Uncoiled's 78 CB550K

UNCOILED

UNCOILED

Active Member
This is my first motorcycle so bear with me, and I am recently married as well so my funds are, shall we say limited. But I am going to make due with what I have and try to get this project underway. I will be working on it mostly in the parking lot of my apartment (ugh) or at my dads or uncles. I found the bike on craigslist for $800 and ended up paying $600, which i hope is a pretty decent deal. It has a title but from South Carolina, and I am in North Carolina. Hopefully transferring it over won't be an issue.

My bother has an XS400 that he is building, he is the one who got me into cafe racers. His bike is in the background of some of my pictures.

My goals for the build:
Hopefully be ride able before it gets too cold.
Then over the winter work on the cafe styling bits.
Summer, ride ride and ride some more.
Next winter... rebuild engine??

Who knows I may not even like riding, or may loss interest but I don't see that happening in the near future.


So on to the fun stuff. Here is the bike right after I got it back to my dad's.



















Extremely rusty exhaust, not sure what my plans are for this...







Also has a brand new battery installed and dynatek ignition coils!



Also came with all these goodies...











The tank on the bike I believe is from a 74-76 and the spare tank is the stock 78 tank. It has some pinhole rust in the bottom.



 
It doesn't run unfortunately, it will turn over and start up for a few seconds and cuts out. It will only do this with the choke on, without the choke it won't start at all. I reinstalled the air box and it seemed to make it run a little better/longer but still only with the choke on and not for over a minute at a time. It also backfires a lot. Any ideas? I just pulled he carbs so they will be cleaned/ parts replaced and reinstalled at some point. Both brakes also work but i will rebuild the front and put new pads in, and new shoes in the rear drum.

Back to the pictures! These are still from the first day.
First thing i did was a bit of cleaning:


and removed the chain guard:




Also removed these covers on the levers:

and shined them but forgot to snap some shots.

This little guy I found on the floor under the bike after reinstalling the air box, any ideas?


Put the air box back in:




Tried to get this kink out:


I think its a product of using the older tank, I have a few ideas to fix it.
 
You look like you've scored a good project bike there with all the important bits still attached.
I think your going in the right direction by getting it running first and then moving more into the project phase.
The most important thing is to enjoy the process of resurrecting your bike as there will be times that you'll be knocking your head against the wall trying to figure out what's not working, but it's a tremendous learning experience and the building is a lot of fun as you see your dream bike come together.
 
Sweet bike, I just picked up a 75 CB550K this weekend for $500, it sort of runs but needs a lot of stuff done to it. one thing I do have is a tank exactly like your spare one but mine is missing the lock from the fuel cap "door" on top of the tank. Let me know if you are interested in parting with the "door" on your tank :D
 
Get a manual. Read it cover to cover, and then get started on the basic maintenance.
 
I do have a manual, so I will be going through everything once I get it running, and then work on the styling things after its all in working order.
 
So i got the carbs off and tore into them, they seemed relatively clean on the inside and as far as I can tell none of the jets were clogged. I soaked the jets and bowls in a simple green and water mixture and then boiled the bodies in simple green and water. I found this after looking at some alternative methods to soaking carbs and found it on a car site. It cleaned the exterior very well, the simple green breaks the crud down and the boiling helps to agitate it and knock it off.

Here are some pictures:







Little bit of crud that came out when i drained the bowls:


Yummy
]





 
During the cleaning:



I think one of my main issues is the top cap gaskets were not sealed when i took the carbs apart. Since the gaskets for the the 77-78 carbs are so hard to find/ expensive I decided to buy some gasket paper and make my own. Will it work, I have no idea but I hope so because cutting those gaskets was a pain.



Not pretty but it covers all the important bits.


All clean and buttoned up!







Then I got them back on the bike and...







its out of gas and no charge on the battery.
It used the little remaining fuel to fill the bowls in the carbs and then it was dry. I will try tomorrow to see how it does.
 
Just for fun, here is my work space in my apartment:

8BWNBBoh.jpg


Luckily my wife is super cool and lets me use the table.

And my man-cave, if you can call it that!
j5lvZQyh.jpg
 
gheorghe - I think I want to keep that tank intact incase I ever want to fix the bottom or use it as "garage art" sorry man.

Today I listed the sissy bar and extra seat on craigslist so hopefully I can gain some money back to put into other parts. I have some free time later today and already got some gas so hopefully I can get it running in a bit. Also would like to flush the front brake today as well.
 
So far no luck starting it, checked the compression and all 4 sit right at 120. It backfires and I'm afraid my apartment people will eventually tell me to stop or someone will complain on me so I have to be careful trying to crank it.



Next I am going to check my spark and check the tappets, which I have never done before but the you tube videos make it look repetitively simple... also need to check the timing to see if its good or not.
 
