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My first motorcycle: 1976 Honda CB550

8707 Views 27 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  joe c, 
M
Hello all. I just purchased my first motorcycle thtis past Saturday and although the bike has seen better days, I feel confident that I'll be able to restore it to it's origional glory. The motorcycle is a 1976 CB550. It will take a lot of time to fix since I don't know much about motorcycles but I think it will be worth the challenge.
Anyway, I got the motorcycle from a neighbor who has had it for a few years. He rode it last fall but let it sit outside all winter and now it won't start. (We live in Atlanta, so the winters aren't that cold) It gets power from the battery and acts like it wants to start but it just won't get there. I added fuel additive and some fresh gas, so I hope that will help. I checked the plugs and they look pretty good. Also, I'm getting a new battery today.
If anyone has experience with a CB550 and you wish to share any tips for getting this bad-boy into shape, please feel free. Thanks!

http://home.comcast.net/~mwierm1/index.html

There is one thing I found odd about this bike. The engine ID is CB550E. I haven't been able to find any information on this model number. Is this the same as a CB550F or CB550K? If anyone can help with this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Edited by - mwierm on May 21 2007 12:27:05 PM

Edited by - mwierm on May 21 2007 1:04:14 PM
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M
thanks for the pointers guys. I'll check out the carbs this week and see if I can get it running.

The guys who sold it to me gave me a new front tire and the back tire is in pretty good shape. I don't thin it was such a bad deal for only $300.
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M
Just so folks don't get the wrong idea; I didn't just wake up last week and decide I wanted to start riding motorcycles. I've been riding dirt bikes since I was a kid and always wanted to ride street bikes. I wasn't until a couple years ago that I had the disposable income to support such a hobby. Now, I'm not rich by any means (otherwise I wouldn't have a $300 bike made in 1976) but I can now afford to spend a 'few bucks' here and there on a bike I consider a project. I could have saved myself the hassle of fixing an old bike by purchasing something new but I wanted the satisfaction of riding something I put together myself and with the help of a few friends. I realize this isn't going to be a cake walk but I don't think it's going to be too difficult to get this bike in respectable shape. I don't have a lot of experience working on motorcycles; in fact I have almost none. However I do have experience doing minor to medium work on cars. Rebuilding this bike is going to be a challenge but I with forums such as this one and folks as nice as yourselves, I feel confident that I'll get through it.
Once again, I appreciate any tips you all have to offer and wish you all the best.

I've updated the link with a couple more pictures of the bike.

http://home.comcast.net/~mwierm1/index.html
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M
Thanks again for all of the tips. Any help I can get is greatly appreciated.

I finally got the bike running yesterday. All it took was some fresh gas and a little patience. Now I've got to replace the front tire, fix the front break and adjust the clutch. After that the bike should be ready to ride. Of course I'm going to do much more maintenance on it but it's nice to know that the bike actually runs.

I'm making progress and it feels good.
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Thanks again for all of the tips. Any help I can get is greatly appreciated.

I finally got the bike running yesterday. All it took was some fresh gas and a little patience. Now I've got to replace the front tire, fix the front break and adjust the clutch. After that the bike should be ready to ride. Of course I'm going to do much more maintenance on it but it's nice to know that the bike actually runs.

I'm making progress and it feels good.
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M
Ok, yesterday I took off the front wheel so I could have a new tire and tube installed. When I took the wheel off I couldn't get the speedometer cable off of the wheel itself. I had to unhook the speedometer cable from the gauge and now I have a wheel with a cable still attached. I'd like to remove the cable so the guys at the shop can easily replace the tire but I wasn't sure what to expect here. There is a screw (rusted of course) that holds the cable in place on the wheel. If I remove that screw, will I need to watch out for anything like springs, pins, goblins, etc? In other words, if I take out that screw will the cable just pull out easily and will I be able to get it back in without any trouble?

Also, I was going to bleed the front break when I get the front wheel back on but I noticed that the screws holding the reservoir plate in place are striped out and also rusted. I tried dremmeling the screw heads and removing them with a flat head screw driver but the metal didn't hold up and broke the screw heads off. Can I replace just the reservoir or do I need to replace the reservoir, brake handle, and throttle as one piece?
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Ok, yesterday I took off the front wheel so I could have a new tire and tube installed. When I took the wheel off I couldn't get the speedometer cable off of the wheel itself. I had to unhook the speedometer cable from the gauge and now I have a wheel with a cable still attached. I'd like to remove the cable so the guys at the shop can easily replace the tire but I wasn't sure what to expect here. There is a screw (rusted of course) that holds the cable in place on the wheel. If I remove that screw, will I need to watch out for anything like springs, pins, goblins, etc? In other words, if I take out that screw will the cable just pull out easily and will I be able to get it back in without any trouble?

Also, I was going to bleed the front break when I get the front wheel back on but I noticed that the screws holding the reservoir plate in place are striped out and also rusted. I tried dremmeling the screw heads and removing them with a flat head screw driver but the metal didn't hold up and broke the screw heads off. Can I replace just the reservoir or do I need to replace the reservoir, brake handle, and throttle as one piece?
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M
Speaking of manuals, the one I ordered Monday arrived in the mail today.

Thanks for the tip.

Check out the bottom picture. You can see the square brake fluid resivior.

http://home.comcast.net/~mwierm1/index.html


Edited by - mwierm on May 24 2007 11:24:12 AM
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M
Speaking of manuals, the one I ordered Monday arrived in the mail today.

Thanks for the tip.

Check out the bottom picture. You can see the square brake fluid resivior.

http://home.comcast.net/~mwierm1/index.html


Edited by - mwierm on May 24 2007 11:24:12 AM
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