CB550 Mad Maxer Build

Work on the headlight fairing progresses with predictable sluggishness, I plan to have it done (except for final finish etching and coating) by the end of the month. In fact, I plan on having the bike street legal by the end of the month.

Here is the detail of a step made in that direction, and one step back made due to style considerations. First, the step forward. I mounted my legally obligated single mirror. Hope you like it Illinois Highway Patrol, because this one's for you.



I'm not a huge fan of mirrors. They seem to wreck the otherwise 'dashy' and/or 'racey' look of motorcycle front ends, especially on cafe style bikes. I've seen certain looks that I enjoy, but nothing that fit the style of my bike (they were either too shiney, too modern, or too dang expensive). This was my best go at it. The mirror itself and the mounting lug are from a cheap $12 mirror I bought at a bike shop. The aluminum arm is cut out of some 3/8" flat stock with a recip saw and a lot of blades, then smoothed out with a die grinder, flapper wheel, sand paper, and finally a polishing wheel.



I attached it to the handlebar with a convenient piece of .72" diameter rubber gasket I found on the ground. I drilled a hole in the middle of the rubber, then put a bolt through it with a washer, lock washer, and nut on the end. When I tighten it down, the rubber expands, like a drum sander for a drill does. Holds it on pretty tight too.



Also, I decided to do my seat up in leather. Lots of folks loved the black seat I made, but I like how the brown pops out to the eye, as opposed to black, which just blended in. It makes for a nice contrast piece on the bike. I managed to cover the entire seat with no sewing by heating the leather to about 150 degrees in a pot of water, then stretching it over the pan and cushion. It was hard work, but it paid off, and I'm really a huge fan of this new seat cover.

Thanks for stopping by folks!

I've been hacking away at my exhaust system and tuning the carbs lately, but in between frustrations with fuel/air mixtures, I managed to whip up a licence plate mount (to attract less legal attention during my test drives).



I planned it out and transferred the pattern to a piece of 3/16" aluminum plate, then drilled out the speed holes and radius corners on the press.



After the design was hacked out and smoothed with a die grinder, I made some relief cuts and folded over the mounting tabs. These I later reinforced with some TIG welding.



I was way too far into the design when I realized that my mounting holes were on the chain tensioning system, which means that the two holes are not going to be the same relative distance from one another. Bust.

I ended up making a slotted bolt hole on one of the mounting tabs, but it's only a temporary fix. I'll have to come up with something better soon.



All busts aside, the finished product looks pretty sick. Does anyone on this forum get hassled for mounting their licence plate sideways?

I dig that plate bracket.

Okay, I finally got a better camera. But while I was waiting for that, I built the pipes. I had to cut 'em back to clear the kicker. The collector got screwed up in the process, so I made a new one (it's UGLY!). Then I capped it all off with a muffler off of some Toyota my neighbor was gutting for a new exhaust system. Turns out, they're stainless, or close to it. Score!



Here's a shot of the pipes. I left them partially corroded on purpose, so they will stay that color folks. I think it goes with the seat.



I hung the pipes off of the right side peg bolt using a somewhat flexy piece of steel so the stresses that get put on the frame during cornering don't transfer to the pipes. They're gonna be heat stressed enough, what with all the dissimilar metal welds on that thing.



And finally, an overall shot to show off the prowess of my new camera. The pipes were the last big fight to get this bike road worthy. There's a few mop up items and some electrical connections, but I'm almost there. Things I learned from building the pipes: Jig up your manifold connections before you weld, or weld them on the bike when possible (preferably with no gas in the tank). Things start to creep around when you weld pipes like these, I learned. The outlets of the manifold were dead nuts when I tacked them, but when I brought them back from welding them up, I had to practically use a mallet to get them installed. Not cool. Hopefully the heat of riding anneals them and takes the spring out.

Enjoy folks!

