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Hi all,
Been lurking for awhile and reading lots of your projects so time to share my own. Bit of a back story, I sold first bike and all other toys 2 years ago to embark on an OE, lived in an apartment in London where I had no parking space let alone a garage, and have been dying to get into my next project ever since. Have always been into 70s stuff so was quite keen when I spied the 550 on the national buy/sell website back home. It fit the bill being an early model with wire wheels, twin front discs and a kickstart, too cool! I was still oversees at this point but thought I would take a gamble and bid sight unseen, given that cheap old bikes aren't as plentiful down here in New Zealand. I won the auction and got it shipped to my parents garage to await my return.
Original auction photo
Fast forward a few months and I finally got to see it in the metal. It wasn't quite as nice as I was hoping, but on the other hand I had been craving something I could spend time tinkering with so I guess it will just keep me busy for longer. Somewhere in its past life it has had the back end cut off and the seat modified, which wasn't done as tidily as I'd like, the side cover clips are all broken, the wiring was a mess, and to top it all off, the whole thing has been sprayed black with little to no prep work, so I have paint flaking off here there and everywhere whenever I touch it.
First things first I went over the wiring and fixed numerous bad connections and melted wiring
With a new battery, most things are working, still some trouble shooting to do here. Ripped the valve cover off and checked my clearances, my 0.04mm feeler gauge goes through but not my 0.09mm so I think they are good for now.
Put some gas in the tank and fired her up without too much trouble, she didn't want to rev nicely but idled long enough for me to put a multimeter on the and confirm it was charging. Took for a quick ride down the end of the road and back, man was she loud! Time to take off the exhaust wrap and see what was hiding...
Many exhaust leaks! These aren't even all of them. I gave them a wire brush and took to a friends place to see if I could weld them up, but the holes just kept on getting bigger! I think this exhaust is past it, have enquired about a replacement Marving unit after reading various reviews, not cheap though once you include shipping!
Next up I wanted to get the carbs apart.
Gave them a bath in simple green and hot water to start with
Had some trouble getting the main shaft out, was alot of grime stuck on it holding it in place, got there in the end
Took note of jets and whatnot as I stripped them, all looks standard with #80 mains
Borrowed mums jewellery ultrasonic cleaner, splash of vinegar and simple green with hot water did a good job on the brass bits
Before & after, only 5mins to get them clean. I have a new set of orings waiting to be installed thanks to cycleorings.com
As it sits now. Awaiting some new parts before I can begin reassembly, but lots of cleaning and polishing I can do in the meantime.
Thanks for all the info on the forum, has made my work up until this point much easier!
Daniel
Been lurking for awhile and reading lots of your projects so time to share my own. Bit of a back story, I sold first bike and all other toys 2 years ago to embark on an OE, lived in an apartment in London where I had no parking space let alone a garage, and have been dying to get into my next project ever since. Have always been into 70s stuff so was quite keen when I spied the 550 on the national buy/sell website back home. It fit the bill being an early model with wire wheels, twin front discs and a kickstart, too cool! I was still oversees at this point but thought I would take a gamble and bid sight unseen, given that cheap old bikes aren't as plentiful down here in New Zealand. I won the auction and got it shipped to my parents garage to await my return.
Original auction photo
Fast forward a few months and I finally got to see it in the metal. It wasn't quite as nice as I was hoping, but on the other hand I had been craving something I could spend time tinkering with so I guess it will just keep me busy for longer. Somewhere in its past life it has had the back end cut off and the seat modified, which wasn't done as tidily as I'd like, the side cover clips are all broken, the wiring was a mess, and to top it all off, the whole thing has been sprayed black with little to no prep work, so I have paint flaking off here there and everywhere whenever I touch it.
First things first I went over the wiring and fixed numerous bad connections and melted wiring
With a new battery, most things are working, still some trouble shooting to do here. Ripped the valve cover off and checked my clearances, my 0.04mm feeler gauge goes through but not my 0.09mm so I think they are good for now.
Put some gas in the tank and fired her up without too much trouble, she didn't want to rev nicely but idled long enough for me to put a multimeter on the and confirm it was charging. Took for a quick ride down the end of the road and back, man was she loud! Time to take off the exhaust wrap and see what was hiding...
Many exhaust leaks! These aren't even all of them. I gave them a wire brush and took to a friends place to see if I could weld them up, but the holes just kept on getting bigger! I think this exhaust is past it, have enquired about a replacement Marving unit after reading various reviews, not cheap though once you include shipping!
Next up I wanted to get the carbs apart.
Gave them a bath in simple green and hot water to start with
Had some trouble getting the main shaft out, was alot of grime stuck on it holding it in place, got there in the end
Took note of jets and whatnot as I stripped them, all looks standard with #80 mains
Borrowed mums jewellery ultrasonic cleaner, splash of vinegar and simple green with hot water did a good job on the brass bits
Before & after, only 5mins to get them clean. I have a new set of orings waiting to be installed thanks to cycleorings.com
As it sits now. Awaiting some new parts before I can begin reassembly, but lots of cleaning and polishing I can do in the meantime.
Thanks for all the info on the forum, has made my work up until this point much easier!
Daniel
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