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1978 Honda CB550 Supersport - My first retro bike rolling restoration!
Rob62:
Wow missed this thread but the bike in the first photo’s looks fantastic... i always liked the look of the F models even though I actually owned a K3 back in the day... that marshall pipe is in deed a period item and looks to be in amazing condition i hope you decide to keep it but it must be worth a few bob if you dont..?. I had the exact pipe on mine and it did sound nice, not too loud. 8)
woody928:
Well I'm long overdue an update here :-[
--- Quote from: Oddjob on July 02, 2020, 12:52:20 AM ---My experience tells me that replacing even for new Oe ones is best done before they get too bad, they tend to snap off flush with the head as that’s where the majority of the rust is and being so close to the head you normally don’t see it until it’s too late.
As you can imagine getting one out when it’s snapped off flush is not easy
--- End quote ---
Advice has been heeded, I've not got all of the original exhaust studs out and have already received replacement stainless ones from the suggested link. I just want to run a tap through the threads to clean them up before putting the new stainless ones in.
--- Quote from: Rob62 on July 25, 2020, 11:48:29 AM ---Wow missed this thread but the bike in the first photo’s looks fantastic... i always liked the look of the F models even though I actually owned a K3 back in the day... that marshall pipe is in deed a period item and looks to be in amazing condition i hope you decide to keep it but it must be worth a few bob if you dont..?. I had the exact pipe on mine and it did sound nice, not too loud. 8)
--- End quote ---
Thank you very much, I fear you may be about to be disappointed on a couple of fronts, particularly if you're more of a purist though :-X
The exhaust has actually just been removed, the style/fitment didn't fit in too well with the style of build I was going for. As shame as it did actually sound really good. It's in fantastic condition for its age with the exception of a dent to the underside on the pipe on cylinder two which clearly had an argument with a kerb at some point during its life... Any ideas on what it may be worth? I'm certainly open to selling it now that I've received a sleeker Delkevic system to replace it.
IMG_9027 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_9013 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_9017 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Over the past few weeks I've now managed to fully rebuild and reinstalled the front forks, at the same time the new aftermarket 7inch headlight has gone on with a CNC'd sleeker mount to remove the big factory sleeves. The electrical system has needed a fair bit of TLC in places with some horrendous work completed by the PO. Knackered connections or wires twisted together with a bit of electrical tape seem to be a staple, however all being well I've corrected everything with crimped brass bullet connectors.
IMG_8435 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8954 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8459 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8460 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
The front disk brake caliper has been stripped and rebuilt with new seals and repainted. There's new HEL braided lines and EBC pads to hopefully improve the feel of things too. While there I've also stripped and rebuilt the MC so short of bleeding the system they're new, I'm hoping my brakes will be working slightly above their optimum!
IMG_8422 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Continuing along the electrical theme I've installed the NOS switch from Ken which looks so much better then the aged US market switch that had been fitted. The problem is that its now made my other switch show its age!
IMG_8660 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8675 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
With the front rim off, I got it stripped down to assess where I was looking at my options for a basic refresh before getting the new tyres fitted. Safe to say I was a little horrified to discover this when I finally got the old tyre off!
IMG_8657 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8770 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8602 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8765 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8768 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
I wire wheeled the rim however having looked at all of the rust, looking at a few bent spokes, surface rust on others and shot bearings and retainers, I've decided that none of it was worth risking my life on. I've now sent both rims off for full rebuild. The hubs will soon be clad in new rims with stainless spokes and have all new bearings and tyres to boot. I've keep the stock rim size on the front however decided to bump up the rear to accomodate my 4.0 tyre more comfortably. I wanted to look at bigger rims for more available tyre sizes but really didn't wish to run into fitment issues down the line so left it as 1.85 front and 2.15 rear. Fingers crossed that they'll be back in a couple of weeks to refit!
woody928:
This moves me onto my fenders, I'm sure this will meet with distain from certain people. Both had seen much better days with the underside of both appearing to have been totally battered by rust. An aggressive assault with wire wheels was therefore necessary to beat such an enemy back before converting what metal was left with Dinatrol rust convertor. This proved too much on one section on the rear bumper which actually went all of the way through ::)
The chrome on top of both was on closer inspection pretty pitted and worn out so I didn't feel bad about my decision to paint them. In all honesty I would have been starting again with new if they were staying. The front fender was been slightly chopped and ground down on the front and rear to shorten it and remove the extra supports. I'm hoping this gives me a more modern aesthetic while retaining functionality and stays as the front fork brace. In the end I as pretty happy with the results.
