I’m not going to post again until the weekend, but since I have the photos I may as well post the removal of the seat lock.

I’m not going to need it after I get my new bolt on seat from BCR.

There were only two bolts holding it down. Simple enough.

Pod filters are cool.

They are all shiny and metal and sci-fi and they look a heck of a lot better than the stock plastic air filter, but….

They don’t fit my bike model.

Of course, the box says they do, and in their defense they actually do fit my carbs. 39mm, in fact, is a perfect fit, but what they fail to understand is that even though the filters may fit the carburetors they won’t fit inside the CB550 frame. Well, sort of…

The inside carbs offer easy installation of the pod filters.

But the outside carbs run into two problems.

1. The frame is in the way.

2. On the left side of the bike the choke lever is in the way. It would have to be bent in order to compensate for the filter, but even after that, the frame is still in the way.

What is curious is that I have seen images of CB550s with pod filters installed. I’m stumped again.

Maybe its the brand I bought. I elected to buy the cheapest filters I could find. Emgo.

This can only mean three things:

1. My frame or engine or carbs are from another year.

2. Emgo brand isn’t worth a damm.

3. I’m not trying hard enough.

UPDATE:

Evidently, K&N makes a set of filters that are supposed fit the CB550.

They are shorter than traditional pod filters, more cylindrical than conical. But even these require that some modification to the choke lever be made.

Here is a link to the PDF I grabbed from K&N’s Website.

I wonder if anyone else has run into this problem.

The throttle cable didn’t need replacing. I was just being a little spoiled and bought a new cable because the old one was a little rusted near the adjuster and locknut. In fact the cable was in very good condition beneath the tank.

Removing the old cable was a piece of cake. The eccentric link pin slid right out of the cable crank once I loosened the lock nuts.

Old rusted throttle cable removed.

Installing the new cable was just as easy. Everything done in reverse. I slid the link pin in the cable crank and tightened the locknuts.

Nice and tight. All done on this end.

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The new cable was a few inches longer than the old cable. I knew this when I purchased it, but thought the new bars would compensate for the added length. They didn’t…. so managing the excess length was done by routing the cable over the ignition coils. I was able to turn the forks to both left and right locking positions and still achieved a proper snap back from the throttle. That means everything is okay.

Next was to adjust the throttle linkage and take out the slack. I was feeling about an inch and a half of slack on the throttle before the cable crank actually moved. This was such an easy adjustment it doesn’t even warrant an image or post.

I simply turned the adjuster toward me until the slack was gone and then tightened the locknut.

Done. Feels great and looks great too. No rust on this cable.

Step one: remove the fuel lines from the petcock.

I doubt these were stock, but my petcock had tiny metal clamps holding down the fuel lines. My little CB200 I worked on two summers ago didn’t have clamps. Later tonight I’ll look through the manual to see if these are supposed to be there. So…. I just loosened the clamps and pulled the hoses. Obviously the petcock was set to off so no fuel spewed from the tank after I pulled these. However, I little bit of gasoline spilled out of one of the fuel lines when I tilted it a little too low.

I wrapped the hose ends with a plastic bag and a rubber band to make sure nothing got in the fuel lines.

Petcock with no fuel lines.

Next I just lifted the tank from the rubber tank mount and set aside careful not to harm the petcock. I dig the faded tank color. Its almost a perfect gradient from green to brown. I assume it must have a combination of heat and vapors that gave it that patina. Its going to break my heart when I have to paint the tank.

Bike with no tank. :(

Overhead shot.

I was going to need to do this anyway once I purchased a new exhaust, but I was bored and decided to take them out today. It was a simple process: unscrew bolt, remove bolt, remove passenger peg, replace bolt, screw in tight.