Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => CB500/550 => Topic started by: Neilw on March 14, 2026, 01:27:16 PM
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So far, I've stripped the bike down to the frame and still have the front and rear ends to remove before I can send it off for powder coating.
I've cleaned the engine housings ready for paint and have sent off the cylinders for rebore and new pistons, which are now back with me.
I have everything else in cardboard boxes scattered around the garage, and quite honestly, I don't know where to start, as everything needs close examination, cleaning and repairing/replacing where needed.
I'm a bit overwhelmed tbh, and know that to eat an elephant you need to do it bite by bite.
So, where do I start, and is there a best order to tackle things so I feel like I'm making progress every time I spend time with the bike?
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Interesting
You have already started
Depends on how much space and assistance you help
Ideally frame, suspension, wheels
While that lot is being cleaned, polished painted etc,
Do the engine and gearbox, carbs,
Airplane,battery box ,
So it is all ready to be assembled
Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk
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Rule #1, stay calm and take your time. Order is your choice...... but think of the things that don't go on until last.....
I'd start by building up the engine, when the frame gets back, install it. Then things like dressing up the engine with the external bits... carbs, airbox, coils, etc. Rear fender, shocks, etc. Chain and sprockets. At some point the wiring harness... I'm sure you'll figure out what needs to go last. There is a point it won't matter much. How are you going to hold the frame up while you do all that while the wheels are off.... or maybe you temporarily put the wheels on as a rolling chassis.... you'll be fine.
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On the 400f at least
Rear brake lever spigot and return spring before the swing arm
Main stand and return spring next, it folds back more with no stop so less spring stretching needed.
Swing arm
All easier when the frame is upside down and the brake return spring and spigot might not even go in after the swing arm.
Regards
Dave
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Everybody will have a different method of working to suit budgets and time available.
The main thing to understand is that long periods of inactivity with a project is what leads to them never being finished and put up for sale as 80% complete.
The way I work nowdays is to strip the bike down and make a lot of notes of what needs doing as I go along and I take an awful lot of photos, it takes time but you'll be glad you did it two or three months down the road when you have forgotten where some of the parts you now have in various bags and boxes fit.
It's the long lead items that are the most frustrating especially chrome plating (3-4 months not being unusual so send those parts off first), powder coating and wheel building. Whilst these parts are away I tend to be rebuilding the carbs and engine, cleaning the wiring loom and ordering the endless parts for the rebuild (hence the taking of many notes).
Build parts in larger sub-assemblies such as carbs, footrest brackets with the footrests added, rear light bracket with the light etc. If you do this you will find the bike goes back together quickly and you will see big results in a short space of time.
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To do it the wrong way
Take no pictures
Undo every nut and bolt you can find
Put everything in various boxes or bags with no labels
Leave it for years
Move house several times
Realise you cant remember what goes where
Panick
Joint the forum for for help
Several years later ride your pride and joy
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To do it the wrong way
Take no pictures
Undo every nut and bolt you can find
Put everything in various boxes or bags with no labels
Leave it for years
Move house several times
Realise you cant remember what goes where
Panick
Joint the forum for for help
Several years later ride your pride and joy
🤣🤣
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Yea .. if you want a bike to be 100% original then find yourself a NOS or else find out if the exact replica is available ( e.g. Yamiya for the CB750) .. then buy the bike or project :D
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Sounds like the horse has already bolted
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I found this very useful when checking some of my assembly issues (I know its a USA post, but very handy)
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,151576.msg1731556.html#msg1731556
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Neat Street - That's a great post, thanks for sharing! This 350 Panther that I'm involved with was dismantled in 1951 using Bryan's new but well used method and everyone once involved are wearing wooden overcoats!
Ian
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That is an excellent post and very well detailed, thanks for posting. A real step by step guide and mentions all those hard to get parts and exactly where they fit and alternative suggestions 👍.
I'd be scared stiff to ride the finished bike!
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I'm with Bryan, when I rebuilt mine, I took lots of photos before and during dismantling, store everything in seperate sections or boxes with labels.
Also take photos in of the various stages as you are rebuilding, when in doubt post questions here.
I build scale models and treated the bike the same way, I treated each section of the bike like a model.
Cheers
Dennis.
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I bought 25 containers with lids (the type you get a take away curry in) in my local hardware shop for £9.99. I use these to seperate parts such as one for each carb, front wheel parts etc as I strip the parts. Use a sharpie to label the lids. Being containers of the same style you can then stack them to save having various cardboard boxes and bags etc all around the garage.
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I bought 25 containers with lids (the type you get a take away curry in) in my local hardware shop for £9.99. I use these to seperate parts such as one for each carb, front wheel parts etc as I strip the parts. Use a sharpie to label the lids. Being containers of the same style you can then stack them to save having various cardboard boxes and bags etc all around the garage.
I keep the takeaway container
Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk
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The rebuild is always a good excuse for more chinese takeaway
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I agree, you can never take too many photos.
Unless the bike is unmolested you can't be sure things were completely original.
When I went to Stafford Show last spring I was miffed that I did not find a 250 or 400 NA Super Dream on display to assist with my build.
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I’m in the middle of a 550 rebuild and it’s interesting to think about my approach. It was never planned as a full rebuild, but starting work on it made me realise how bad the bike was, so I turned it into a full rebuild one day by taking it to pieces, so not much planning there. I definitely did not take enough photos which has cost me time but has given my brain cells a good workout.
My rebuild method has been breaking it down into small projects, the projects aren’t random but are related to the order I am working to. I do deviated occasionally to give myself a change when the bit I am working on isn’t going well, or if I am waiting for parts. I do try to keep closely to my rebuild plan though.
