In many ways, the CB550 was the best Honda of the seventies. The CB750 is legendary, but its smaller brother handled better and offered enough performance for most riders.
Introduced in 1974, the CB550 was produced for five years with a 544cc
SOHC engine putting out 50 hp and a crisp five-speed gearbox. Although the CB550 couldn’t quite ‘make the ton’ in stock form, it has become popular with custom builders over the years—partly because secondhand examples are much more affordable than early CB750s.
“How are we doing on the CB project?” The question weighed heavy on my brain as I considered the plateaued progress of our 1975 Honda CB550F project bike—dubbed the Everyman Tracker. Not unlike the gems collecting dust in your garage, our bargain-bin Honda had been put on the back burner for more pressing matters, and…
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One bike sticks out like a sore thumb this week; a rare Honda Monkey Gold Edition, currently for sale through Iconic Motorbike Auctions. It’s in the company of three café racers—a Yamaha XS650, a Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, and a Honda CB550.
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Unless you start with a pile of tubing, all-new parts and a beautiful mind, your average garage-built motorcycle comes together one piece at a time—and it’s not all glamorous. We’re zeroing in on our vision of a functional hoonmobile, but our Honda CB550F Tracker has some loose ends to address in form and function before…
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Whether it’s from decades of neglect or a dutiful service interval of soaking up potholes, the day will come when your suspension pukes its guts out. Rubber seals have a finite lifespan, fluids break down over time and the chrome on your fork tubes and shock shafts will eventually fail and corrode. The telltale sight…
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I’ll be honest, rebuilding the wheels on our 1975 Honda CB550F was a job I was hoping to put off a lot…
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Any clown with an adjustable wrench can take a bike apart (the term basketcase exists for a reason), and if you go…
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They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and we’ve certainly dragged our fair share of trashed motorcycles home. Wherever we…
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Like most things in life, building a custom motorcycle is certainly a process. It starts with a vision, and (hopefully) ends with…
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Deus ex Machina returns to their roots with a no-nonsense Kawasaki W650. We also profile a Honda CB550 café racer, a Kawasaki…
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It’s been a while since any manufacturer offered a mass-produced tiny four-cylinder sport bike. This week Kawasaki finally launched the new highly-anticipated…
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Building your own custom motorcycle is an incredibly rewarding experience… until it isn’t anymore. The owner of this 1976 Honda CB550F can…
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Even if you don’t know Chiel Nipius’ name, you’ve probably seen his work. He was part of the team at Ironwood Custom…
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