The story of my CB550 ratbike - Now hardtailed!

[Nath]

Here we go then, been meaning to post something along these lines for a while now but up until this point haven't found the motivation. At the moment every 'project' in this section of the forum seems to be about taking perfectly rideable bikes off the road for unneccessary over the top cleaning and polishing. Well if you find those posts a little boring, then I've got a 'proper' biking tale for ya

It all started last summer (2005). My dad has owned an old Honda 550/4 for a long time, and during a wave of enthusiasm that all new eBay users experience, decided to buy a complete non-running bike for spares. It was decided that I would have the frame and engine as a project.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-1.jpg
The eBay auction photograph.

To get the bike home we had to dismantle it and stick it in the boot of the car. My dad's own bike had been built entirely from parts 15 years previously, but even with his in-depth knowledge of this bike it still took us a couple of hours to get the bike away. In the eBay-photograph it looks quite clean, but in reality the whole bike was rusted to buggery. The guy who was selling it had left it standing in his garden untouched for 10 years. On the drive home my dad remarked something like "'That heap of shite'll never see the road again in a million years".

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-3.jpg
The bike after unloading it at the back of our house. These photographs give a better idea of the condition the thing was in. As well as being a filthy rusted heap, it also had a siezed engine.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-2.jpg

Time passed and not a lot happened with the 550. My dad pinched a few small things to get chrome plated and put on his own bike, but it remained basically intact at the back of our garage. At the end of the summer I completed a successful 5000mile tour of Spain on my Honda Bros, and upon returning I started planning another tour for the following year. I already had in mind doing this on the 550, but since it was still rotting away at the back of the garage I didn't tell anybody sinced they'd have fallen on the floor laughing. My dad still maintained the thing would never be rideable.

With a new reason to get the 550 running, I stripped the frame and removed all the surface rust before painting over any bare metal with rust-proof primer.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-4.jpg

I also stripped and cleaned the forks to make sure they were going to be usable.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-5.jpg
The leg on right is covered in mould and corrosion, the one on the left had looked the same until I spent an hour going over it with wire wool. Notice how the fork stanchion is rusted to fuck above the where the gators went up to.

Christmas was drawing nearer and I decided to stop dragging my feet and push on properly. I spent a day outside in the cold making a table thing to stick the engine on, so I wouldn't cripple myself whilst working on it. Maybe someone else might have knocked the thing together in 30minutes, but I still enjoyed making the table as I've not really done any woodwork before.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-6.jpg

With the aid of my dad, the engine cylinder head and barrels came off. Water had managed to get into the engine, seizing the piston rings to the bores, and covering the connecting rods in a layer of furry corrosion. As I recall, it took over an hour of shouting and swearing whilst weilding crowbars and large hammers to get the barrels off the pistons.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-7.jpg

The plan was to stick the pistons in the oven to free help free off the rings, then reuse them after cleaning up the bores. However a few rings ended up breaking so I got a used set of barrels+pistons off eBay instead. The rings on the new pistons turned out to be in pretty good condition, well within the limits, so we were pretty lucky there.

The water that had made its way into the engine had also badly pitted the valve seats, so I ground all the valves in. One seat was too badly pitted though, and had to be attacked with a file, and then some wet and dry, before grinding the valve back in.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-8.jpg
Valve grinding. I actually used a power drill for nearly all of this job, and would have never got the cylinder head usable again without it because it took hours and hours of high RPM abuse to get the pitting out of the seats.

You may recall that last winter was particularly cold and miserable, so spending many freezing dark evenings out in the garage doing boring repetitive cleaning on the engine was a particularly good 'character building' exercise. I can clearly remember going out into the garage on the evening of Christmas day to do some work on the cylinder head as I had nothing better to do.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-a.jpg
Making a new base-gasket out of a cereal packet

But good things come to those who wait, and with the cylinder head done the engine was put back together and stuck in the freshly painted frame (matt black, of course). With my dad to hand, we held our breaths and stuck 12volts on the starter motor to be rewarded with the engine churning over like a good'un. Unfortunately a compression check didn't not give the results we were hoping for, but a quick look at the tappets revealed they'd tightened up again as the valves had seated properly. Another check, and my dad was genuinely shocked to see 150psi out of every cylinder, with no sign of the dodgy valve seats.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-9.jpg

I should also mention that whilst reassembling the engine, we found one of the connecting rods was a little bit bent. Apparently it is a well known fact that you should never try to knock out siezed gudgeon pins with a hammer and punch due to the risk of bending the connecting rod. However no-one had told me this, and result was indeed a less than straight rod It was straightened in the heat of the moment with a large pair of pipe grips, and no more was said. Both me and my dad are still to this day quite impressed that this never caused any real problems.

