titan5699
Been Around the Block
Hello everyone!
I have a 1976 Honda CB550K2 with about 40,000 miles on it. The bike runs fine, but has started to develop a small oil leak towards the end of the riding season from one of the seals behind the side chain cover. Being that it is winter time in NJ and averaging about 20 degrees outside daily, I wanted to look into getting the engine rebuilt so she's ready for when the weather breaks.
I am not very knowledgeable in this area and have zero experience with this particular engine. That being said, I wanted to pool together the knowledge of all the people on here who have done this before. I have heard about doing some mods at this stage for more power, but I want to see what is worth it and what I should avoid.
First off, I live in Central NJ, on the Delaware River side. I have contacted Redline Motorcycles on NJ-38 near the Pemberton area to do the rebuild. They said obviously this is the time to do it, the sooner the better before they get crazy busy when the weather starts turning around. Does anyone have any experience with these guys, or know of any other shops in this area (mechanics, speed shops, etc) that know what they are doing with CBs?
As for the rebuild itself. I am not looking to go crazy with the mods, I am on a budget, $1000 - $2000 mark all said and done would be ideal. Sure I would like more power, but I'm not looking to stress out the engine as if it were a race bike. Just want some more power than I have now, and something that is going to be good for everyday use, touring, commuting and reliable. Also not looking to spend crazy money, I want to get it done right and do it once, so doing improvements now while the engine is open. Possibly reusing certain internals that are still good, replacing what is bad or replacing what can fail in the future as preventative maintenance.
Mods I currently have: 4-into-1 exhaust, UNI pod filter intakes, rejetted stock carbs
I have heard of a few things to do for more power on these bikes. One being to replace the 550 cam with a SOHC 650 cam. Is it worth it? Do I have to make other mods, like 650 valves, timing chain..?
Another thing is switching out the 1976 stock carbs for stock 1978-79 CB550 carbs, as they are easier to tune. I have rebuilt my stock carbs and rejetted them to match the intake and exhaust mods, but I would agree that they are not easy to tune, I still have dead spots in the throttle (could also be due to poor tuning on my end). Thoughts?..
As for other internals. Anything that should be done as preventative maintenance? Should I bore out the cylinders to a bigger size, even if the bores are good as is?.. Is it easy to find stock replacement internals, or bigger sized aftermarket parts?
I want to have the head ported and rebuilt as well. Any other improvements that could be suggested here?
Lastly, I want them to go through the trans and replace clutch discs, I have no idea when they have been done last. Also I might take the opportunity to redo some electrical, like electronic ignition and maybe see about having the charging system looked at.
I greatly appreciate any suggestions and help and for taking the time to read this. I am new to this but want to have the knowledge to do the job right.
Please help me to not make any major financial mistakes (I can't afford to), and help me keep this good ol 39 year old girl on the road and running forever! She has treated me well, now it's time I reward her.
Thanks in advance!
-Rob
I have a 1976 Honda CB550K2 with about 40,000 miles on it. The bike runs fine, but has started to develop a small oil leak towards the end of the riding season from one of the seals behind the side chain cover. Being that it is winter time in NJ and averaging about 20 degrees outside daily, I wanted to look into getting the engine rebuilt so she's ready for when the weather breaks.
I am not very knowledgeable in this area and have zero experience with this particular engine. That being said, I wanted to pool together the knowledge of all the people on here who have done this before. I have heard about doing some mods at this stage for more power, but I want to see what is worth it and what I should avoid.
First off, I live in Central NJ, on the Delaware River side. I have contacted Redline Motorcycles on NJ-38 near the Pemberton area to do the rebuild. They said obviously this is the time to do it, the sooner the better before they get crazy busy when the weather starts turning around. Does anyone have any experience with these guys, or know of any other shops in this area (mechanics, speed shops, etc) that know what they are doing with CBs?
As for the rebuild itself. I am not looking to go crazy with the mods, I am on a budget, $1000 - $2000 mark all said and done would be ideal. Sure I would like more power, but I'm not looking to stress out the engine as if it were a race bike. Just want some more power than I have now, and something that is going to be good for everyday use, touring, commuting and reliable. Also not looking to spend crazy money, I want to get it done right and do it once, so doing improvements now while the engine is open. Possibly reusing certain internals that are still good, replacing what is bad or replacing what can fail in the future as preventative maintenance.
Mods I currently have: 4-into-1 exhaust, UNI pod filter intakes, rejetted stock carbs
I have heard of a few things to do for more power on these bikes. One being to replace the 550 cam with a SOHC 650 cam. Is it worth it? Do I have to make other mods, like 650 valves, timing chain..?
Another thing is switching out the 1976 stock carbs for stock 1978-79 CB550 carbs, as they are easier to tune. I have rebuilt my stock carbs and rejetted them to match the intake and exhaust mods, but I would agree that they are not easy to tune, I still have dead spots in the throttle (could also be due to poor tuning on my end). Thoughts?..
As for other internals. Anything that should be done as preventative maintenance? Should I bore out the cylinders to a bigger size, even if the bores are good as is?.. Is it easy to find stock replacement internals, or bigger sized aftermarket parts?
I want to have the head ported and rebuilt as well. Any other improvements that could be suggested here?
Lastly, I want them to go through the trans and replace clutch discs, I have no idea when they have been done last. Also I might take the opportunity to redo some electrical, like electronic ignition and maybe see about having the charging system looked at.
I greatly appreciate any suggestions and help and for taking the time to read this. I am new to this but want to have the knowledge to do the job right.
Please help me to not make any major financial mistakes (I can't afford to), and help me keep this good ol 39 year old girl on the road and running forever! She has treated me well, now it's time I reward her.
Thanks in advance!
-Rob