Honda-SOHC

Evening All,

I had some really bad news earlier regarding the rebuild of my wheels. When the hubs came back from shot blasting it was noted that the rear brake drum lining had hairline cracks in four separate places and is buggered.

What are my options as to how to proceed?

I can't see that off the shelf replacement hubs are available and from my research I can't seem to find anyone easily who can reline a brake drum. It's clearly a specialist job from the looks of this and a known issue given Ken's previous warnings to me.

What have others in this position done?

I have told the wheel builder to hang fire over the weekend before proceeding any further with painting the hubs and rebuilding the wheels. Is this something I should be fixing while the hub is dissembled in its current state? or am I able to get this done having had the wheel rebuilt? The wheel builder was suggesting that it was better to rebuild the wheel and then sort this post rebuild.

To make matters worse I was hoping to have the bike back on the road within the next month for a big roadtrip however I'm guessing that will be  a no go given the issues at hand. I"m happy to throw some money at it, I just need it done... 

For what its worth I'm in the SE of the UK, Surrey way however also happy to travel a bit.

Well it only seems appropriate to start a proper project thread here following my previous intro a month or so ago. I'm certainly going to have lots of questions for you all as I go! 

Last night I went and collected my 1978 Honda CB550 F1 Super Sport (I believe? Please correct me if this is wrong, I'm a total novice). Does anything look non standard or out of place? It looks like the exhaust is a 'Marshall system' which I'm assuming is a relatively period piece?

The bike has sat in storage for a number of years unused and therefore is in need of some serious TLC. It managed the 35 or so mile ride home however it was very clear that it is in need of some servicing and inspection.

The throttle response was erratic at times, on occasion there was almost a total lack of throttle response. The bike wouldn't climb past 70mph on the motorway and I was having to tinker with the fuel adjustor to lower the idle and keep the bike happy. By the time I got it home I noticed that what I'm assuming are the carb overflow pipes were dropping fuel down onto the ground, the exhaust was popping and banging on overrun so I'm assuming is running rich and on inspection one of the HT leads had dropped onto the manifold and nearly melted through.

I'll be honest and say that I've never worked on bikes before, however I'm mechanically minded and have a workshop manual so intend to crack on and learn as I go. I'm hoping to end up with a reliable bike that can be ridden and enjoyed, originality doesn't bother me as I intend to do some brat/cafe style mods to the bike later down the line with a view to improving performance and changing aesthetics however for now I just want to get it running well and see where I stand.

With the above in mind, I'd be grateful of your thoughts on my current 'to do list'

- Change Oil/Oil Filter
- Replace Air Filter
- Fresh Fuel/ Fuel filter?
- Strip down carbs and rebuild?
- Check timing (never done this before so any guidance appreciate however there's the manuals and YouTube)
- Check valve clearances (never done this before so any guidance appreciate however there's the manuals and YouTube)
- Replace HT leads
- Replace Points
- Flush brake hydraulics
- Front brake rebuild, master too?

Anything I should be adding to that list or further input? Can anyone advise where is a good place to be searching for replacement parts in the UK? are there any good websites for basic consumables?

In particular where to get replacement HT leads and rebuild kits would be useful? I also believe I'm correct in saying I need to be very specific about the make and year of the bike as there were lots of revisions and therefore certain parts/kits won't fit?

Anyway, here's some pictures for you all.

Cheers, Mark

72DA583C-121C-4630-8110-816CA766A5AA by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7623 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7618 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7630 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7631 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7654 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7656 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7626 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7651 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

IMG_7657 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr