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Took the '77 550 out yesterday

Maraakate

Maraakate

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2022
Total Posts
4,097
Total likes
1,709
Location
Lancaster, PA, USA
Spent some time before it started getting warm to swap the cam chain tensioner. The old one would not adjust. When I took the old one out the gear was sticky on the adjuster. New-to-me adjuster works great and now it's set. I took the opportunity with carbs off to rebuild them using mikes PD carbs rebuild book and it helped a lot. Lot of tricks in there I wouldn't have discovered first time around when fully unracking. Funny thing, pilot jet is supposed to be a 38 but someone put a 42 in it. 38s on the way from Sirius. Also needles are at 2, not stock of 3 so I'll be changing that. New band clamps and a sync and idles well at 1050RPM.

Anyways, main reason for posting this is it was nice outside yesterday about 67F. At a stop light some older fellow in a beat up truck rolled his window down to yellt at me, "I had one of those in the 70s! That thing will never die! It'll never die on you!" 😆
 
Maraakate said:
Also needles are at 2, not stock of 3 so I'll be changing that.
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What's the default terminology for needle clip position? I'm guessing # from top?

Maraakate said:
At a stop light some older fellow in a beat up truck rolled his window down to yellt at me, "I had one of those in the 70s! That thing will never die! It'll never die on you!"
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I would be thinking, "Stop jinxing me!". Apparently, every old guy owned every old bike back in the day — reading member intros over the last few years has made me a believer.
 
stl360+450 said:
Apparently, every old guy owned every old bike back in the day — reading member intros over the last few years has made me a believer.
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I guess I qualify as an "old guy," but I can't claim to have ever owned a '77 CB550. I did, however, have a 1976 model, so I guess that's close enough. I bought it new, and the final selling point was when the salesman said, "Watch this!"

Then he proceeded to start the bike up in the showroom, casually using his hand on the kickstarter.

I once did a 3050 mile solo trip on that bike in five days, over half of which were rain days. That included time spent looking around at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The crazy part is that, at the time, I had no idea how the ignition system worked. I guessed there were breaker points in there somewhere, but I had no idea where. Those were pre cell phone days to boot. Luckily, it was a reliable bike.

As to clip position, on BMW Airheads, it is from the top. I've never seen a needle clip inside a Honda carburetor, but I have really only worked on 350s.
 
stl360+450 said:
What's the default terminology for needle clip position? I'm guessing # from top?


I would be thinking, "Stop jinxing me!". Apparently, every old guy owned every old bike back in the day — reading member intros over the last few years has made me a believer.
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From the top yes. It appears someone lowered it, leaning it out which is strange and explains the very slight leanness at 3/4 throttle. Most wouldn't notice it, it doesn't affect fun factor, but it's there.
 
fxray said:
I guess I qualify as an "old guy," but I can't claim to have ever owned a '77 CB550. I did, however, have a 1976 model, so I guess that's close enough. I bought it new, and the final selling point was when the salesman said, "Watch this!"

Then he proceeded to start the bike up in the showroom, casually using his hand on the kickstarter.

I once did a 3050 mile solo trip on that bike in five days, over half of which were rain days. That included time spent looking around at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The crazy part is that, at the time, I had no idea how the ignition system worked. I guessed there were breaker points in there somewhere, but I had no idea where. Those were pre cell phone days to boot. Luckily, it was a reliable bike.

As to clip position, on BMW Airheads, it is from the top. I've never seen a needle clip inside a Honda carburetor, but I have really only worked on 350s.
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The PD carbs have adjustable needles but they're kind of a pain to get to. It requires unracking and a #1 thin screwdriver so I'm surprised someone went to all this effort years ago. But I'll get it back to spec. I'm wondering if there was a tuning issue from lack of understanding for setting timing and they thought it was a carb issue.
 
Not to muddy your waters, but wouldn't a lower clip position on the needle mean a higher needle position, leading to richer mix, not leaner?
 
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Are we saying the same thing? Dropping the clip from, say, top position on the needle down to the third position on the needle would raise the needle? If so, that would mean a richer mix because the skinnier part of the needle would be lifted from the jet earlier in the range.