That is one BAD ASS ride! Nice to see someone that still likes to take their time and fab things to get the look just right. Enjoy!

Been spending more time riding than building lately and it feels great. I'm working out the kinks in the steel steed. Things you think will work great during fab time end up not being so user friendly once you hit the road. This last bit was purely cosmetic, though it could throw some wind over my head.





Pretty simple design and execution. It's a heavy duty face shield (the kind you'd use for grinding). You can cut it with a tin snips, which sure beats lexan or plexiglass, which can only be sawed. I snipped out the basic shape, fitted it, refined it, drilled and tapped some holes in the fairing, bolted on the windscreen, then heated it up with a heat gun and molded the plastic with my hands (wearing gloves of course). It adds a more finished look to the nose of the bike, and adds another material to the build, which makes it seem more...er...refined I guess.

Also added an overflow tube to the gas cap. Turns out that bung location was not thought out to well by yours truely. Gas comes sloshing up during stops and pees out the vent hole, making for some nice flashing on the exhaust manifold below. The tube routes the spillage away and keeps things tidy. Searched far and wide for a threaded nipple small enough to keep a low profile. Found a good source for such things in the nitro powered R/C car section of the hobby shop. Sometimes it pays to look outside of the box.

Been watching this build for a while. Super stoked on it. I also loved the swinewerx comment. haha

what pipes are those?

Hiya folks! Been a long time since I posted, but the machine is still underway, along with the raising of my new son. I'm four months into the parenting game and finally figuring out how life works with a wee one around. I have actually found a few moments to sneak out to the garage and do some minor tweeking.

Thanks for following (to those who follow).

As for the pipes, I'm not 100% sure what type they are, as I bought them for $50 on Ebay with the can rusted off to the collector. When I bought them I did some research and it seems that the 4-to-1 might have come on some of the stock machines for a short period of time. Maybe for some performance model? Any input on this would be appreciated, as I love the history.

Lately, I've converted it back to the airbox. Either I suck at engine tuning, or Jap inline 4's were not made to be run on pods. I like my acceleration smooth and snappy, and mostly I was getting lurchy and boggy with the pods. Could be running lean or course (got the 100 size main jet in the carbs, might bump it up if the airbox doesn't cure the problem). But every time I checked for lean, rich, etc. I got different results every run.

So airbox it is, but modified, of course. I will be using the stock front end, but building the back end in fiberglass and running a K&N snowmobile air filter on it (300 CFM should be sufficient). should steady out the air flow and feed the carbs more evenly.

More pics on the way soon I should think, as I foray into the wonderful world of fiberglass. Stay tuned.

Here's the latest, as promised:


The airbox, installed and waiting for a custom back end. For all the love of pods in the custom Jap world, the airbox on the CB550 doesn't look half bad. Actually, I think it looks better. A cleaner fit than pods.


I finished the 'tailbone cushion' in the same leather as the main seat. Getting the stain colors to match was a bear. Even now, it's not perfect, but it's close enough.


Details on the overflow line coming off my gas cap. The line goes down next to the tank, down below the tank mounting rubbers, through the stainless steel tube guide, and finally up and over into a catcher I made out of an old bit of candle holder. Some folks may have mixed feelings on this, including myself. On one hand, it looks kinda tacked on. On the other hand, I'm getting used to it.


Another shot of the fuel catcher. I etched the cover, to match the bodywork.


Lastly, a brake return spring. For whatever reasons (probably need to rebuild all the cylinders, or maybe not try to use 1981 Suzuki brake calipers on a 1979 Honda), anyhow, for whatever reason, the brake never quite releases. It will roll, but there is a tension on the front wheel. When I push the brake lever toward the front of the bike, it instantly releases and rolls free as a bird. I made this spring system to do that brake lever return for me. It needs a stronger spring, or a longer moment on the lever arm, and I want to make a more official spring keeper on the fairing. Basically, it needs a massage, but that's the skeleton of the idea.

