So far my only idea is to crease the license plate right under the stickers and bend it upward. Or bend Benjies plate bracket, which will look better than bending the licence, but I don’t think I have the tools to bend that kind of metal. Plus, its a welded bracket that may come undone if I bend it too hard.

I think it looks good.

I took the bike off the center stand and noticed that both my tires had very low pressure. Filled them up properly and took the bike for a spin around the block. Its pure sweetness.

I’ll have to remove the center stand, it looks really bad when its folded up. And those side covers have to go as well.

Now I’m thinking twice about the tank. This black is so bad ass.

I’m sure this is a sensitive subject for cafe racer enthusiasts. Personally, I subscribe to the original stripped down, rocker, look. This bike has the potential to become anything I want. It could be chrome and candy, or it could be a something real and down to earth.

Luckily, this bike will last forever, and can have as many cosmetic changes as I see fit.

For now, I’m keeping the original, faded, vintage tank color, and am NOT going to paint it. As for the seat, I’ve been lurking around the SOHC4 forums and have decided that I’m going to use a 2 part catalyzed clear coat (SprayMax) on the seat once I’ve painted it black.

Lets disassemble!

The seat pan is held on by seven bolts. The six bottom bolts were easy to remove, but the seat hump bolt was unreachable by my socket wrench. I had to go down to the local hardware store and buy myself a socket extension. Easily removed after that.

The license plate bracket shares the two bolts that come from the brake light.

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This is the hook that I removed last week. It kept the seat from sitting on the frame correctly.

The old seat latch doesn’t get in the way at all, so I’m going to leave it there for now. Maybe this winter I’ll grind it off.

The cafe seat’s mounting bracket requires two holes. The CB550 only has one. Gotta drill a second.

I measured it perfectly before I drilled.

Ready to mount.

Benjie does awesome work. I’ll always buy my cafe racer seats from him from now 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.

The seat will look a little something like this.