I may be misinterpreting what you are saying.
 
Follow up to this. 4 float bowl screws stripped and one of the screws to remove the JN. The cost of getting another carb was about the same as having Mike fix it. Sent them to Mike to get the threads fixed and raise those needles. I put 38s back in it and holy cow what a difference! Starts real easy, fast idle finally works without being finicky and that slight hesitation at 3/4 totally gone.

Upon further inspection we found that it's really a cb500k carb which is somewhat strange as that was a euro only model. Makes sense with the settings for JN and pilot jet size. Also had Mike check needle numbers and they were for the cb500k.

Huge thanks to Mike for the quick turnaround and high quality work!
 
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Some clear degrading, will have to paint it one of these days. Low priority as always I'd rather have things mechanically perfect before I worry about any cosmetics.
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Speedo got funny, took it apart. The number tabs broke off from being so old. But the needle isn't jump and is accurate. Will put the glass back on sometime this week most likely. Will have to source another speedo at some point, but I always keep the tank topped off with Sta-bil every ride. Tachometer is off by about 300-400RPM. Not going to bother cracking it open to fix that.
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Here is the video after Mike's work. Very nice ride. Notice some primary chain noise. Normal, and can be tuned out with a good sync. Planning to sync it sometime this week when I get more time. It's probably pretty close as idle is very strong and stable.

The bike is entirely original minus the 4-into-2 exhaust. I believe that is aftermarket from the 80s or early 90s. When I got the bike, I got it for free from a family friend because the title was lost and last time it was registered and inspected was 1994. Here's what I've done to it over the years:
  • Swapped brake system to DOT5/Silicone.
  • New OEM master cylinder rebuilt kit.
  • New aftermarket caliper piston.
  • New OEM caliper piston seal.
  • Swapped out cam chain tensioner with another. The original was bound and would not deploy.
  • New OEM gaskets for top end. These came from a "Gasket Kit A" set NOS. The base gasket was previously applied with RTV and it was missing the o-rings for the oiling path.
  • New seat cover from that one British company that makes high quality ones. Was definitely worth the $90. Perfect fit, looks very close to the original. You wouldn't be able to tell it was slightly different unless you had an original seat side-by-side. Very satisfied with it.
  • New OEM o-ring for the oil pump cover as it was leaking.
  • New tires and tubes.
  • New Sunstar sprockets.
  • New DID natural chain.
  • New OEM grips as the part is still available.
  • Went over every single connector by nipping it back until no longer corroded and recrimpe with OEM bullet connectors and canon plug connectors.
  • Cleaned ignition switch as it was causing a voltage drop.
  • Bumped up the voltage regulator voltage a tad per Mike's advice in his excellent SOHC4 charging system book.
  • Separated the carbs to give them a serious go over. Used Mike's book on this too made it a lot easier. The PD carbs aren't that scary as the guys on the SOHC4 forums make them out to be.
  • NOS OEM Points. Beware the new ones from Honda: they're secretly Daichi points and will cause all kinds of funny running. I also have a stash of these to last me my lifetime.
  • New OEM intake insulators.
  • New OEM band clamps.
  • New condensers (aftermarket). Not super necessary, but they're cheap and I kept the originals just in case these don't hold up. So far after a couple of years they are still holding up.
  • Bypassed the crankcase recirc system as it was fouling the filter after a year or two of riding.
What I'd like to do this year is have Mike do a proper valve job on the head. These have soft valves, compression is still quite decent at 155psi. However, I got Kibblewhite valves for Mike to install and never have to worry about valve recession again for a very long time. I'd also like to get a new Dyna ignition coil. 2 or 3 ohm as I'm still running the originals and that's a ticking timebomb. Maybe cam chain this year or next.

What I'd like to do next year will be a tough choice. Either bore it oversize with NOS pistons and rings OR bore it "big" with 750 pistons. Mike was saying you can use 750 pistons in these. Won't make it any faster, but will give it some good low end torque which is always welcome.

