Red CB550

Here is a red CB550 i picked up a few months back. Once i had some time i went through and tuned it up, new battery, oil change, carbs cleaned and synced. Bike runs great! So i put it up for sale. $2000

T Shirt that i made

My Store: http://www.zazzle.com/flyingjcustoms

Stupid honda asked zazzle to take down my shirt because it was infringing on their copy rights. Ill resubmit it without the wing on it i guess. 

xr600

working the XR600. Just trying to get the bike to be reliable and run great.. In he mean time i have been thinking about what i want to do with it. I really enjoy riding off road so i may have to get a secon bike just so i have one dedicated to that purpose. But here is some inspiration for the build.

XR600r

well I love the XT350 but wanted more power so i bought a XR600r. So much fun. I would like to sell the xt and get a second xr for the street only,

A little welding polishing and beer

Did some TIG welding on the frame and had some parts finished. This bike is moving right along now!

Blinkers and speedo

SHOEI QWEST review

Hello, I recently got a shoei qwest helmet and thought i would post my findings.
 I tried on multiple sizes until i found one that fit correctly according to their sizing video. The helmet fits well, not to tight not to loose and no heavy pressure points. Thats about all the good i have to say about this helmet.
 Before i bought it i should have test rode with it on. It whistled at anything over 35 mph with the visor locked down. Visor up it whistles constantly. But that is to be expected. If I'm going to ride long distances or even more the 5 minutes the whistling will drive you mad. So i contacted Shoei and told them my problem. They said to send it in and they would adjust the visor for me and inspect the helmet. All i had to do was to pay for shipping. Really? i just dropped Over $450 on a helmet that whistles almost non stop and they want me to pay to ship it back to them! How about some quality control. They were not helpful or apologetic in any way. I took it back to the Dealer i bought it from and had them ship it for me. When the helmet returned it had a form letter saying they had inspected and adjusted the helmet. It also had a letter telling me how to close the visor to avoid whistling. To keep it from whistling you have to "firmly" shut the visor by pulling it down from the center, not from the little thumb latch. If you dont do this right it will still whistle. SO i have learned the technique on shutting the visor now and the whistling is gone. Which is nice so that now i can here the wind noise much clearer. Its pretty bad. You would think for a helmet said to have "Revolutionary noise-reduction technology" the wind would not be so loud but i guess wind was not the noise they are trying to reduce. But if your going to build a "touring helmet" you might want to pay a little more attention to that. SO that part is unimpressive to say the least. They also claim to have "advanced ventilation performance". Its pretty much as good as their noise technology. It is no better then any $100 helmet i have worn.

Now all that is very subjective, but I have had my helmet for a little over 2 months now. I put the helmet on following the instruction provided by shoei. Basically use the 2 straps to pull the helmet down over your head. This has caused the padding on one side to pull out. It looks like it should just clip in when you push it back so i do and it stays there until i put the helmet on again and then it pull back out. So after sending my helmet in one time, Im not going to do it again. Im not sure what you are paying for when you drop this kind of coin on a helmet. It sure does not seem to be quality your paying for, maybe it superior in protecting your head, im not planning on testing it. Or maybe your just paying for a name. I doubt my next helmet will be a SHOEI unless i see a change in their customer service and quality of product.

Update Nov. 2012: Well the pads got worse. They come out every time i take the helmet off. I called shoei and they said that some of the earlier helmets had that problem and if i send it in they will fix it. FOR FREE! how nice that they would fix the helmet that was flawed in the first place with out charging me a dime. I still have to pay to ship it in obviously. Next helmet will be an ARAI or AGV. I hear the AGV is much more quiet helmet.

New tires

XT350

Took my XT350 to the top of bald mountain. This is my first dual sport and im really digging it.

Another 1975 CB550

Picked up another bike.

Little Frank SOLD

Well almost 2 years to the day I bought little frank, and now he moves on to a new owner.

Rear wheel and Pipes

Laced up  and mounted the rear wheel. Looks killer! I also picked up a set of pipes.

I also welded the frame rails on. Next is a cross support bar and the rear hoop.

Laced up the front wheel

Hanford 2012

Hanford Swap 2012

New Pistons

So not only was the pistons machined wrong but the cylinders were decked wrong. So i scrapped that whole setup and bought new forged pistons and a new set of cylinders to be bored.

Turns out these pistons are total crap. They were machined wrong. On two of the pistons there is a height difference of .010 from one side of the piston to the other. So these are pretty much scrap. And the guy that used to make them I think may have died. Maybe i can use them as a bigbore on a CB125. Now I have to buy new pistons. $$$$

I want to make a T-shirt out of this. Not a bad Idea right? Do it. Make some. And send me one for giving you the idea.

Modified cb750 pistons i picked up for my build. These have deeper valve pockets machined in them for a higher lift cam and have high performance coatings.

Compared to a stock 550 piston

Gentleman's Express

There was an article back when on how to make your CB550 faster and handle better while still looking stock. Good article but the best part is the Diagram for modifying a CB750 piston to fit a 550 making it a 592 is in there. If anybody makes a set of pistons based off these plans let me know. I would appreciate a set.