1979 Honda CB550 Café/Brat, Father & Son Build

[jayme]

How I missed this thread is beyond me, attention to detail thats next to none.

Stunning Aaron.

 

[southsky sunrise]

Love it

 

[S2K-Aaron]

Cheers lads, yea another couple of things done last winter, I have been mainly enjoying it this summer.

Will update with new Pictures and Details this week

 

[S2K-Aaron]

This Winter to Do:
New Points
New Ignition Box from Hondaman
Dual Front Disc conversion which I'm gathering parts for atm.
New Rearsets with Adjustable settings
Rebuild Front Forks
Recover Rear Part of Seat (Slight Damage)
Shorty Front Mud Guard
Register for MOT and Tax Exemption

This Summer:
Problem Free Riding
Distinguished Gentlemans Ride
Enjoy!

The Future:
@Reno_LV Photoshoot Start of 2019
Bigger Pistons
Race Cam
Couple of other trick bits
Bike Carcoon
And enjoy...

So this year the list above I got done

New Points
New Ignition Box from Hondaman
Dual Front Disc conversion
New Rearsets with Adjustable settings
Rebuild Front Forks
Register for Tax Exemption
Bike Carcoon

This Summer:
I've done over 500miles on it now Nearly problem free bar a small oil leak that literally done my head in but I think I've now found it and I'm waiting on a new O ring coming from the States.

So the Points and Ignition box are absolutely fantastic!! So much better starting basically first turn and overall running is great now.

I also got another Side Stand as the Original was slightly short i away thought and the bike leaned over too far, this one is 1.5" Longer so sits much better now.


The Dual Disc Conversion:
Took a bit of figuring out what I needed to Make it work with spacers and a couple of machined parts, also what I needed so it looked right but we got there in the end and the end result is Mega. Front end looks chunkier now and overall looks well but still looks like it's factory which is what I want. The main reason was stopping power and it's significantly better now than stock.

Rebuild front shocks:
They always felt spongy and just old so I fitted progressive springs and new oil and seals and Replaced the Top Nuts with new Stainless Ones. I also raised them by 35mm which in turn lowers the front stance to give it more of a racey feeling. Again all well worth it and made a great difference.

New Rearsets:
Here I knew exactly what Rearsets I wanted Which were Tarozzi Adjustable and Folding so I could use the Kickstarter if need be.
The mounts were laser cut from 8mm Steel and I married everything up to see what worked and what I needed.
The gear change side was simple enough and I just needed a Rod and a small Rod end Bearing.
The Rear brake side was a little bit harder but again with a bit of working out, a custom length Brake Rod and a Uniball end solved one part. The next was getting it to attach to the Rearsets, so I set about drawing up a Bracket that was Adjustable which I again got laser cut and folded in 4mm Stainless this time.
So with that all done the parts went for powder as usual to match everything else.
All was left to do was to bend the Kickstarter to miss the toe peg but I needed help with it as my blowtorch wasn't concentrated enough and I needed a acetalene torch to heat the two spots that needed bending. Free trial and errors and I got there and it works well so polished it up and fitted it all.
Main reason for doing this was the old Aluminium ones flexed when I changed gear so I wasn't able to get a good leverage on it to change gear everytime perfectly which I think caused the gearbox failure earlier.

Bike Carcoon:
Speaks for itself really, one came up on eBay and I managed to bid and win it for good money and it seems a good job but will know more this winter when it goes into it.

The reason of the Black side pods was because my other ones were with the Painter getting redone as they cracked. He had them 7 Months so I had to sort something so bought a 1975 style set and got them sprayed Matt Black and put a small decal on it. Done the job and I actually quite liked them tbh but I have the proper ones back and they look great so happy with that. The black ones will work with my other tank I'm gonna get painted at some point.

Other Plans this year:
Still need to fix rear seat
@Reno_LV Photoshoot
Do the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride
Lower the Headlight

Future Plans:
Paint other Tank I've Bought
Bigger Pistons etc and Cam as above
Keep till I die lol

That's it for now, just enjoying it. Sorry for the long winded post and Pants Pictures

 

[JonnyB23]

This is unreal!

 

[EF Ian]

Bike is looking great. Love all the work you've done to it, all these little details add up to make the whole special.


I am confused about the line coming from the front forks? It looks like it would rub the tyre and especially badly if you were to turn?

 

[S2K-Aaron]

Bike is looking great. Love all the work you've done to it, all these little details add up to make the whole special.


I am confused about the line coming from the front forks? It looks like it would rub the tyre and especially badly if you were to turn?

Ian,

Thanks for the kind words

I understand what you mean, I have changed it slightly as I was worried about that too but it's 100% now. That's the Speedo cable

 

[nobby]

just had a read through ... very interesting to see the progress and great build

nice one

 

[Reno_LV]

I genuinely cannot wait to shoot this

 

[S2K-Aaron]

just had a read through ... very interesting to see the progress and great build

nice one

Thanks @nobby it's been learning curve for sure

I genuinely cannot wait to shoot this

I can't wait either so i can get rid of my useless pictures lol! I'll be in touch shortly

 

[Ollie]

This bike is the reason I've just bought cb250 in london totally unseen on gumtree.

I dont even have the bike test

 

[S2K-Aaron]

This bike is the reason I've just bought cb250 in london totally unseen on gumtree.

I dont even have the bike test

Yaaaasssss!!!! Lol good man! Let me know if you need anything at all. Help or advice or parts, I might have a couple of bits that will go on both.