In about 4 to 5 years my plan is to repaint the tank and sidecovers since that clear is peeling. I don't really care about trying to re-zinc every fastener as it's not a show bike. I ride all my bikes hard, practically every day if it's not under 30F/raining/snowing/super windy. I'd like to find the original pipes but it's expensive and I probably won't do that any time soon.
 
Yeah, I gotta retighten that. Will do so today.

EDIT: Just went outside and fixed it. All good.
 
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These are such great bikes. I've had a few 550s over the years, including my second Honda ever: a 1975 550K that I bought in 1991 and just sold last year. Bulletproof. Sold it to buy a 1976 550F that is in amazing shape. I like the look of the '75 and earlier without the tank flap, but I've had a few of the later ones and they run smoothly.

Great bike.
 
CarnivorousChicken said:
These are such great bikes. I've had a few 550s over the years, including my second Honda ever: a 1975 550K that I bought in 1991 and just sold last year. Bulletproof. Sold it to buy a 1976 550F that is in amazing shape. I like the look of the '75 and earlier without the tank flap, but I've had a few of the later ones and they run smoothly.

Great bike.
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Yeah it's a lot of fun. Fast enough to get out of it's way and just fast enough to get into a little bit of trouble. But it's not a monster bike. Great "personal bike" if you're not trying to ride with a passenger.
 
Maraakate said:
Yeah it's a lot of fun. Fast enough to get out of it's way and just fast enough to get into a little bit of trouble. But it's not a monster bike. Great "personal bike" if you're not trying to ride with a passenger.
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I agree completely. I'd ride from Seattle to Portland or Eugene and hold 75-80 the whole time without issues, but they're also so much lighter and nimbler than 750s when zipping around a town. An ideal all-around bike.
 
Save your pennies over the next few years and you can get a set of these. https://hondanuts.com/products/exhaust-system-honda-cb550k-1977-1978
Too bad as I scored a NOS Honda set about 4 years ago for cheap and sold the original 4 into 4 off this bike for $600 Canadian in great shape.

I am putting this baby on the road this summer the first time in 42 years with only 4K miles or 7K kilometers on the clock. ;) ;)

As purchased after 42 years in storage.

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After some love and a little magic sauce.


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I've thought about those before. Do they sound the same as the originals and function the same? If not then I don't want to spend that kind of money.

Right now the focus is to get the engine stuff done before I worry about fun things like that. I ride my stuff frequently so it gets dirty real quick anyways.
 
Those are a set of Honda OEM original pipes on there, not the aftermarket ones They were bought from a Canadian Honda dealer and are the same as the stock ones I took off the bike. AFAIK if you read the blurb from the seller these are likely a Sanki product, who is/was the original manufacturer of those pipes to Honda back in the 1970's and possibly still on some of their systems today.
 
CarnivorousChicken said:
There's a thread over on the SOHC4 site detailing new DSS 4-4 pipes (older style) for the 550s (and more annoyance at Busso...)

Has anyone seen/purchased the new Delkevic 4into4 OEM look exhaust for a CB550?

Has anyone seen/purchased the new Delkevic 4into4 OEM look exhaust for a CB550?
forums.sohc4.net
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Those won't fit a 77/78K model, as the mounting and other points are different. I considered them as I like the look better than the later ones on the bike.
 
Flyin900 said:
Those are a set of Honda OEM original pipes on there, not the aftermarket ones They were bought from a Canadian Honda dealer and are the same as the stock ones I took off the bike. AFAIK if you read the blurb from the seller these are likely a Sanki product, who is/was the original manufacturer of those pipes to Honda back in the 1970's and possibly still on some of their systems today.
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Ok I saw it said reproduction. I assume these are the same pipes that DSS has for Sale. Same price.
 
Love seeing a thread on the 550 four , I had one in near delivery condition with about 1900 miles on it . Someone offered me enough to sell it at the time , regrets now , a 77 550 F super sport . So maybe someone will have one for me again someday… it was a perfect balance For me , liking it better than my KO 750 . Thanks for showing us yours and its re hab . IMG_6238.jpeg
 
Johnnydarkgt350 said:
Love seeing a thread on the 550 four , I had one in near delivery condition with about 1900 miles on it . Someone offered me enough to sell it at the time , regrets now , a 77 550 F super sport . So maybe someone will have one for me again someday… it was a perfect balance For me , liking it better than my KO 750 . Thanks for showing us yours and its re hab . View attachment 32432
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Nice to see such clean examples from everyone here. Should be fun in the next few years getting all my bikes looking this sharp!

