My seat didn’t arrive this weekend. That’s okay. I had wanted to install the seat and start figuring out what I was going to do with the battery. Since it didn’t arrive, I reinstalled the battery box in its original location. I wanted to make sure my fooling about with the new jets, filters, and wiring harness didn’t effect the bikes ability to to run. So, I decided to temporarily put it back on.

Here is the link to the post of the removal.
http://www.austincaferacer.com/2008/07/removing-the-battery-and-battery-box/#comment-17

The old thing was pretty distressed, but after some sanding with 320 grit sandpaper and a few coats of some rattle can enamel it was looking fairly decent.

Here is a shot of my clever use of the abundance of bamboo in the yard.

Before shot.

After shot.

The battery back in place. Lets test it out!

Honda 1976 CB550 from Austin CafeRacer on Vimeo.

Sounds good. Idles fine. I won’t know for sure if its fully functional until I get it on the road. Can’t wait for my seat.

Like an archaeologist digging through layers of sediment and finding signs of earlier civilizations, I’ve discovered several locations on my bike that have had previous work done. Example: The oil filter bolt.

I presume the bolt was stripped and the previous owner used a cutting disc or angle grinder to fashion some sort of primitive rectangular knob to be able to turn it and get it out. What I can’t understand is why the bolt was put back in. A new bolt can easily be purchased for around $10 bucks.

I used some vice grips to try turn the bolt… after a short battle, I was the victor. It came loose and I drained the thick, dirty, black oil.

• I wiped down the oil filter housing
• Installed a new oil filter
• New rubber gasket
• New shiny oil filter bolt
• Poured in a few quarts of fresh SAE 10W-40