So I'm doing a thing...

T

toast449

top rider
Joined
Aug 16, 2023
Messages
283
Location
Lon Gisland NY
I spent the last four years designing, fabricating and assembling a project bike. Cafe take on a 1976 CB550. Used the project to learn to tig weld, buy a lathe and mill, blast cabinet and powdercoating system. In the end the bike was exactly as I envisioned it in my head, but it still behaved like an old bike. I hate anything with carbs, I hate smelling like fuel. Wound up selling it. Used the money to buy the new Vitpilen.

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So far just doing things to make it lighter with maybe a little more pep. I've taken 23.5 pounds off of it so far, only big ticket items left are removing the expansion chamber and the brake rotors. Signals swapped to m.Blaze pins and cheap stalks in the front; once I get Woodcraft clip ons in there m.Blaze disc will go on for front signals. Anyway, now it is time to make it look the way I want and it looks pretty fantastic...

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I went with a darker silver in the back but it isn't dark enough. I'm also going to do the center panel of the tank the same red, not happy with the silver stripe up the middle. I will say the matte clear the factory uses is very robust and unfortunately for anyone wanting to do this the stickers are applied before the clear - you will need to use a flexible build primer like SEM to fill in those sections.
 
Cool, good luck with the project! How did you make it so much lighter? I can see you removed the front and back fender, the side panels for the cooler and the passenger foot pegs, but what else?
 
Removing the chamber takes away power even with an ECU tune?

Most of the weight loss is the rear fender and swapping to a lithium battery, about 10#. Stock rear sprocket to aluminum is another pound, engine protector is almost 3, stock mirrors to bar ends another, etc
 
Definately leave the chamber, an ECU or Fuel Tune will not fix the problem removing it will create.

Do you plan on keeping the stock end-can for the look / style?
 
toast449 said:
I spent the last four years designing, fabricating and assembling a project bike. Cafe take on a 1976 CB550. Used the project to learn to tig weld, buy a lathe and mill, blast cabinet and powdercoating system. In the end the bike was exactly as I envisioned it in my head, but it still behaved like an old bike. I hate anything with carbs, I hate smelling like fuel. Wound up selling it. Used the money to buy the new Vitpilen.

View attachment 4683

So far just doing things to make it lighter with maybe a little more pep. I've taken 23.5 pounds off of it so far, only big ticket items left are removing the expansion chamber and the brake rotors. Signals swapped to m.Blaze pins and cheap stalks in the front; once I get Woodcraft clip ons in there m.Blaze disc will go on for front signals. Anyway, now it is time to make it look the way I want and it looks pretty fantastic...

View attachment 4684

I went with a darker silver in the back but it isn't dark enough. I'm also going to do the center panel of the tank the same red, not happy with the silver stripe up the middle. I will say the matte clear the factory uses is very robust and unfortunately for anyone wanting to do this the stickers are applied before the clear - you will need to use a flexible build primer like SEM to fill in those sections.
Click to expand...
That looks great, love the color!

What does the chamber delete do, other than a bit loss of low-mid range torque?
 
J.B. said:
That looks great, love the color!

What does the chamber delete do, other than a bit loss of low-mid range torque?
Click to expand...
Cleans up the back and removes 2.5kg. 😊
I was thinking of removing mine too, but such a hassle to loose power isn’t worth it imho.
 
BISavage said:
It makes the bike work properly.

(Engine performance, center of gravity...)
Click to expand...

Center of gravity? Come on, no one adds weight to a motorcycle unless they have to; removing weight is still removing weight regardless of where it is on the bike. The chamber is surely for volume control more than anything else. I would be very interested in seeing a dyno plot of the chamber removed with a fully tuned ECU; 4 strokes need some backpressure (which the cat provides). Other than that if you manage fuel properly I can't believe you lose power.

I tried removing just the muffler and hated the sound, but the clip that someone put on here points to a stubby outlet that includes a dB killer so maybe that is what I need.
 
toast449 said:
I spent the last four years designing, fabricating and assembling a project bike. Cafe take on a 1976 CB550. Used the project to learn to tig weld, buy a lathe and mill, blast cabinet and powdercoating system. In the end the bike was exactly as I envisioned it in my head, but it still behaved like an old bike. I hate anything with carbs, I hate smelling like fuel. Wound up selling it. Used the money to buy the new Vitpilen.

View attachment 4683

So far just doing things to make it lighter with maybe a little more pep. I've taken 23.5 pounds off of it so far, only big ticket items left are removing the expansion chamber and the brake rotors. Signals swapped to m.Blaze pins and cheap stalks in the front; once I get Woodcraft clip ons in there m.Blaze disc will go on for front signals. Anyway, now it is time to make it look the way I want and it looks pretty fantastic...

View attachment 4684

I went with a darker silver in the back but it isn't dark enough. I'm also going to do the center panel of the tank the same red, not happy with the silver stripe up the middle. I will say the matte clear the factory uses is very robust and unfortunately for anyone wanting to do this the stickers are applied before the clear - you will need to use a flexible build primer like SEM to fill in those sections.
Click to expand...

My buddy did the same thing to a Norton Commando, cost no object. He came to the same conclusion, rides like an old bike. He said the the bike seemed to speed up when the brakes were applied, lol.

Great job on the CB and the Vit.
 
Dont have to take my word for it.
I will point out that I have personally close-course-tested about every pipe immaginable on my old 401 and ended up with Cat and Chamber installed.
 
I'm not suggesting you are full of crap, I'm asking if you tried all these pipe combos and the ECU was tuned specifically for them? I don't know what is available in this arena, if you get a Coober or Powertronic ECU is one stuck with whatever tune they put on it or can you datalog and tune it yourself?
 
I'm not saying stop, I'm interested in your experience, I just don't genuinely know what is available for this motor. If a tune is available expecting a stock exhaust and then you remove a component that might have a resonant effect it wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't work as well. If you can remove a part and then tune for it and it still makes it run worse that surprises me, but if that is your experience I want to hear it.
 
Resprayed the center tank cover over the weekend. Also powdercoated the gas cap and stem nut to match the wheels and engine. Was going to sand and polish the clear but it was finally nice and wanted to ride it so I put it back together. Looks fantastic in the sun.

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Finally, picked up a Svart top triple off ebay and machined off the raised name and the casting lines. Machined up some press-fit aluminum slugs to fill the handlebar opening and will install two buttons there, one for my garage door opener and the other I'll leave disconnected for now.

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