I love the look of those SS pipes btw. 77 with the PD carbs. Not as scary as SOHC4 forums make them out to be. They're more than up to the task for the bike.
 
Clarification. I bought a set of Honda original NOS pipes from a Honda dealer in Canada when I found this bike. I replaced the Honda originals with brand new Honda originals. lol! Those in the ad I referenced are reproductions from likely Sanki and are identical to the originals, less the Honda logos but possibly still the Honda part # referenced on their mufflers.
My 1972 CB350F has a reproduction set of 4 into 4 Sanki pipes which are identical to the original Honda pipes with all the right part numbers on the mufflers, just not the Honda name like the originals had on the stamping.
 
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Johnnydarkgt350 said:
Love seeing a thread on the 550 four , I had one in near delivery condition with about 1900 miles on it . Someone offered me enough to sell it at the time , regrets now , a 77 550 F super sport . So maybe someone will have one for me again someday… it was a perfect balance For me , liking it better than my KO 750 . Thanks for showing us yours and its re hab .
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Johnnydarkgt350 said:
View attachment 32432
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Lovely colour and looks mint. When you find them that nice and low mileage they are keepers. Mine has sat for 5 years since I found it and I had no intention of putting it on the road. I still have the original Bridgestone tires that came on the bike from the factory, just not on there now for safety reasons.

I am selling off my collection and just sold my fairly mint 1984 GL1200 Standard yesterday with the mint 1983 CB1100F on the block next. So time to get a few others on the road before I can't ride anymore.
 
Flyin900 said:
My 1972 CB350F has a reproduction set of 4 into 4 Sanki pipes which are identical to the original Honda pipes with all the right part numbers on the mufflers, just not the Honda name like the originals had on the stamping.
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I bought Busso last year. It was a fiasco, they shipped the headers not the silencers that I ordered, took months of them B5ing me. Then more months of B5 before I got the silencers -- and had to pay import duties here in Mexico both times on the more expensive silencers. They look OK, not perfect, and not like repros by any means. Haven't set them up yet but I am crossing my fingers. A lot of the Busso 750 pipes have fitment issues, Busso still hasn't delivered pipes that were ordered and paid for over a year ago, and they are, apparently, closing down their 750 section. I feel lucky I got mine, but I'd rather have the Sanki pipes. Are they still available?
 
CarnivorousChicken said:
I bought Busso last year. It was a fiasco, they shipped the headers not the silencers that I ordered, took months of them B5ing me. Then more months of B5 before I got the silencers -- and had to pay import duties here in Mexico both times on the more expensive silencers. They look OK, not perfect, and not like repros by any means. Haven't set them up yet but I am crossing my fingers. A lot of the Busso 750 pipes have fitment issues, Busso still hasn't delivered pipes that were ordered and paid for over a year ago, and they are, apparently, closing down their 750 section. I feel lucky I got mine, but I'd rather have the Sanki pipes. Are they still available?
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I haven’t seen them for a few years now for sale. I think DSS and a few US sellers on EBay used to offer them. I know your plugged in on the SOHC forum too, though not a lot of CB350F owners on there either.
The quality of the Sanki reproductions are excellent both the chrome and fit and finish if they do come up again for sale.
 
Flyin900 said:
I haven’t seen them for a few years now for sale. I think DSS and a few US sellers on EBay used to offer them. I know your plugged in on the SOHC forum too, though not a lot of CB350F owners on there either.
The quality of the Sanki reproductions are excellent both the chrome and fit and finish if they do come up again for sale.
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Mine with 1900 miles on it had a hole rusted through the bottom of the pipe , kinda sounded cool but ouch ,, pipes are my nemesis
 
Johnnydarkgt350 said:
Mine with 1900 miles on it had a hole rusted through the bottom of the pipe , kinda sounded cool but ouch ,, pipes are my nemesis
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The rear top two mufflers on my original set had two dime sized rust through spots on their bottom sections that I repaired with Techsteel compound, so I sold them. My theory is there is a baffle in there that trapped moisture because of the limited kilometres ridden it didn’t burn off. This over time rotted the bottom of the mufflers.
 
