[AdamCollen]

Cliff note below for those who dont like to read much.

Well i guess i will start as an introduction, my name is Adam, I'm 21 and i live in upstate NY, i recently picked up a 1975 CB550 Honda for the perfect price of FREE. but with the price of free comes a lot of problems... aside from paperwork, the largest problem i face is a sheared off spark plug in the #4 Cyl. now i tried soaking it in penetrating lubricant and putting an easy out in the plug, but i broke off the easy out... so i torched of the easy out and now im going to remove the head and see what i can do from the other side... im fairly confident that i can torch/drill/tap the hole and if i screw it up, theres a head in a local junk yard for 50$. but i need to remove the head and my manuals for the bike are 2 weeks away via amazon.com so if somebody could point me in a direction to get the head off, that would be perfect.


Cliff notes:
I am new to bikes and i need pointers on how to remove my cylinder head on my '75 SOHC CB550


Thanks guys

Adam

 

[fuzzybutt]

the motor needs to come out. dont try taking it out from the left side as it wont go that way. thats also the only way to get the valve cover off.

some people are like slinkies, basically useless but they still make me smile when i push them down the stairs

 

[Geeto67]

don't invest any time into the bike until you have paper in hand. If it comes up stolen then you are fucked for your labor. Have the local police run the vin (and be prepared to give the bike to them if it comes up stolen) and if it comes up clean go through a title company to get the paper.

The work can wait, but you can;t get back the work if they take the bike from you.

 

[LiLBull]

also state computers, on old bikes, dont go back more then five years .just keep check ebay for a frame with paper work and build the titled frame I have done so on three bikes as the DMV computers drop the ball on old bikes.

Im so far behind ,that I think Im in first.

 

[Judeyramone]

quote:Have the local police run the vin (and be prepared to give the bike to them if it comes up stolen)

... And be prepared with a solid explanation as to why you are in posession of stolen property.

 

[AdamCollen]

ill ride on borrowed plates for the time being, thanks fuzzybutt for advice regarding the motor

1975 CB550 Cafe-in-progress

 

[Judeyramone]

quote: ill ride on borrowed plates for the time being

Don't know how it is in NY, but I've done that myself also, in MI, and it's actually worse to get caught with the wrong plates on a vehicle than it is to drive it with no plates at all.
Do yourself a favor before you spend a bunch of time, effort, and money on this bike - call the state police & find out what you need to do to make this bike legally yours. Geeto's advice was solid. I've been down that road myself (more times than I'd like to admit) and it's nothing but trouble.
Post pics, so we can see what you're starting with.

 

[JackC]

HI Adam,

I am down in Oneonta and I also have a CB 550 project. It is complete except for the side covers, mufflers and front fender as far as I can tell. I HAVE the title. It turns over, but I haven't tried to start it.

The whole thing could be yours for a measley $200 (just getting a title from a service will cost nearly that). I thought I would get to it this spring, but I realize it is NEVER going to happen.

IF the guy you got it from had it licensed, all you need to do is have him get a duplicate title from DMV and sign it over to you. He can do it online. It may cost $50. If it has been passed from person to person and you are not sure who the last titled owner was, it is a whole different story--very difficult to get papers.

That is why I pretty much stick to pre 1972 bikes--make up a statement of facts, get the bike weighed and a photo of the vin and you are good to go.

Jack

 

[Geeto67]

You get caught on swapped plates here in NY it really depends on how nice the officer is and how illegal your stolen plates are. The worst case scenario is they impound the car or bike and subject it to a theft inspection where they run the frame and engine vin (not really applicable for motorcycles to run the motor vin) to see if it is stolen, if you have any kind of outstanding warrants or suspensions or if the plates are in someone elses name they will hold you too and you may not get the bike or car back. So I don't recomend it. If you get into an accident with the vehicle the swapped plates are on and you give the other driver your insurance info and he files a claim, you can get banged for insurance fraud too (a felony in most states). The best case scenario is you don't get pulled over or go through a DWI checkpoint, but is it really worth the risk.

I got busted for doing this once in the late 1990s. It was on a car I just bought and was driving home. The swapped plates were in my name and I still had valid insurance on the car they were registered to. I was also in the Volunteer Fire department at the time, and I got pulled over in my own fire district, and I was also a mile from my house. I had no outstanding tickets, warrants, nothing. The officer let me go with a very stern warning that if he saw this car again with these plates (you can't transfer plates in NY unless it is a vanity) he was gonna impound it. I got very lucky. The only close call I had was I swapped plates on a cb750 I was road testing (After some repairs) and came round the corner into a DWI/cellphone checkpoint. Fortunatly the cop didn't know anything about bikes and I got away with it.

You can act all snotty about the swapped plates or whatever, personally I don't care but you brought it up by mentioning it in your original post.

Now for your head problem, the motor has to come out. chances are you are going to have a lot of corroded fastners on your hands which means you will need an impact driver and a breaker bar to do this. Also I hope that motor turns over as you are going to need to find a way to get the cam chain off (I guess you could cut it if it doesn't).

As to your plug problem, why not just drill it (one size up) all the way out and helicoil it? The bummer is that well you still need the head off to do this.

I am surprised you can't get a needle nose vice grip in there and turn it out. how sheared is sheared and well how did it get that way without damaging the fins?

Jack's bike seems like the way to go if you are hell bent on a project. Free bikes are never worth the effort for newbies.



Edited by - Geeto67 on May 19 2007 5:02:13 PM

 

[AdamCollen]

thank you geeto, i do not mean to come off snotty about riding on borrowed plates, i only intend to do it as a test drive and temporary basis... i am shipping to Missouri for boot camp july 19th of this year and only want something to ride for the time being.

the motor does rotate and like you said there is tons of rusted bolts/fasteners...

1975 CB550 Cafe-in-progress

 

[Geeto67]

No worries dude we are here to help.

you can download the 550 manual here:

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=17788.0

July is not that far away. I know you are trying to do this bucks down but maybe having a shop do the work would help to complete it before you head out.