78 CB550.

[andrew]

thank you much. looking forward to see how she sounds when i blast it down the street! ;D

 

[andrew]

well not much of an update, as im waiting on the battery to show up, but progress is progress i guess. got my tag brakcet fabbed up and in place.

and plenty of room between the tire and tag.

also realized i didnt need the rubber mount piece on the side stand, so i got out the ol' cut off wheel and went to town.

ground down the weld, smoothed it and gave it a coat of epoxy.

hopefully the battery gets here by the end of the week so i can make the mount for it, and call all the electrics complete.

 

[andrew]

battery showed up this morning, so i got all the electrics done. all i have left is to wire in a pigtail for my charger/tender.

 

[andrew]

seat pad is done. the photos are lousy as the lighting in my warehouse doesnt get along with the crappy camera on my phone. the upholstery is brown suede from an old jacket i got at a thrift store. matches the brown grips pretty well.

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overview.

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[JustinLonghorn]

Hell yeah man, that brown leather seat is most excellent.

 

[andrew]

Hell yeah man, that brown leather seat is most excellent.

thank you. im pleased the way it came out.

 

[andrew]

not much of an update, but i can now call the tail piece and lighting done. ordered 2 "plate light bolts" that i attached to two tabs on the underside of the tail. i didnt want any kind of tag light visible from the outside, so this is a good hidden way to have it lit.

and lit.

 

[Swapmeet Louie]

Nice.. I dig it!

 

[full on tin]

classsy black&tan. Creative covering with the heat shrink tube too! any plans with the tank?

 

[andrew]

for the time being, i think it will stay stock. the bike will eventually get a different tank, but for the mean time itll just stay black, as its in pretty good condition cosmetically. i may add a brown leather strap down the middle of it but im not 100% sure yet.

 

[SquadraCorse]

IMO the red in the tank decal looks a bit off. If it were me, I would take the decal off and do the strap to match the seat and grips.

 

[andrew]

the orange on the tank is stock and goes fine with the brown/black/gold. i placed an old brown leather belt on the tank to see what it would look like, and seemed out of place, a bit too busy. so for the time being, it will stay the way it is now visually.

 

[andrew]

mini update. got my filters in today, so i was able to get the bike running again. before it would only run with the choke on, now with a little bit of tinkering with the idle screw, i was able to get it to idle and rev on its own, choke off.

after i shut the bike off, i heard what sound like "rain droplets," or someone peeing, and saw that oil was bubbling out of a small area on the left side of the head. if you listen and look closely, you can see the oil bubbling out, and hear it as well. :-\

looks like im gonna have to go through the whole motor now.

 

[SquadraCorse]

I know the feeling man. I did the motor in my FZR twice because of a leaking head gasket on the first go round. At least she's air cooled so it shouldn't be too tough to get sorted. Good luck!

 

[andrew]

another little update. things are being held up by the lack of parts, or should i say the lack of $$ in order to get the parts. :-\
finished the braking plate/rear wheel for the most part. just need to order shoes and tires and the wheels will be done.

drilled some holes in the gas door to continue the brass theme through out. the gold around the holes in sold pinstriping and the screen behind the holes is brass screen.

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also got the tank mount sorted. bent up the tabs that the rubber piece slid onto and drilled holes in them and used self tapping screws to hold the 1x1 aluminum square stock in place. drilled and taped a 6mm hole for the anchor bolt, and finished it off with some cork for a busing.

 

[andrew]

redid the headlight switch and indicator lights today. much cleaner.

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after i finished the headlight bucket. i threw on the new cain, put the rear wheel on temp. and tightened a few loose nuts n bolts and took her for her maiden voyage around the neighborhood.
today she saw sunlight.

it ran like shit, but i figured that much as i havnt gone through the carbs yet as well as swapping in bigger jets to compensate for the new exhaust and uni pods. what are you 550 guys running for jets and/or carb specs?

 

[Godffery]

115 to 120 main jets, Stock pilot jets, Air mixture screws 1 ½ turns out, and I also run the timing about 5 to 10° advanced.

 

[cafecustom720]

I love the brown suede on the seat. Looks pretty trick.

 

[andrew]

115 to 120 main jets, Stock pilot jets, Air mixture screws 1 ½ turns out, and I also run the timing about 5 to 10° advanced.

awesome. thank you. i ordered some 110's and 115's last night so ill throw those in when they arrive and see what luck i have. worse comes to worse ill order some 120's. thanks again for the specs, i really appreciate it.

 

[Godffery]

You bet man.