 

[Ollie]

Yaaaasssss!!!! Lol good man! Let me know if you need anything at all. Help or advice or parts, I might have a couple of bits that will go on both.

Was going to pm you but your inbox is full!

Hey Aaron

Just got my bike delivered last night. It's a 79 cb250 superdream. Had all the intentions of chopping it up but it's going to be hard to bring myself to do it lol.

It currently has no spark so going to get a look at it this weekend. Have you any good links for parts and cafe racer bits?

Cheers, Ollie.

 

[S2K-Aaron]

Hi Ollie,

Inbox cleared now! Sorry.

Send pictures or post here, if it's too clean might be worth selling on again lol.

David Silver Spares for Genuine or Replacement Honda Parts

Ill send you links to the rest

 

[EF Ian]

Any changes to this?

 

[S2K-Aaron]

Any changes to this?

Hi Ian,
Not a lot tbh! Done the Distinguised Gentlemans Ride last year on it in Belfast. I've been prepping my other tank over the past week or two so might get it ready at some point.
I did buy a set of CAM's but i'm waiting to fit them along with a couple of other bits. I'm currently waiting on New Headlight brackets to pull the headlight closer to the forks.

Going to get a full detail and ceramic coating in the next couple of weeks too.

Other than that it was pain free and no work needed done over the winter for a change so all good lol!

 

[EF Ian]

Its not like it needs anything done other than the maintenance, pretty perfect how it is. Your plans sound good though.


I have to do a cafe racer project sometime. Let me know should you ever want this to go to a new home.

 

[S2K-Aaron]

Its not like it needs anything done other than the maintenance, pretty perfect how it is. Your plans sound good though.


I have to do a cafe racer project sometime. Let me know should you ever want this to go to a new home.

Well, ill always find something lol! I'll get a few fresh pictures up soon when i sort the headlight etc, it's not right but will be.

Lol your the 2nd person has asked me that today!

In the future you never know, i said i'd never sell the s2000 and Reinis messaged me and I did lol! i'm definitely not ready to atm

 

[martymim]

Fantastic build.

 

[wbrown343]

Holy thread revival but this is a beautiful bike. The NOS helmet to match the tank has sent me down a rabbit hole very well done throughout

 

[S2K-Aaron]

Holy thread revival but this is a beautiful bike. The NOS helmet to match the tank has sent me down a rabbit hole very well done throughout

Thank you, there has been a few changes and upgrades since all the above. I must take time someday and update the thread but I'm doing no more to it now.

 

[jayme]

Thank you, there has been a few changes and upgrades since all the above. I must take time someday and update the thread but I'm doing no more to it now.

"Im doing no more to it now"

Its ok buddy, we all tell ourselves lies from time to time......

 

[S2K-Aaron]

"Im doing no more to it now"

Its ok buddy, we all tell ourselves lies from time to time......

I know, but all seriousness spent to much on all the changes and don't really want or need to do anything else tbh. The Mini is the next money pit lol

 

[S2K-Aaron]

So where do I start lol....

This will be a bit long winded so bare with me.


This time last year I decided feck it and stripped most of the bike down. There was some bits I was never totally happy with and wanted to improve it.

The carbs were cleaned at one stage near the start but they got grubby looking after taking them of and on a few times and the hardware all needed replating too so took them to a local guy near me and he fully stripped them and gave them a new lease of life.

Onto the forks. They were always deeply marked and scrappy looking no mater how much I polished them. I managed to source some NOS lower fork legs which ticked all the boxes. I got them and took to polishing them and then ceramic coated them to help protect them a bit.

Second thing was the Wheel Rims and the Spokes. The rims themselves were the original heavy Honda ones and although cleaned up not bad and powdercoated ok they just didn't please me. The Standard widths are 1.85" front and rear on the CB550. I went for 1.85" front and 2.50" Rear in Powdercoated Black alloy. The Spokes were Zinc coated and were an absolute pig to keep. Stainless steel replaced them . New rims and spokes which then let me go for wider tyres front and rear.

Next Thing was the seat and battery tray. I liked it but knew we could make it neater and I wanted a really clean minimal look below the seat at the rear. I gave it to Pete at Brookfab and he modified it and added another box for my new leccy box. Then took it to get repowdered in Matt Black.

Wiring and the Electrics was My next pet peeve. The original wiring although a new loom was just was so untidy and annoyed me. So I went with a Motogadget Unit Blue which I can control settings from my Phone but also giving me an alarm etc too.

I also went with their Bar Indicators which are so bright compared to copies I had and a new Headlight in LED but still retro looking was also on the cards with a couple of close calls with cars not seeing me with the old headlight. I also went with their Motoscope speedo etc. This let me go for a GPS speed sensor so was tidier and more accurate too.

I also changed the rear brake light and rear indicators for the smallest and brightest I could find. The only thing left was the Handlebar controls which I also changed for single press items with led light in them so I can tell if my headlight is on or I've the bike in neutral or not. A friend and I took to rewiring the whole bike and hiding as much of the wiring as possible, we used Braiding and Heatshrink etc and made it as neat as we could.

Lastly I picked up another tank a few years ago which is from a CB500. It's a different shape and has a visible filler and cap at the top. I fancied a change colour wise and something less bright and more classic so came up with this and Darryl at DMD Paint go to work. I still have the Red Tank and Side Pods as an option to change it up again though

Overall the bike has went through so many changes and I've spent a clean fortune over the years. There's literally nothing else I want to change on it now so it's just about enjoying it now.

 

[Apis]

The switch gear look class.