Some CB550 History

Recently I made some changes to my 76 CB550. I bought this thing about 3 years ago from a friend of mine. It had been made into a cafe racer which as a motorcycle rookie I thought was pretty darn cool. Well my goals and expectations have certainly changed from that cold November day the flat black clubman equipped 550 arrived at my house. The first year I loved it. It was fast compared to anything I'd ever ridden and it wasn't reliable enough to ride outside of town so the aggressive position didn't bother me. I made some changes; a new seat, some proper rear sets and the same mac 4 into 1 every budget Honda 4 ends up with. Then I got a cb750, a true travelin motorcycle. 100% stock, reliable and ready for the open road. Oh momma what a whole new universe! Suddenly my 550 seemed utterly pointless unless I was going to the gas station. Some time passed and parts accumulated, eventually I had enough to build a completely stock 550 and it was perfect. Perfect size, enough power and shitty enough so I didn't have to care about being hard on it. A super fun motorcycle. It was about this point in time I realized that that really was the point for me. Fun. A fun motorcycle is what I want. So both 550's sacrificed themselves to create this thing. Incorporating the  the cafe racer's cut up bits but stock foot and butt position with dirt bike bars. I think I'd call it a street tracker but Honda 4's were never flat tracked to any kind of success so maybe it's just a weird motorcycle abomination. Whatever it is it's a blast to ride and something I'm really excited about having as a long term project.

Day one - 16" HD rear rim, cut up stock exhaust, clubmans, whale dick seat and obligatory flat black paint job.

Making some progress - Made a new seat / tail from a cut up cb100 tank. Cut out a ton of wiring, gel battery, Ditched the bulbous "F" tank for a "K" with the fancy cap. Dumbass Mac and some chrome clubmans.

Stock guy coming together.

Done n fun.

Missing the seat just before it came apart. Hot shot exhaust, rear sets, stacks, 650 clutch and cam, clip ons, # plate, cb750 brakes, milled triple tree and a bunch of other stuff since the second picture.

Here is how it sits now. Cut up Staracer fiberglass and, 650 17" rear wheel, metzlers, old motocross bars. Love'n every minute of it!