I bought it at Harbor Freight. An inexpensive Chinese made 4 inch angle grinder that I got for $16 bucks.

My friend Clint would scold me for buying cheap chinese tools, but I love them.

I never used one before, so I didn’t know what to expect in terms of safety, so I bought some $1.99 gloves, $1.99 googles, and some dust masks.

My cafe seat came in last week and as I mocked it up I noticed there were two hooks that I needed to grind off so it could fit properly. I decided I wouldn’t post pics of the seat yet…. that’ll be for another post.

The Honda CB550 has a second hook near the tank. I assume its another helmet hook. I can’t think of what else it could be.

They pull off easy by bending them back and forth with a pair of pliers.

I realized this is something that should have been done with the bike stripped down to the frame, something I didn’t plan on doing until this winter. I just covered the bike with a blue tarp. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of debris and sparks. Zero debris, lots of flying sparks. I had to put on a hat.

Er… my first time…

Hook by the tank.

This winter I’ll have the frame sandblasted and powder coated. Until then I thought I’d better shoot the exposed metal with rust preventative primer. I don’t care about how it looks now. The seat will cover this.

Not pretty, but no one will see this.

I’ve also been keeping track of my sales and purchases. In fact I have a pretty geeky spreadsheet that covers all my expenses and profits from this caferacer project.

This table illustrates only the items that I stripped from the bike.

Not bad for 30 year old parts. I netted nearly $300 dollars. That profit helped pay for my brand spanking new exhaust.

I haven’t come out ahead, nor have I broken even, but the profits from my eBay auctions have cut my costs on this project significantly.

There were two bolts for each exhaust pipe flange. I was afraid they might be too rusted and corroded to turn but they came out fine.

The entire exhaust system was in poor shape… rusted chrome and holes throughout.

I removed the passenger pegs a few weeks ago. Same bolt. 17mm nut on the back and 14mm bolt head.

Engine without exhaust.

I kept everything in order. I’m sure the pipe flanges, collets and nuts are interchangeable but I didn’t want to take any chances. Those are wax paper sandwich bags… not the best means of organizing, I know.

The exhaust was in horrible shape. I noticed there were large deteriorated holes were the headers meet the baffles. The previous owner simply covered them with metal bands and in one case some kind of cloth that I can’t believe didn’t catch on fire.

Or did it?

I don’t think anyone will buy these. I’ll try getting rid of them locally on craigslist. Someone may want them, it would be a shame to just throw them out.

Bike sans exhaust.

Slowly but surely.

A perfect fit. They are a bit spongy so I’m sure they would accommodate in size for all sorts of frames.

I honestly didn’t realize this thing was plastic. Even when I was removing the front fender and was in close contact with it I thought it was made of metal. Its in decent shape, someone on eBay will buy it.

I think it looks better without it. I’ll worry about polishing those forks later.

I also have a shiny new Honda OEM brake line waiting to be installed. Maybe I’ll get to it next week.

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.

Comes from benjie’s site.
http://www.benjiescaferacer.com/home.html

There are three reasons why I like this style.

1. Its slim and follows the lines of the frame. (may reduce some weight)

2. Integrated brake light and license plate holder.

3. Comes primed and ready for paint and its already upholstered.

I can get it in alloy or fiberglass.

The Clymer manual calls for NGK D7ES plugs, but NGK doesn’t make that model anymore. Luckily we can use the NGK D7EA. I picked up four from Old Bike Barn.
http://www.oldbikebarn.com/NGK-D7EA-Standard-Projected-Insulator-Spark-Plug

Old Bike Barn also sells the Honda OEM Oil Filter. I’m going to change the oil the same day I replace the air filters and screw in the new plugs. Can’t wait to get my hands dirty.

I picked up a set of Clubman Ace bars. They wont be as comfortable as the high stock bars but they are going to look cool as shit.

I also ordered a set of new 39mm racing pod filters so I can remove the old chunky stock filter that probably hasn’t been changed out in 30+ years. Evidently the pod filters let in more air to the carburetors. Depending on who you talk to using pod filters will require a re-jetting of the carbs. I won’t know until after I install them.

Every thing already shipped out and should be here by next weekend. I also ordered a new throttle pull cable and new clutch cable.

I picked up a set of teeny tiny rear turn signals to replace the gargantuan ones I removed earlier. The casings are aluminum and the lenses are a smoke amber color. The small signals won’t pass inspection but at least the traffic behind me will know which way I’m turning.

It will look much cleaner as soon as I get a new exhaust for the bike.