Repair and upgrade recommendations 1977 cb550f1

[JustcallmeMrT]

Hi all,
I mentioned in my last post that I've just bought a 1977 cb550 F1.  It's in rough shape, so not a restoration project,  but some repairs and modifications are in store to make it my style.  I'm trying to come up with a to do list for this build.

It's my first bike and I'm hoping to make it my daily rider, so it needs to be reliable.  I'm going to take the engine in to a pro and get it sorted out, as I don't have the knowledge to do it myself and I don't want to screw it up.    However, I think I'll be able to tackle the rest of the maintenance and repairs myself.

So, now to my question - I want to do this right, and make the bike as good as it can be (within financial reason), so what type of non-engine maintenance or improvements would you make to ensure the bike will run smoothly for years to come?

I'm thinking of doing the wheel and steering bearings with all balls roller bearings, rebuild the front suspension using progressive springs, replace the fuse panel with one that accepts blade fuses, adding an electronic ignition system, replacing the swingarm bushings, redoing the wiring and battery (to accommodate new lights, gauges,  etc), run clip on bars, add a second front disc...  that's all I can think of at the moment. 

I need your help.  Which parts/manufacturers would you recommend?  What have I missed?  Is there anything I shouldn't do? 

All advice and opinions greatly appreciated.

[matthewmosse]

My cb500/4 was my only transport for years and 220 000 miles. Apart from a sidecar I mostly left it as it left the factory though eventually I put a 550k3 engine and carbs in for reasons of fuel economy. I only needed to do anything to the wiring once - a new tail light wire needed installing. Personally I reacon if running as a daily driver then keeping it standard is best as everything is straight off the shelf. I would only do bearings if the old ones fail. I have had to do a lot of fronts but with a sidecar that is to be expected - rear or headstock bearings i never needed to replace on my ones. If bearings do need doing buy decent quality not cheapest of ebay.

[deltarider]

Try to avoid spending unnecessarily. Start as close to the original as possible. Then evaluate what you like and don't like. These bikes should run good in stock condition. No need to buy fancy stuff.

[matthewmosse]

Inwas chatting to my mate who runs a motorbike shop and is a pretty good mechanic, he was saying about how folk fit cheap pattern parts to Hondas then complain the honda quality is not all it is cracked up to be. He reccomends genuine honda where possible. Personally for a daily driver bike for year round use I would be searching out the shabby bits others who are restoring cast off. Often they can be cleaned up to a fair degee. Personally I would go with getting a fairly standard but not detail perfect bike running really well before altering things too much, take it from someone who has spent the money on modifications then found they need twice as much work to get reliable and working nicely, particularly pointless in my experience was custom air cleaners, a right royal pita to get the jetting set right, especially if you are inexperienced, can lead to all sorts off wild goose chases about air leaks or weak sparks. Then just when they are running ok, some rain and or frost causes the cused things to restrict airflow and the bike stars playing up again.

[JustcallmeMrT]

Ive read some threads detailing the pain of pods or stacks... but they just look so cool... maybe for another time though.

Thanks for the tips guys, keep 'em coming!

[Bryanj]

In order to get the best from twin discs you need a Goldwing master cyl, one with a mirco switch for brake light for preference. As to rest headstock taper rollers yes whilst in bits; swingarm collar(the expensive bit) wears more than the bushes; unless play in whell bearings leave till there is

[JustcallmeMrT]

This would be my ideal (minus the exhaust wrap)...


But thinking I'll start closer to this as it looks a bit more realistic for a first timer...

[matthewmosse]

The second to me looks more practical than the first. And easier to achive as a reliable bike.

[JustcallmeMrT]

That's what I was thinking.  Not sure about those nubby tires on the street though - can anyone recommend something that might still suit the style but be a bit quieter and give better performance on the road?

[Green1]

Can't go wrong with metzeler tourance I have them on my Pegaso excellent tyre.
Dead quiet on road and can cope with dusty tracks.

Micke

[bomber]

I'm looking for a dual tyres to fit my bike, quite like an idea of knobbly but their must be crap on the road right?
Micke
Did this tyres fit straight into standard rims?
Thanks

Can't go wrong with metzeler tourance I have them on my Pegaso excellent tyre.
Dead quiet on road and can cope with dusty tracks.

Micke

[Green1]

The tyres on the peg are on standard Ali rims they are  100/90 19 and 130/80 17 so they would probably fit.

Mick
 

[JustcallmeMrT]

I'm have to replace my rims, would you guys suggest going a size wider?  Does that make it easier to find tires?

[matthewmosse]

Hmm, how do you intend to use the bike? And how much do you want to change? Basically from my time on bikes I found the fassion for fat rear tyres is ok for summer, but that first sheen of icyness come winter / spring / autum and the back end of the bike gets unhappy. Other factor is that you cannot go much wider before you start rubbing on brake torque arms and stuff. I cannot advise much further, I have run a wider rear tyre, it rubbed the torque arm of the brake, looked fine at standstill but that 5mm clearence vanished somewhere when riding, after messing with trying to offset the torque arm a bit and running the tyres at different pressures I abandoned that wheel (15 inch rim and tyre, not sure of the size of the tyre but was abot 5 inch wide I think). If you do want to take the bike out on those crisp winter mornings or indeed commute into winter then I personally would stick with the stock sizes, I never dropped a bike in winter running the stock 70s size tyres, and that includes riding in snow, over the Breacon beacons on a bmw ( same tyres as my 500/4 ) but the past 5 years, doing a lot less miles have seen my modern Hondas with fatter rear tyres take a fair few tumbles or gone sideways incedents. In short I am pretty determined after the last off broke my foot that I do not want to see another winter on fat tyres. I have never had issues finding tyres for my old bikes.modern sizes seem to cost more if like me you prefer to scrape the barrel and run part worns, in fact I don't bother on the modern bikes.p

[JustcallmeMrT]

I'm a function first kind of guy, so I'll stick with factory sizes - no use running larger if the stock runs better in the harsher conditions.