Hope you enjoyed the pics. Let me know your thoughts on the matters presented.

you need to rebuild the master cylinder. Doesnt have anything to do with the Suzuki caliper on a Honda. a brake caliper is a brake caliper. I had that problem on my old kawi and had to rebuild the master cylinder. It worked fine after i rebuilt it. You can buy rebuild kits for those master cylinders. i have one for the cb550 im choppin up right now. Cant remeber who makes it, next time im in the shop i can get the name off the kit for ya..........Bike looks killer man. wasnt sure about the fairing at first sight, but i love it now. follows the dragon etch on the tank nicely. all together killer build!!!!!!

Ach! Dragon face fairing! Looks like I'm teetering on the dangerous edge of making a theme bike. Perhaps I should give in to the inevitable and do some sort of photo shoot with chainmail and fantasy swords.

The main aim of that fairing was to house the BMW projector beam headlight, which is how it got so long. The rest kinda fabricated itself. Not sure where the idea came from, but I'm glad people can learn to love it. It took me time too.

I figure I'll rebuild the master cylinder someday when I get the engine running dependably, Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone. I've never had a problem like that before and I was a little bit afraid that I would always have to deal with it at some level. Looking forward to the fix.

Originally Posted by Demoto

Ach! Dragon face fairing! Looks like I'm teetering on the dangerous edge of making a theme bike. Perhaps I should give in to the inevitable and do some sort of photo shoot with chainmail and fantasy swords.

The main aim of that fairing was to house the BMW projector beam headlight, which is how it got so long. The rest kinda fabricated itself. Not sure where the idea came from, but I'm glad people can learn to love it. It took me time too.

I figure I'll rebuild the master cylinder someday when I get the engine running dependably, Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone. I've never had a problem like that before and I was a little bit afraid that I would always have to deal with it at some level. Looking forward to the fix.

Well i wouldnt worry too much about the whole "theme bike" thing. Haahahahahaa. It is much more original then the cake decorator could come up with. What a goofy fuck that guy is. NO, not every bike you build should have a fucking spider web welded to it. Dont even get me started on that last peice of shit he built. I dont even know how he won that competition. He must suck a good dick...........

No worries, hopefully you get her sorted out. Anyways. Love the Dragon Bike..............Just Kidding. It truly is a killer rig

Killer bike!! great work, it is absolutely amazing!

Five months makes a big difference. For a first kid, it's the difference between every day being a trial, and actually having some semblance of sanity in your house. My boy has passed the five month mark, and things finally are seeming doable again. I know lots of guys can abandon their girl to handle stuff in the house while they go wrench, but I have a hard time leaving my castle a wreck while I go and wrench on my steed. That being said, I just got out to the garage for the first time in a long while.

I did this:



I converted the CB550 back to a stock airbox. Well...half of one. The rear section of the stock airbox takes up the space which is now home to my battery. So I had to venture into the dark world of fiberglass to make a weight-conscious filter mount/airbox extension. My goal was to have a bit more space in the box, and make it able to mount a K&N snowmobile filter to.

I molded the box around a pink insulation foam form. The foam was made a hair too small to allow for clearance once the glass was added. I coated the form in polyurethane (3 coats) and a good layer of Mothers car wax for a release agent. The polyurethane served to keep the foam from dissolving in the fiberglass resin.

Forming was a gross, sticky business, and it took a good deal of sanding and recoating to get what I wanted out of it. But all in all, I'm happy with the final product. The mounting plate is made of Lexan, roughed up with sand paper and formed right into the glass. It's pretty solid.

Here it is mounted on the bike:



And a far out shot:



Ask me any questions you want about it. I hope this baby runs better with this setup. It's stage one in my intake overhaul. With any luck, it will be the only stage.

P.S. Carb cleaner will strip fiberglass resin right off your hands if you forget your gloves.

P.P.S. All photos taken with a shoebox.