Well I'd been wanting a motorcycle for some time. I got a great new job this past May, and so I began looking for the bike I wanted. I'm really not a fan of new bikes, or new...anything really. I'm all about the vintage stuff. That classic styling and reliable build, gotta love it. I already knew the bike I wanted, and when the exact bike I wanted popped up at a good price at the beginning of September...I bought her right on the spot! Behold! My 1975 Honda CB550 cafe racer in progress. Her name is Clara!


The seat cowl and tank will be sand blasted. Seat cowl will be repainted silver (it's fiberglass), and the gas tank will be left unpainted. I'm going for the polished steel-aircraft look.


My desired goal is to open up the space under my seat. To do that I want to relocate the battery to under the seat cowl. The wiring would be attached to the bottom of the seat, and the air filter would be removed in favor of racing style air filters which would attach to each carb. I don't yet know if its possible to do that with stock carbs, or if I'd need racing carbs. Hopefully not, cus a set of racing carbs is about $1k. If anybody knows anything about it, let me know.


Tank will be sandblasted and remain as unpainted polished steel. The Honda tag will need to be repainted, probably in black


Lots of rust and discoloration to go over


I already have clubman bars installed. The grips need replaced though. They don't seem to want to stay on as well as they should anymore. I love the headlight, though I'll have that sanded and leave it unpainted to match the polished steel of the rest of the bike.


I have a gas leak and I plan to replace all of my gaskets. After I do that I'll go over everything with chrome cleaner and a tooth brush.


What a mess. A lot of wiring that'll need replaced, half of it's held together with electrical tape


New chain is badly needed, mine's pretty worn out. Also will be replacing my rear sprocket, and probably my suspension as well




Hoping that I can equip my carbs with individual racing style air filters. Dunno if I can do that with stock carbs or not. If anybody knows, enlighten me.