91 550 custom restoration

[Richard]

Just wondering if there's any update or did you cancel this project now...?

[Fishrider]

Sorry I missed the last posts about the gear shaft being broken. I haven't been checking in lately. This was the exact same issue I had which led me down the rabbit hole of doing the gear swap for my 750. Obviously, that is not a thing for your 550. It seems daunting, but without the gear swap getting into a new case isn't as hard as you think. You just have to patient and careful. I tried the welding thing as well. It doesn't really work on these cases. The other option is to do an engine swap. Hope to hear an update soon.

[Jen-etc]

Hello all! Sorry for the radio silence!

I had a small mental breakdown (sort of joking, sort of not!) after discovering the breakage, and I walked away from the bike for a while for my sanity!

Teamed with a concerted effort to spend less time online, I neglected the forum - apologies for that!

I've had no luck finding anyone able/willing to attempt a repair. finding a case alone to swap everything into seems impossible too, so I'm currently on the hunt for a donor engine for a swap. Not at all what I planned and incredibly frustrating as I know the history of this engine, its pretty low mileage and other than this break seems pretty sound. Finding a donor feels like another potential can of worms. Annoyingly I missed one on ebay not long ago so the hunt continues.

It seems like I was not immune to the frustrations that seem to plague so many zephyr builds! I have invested too much to give up on it though, and I've had enough of a break from it now that my hard feelings have now eased, so I will be having another crack at it once the weather starts to warm up enough to get in the shed.

Life plans have changed a little in the meantime (as is often the case), so currently my plan is to get my old ER5 back on the road for a bit to see me through to the autumn when I plan to invest in a new bike. I'm going to be needing a commuter that I can rely on, so I can then get the zephyr build back into the 'for fun' category and remove the pressure of needing it running!

Anyway, I'll try and remember to update you all when there's any news. But there could be a bit of a wait!

[Jen-etc]

Forgot to say, interesting that you encountered the same issue @fishrider, is this is known zephyr issue?

So frustrating!

[Stereordinary]

Great to see you back Jen!

[Greenzeph]

Hi Jen,
Are you still looking for 550 fuel tank?
We have one in the garage, it''s got a repairable leak( I think)
We are near Reading if your interested