Mechanic Carb cost question

[Swapmeet Louie]

Man, devide his price by how many months you expect for the fix to last(because it aint gonna be permanent), and that how much you'll be "renting " your running bike for. Is that worth it to you? Because,at this point. You are gonna pay somebody eventually. To FIX it. wanna pay now. and pay later...?

 

[kingofthenuggets]

I wish I had a "broken" carb to justify buying a new set. If it can be repaired, fix it. If it can't, replace it. You are overthinking the issue.

 

[blackbug67]

My '74 CB450 is in the Honda dealer's shop for a tune-up. I was concerned about having to rely on a 25 year-old mechanic to work on a 38 year-old bike but felt better when the shop owner said his mechanic was required by Honda to train to fix every model Honda ever made. The bike should be back home this week so I'll see.

 

[surffly]

That Honda dealer lied to you
I am a professional mechanic and that's just not true.
You are trained on what is new.
Can a dealer work on something old? Sure they can

The issue is bringing a dealer a modified 40 year old bike.
I tell newbies over and over to get a manual and keep the bike stock untill you learn how to maintain the bike. Adding variables like shit pods, stupid short pipes or way oversized carbs leaves you with now base line in the manual and little help to do the job right, and that's the same for a pro.
Does a guy with a turbo busa take his bike to a dealer?

 

[hillsy]

99% of bike dealerships over here nowadays just service new bikes and the bikes they sell. They don't even do engine re-builds anymore - they outsource that work to other shops.

And they simply are not interested in working on old bikes because it's not cost effective. You pull something off an old bike to get at something underneath and the first part breaks. And so on....

Try telling someone with a $1500 CB that a carb re-build is going to cost that much again in parts and labour and there's not many takers.

 

[Hondacb550man]

http://www.randakks.com/Float%20Pivot%20Post%20Repair%20Kit.htm

This makes sense when talking about CBX carbs that run $300 for cores, but on a 550 its not really worth the work and risk in my eyes.
Any JB weld or other glue trick is a temp hack at best. Like duct tape to fix a hole in a fuel tank.....
If it were me I would buy a new rack of carbs, three or four sets of jets, NOT buy emgo pods and start learning to tune

I know a lot of people have beef with emgo pods fitting with the 550k, but I bought the bike with emgo pods and they're fine.

I kind of want to look into buying used cb550k carbs, does anybody know any offers on dotheton.com or anywhere?

 

[Hondacb550man]

Ive found a few on ebay.

just for reference, what types of carbs are compatible with a 74' cb550k? in terms of years and K or F models

 

[crazypj]

Either get a new carb to replace the broken one or have it lazer welded (search SOHC4.net)
To do cabs properly is going to take a minimum of 4 hrs and probably a lot longer (I do a LOT of carbs real cheap)
Servicing is pretty simple and doesn't take long.
I would be a bit suspicious of a 'mechanic' who's willing to bodge a carb, make me wonder what else will get bodged/'overlooked'

 

[Swapmeet Louie]

Either get a new carb to replace the broken one or have it lazer welded (search SOHC4.net)
To do cabs properly is going to take a minimum of 4 hrs and probably a lot longer (I do a LOT of carbs real cheap)
Servicing is pretty simple and doesn't take long.
I would be a bit suspicious of a 'mechanic' who's willing to bodge a carb, make me wonder what else will get bodged/'overlooked'

Brazing wont be as pretty... but it's the most available "long term" fix (besides buying a new used body)... I would do it. Finding a laser welder in Boise, or most other towns is gonna be a hassle. I'd have it fixed before you could drive across town to have it fixed. If there is such a place in your town...?