1975 CB550 carbs

[CBfan]

Are there any late model carbs that I can swap-in for my Keihin 022A's? If not, then does anyone know of a good carb rebuilder/tuner?

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by CBfan

Are there any late model carbs that I can swap-in for my Keihin 022A's? If not, then does anyone know of a good carb rebuilder/tuner?

I have no idea what else could be swapped in, aside from a bank of carbs from others years of that bike.
Those are pre constant vacuum carbs on your 75, and super easy to work on. How bad are they ?

If you want to get a lead on a good carb rebuilder for a 4, try going to the Sohc4.net forum, which is an excellent source of qualified help.
I found an awesome 70s era official Honda carb manual there. If you can't find it but want it, send me a PM with an e mail address that will accept PDF attachments and I'll send it to you.

[CBfan]

mcromo44, thanks for the info, I'll check out that website. I decided to rebuild the carbs, not all that bad, but had some varnishing and minor corrosion. I am completely disassembling & cleaning them now, 3 of 4 done. I ordered 4 new carb rebuild kits yesterday at $13 each, so I'm waiting for the kits. The tuning/sync thing is where I'll have trouble as I don't know how to do that. I'll take it to a cycle shop for that.
I'm gonna post pics of my CB350 now. I haven't taken any pics of the CB550 yet, but I'll get those up once I have them.

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by CBfan

mcromo44, thanks for the info, I'll check out that website. I decided to rebuild the carbs, not all that bad, but had some varnishing and minor corrosion. I am completely disassembling & cleaning them now, 3 of 4 done. I ordered 4 new carb rebuild kits yesterday at $13 each, so I'm waiting for the kits. The tuning/sync thing is where I'll have trouble as I don't know how to do that. I'll take it to a cycle shop for that.
I'm gonna post pics of my CB350 now. I haven't taken any pics of the CB550 yet, but I'll get those up once I have them.

1
I have read that Berryman B-12 Chemtool Carburetor Choke Cleaner is supposed to be the best stuff there is. Aerosol spray can type, not a dip.

2
A good carb guy should really make a difference for you.
You can get a decent starting point synch by just matching the slide heights when you reassemble. When I say decent, I mean easy to start and will be able to idle. Don't give it to the tuner with the slides all over the place in terms of one another. Same with idle screws, do them per the manual and have that done for him as his starting point - even though you know he will check them for himself.
If you want to try vacuum type synching/balancing yourself, and don't have the vacuum tool, have a look at Morgan Carbtune - carburetor synchronizer for balancing motorcycle carbs device. It's on my want list. They also have some carb specific special tools plus other neat stuff.

[rb550four]

There is a guy on you tube that shows you just how easy it is to sync a 550 four. Once you see that ,you'll wonder why you ever thought to have a shop do it., it's that easy.
Those old carbs are just that easy too! As always, be sure that you have the uninterrupted time you'll need to complete the task, like 2 hours, and always have a clean well lit work space, cause it always sucks when you drop a small part and end up on your knees scouring the floor with that shitty flashlight from the kitchen drawer for half the night.
I find it easier to have 2 one gallon containers of carb clean with baskets for the small parts. Oh and compressed air is a must.

[schrock86]

The last set of carbs I did, I cleaned by boiling them in Lemon juice. I saw it online somewhere it worked great! Just remove all the rubber bits and boil them for about 1/2 hour. Make sure to rinse them good after you pull them out of the juice.

[CBfan]

Thanks all for the input. I got the carbs cleaned using the boiling 1:6 lemon juice method, carb. cleaner, followed by a light polishing using Blue Majic metal polish. They look and move GREAT. I fixed the stuck choke linkages, which were frozen up, and cleaned out passages. It's all freed-up now, but I'm just waiting for the carb rebuild kits to get here so that I can put them back together (finalized). I'll load pics of them once I get them.