My 1975 cb550f in Calgary

F

FIsh

New Member
Hello everyone,

I was just referred to this site from the SOHC club by TinTin and so far it looks really good!

I bought a cb550 because a 'bike like this was the first motorcycle I ever owned. My dad picked one up on a car trade when I was 14years old and it was waiting for me when I got off the school bus.

Here are a couple shots:


my550.jpg




front.jpg



I bought it last year from the original owner with 9000 miles on the clock. Since then, I have spent some tiem getting her all cleaned up. New tires, a couple oil and filter changes, brake fluid, fork oil, new clutch clable, dyna s ignition, new tach, carb work, new fuel petcock, polishing the aluminum, sidecovers off ebay (not correct - but work). I also spent a fair amount of time polishing some aluminum bits.


060707017.jpg





Here's the latest photo:


2post.jpg



The seat has tears in it but I just ordered a new reproduction cover. I will post pictures and a review when I get it.

I would really like to put the proper sidecovers on - so if you have a right side for a 550 supersport please let me know. It doesn't matter what colour... I am planning on just painting them black.

Cheers,

- Chad
 
Hey Chad!!..
Very nice Welcome aboard!!...

Just wondering, your bike has all the cb550f stuff on it, exhaust seat, etc.. but has cb550K side covers!!
I know that the side covers are not interchangeable between the K & F models..

What did you do to get the K cover on the F body?

Cheers
n
 
n,
Thanks for the welcome.
The left side is completely interchangable on both models but on the right side, the top-forward peg is different. In order to fit a K cover on an F frame, I cut off the end of that peg and drilled a hole in the part that was left. A bent nail looped through the hole hooks into the proper place on the frame and holds it in place perfectly.
I went with the K covers because I pretty much gave up trying to find a pair of F covers that were the correct colour. And I have heard how tough it is to recreate that "Sunrise Orange Metalflake" paint job.

- Chad
 
WOW.. hey, can you send/post a pic of what you did on the right side? Im very curious now!!

Cheers
Noel
 
Here ya go Noel,

I forgot to mention that you need to trim the bottom of the cover down a little bit to clear the battery box. You can see the slot that was cut in it:


070424081.jpg





And here is what I was talking about with the peg:



070424084.jpg




It isn't pretty from the back, but when it is on the bike, you can't tell. Did you need K covers for anything?

HTH,
_ Chad
 
Hey Chad,

Very interesting... well done..
I"ll check about the covers in a bit!!
Where in Calgary are ya? Im up there all the time on business. (again in 3 weeks)

Too bad that you ordered a new cover. I have a perfecly flawless seat that would be ashame to tear apart to make a cafe seat with the base. I might be willing to trade ya my perfect one for your torn up one so I dont feel bad about taking it apart..

Cheers
N
 
Make the trade, and Chad, sell the cover. Don't hack up a good seat Noel you butcher!
 
Bahahahahah!!!...

Thats what Tim said about the Tank and covers!!.. LOL!!
 
HAhaaha... actually I am in Okotoks, just outside of Calgary, but I work in the South of the City.

Even though I bought the cover, I would still trade seats if it meant saving one from the knife :D (and it would save me the work of putting the cover on :p).

Cheers
 
nice bike indeed.
i just removed the orginal 'brown' seat from mine (a 75 in sunrise orange) and am toying with the idea of selling it.
cover & pan are both in terrific condition.
if you're interested at all, maybe we can figure something out.

but back to the case at hand, gorgeous bike. something about that orange.
 
Wow, that is a nice pic! You have the proper sidecovers which makes a big difference too. I think I will wait to see what happens with this new seat cover...

If you ever decide to sell your sidecover or that muffler - I would be very interested (mine looks like it is rusting out a bit).

Cheers,

- Chad
 
Ohhhhh nice bike, I love the colour it goes really nice with the chrome ... a real beauty.

vlk
 
vlk said:
Ohhhhh nice bike, I love the colour it goes really nice with the chrome ... a real beauty.

vlk
Click to expand...

Thanks Vlk!
I have heard that the Sunrise Orange is a really tough color to recreate. If I do repaint the 'bike later, I may go with the blue instead. Until then, I will just try to preserve the paint as well as I can.

- Chad
 
Sunrise Orange is the best color in the world. Maybe one day when I'm rich I'll have a BMW tank and sidecover set painted.

There is a painter in Ontario who can recreate the finish. He's the recommended painter of www.reproductiondecals.com

It's a silver base coat, then metal flake, then the Orange candy topcoat. This painter sold me some of the orange candy topcoat to touch up a few chips on my 550F's tank. The chips had just flaked off the orange candy. It was a perfect match.

I recall being quoted $800 to paint the tank and sidecovers in this three stage paint.
 
$800 ... ya that would look pretty good on my $500 motorcycle ;D
That is the main reason why I probably wouldn't do the Orange again... I think if I could find a painter here in Calgary, it would be as much, or more.

That is a great idea with the touchup paint though, maybe if I find some of that, I can fix up my tank a little.

Thanks,
Chad


by the way, did I mention to you guys that I was looking for a right side cover? :-\
 
Fish said:
$800 ... ya that would look pretty good on my $500 motorcycle ;D
That is the main reason why I probably wouldn't do the Orange again... I think if I could find a painter here in Calgary, it would be as much, or more.

That is a great idea with the touchup paint though, maybe if I find some of that, I can fix up my tank a little.

Thanks,
Chad


by the way, did I mention to you guys that I was looking for a right side cover? :-\
Click to expand...

Five hundred dollar motorcycle or not, its still worth the paint job when a colour like that makes it stand out from the rest ... ;D

vlk
 
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