91 550 custom restoration

[Stereordinary]

Re carb heater, mines the uk B2 model which apparently should have the heater. I haven’t got as far as looking further into this yet but will report back with any findings. For anyone that’s had them removed previously, is it a necessity or a nicety to have?

I'm gonna say it's a nicety. You gotta figure that they may have been OEM on some bikes, but not all, so clearly the bike can run without them. I certainly don't have them on mine, and it runs fine. I'm guessing it is something that was installed in some regions due to climate, i.e., if it's cold a lot where you are, carb heaters make sense. But I live in Washington state, where it rains quite a bit, and I can always get mine started (except when I can't for some reason, haha). So yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about not having them. If you decide you want to add them back, I imagine it can be done, but if it were me I'd put it pretty low on the priority list.

As I mentioned, I bought this as an unfinished project, and the previous owner had chopped the back with a view of making a bit of a bobber style bike. I originally planned to follow suit with more of street scrambler vibe; flat seat and knobblies.
Thankfully the bike came with the original seat and the chopped part of the frame as I’ve now decided to go with a more subtle mod and shorten the tail end, almost tracker style, using the original seat and rear cowl but both modified and shortened.

I think you're on the right track here. Shorten the subframe, make it a one-seater, with the original tail cowl. I'd even thought about doing that myself before, but my bike is too original and unmolested for that. As long as you can keep the straight line angle correct, should look really good.

Phew, another long post!

That just means you're passionate about it, and I for one love to see it. Keep it coming!

[Jen-etc]

That’s great Gene! Really quite motivational to keep going on mine (apart from the money!)

Really handy tips, thanks for those. I’ll bare that in mind when refitting mine.

Look forward to seeing pics.

[Jen-etc]

I'm gonna say it's a nicety. You gotta figure that they may have been OEM on some bikes, but not all, so clearly the bike can run without them. I certainly don't have them on mine, and it runs fine. I'm guessing it is something that was installed in some regions due to climate, i.e., if it's cold a lot where you are, carb heaters make sense. But I live in Washington state, where it rains quite a bit, and I can always get mine started (except when I can't for some reason, haha). So yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about not having them. If you decide you want to add them back, I imagine it can be done, but if it were me I'd put it pretty low on the priority list.

That’s good to know. It’s usually wet and cold here but I’m mostly a fair weather social rider nowadays (my winter commuting days are behind me) so hopefully it’ll be fine. I’ll press on without it and then I can look to re-add it if needs be.

I think you're on the right track here. Shorten the subframe, make it a one-seater, with the original tail cowl. I'd even thought about doing that myself before, but my bike is too original and unmolested for that. As long as you can keep the straight line angle correct, should look really good.

My plan exactly, I’ve attached my digital sketch prototype below. (haven’t worked how to add pics in post yet) I toyed with the idea the day I brought it home but wanted to go with the flat seat option thinking it be easier. But I’ve realised there’s a tonne of work in both and I’d rather keep the original look with a subtle twist, I’m planning to paint it loosely based on the Z1. I appreciate it won’t please those who like to not mess around with original things, but as you mention, this was already chopped and messed around with so I’m hoping it’ll be the best of both worlds.
I’m also going to update the lighting to slightly more subtle/smaller LED lights but in keeping in style.

That just means you're passionate about it, and I for one love to see it. Keep it coming!

Haha yeah I am quite passionate about it now. It’s taking over a bit now having been ignored for a while. I can’t wait to ride it. I’ve got a deadline now so I’m pulling out all the stops.

Wish me luck!

[Stereordinary]

Yeah, that’s gonna look great!

[Eddie]

Fantastic build thread, looking forward to seeing this one come along, tailpiece is great too that short stubby look really suits it

Cheers eddie

[Fishrider]

Are you planning on shortening the seat cover or just creating a fender eliminator? I ended up creating an eliminator that allowed me to keep the original cover, but I sure do like how that mock up looks.

[Jen-etc]

That eliminator looks great! Really tidies it up!

My plan is to shorten the seat and the tail plastic. It’s turning into a ridiculously complicated project, not helped by the original mounting brackets being removed somewhere along the line which I was hoping to use, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. I’m aiming for a ‘that looks different but I don’t know why’ kind of look. If I make a good job of it it should look like it was designed to be that way from the start.

My friend came over today to help get the ball rolling so I’m going to start making templates and then cross my fingers and start cutting. The plan is to do the seat first then make the tail fit the seat, just in case I cut the seat too short or something - it’s easier to fix the tail!

I do have a tail tidy / eliminator that I bought way back at the beginning of this project but I’m now wondering if it’s the right thing to use as it’s metal and pretty heavy. Did you say you created yours? Was that the one I saw on here that was 3d printed? That really did pique my interest as we have a 3d printer but I’m not clever enough to design 3d files yet (despite being a graphic designer!)

[Fishrider]

Yes, its 3d printed out of PETG. Should be pretty strong. Basically, I reconstructed the piece that holds the back light based on the old fender, and then fit it to a plate that creates the bottom since I don't have the old fender at all. All pieces were printed. If you are looking to keep the same look with the original tail light, I would be happy to share the files with you. Of course, if you need something printed, I am across the pond which means shipping charges. You may be able to find someone there to print it for you. Obviously, your back end will be different than mine, but you may still be able to use my eliminator as a single piece without the tail light holder if you have another solution for the tail light. I can't remember how close the back end of the 550 was to the 750. I assume they are pretty similar. Let me know when you get there.

I am no expert at at creating this stuff, but I have become fairly proficient for simple things like this in Fusion 360.

[Stereordinary]

I wish I could get along with Fusion 360, but I find it absolutely infuriating to use compared to Rhinoceros.

About options for a 550 fender delete, I ended up going with this one from Coerce Racing Project, available on WeBike: https://japan.webike.net/products/176955.html

I haven’t actually installed mine yet though. But I can say it’s a nicely fabricated part. I’m not super in love with the piece that holds the license plate and turn signals, but the main bit that holds the taillight looks like it’s gonna be just right.

[Jen-etc]

That's really interesting, thank you both for your input. I may take you up on the offer of the files when I look at it as we have a printer so I could print it here if it's not too big. Thank you for your kind offer.

I have the original so chopping that up is still an option but I feel like I'm chopping up so much haha. I think the original will still be too big.

I have a different tail light planned which fits within the tail piece pretty well but is a smaller unit. Very much making it up as I go along and hoping for the best!


A few updates as I've been going:

Seat:
So as I say I have a bit more of an idea with the seat but so far I've been tripped up over the two screws holding the seat strap on. I cannot get them off to remove the cover haha! I'm going to try and get the cover off today with a view to cut it this week.

Wiring:
So I connected up the battery and turned the ignition for the first time.... Nothing, nada, zip.
When I inspected the ignition switch the white wire was broken so when I finally deciphered the wiring diagram I found this is the battery wire so I'm hoping this is an obvious cause for the lack of power. The battery and the battery leads are showing correct voltage so I guessed it's due to a break somewhere so that makes sense.

I've also found a couple of other rouge wires to nowhere;
Two R/Y wires I think were on the left side of the bike that seem to go to nothing. The diagram shows two R/Y wires going to nothing (apart from in Italy) so I'm hoping that's correct, and it's just there to attach something to on Italian bikes.

I also found a cut B/Y wire on the right side of the bike. If I'm reading the diagram correctly this might be to the fuel level sensor, which would make sense as it's in the right place to run to that, and the fuel level sensor was off the bike (see earlier comments) so I'm guessing it's been crudely cut off at some point.

Hopefully there's nothing more, but I'm certain there will be!!