With the engine ready to run I stuck the bike back together and was pretty chuffed to have something resemebling a motorcycle again.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-10.jpg

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-11.jpg

The engine was a bit reluctant to fire up at first, but eventually roared into life. Seeing what had once been just a lump of mouldy aluminium pounding away was quite satisfying, and certainly made me rethink my attitudes to old technology. The engine didn't run very well, but I couldn't progress further till I'd got the bike outside and attached the exhaust properly so the bike could be run without defeaning me. A fresh set of carbs off eBay and a lot of fiddling later, and the bike was finally running on four cylinders.

Getting the thing MOTed was less of a hassle than I was expecting, and it only failed on a binding brake (that I'd known about). I'd already spent hours messing around with the front brake system previously, but it didn't take me long to restrip the caliper and remove all the crap from behind the piston seal. I was quite surprised to hold a valid MOT certificate in my hand, as only a short time had passed since the engine had been fired up (for the first time in 10 years!!), and now the bike was running and road legal!

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-12.jpg

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-13.jpg
One of many initial outings on the bike. I wasted no time at all putting miles on the bike, as I needed to prove it was sound before I could take it touring Europe.

The bike was running fantastically, so I started making preperations for my big tour of Europe which was now only a month or two away. I went to my local army surplus store and bought some ammo crates to use as luggage. I then got some steel flat from a local supplier to weld some brackets to mount the boxes to the bike.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-14.jpg
My first go at welding.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-15.jpg
On the bike and looking good! A week or two after getting the boxes on, I did a little green laning and crashed one pannier into a large rock embedded into the ground. Little damage was sustained to the pannier, as most of the force was transferred to the bike's subrame which promptly bent. This helped reassure me that the luggage would be up to challenge it was going to face.

At this point I was using the bike to commute to work on everyday, which enabled me to iron out the few remaining problems. I didn't decide to finish off the luggage arrangement untill a week or so before my 'grand trip'.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-16.jpg
The solo seat for my bike. I used gaffa tape and polyester from an old quilt to make the seat, but once I got it on the bike I discovered the sheet steel wasn't strong enough so had to rip everything off to weld on some more steel.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-17.jpg
The bike complete!

Well it had been a long cold winter of graft on a seemingly impossible goal, and a stressfull spring of trying put together the necessary funds to spend three months travelling Europe. But June had finally come around and I was ready to depart on my Euro rat. I will not go into massive details here, as the story of my tour of Europe warrants a thread of its own. I basically spent 3 months travelling through 25 countries racking up 18,500 miles.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-18.jpg
The wilderness of Norway. To be riding through that massive empty landscape alone on a classic motorcycle was simply paradise.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-19.jpg
Doing a bit of offroading up the side of a mountain (again in Norway). Most touring motorcyclists I came across were on BMWs, but I reckon the old 550 was easily a match for those overpriced boats. Ewan Mcgregor eat your heart out!

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-20.jpg
A large version of this photo'll be going on my wall.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-21.jpg
Final pic, this time from Greece rather than Norway.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-22.jpg
There ya go, that's what a 20,000 mile long redline looks like.

I arrived back home in Septemeber, and the motorcycle was still running well. With the touring clobber off it looked pretty cool as well, caked in 20,000miles worth of muck.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-23.jpg

I now decided to fulfill an ambition to have a full on madmax style ratbike, so promptly set about ditching a few unimportant things and changing the headlamp for one of an old Volkswagon (the old one was looking worse for wear after falling off going over some mental potholes in Bulgaria).

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-24.jpg

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-25.jpg
The finishing touch, a straight-through super-short exhaust pipe made out of some scaffolding. Spits out big blue flames on the overrun Nice.

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-26.jpg

https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/cb550_story/story-27.jpg

There ya have it, my 30 year old 550/four ratbike. I dare say it's more of a head turner than any shiny sportsbike like everyone else on this forum owns, no matter how much time you've spent polishing it. Would I trade my ratbike for a multi-thousand pound modern bike in a straight swap? Hell yeah, and then I'd flog the fucker and spend the money making another rat and doing another long distance tour.

/nathan
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[Whosthedaddy]

Pretty damn cool not just to rebuild but to ride it around Europe, big Kudos mate

Is the black bin liner gators part of the rat bike theme

Well done.
____________________
Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[brooky]

Thats awesome. I really want a bike like that, The type where I can give it any challenge and I wont have to worry about it scratching it or breaking down.

If I had a bike like that I would never be able to get rid of it after doing so many miles and having such an amazing time on it, it would be like selling a close friend.

