My 550four; Yoruko

You are all a bunch of bad influences

I only found this site a few weeks ago, and you haven't helped my addiction at all. . . then again, maybe you have.

Anyway, I was asked to post some pics of my 76 CB550 which I've been working on since September, I had a slow start as I got married in September as well, Wooo life changing events!

So here are some pics of when I got her through what I've done so far.
Remember this is the first bike I've ever done anything more than change the oil on.



And within Minutes





An early mock up of my rear lights

And Thankfully what it evolved into

My tank, a few hours after I got it back from cleaning




Hadn't decided on a color scheme until today so here is how it sits now, after having put the grips and then the gators on




My friend, who I bought it off of, and in whose garage it sits, suggested that I build it back to basic and get a feel for it before I mod it. And I was all set on doing that too, until I poked around here for a few days. Now I can't stop thinking about what I want to do to it. Up side is I decided on a paint scheme. Down Side is, lots of questions

So I want to paint the foward controls, and the fenders, possibly tripple tree and forks; how should I go about doing that?

I also want to move the ignition to the "dash" area, is it difficult, or just adding some length to the wires?

More questions to follow, this post is long enough.

Re: Bad Influences: my 550Four project.

These are my inspiration for my final goal



And this local bike






I'm not trying to replicate either of these bikes, but it's where my design started, it has also been mutated by alot of what I've read here, I hope to be able to jump back on this project and make some headway in the next week or so.

Re: Bad Influences: my 550Four project.

Looks like a good start so far. And this place can be VERY addictive.

As far as painting everything goes, there is a thread called "Rattle Can Bling" by Twisted Wheels. Great info there.

If you find out you have too much on your plate, I could help by getting those 175's outta your way!

Re: Bad Influences: my 550Four project.

NICE! Much improved on the tail lights! Are you converting the seat?

I'm working on trying to talk a guy down on his 500Four. It's in way rougher shape, But I want another 4-cylinder! I'll be watching this thread for sure!

PS. Don't let the wife keep you from your project! Tell her it the personal time you need! mine always wants me to spend time with her. she doesn't realize we NEED to work on these bikes!

Re: Bad Influences: my 550Four project.

Sorry, not giving up the 175's, yet. One is actually a gift for my mother. The Orange one that I'm not "cutting into." She used to ride, with my dad, back in the 70's. She told me she would be interested in having a small 175 or so, and the next day I found the two CL's.

As for the seat, no, not at the moment. I want to leave it two up for now, I kinda like the look, and haven't really found a cafe seat style that I like yet.

Good luck on the 550, I just missed out on one myself.

Just to put this out there, I'd love a set of four into fours for a 550, just say'n.

Re: Bad Influences: my 550Four project.

Got down to Painting. Finally.
Before:

Middle:

After: TBD

Still need to finish the Clear Coat and Polish so We'll see if I F'd it up or not, I think I have managed to pull off a passable job for now.
And as I'm just trying to get her up and running mostly stock, before I really dig into her. I'm ok if I have to redo the paint later on.

In the process though I realized that I really want to figure out how to weld up come CL style Scrambler pipes onto her:


I also got her running last week, Kickstart anyway, by using my awesome alternate tank that I rigged up as seen in my Codename: Orange build: http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=13300.15

So, here's how she sits now:






Still need to figure out some wiring, Can't get the front signals to work
Need to hook up and bleed the front brake.
Need to find new exhaust, I really don't like what is on her right now.
Need to get the Title work figured out.
And find a Right side cover for her.

Pretty happy with how she's looking but I am allready getting Ideas for how I want to Mod her.

And, cause it seems that everyone needs one in their build thread:

Nice . Looks good. Now you can start modifying. I think it would look cool with a two up seat.

Like this http://www.cb750cafe.com/upload/library/sock14.jpg

I'd ditch the handlebars too and replace with a straight. Drag bars are cheap.