cb 550 hoses

[SteveD CB500K0]

You're right Matthew. My 500/4s all do more like 50mpg 

The one in my avatar did indeed have K&Ns, big jets and a Piper exhaust but in those days we didn't give a stuff about mpg!

[deltarider]

Hi can anyone tell me, where the breather tube from the breather cover goes to? and where the two outlets on the bottom of the air filter box and the outlet on the air manifold?

To start with the latter, originally it had a tube as a drain. You could pinch it open for that.
The breathertube on later 550 models (and 500K3) were connected to the bottom of the air filter box. The idea was to recycle blow-by fumes through the foamfilter located under the paper filter element into the engine. I've seen quite some paper air filter elements that got fouled because of this. You can reconnect it but then you have to monitor things regularly. Or you could reroute the breather tube like on the older models (best seen on p 170 of the original Honda Workshop Manual CB500 - CB550) where it vents in the open.

[dean550]

thanks for the info

[florence]

Mine has big jets, k&n filters and laser exhaust and still does about 50mpg, although that does go down with hard riding.  Of course these things make it a very authentic seventies bike.

[Yoshi823]

Definitely K3 carbs on a CB550F bike. The remote choke cable up on the handlebars gives that away. The front mudguard looks like it may have the holes where the front stay used to be. Nice to see a chrome rear mudguard though...they normally rust away really quickly. On my second CB550F1 I fitted a K&N filter which did away with the airbox & I rerouted the large hose from the top of the engine to under the bike towards the left side so that any oil vapour would be directed onto the chain. The fuel tank overflow pipe was routed in a similar direction. I did the same K&N fitting onto my wife's CB550F2 & onto my commuter CB550K3. The fuel consumption on my K3 was excellent...I was getting 65mpg on a regular basis riding to Croydon from Bexleyheath everyday (at the time) so the extra power was very useful when the opportunity arose. My friend who bought the bike from me still has it & will not sell it as he enjoys riding the K3 when he does not want to ride his '04 R1.

[dean550]

thanks for that Yoshi823,florence. I had planned to keep it as original as poss but i think previous owners have put paid to that idea. However i suppose they are sympathetic  worthwhile mods that hopefully work well?