The rear got a very similar treatment however its remained its full size to hopefully keep me drier in the event of foul weather, particularly considering that I plan to tour Europe on it. All of the huge OEM lighting has been removed to make the way for much smaller modern and brighter LED lighting which I prefer for a number of reasons. Efforts have been made to reuse all of the holes where possible and wiring points so my new tailight is nestled perfectly over the rubber wiring grommet.
Some new LED indicators have however been cut neatly into the side of the fender and are almost unnoticeable until turned on. They're incredibly bright and look great I think.
One of my biggest cosmetic victories has been the removal of the hideous old number plate and replacement with a smaller (legal) historic plate. The rear of the bike is now far more to my taste and dare I say it, modernised it hugely.
IMG_8548 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8690 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8696 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8697 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8689 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8679 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8730 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8588 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8720 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8875 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8801 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_8867 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
woody928:
With the old exhaust fully stripped off the cleanup has begun, everything looks very sooted up and I'm not sure whether there is a slight oil leak showing from the cylinder head potentially looking at the below photo?
IMG_9020 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
IMG_9025 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
The studs could have been far worse however they still gave same fight having been painted in place for some extra resistance. I'm grateful that they all came out in one piece before it was too late. I'm keeping fingers crossed that the new stainless ones with some copper slip will avoid any headaches down the line.
IMG_9023 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
I'll certainly be doing a little clean up before the new copper crush gaskets ands exhaust gets bolted up.
In other news, I was very aware how basic the rear suspension felt on my original ride home several months ago now. Clearly something was needing to be done. Being a bit of a tart I wanted something more adjustable given that I have various different uses planed and have therefore picked up a set of TEC's fully adjustable rear shocks. Time will tell whether they are any good or not but they certainly look the part.
IMG_8928 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Having now cleaned up the back end of the bike in most other respects and being conscious of how uncomfortable old bike seats can be I've decided to send off my seat for some TLC. I wanted to retain the originality of the mechanism and didn't wish to cut or weld the frame in the event that someone wishes to revert the bike back to standard one day. That said the seat will be being spruced up to give it some more character, lower the profile and improve upon the comfort significantly. I'm very excited to see howe this turns out, but have total faith in the company that its been sent to having seen their other work.
The carbs were fully reassembled a couple of weeks ago. Id be lying if I said that a lot of patience was not involved. It was rather painstaking getting it all just so, bench syncing the carbs and also resetting the float heights to get it all just so. Despite this I still managed to pinch the O ring seals on the fuel pipe for carbs 3 and 4 causing a fuel leak having fully rebuilt the carbs and got them on the bike. Thankfully those have now been replaced with a huge shoutout to Julie of here!
I also decided to replace the damaged main jet on carb one for peace of mind so there should be no dramas there. It was incredible what a difference it made to the bike on first startup even with no proper vacum sync or balance. I'm pleased to report that it is sounding so much healthier so I'm feeling a lot better. Exhaust to go on next to finish that area up.
This is where the bike currently stands, its felt like one step forward, two backwards throughout and I've gone so over budget and more carried away then anticipated however I'm hoping it'll be something that I'm very proud of and really enjoy around Europe come September.
I've probably missed a lot however that gives you the headline pieces I'm sure and I've already written too much :-X
IMG_8940 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr
Rob62:
Don't worry I’m nor a purist, each to his own is more my view.... Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy there... shame about the Marshall pipe, I’ve no idea of its value but it must be very rare to find one in that condition, it would suit anybody who is trying to build a special but in the 80’s style.... I haven’t seen one fitted to a classic honda for decades and I’ve certainly looked at plenty in the last few years...
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