NIce work though looking good so far