Honda CBX 550 F

[79XS11F]

Does anyone on the board have one of these bikes?
My nephew bough one on Thursday as his first bike and we will be tuning it up this weekend. We have a manual but it looks like this model was only made for one year so parts and info is difficult to find. At least the bike is a complete unit without original exhaust. Any first hand experience and or info about this machine would be appreciated.
Thanks
Rob

[79XS11F]

Well, we spent the day in the garage working on this bike and it is already a turn key machine. Still needs a valve and cam chain adjustment but she sounds and looks good. It's no wonder it would not idle and run well. The carbs were way out of sync, 2 of the 4 plugs were only finger tight, the plug wires were the original ones from 1983, fully corroded and as hard as rocks, the oil looked liked like WD 40, the plugs were as black as black gets, the gas in the tank was 1.5 years old and so was the un-maintained battery.

[DGXSER]

Wow, but you do clean them up nice!!! Pretty looking machine there Rob!!

Seems like the dreaded "PO" that knows little but messes with alot and then sells off their mistakes for others to deal with exist in every make and model. But then, it makes for a much easier turn around for someone who has an idea or two.

[79XS11F]

I made the kid wash it LOL LOL. He's never even held a wrench in his hands before today so there's lots of learning for him to do. The bike does not appear to have any serious issues but I am a little concerned to find 2 scored cam bearing caps in the parts box he got with the bike?? He was going to drop 4K on a Ninja 250 but for unknown reasons became interested in this bike. Owner wanted 1400.00 for it but we loaded it up for 800.00 because it would not idle or respond to throttle input. The kid wants to fully restore it in time so we are starting with safe and reliable. He's off to a good start but has a lot to learn and a lot of work ahead of him. Tires are next up. Both are currently squared off with NO WEAR off the center line what so ever.
Rob

[Rstyduck]

Well thats a clean old Honda. Good for him.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Rob,
Nice looking bike. I am intrqued by the front brakes.
I see twin piston Calipers but no disc visible?
and what do the two "dog bones" do?

Phil

[MindWebs]

give this a shot.

Honda CBX400 F,550 F Service Manual GER,FRA,ENG http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KEQFW4DI

hope it's a good link...?

yep.. still active, Good luck

Nice looking machine!!!

[Rstyduck]

Hi Rob,
Nice looking bike. I am intrqued by the front brakes.
I see twin piston Calipers but no disc visible?
and what do the two "dog bones" do?

Phil

Rear brake too. Must be covers.

[barberad]

Rear brake too. Must be covers.

My VTZ had those covers on the wheels. Can you say tire removel just to change the brake pads. The scoops are to force air on the rotors. Some goldwings had that setup too. All and all though, that is a good looking bike.
Dan

[79XS11F]

Yes they are vented covers. Honda opted to use cast iron rotors and did not want to have them rusty rotors visible so they covered them with what you see. The bike is actually pretty trick for an original 1983 model. Stock is with no points or adjustable timing. it's all controlled by the black box, interlinked air forks, adjustable anti dive on the left leg tied into the front brakes. Adjustable mono shock at the rear, 16 valves per cylinder, alloy low rise handlebars. 6 speed trany and a few other things I have overlooked.
Rob

[79XS11F]

give this a shot.

Honda CBX400 F,550 F Service Manual GER,FRA,ENG http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KEQFW4DI

hope it's a good link...?

yep.. still active, Good luck

Nice looking machine!!!

Worked THANKS A BUNCH
Rob

[79XS11F]

Well, this bike is proving to be a problem for us. It looks like one of the POs did not own a torque wrench so we are finding stripped bolts around every corner. The biggest issue is the valve cover bolts that thread into the tops of the cam caps and cam chain tower. 3 are stripped and one is stripped in spite of already being repaired once in the past. Had to pull the cams to get the cam tower out for repair and 2 of those bolts are stripped as well. the PO stuck wire down into the holes in an effort to get the bolts to hold. It scares me to think that perhaps the same person was the one who split the cases and worked inside the engine

[79XS11F]

Well, with so many bolts in the top end being stripped and not sure about who get the lower end, the kid wanted to buy another one and salvage the engine out of it or use it with parts from this one. Sort of save the best bike and sell the other. We drove to the Montreal area to look at and were ready to buy the same bike that was listed as NICE, and ready for antique plates.
Well, the photos that were posted in the "for sale" listings were from before the bike was dropped several times I guess. It was a rust bucket. All turn signals broken off, tail light smashed in, Head light broken, tack and speedo broken, Mirrors flopping around, One engine case guard sheared right off, exhaust scuffed up badly all over. Lots of black tape holding it together and EVERY NUT AND BOLT ON THE BIKE INCLUDING THE SS BRAKE LINES WERE ORANGE WITH RUST. So 5.5 hours return trip to look at a lier's used piece of crap
Rob

[lee_dutcher]

should of bought the pos and swapped whatever u needed from it....

[79XS11F]

should of bought the pos and swapped whatever u needed from it....

No way, The guy wanted 800.00 FIRM for it and would not budge. As a parts bike there were not enough parts on it that were usable. The only usable part was the engine and there was no telling what was going on inside it. If anything like the outside of the bike there would not be much to use off it ether. The kid only paid 800 for the one hes got and by comparison, its a gem.
Rob