Some of those pics were awesome and I will one day aim to do such trips, Just have to find a nice bike capable of it

Thanks mate, that was interesting.

Jake
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Suzuki GSX-R 750 K6.

[Whosthedaddy]

[beatnck]

top stuff mate, very inspiring

[colin1]

great stuff
what was your favourite country for riding through ?

did you plan your route ahead of time, or just get maps in the country you were in and use them ?

did you camp all the time or somtimes use hostels ?

was it easy to find camp sites, or did you just camp at the side of the road ?

any tips for anyone new to touring europe on a bike ?

did you have any breakdowns/punctures ? were you able to fix them all yourself ?

[Jenks]

wooohoooo nathan finally, now you can have this too!

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v461/ylldeath/th_MOV00008.jpg

Fantastic nathan!


scuse the video'ing wasnt me!!! - Nathan, giv us a pm, meet up sometime

hmm, seems all so laggy? :S
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1978 MZ TS 250 1 Supa 5
1992 yamaha fzr1000 exup
1998 aprilia af1 sintesi

[veeeffarr]

This thread for president!

Excellent read.

[Nath]

[Itchy]

an inspiration to us all , I'd like to do that some day but , my need to be mobile , generally being a travelling worker and having nothing but a panier of tools means no.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[quacker_boy]

Fantastic read Nathan, christ that makes my dad's 7,000 mile trip from here back to UK look like a walk in the park

Oh and did i mention he was on a BMW?
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wizzzard wrote: Imagine God just stopping by, tidying your front room up and then quietly letting himself out again. Statisticly more likely to happen than Korn being on here.

[Gazdaman]

That is truely awesome.

If I had an engine in that condition, I would have given up. Kudos for soldiering on, you've certainly reaped the benefits!

Good on you!

Gaz

[FreshAL]

That's an amazing story.

You should send that in to Classic Bike or something, I'm sure they'd love that.

One of the best posts I've ever read on BCF

[21chappers]

thats stupid, we can try another when i see ya, I think we should go like as abit of a group in a few years

--this is jenks by the way, at the other adams lol--

[Keen]

wow. Just looking at the route map of your trip is awe inspiring.

Where was that picture taken, the one that you're going to put on your wall??
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[yambabe]

Excellent read, thanks!

John says are you going to do one on the 750 too.......
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[Big Pete]

gotta love those old 550/4s, I had a few when I was a student and they are a great motor. I still have enough bits to build at least one and maybe two more bikes, but this time they will either be chops or cafe racers with modern running gear. Those motors respond well to 0.6mm skimming off the barrels and a gas flow job on the inlet ports BTW.
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Trust me, I`m an engineer
GarageOfPower.co.uk

[Whosthedaddy]

[Big Pete]

I built a cafe racer when I was at uni, single seat with tail hump, clip ons, rearsets, little nosecone, flush filler, all sorts. It looked quite tidy IMO. It also had twin calipers and discs on the front, the origanl calipers can be reversed, and the boss on the forks cut back a bit, the 2nd disc bolts straight on to the whell and away you go. When combined with a set of SS lines it was a major improvement in stopping power.
____________________
Trust me, I`m an engineer
GarageOfPower.co.uk

[Whosthedaddy]

[palmer]

I love cafe racers lately. Something very cool about them.

[virus]

great bike, I love the panniers aswell, Id love to get an old bike and do that.
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own: 81 xs1100g...
owned: 85 rat CG (sold), 91 GS500e (stolen), 84 gsx400f (scrapped), 81 z250 (siezed, siezed, scrapped), 83 cb250rs (sold), 84 gpz750r ratfighter (killed) 84gpz400 (sold), '80 cb650 ratfighter (wrote off) 95gsx6/12f ratfighter (killed) 91 xj900 (sold)
stinkwheel Well I just had my hands up a pigs fanny. Which makes your concerns pale into insignificance.

[-Ali-]

what was the total cost fo the bike?

[Rookie]

Best post on here for a looong time. Quality read.

[Method]

Very impressive!

Thats something that i am desperately envious of you for... doing such a big trip against all the odds!

The one thing i want to acheive is to do a rediculously large trip, on a rediculous bike, against all the odds, and have a real challenge. Just to be able to come back afterwards and say "Look, this is what ive just done!" Exactly how you have done there.

'Kin Legendary dude, nice job
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CBT Aug '03 ... Gilera GSM 50 ... Honda NSR 125 Aug '04 ...
Full Test Dec 04... Suzuki GS500 Jan 05... Suzuki SV650 Mar 07... Gixxer 6 K5 May 08... Oh and my 'Rado
My Bikepics.com - No Brakes, No Gears... No Fear.