Finally got around to getting those Kibblewhite Black Diamond valves installed. Original head I was using was all marred up from some knucklehead prying on it (missed this the first time around). So found another head from eBay and got the machine work done. Got it back together and here it is after it's warmed up:


Have not done any proper tune. Instantly started up though, and all I had to do was bump the idle down a tiny amount. Also put some new Dynatek 3-ohm ignition coils on it since the original coils are pushing 50 years old.

20F so can't ride it tonight.
 
About 100 miles total on it since the valve job. Everything is working fairly well. Starts incredibly easy and smooth throughout the ranges.

The only nitpick I have going on right now is a slipping clutch in a specific condition. Let's say you're cruising at 50mph and let off the throttle, wait a second, now whack the throttle wide open, it will slip around 7K or so for a moment then fix itself. If you're just gradually building it up instead of being "spirited" it's fine. It only happens when warm.

For the record, yes Shell Rotella T4 15W40. Yes, new oil and OEM filter. Yes, readjusted the clutch cable starting from the bottom. No, case is not overfilled. Yes, clutch cable routing is correct as per FSM in the CB550F addendum year.

My guess is that it was getting on its way out with the clutch anyways and now with some new-found power it's making that problem obvious when it wasn't before. In any case, the clutch cable itself is near the end of its adjustment on the bottom end of the cable. The discs and plates are still available from Honda EXCEPT that single "friction disc b". However, jtmarks still has it. NOS clutch cables are easy to find on eBay. DSS still has NOS springs. Might as well just refresh the whole thing.

Otherwise, it rides well. Regular, non-spirited rode-it-like-i-stole-it cruising is fine. Been having fun with it.
 
Nothing earth shattering, but as you may have noticed in some of the videos the speedometer had the top removed and the tach is faded and inaccurate even for tachs of the era.

I found a used set with high mileage for a very reasonable price. A small dent on the speedometer housing and a bit of rust that can be fixed. Otherwise, they work well and honestly a little sharpie around that rust on the edges hides it. Very satisfied and I sought out a higher mileage one on purpose because I have learned from fixing bikes from others that very low mileage speedometers seem to develop a really annoying whine after about ~30MPH. I suspect this is because the grease hardens and dries out from lack of use.

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I do have enough broken speedometers and housings that I COULD transfer this nice working one to it, but I feel best leave it alone. Keep one good working one and if I want to "upgrade" to a nicer one later then try to do all that fun. For now, just going to ride and enjoy and not get fussy about that.

About 200 miles so far and no issues. Very satisfied.
 
Those bar mount POV videos always freak me out. no peripheral vision and momentary panic at every intersection like you're blazing right through without checking. Bike sounds great though.
 
Thanks for the kind words, it's been running great.

I need to get a GoPro at some point. I see the older generation models have finally come down to under $100. Got some other things going on with vehicles that are more important than that at the moment.
 
Maraakate said:
I need to get a GoPro at some point. I see the older generation models have finally come down to under $100.
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My Hero 3 is still working perfectly, it was bought new in 2014 so if any used ones out there have been halfway taken care of you should be able to find a good deal. I've only replaced the battery twice in that time, recently bought a couple of new ones cheap from Amazon.
 
I saw there's some 8s with a handful of batteries and a charger in the $60-$70 range. And I'm not trying to get crazy perfect 4K HD massive megapixel quality.
 
Maraakate said:
I saw there's some 8s with a handful of batteries and a charger in the $60-$70 range. And I'm not trying to get crazy perfect 4K HD massive megapixel quality.
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Yeah if you can get that much later version for that price, it should be a great deal. Mine is only capable of 1080p and it's fine for bike rides.
 
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