Checked for spark, they are getting spark but the center 2 cylinders are weak, need to back track that and find a solution. The previous owner changed the plugs, wires, and ignition coils before i got it and included the old ones so I know they are new, not sure if they are all working correctly though, need to switch things around and see if they weak ones work on the outside cylinders, etc. Check the tappets and adjusted two, probably;y not enough to make a difference but who knows. Didn't get around to checking the timing yet.

I did pull the front wheel and give it a polish, looks pretty good now. Hopefully I will get the new tire mounted this week on the front. New bearings and seals are on the way for the front wheel since i have it off.

Before:




After:


 
Wheels are looking good! Need to do that to the SL350, witch has spark now! pulled the coils all apart and sanded all the rusty/muddy connections and got it back together. Tested it and saw that it was not doing anything but then i switched the plugs from new ones to the old carbon covered plugs and tried it again. And there was a little spark jumping! (guess i couldn't see the spark with the shinny new one plugs) Well might have to put a thread on here with the honda and see if anyone wants to buy it from me. It would give me a nice start the the V8 volvo
 
So I haven't gotten much work done since my work schedule has been different this week. I did get the front tire off after a shop quoted my $52 for a dismount and $16-19 for a tube. So i ordered new tubes from dime city cycles, hopefully they will arrive soon. I manged to only scratch the wheel a tiny bit which is a win for me. Just waiting for the new tube and bearings before I put the new tire on and put it back on the bike.

First bead off:


Success!


And I got these in the mail, courtesy of Paul at http://www.classicmotorcyclesolution.com/ fast shipping and good price for a hard to find part! They are the boots that go from the air box to the carbs, my old ones are cracked and dry rotted.
 
Just for an idea here are some of the bikes I really like and look to for inspiration.

motorcycle-wm_cb750_02.jpeg

http://www.wrenchmonkees.com/motorcycles/wm-cb750-honda-cb-750-kz.html

SBC-Black-RS.jpg

http://thebikeshed.cc/2012/11/10/sbc-black/

This one is much more tracker style then I want mine to be but I love it!
W800-RS-FA.jpg

http://thebikeshed.cc/2012/12/04/spirits-w800/
 
I got it running!!

The previous owner had put the spark plug wires going to the wrong cylinders so once I switched them over it ran right away!

I also have done a lot since I posted. I mounted up the new front tire and replaced the bearings in the front hub. I then dismounted the rear tire and in the process I ripped the rim strip so after I go and find one tomorrow I will get the new rear tire on and put the wheel on the bike. I wont be doing the rear bearings because they seem fine and the fronts were a major pain (and were also probably fine). I ordered new front pads since mine are glazed and squeal like crazy. I also ordered a rebuild kit for the brake master cylinder since mine is leaking and the front brake feels weak (probably combination bad pads and cylinder leaking). The rear shoes still had plenty of meat and stopped the bike fine so I am leaving those.

Here are some updated pics:


Awesome sticker came with my bearings.


old tires


Nasty wheels (the rim shined up decent though), every spoke is rusty, not sure what I'm going to do with them, possibly wait to go home and sandblast the spokes...


I'm hoping to have the new rear tire on tomorrow, then have it registered, insured, and tagged on Wednesday. Keeping my fingers crossed!
 
Took some glammer shots today after I got my new rear tire on. Just waiting till Wednesday when I can go to get it registered then I can start to ride!















Now I can start on some of the styling! I also need to fix the left blinker which doesn't work correctly and then horn. Obviously still going through the regular maintenance items and need to change the oil once I drive it a few miles, the previous owner had put new oil in it right before I bought it. Also not sure what I want to do for handle bars. I love the clip on look but I think it would be very uncomfortable to ride and not a very good position for a beginner rider like myself, so I'm thinking drag bars or some low rise bars.
 
So got some more work done and some parts cleaned up. First off I pulled the shocks/springs and cleaned them, then put them back on and lowered them down, looks pretty good! I need to figure out how to lower the front too but I will have plenty of time for all of that. I took apart the controls on the left side to see if i could fix my horn and blinker problems but no luck, must be somewhere else in the system, need to dig around some more. Here are some pictures:



Got rid of the ugly exhaust hanger:


Temporary set up till I can come up with something else:


Cleaned up the ,muffler, didnt think it would be so easy, still not done though.


And found out the muffler has a removable baffle:


Muffler still needs a good bit of work to look good and I think I will wrap the headers in black. The muffler is a Kerker must be aftermarket. I dont dig the look of it that much but it sounds extremely good. I found the same set on ebay used for $300 and it looks like they came with the muffler and headers together.

Tomorrow I go to get a license plate and my motorcycle permit!
 
Got the plate and went for a ride last week! The ride was super bumpy though so I took the wheels/tires to be balanced today and they should be done this afternoon. Also need get some fuel line that fits better and I'm still waiting for new pads for the front brakes, although the old ones bite pretty good since I sanded them. Hopefully I will get to ride a bit tomorrow and see what else needs attention and then change the oil. This upcoming weekend I will be going to ride with my brother who lives in the mountains, should be a good time!
 
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