An individual project can be something small like cleaning polishing and painting the underside of a mudguard, fitting it would then be a separate project. Or it could be bigger project like rebuilding the forks and all their associated parts. Eventually all the small front end projects will result in the front end being rebuilt. However by making it into small projects you are continually having results which make you feel good and that you are getting somewhere.
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I’m in the middle of a 550 rebuild and it’s interesting to think about my approach. It was never planned as a full rebuild, but starting work on it made me realise how bad the bike was, so I turned it into a full rebuild one day by taking it to pieces, so not much planning there. I definitely did not take enough photos which has cost me time but has given my brain cells a good workout.
My rebuild method has been breaking it down into small projects, the projects aren’t random but are related to the order I am working to. I do deviated occasionally to give myself a change when the bit I am working on isn’t going well, or if I am waiting for parts. I do try to keep closely to my rebuild plan though.
An individual project can be something small like cleaning polishing and painting the underside of a mudguard, fitting it would then be a separate project. Or it could be bigger project like rebuilding the forks and all their associated parts. Eventually all the small front end projects will result in the front end being rebuilt. However by making it into small projects you are continually having results which make you feel good and that you are getting somewhere.
Its exactly how mine is going, didn't plan on a full strip down, but now i'm here i'm committed to following through - and actually i found stuff that was definatley dodgy,/rotten which i wouldn't have if i had stripped it all down.
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Going back to the original question my build log https://www.sohc.co.uk/index.php/topic,23291.0.html shows my rebuild order, 32 pages is a lot to go through.
I bought a bike ramp, I was working alone aside from the engine lift in & out so a lot was based around the logistics of frame stability on the ramp. Having a working brake when I needed to take the engine less wheeled frame off the ramp to turn it round made the process safer.
Fitting the rear brake pivot before the rear swing arm/suspension was in place, lastly its much easier to fit the carbs then build backwards, fitting the air box & the rear plastic fender section. Pretty sure I might have removed the rear wheel to make it easier. Certainly worth ensuring the carb floats are sealing before you fit the carbs by using an auxilliary petrol tank.
As well as refering to the photos I took during dismantling as others have mentioned expensive items can drive assembly order. I bought a spare set of wheel hubs so I could use the old wheels and tyres for stability & to enable me to move the bike around when needed.
I made notes on areas such as wiring loom and what connections needed to be cleaned/restored. Likewise I kept an assembly log containing what had been torqued up and what need a final tightening to make getting all the bolts in place e.g. the engine mounts. I spent a lot of time looking for parts, in my second rebuild I used a spread sheet with numbered or lettered parts boxes. This would tell me if the part was elsewhere such as on my bike ramp or sent out for specialist restoration like the clocks, or for powder coating.
Hope this helps, the best way is the way you are comfortable with rather than anothers dictat, just worth knowing different approaches.
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Going back to the original question my build log https://www.sohc.co.uk/index.php/topic,23291.0.html shows my rebuild order, 32 pages is a lot to go through.
I bought a bike ramp, I was working alone aside from the engine lift in & out so a lot was based around the logistics of frame stability on the ramp. Having a working brake when I needed to take the engine less wheeled frame off the ramp to turn it round made the process safer.
Fitting the rear brake pivot before the rear swing arm/suspension was in place, lastly its much easier to fit the carbs then build backwards, fitting the air box & the rear plastic fender section. Pretty sure I might have removed the rear wheel to make it easier. Certainly worth ensuring the carb floats are sealing before you fit the carbs by using an auxilliary petrol tank.
As well as refering to the photos I took during dismantling as others have mentioned expensive items can drive assembly order. I bought a spare set of wheel hubs so I could use the old wheels and tyres for stability & to enable me to move the bike around when needed.
I made notes on areas such as wiring loom and what connections needed to be cleaned/restored. Likewise I kept an assembly log containing what had been torqued up and what need a final tightening to make getting all the bolts in place e.g. the engine mounts. I spent a lot of time looking for parts, in my second rebuild I used a spread sheet with numbered or lettered parts boxes. This would tell me if the part was elsewhere such as on my bike ramp or sent out for specialist restoration like the clocks, or for powder coating.
Hope this helps, the best way is the way you are comfortable with rather than anothers dictat, just worth knowing different approaches.
Thank you. all information is very helpful to a newbie. I've started labelling and bagging bolts etc so it's clear what it is, i didn't start that way, so hopefully the bigger stuff will be easier to identify. Also, i intend to use the parts lists at CMSL to help identify which way round bolts etc go.
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The downloadable parts book on this site is handy as well for assembly order
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Plus one for the parts book, it was like a bible for me.
Cheers
Dennis
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Yes the parts book is definitely the bible. I was bidding on a genuine one on eBay, but forgot about it on the day it finished and missed out☹️
I use the ones on CMSNL all the time as well.
As you say Ted everyone develops their own way that suits them, I can see from your posts that you use a far more organised method than me. I tend to just keep things in my head, not make many notes and my labelling of part boxes mostly just consists of ‘Honda 550’ It causes me a few problems at times but generally works ok for me. I do make To Do lists towards the end of projects which are helpful but also annoying as ever job you tick off tends to create two new jobs.
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As you say Ted everyone develops their own way that suits them, I can see from your posts that you use a far more organised method than me. I tend to just keep things in my head, not make many notes and my labelling of part boxes mostly just consists of ‘Honda 550’ It causes me a few problems at times but generally works ok for me. I do make To Do lists towards the end of projects which are helpful but also annoying as ever job you tick off tends to create two new jobs.
Ah Murf the "To do lists", yes I do those as well with the aim to tell myself I'm moving nearer the end of the project, I know what you mean about them self multiplying. I suspect thats how the Money Puddle mutates into a Money Pit.