my '78 CB550Kafe

[snowman88]

Well i finally got around to working on my cb550k, after having it a couple of years and only doing a few things. I don't have any pictures of it when i first got it but had a big Vetter fairing (made it kinda look like a goldwing) and it had a passenger back rest, those were the first things to come off. After that i rebuilt the carbs and cleaned the tank, both had gas left in it from the PO from 1983 (thats when the tag expired that was still on it). I think the story behind that is the carbs got clogged and the owner put in under a tarp till he could work on it, he never got around to it and then he died a couple years later. I got it from a man at my church who was some how related to the dead owners wife or the dead owner (not sure which) and i only payed $300 dollars for it and it was deliver to my door. So here's how it started out:

and here's how it looks now:


my current plan for this project is a carpy seat w/ the electrics in the hump, clip ons, a cb650 tank if i can find one, wrapped 4-into-1 headers w/ a chopped stock SV650 exhaust can (you can see it in the far left on the counter in the pics), and the rear sets moved to the passenger pegs. And i'm going to do this as cheap as possible w/out scraficing(sp) quality. I'm going to rebuild the engine, trans, and brakes myself and probably paint it myself (not real sure on the colors yet, but i'm thinking red powder coated frame/rims and a black everything else with a matching red strip)

[snowman88]

questions, comments, and suggestions are all welcome and appreciated.

[snowman88]

So i did a little more work on the 550 today, not much just took the front fender and the original turn signal/headlight bracket off and flipped the handle bars over to get more of the look i want. While i was doing this i noticed that VIN # on the frame doesn't match the engine VIN #. Here they both are, as you can see the frame says CB550K and the motor says CB550E, is there any difference in the K/E models?



And here's how the bike looks now.

[snowman88]

nothing to exciting, just stripped her down to bare minimum so that i can start mocking things up.

[Fear My Twin]

Looks like a super clean starting point thats for sure, take a rag and rubbing alcohol to that tank and see what kind of shit it takes off. Change that oil, and ultrasonic those carbs

[snowman88]

Looks like a super clean starting point thats for sure, take a rag and rubbing alcohol to that tank and see what kind of shit it takes off. Change that oil, and ultrasonic those carbs

ya, she is a rather clean starting point. The engine is going to be rebuilt in the next few months by me and i've already rebuilt the carbs once but they do need to be cleaned again, they sat for many years with gas in them and were clogged and didn't move at all when i first got her and then they sat for close to a year after the project got put on hold again.

[matt365]

I'd rebuild the front caliper, get a set of clip-ons, or clubmans.

Nice set of new rubber, fork seals (they will start leaking, if the bike hasn't moved since '83) new turn signals (smaller!) electronic flasher relay, pod-filters, taller rear shocks, new springs and fork oil, check the head bearings (or just replace with tapered bearings)


You could grab a CB650 motor and drop it in?

shorter & new clutch & brake lines are a must.  (30 year old brake lines... NO THANKS!)

That's what I would do for starters

It does look like a clean starting point too.

[matt365]

Dyna ignition & coils would be nice too, and a fresh set of plugs


Using the stock SV pipe seems a bit big to me for this application, but it's your machine, your call.

[NJWanker]

Dyna ignition & coils would be nice too, and a fresh set of plugs


Using the stock SV pipe seems a bit big to me for this application, but it's your machine, your call.

+1 on the Dyna ignition.  I put one in my 750 . Now she runs like a raped ape .  Very fast .

[snowman88]

+1 on the Dyna ignition.  I put one in my 750 . Now she runs like a ----d ape .  Very fast .

does the Dyna ignition replace the points and condensers? And where did you get yours from?

[bikerboy67]

Hey Snowman

Stig here....

diggin the ride....wish mine was that good


still got my bike up for grabs....waiting on the title still 
may end up just parting it soon

[snowman88]

hey stig, you might try and post it up here in the for sale section, you might get a hit.

[NJWanker]

does the Dyna ignition replace the points and condensers? And where did you get yours from?

   http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/  is a good spot for parts and such .  They sell a Dyna for your 550.





    Wow . I got bleeped . Since when is running like a " Raped Ape " so darn bad ? Gosh .

[philos1]

HAHA, anything with the letters "R" "A" "P" "E" running consecutively gets taken out.  Something to do with some spam/porn/hacker crap.  Any word that has it in there gets "the treatment"

[Kuyarico]

Check out Z1 enterprises too. Jeff is an extremely nice and knowledgeable guy. He provided me with great customer service when I bought the wrong coils. He actually noticed my error, recalled the shipment and sent out the new one all in the same day. Much better customer service than c2rconline.

http://www.z1enterprises.com/