Honda CB550

It was a 32000 mile Honda CB550F1. The battery was flat, the brakes seized solid and the chain was as flexible as a county court bailiff. A Marshall 4-1 controlled the flatulence and the bum pad was a disgusting, half rotted affair. He offered to get it running and sort out the brakes and chain so I didn’t argue with the £125 price. When I went around to collect it, it was rideable so I rode it home... no t & t, no insurance and no waterproofs, it was pissing down and I got home wetter than Francis Pym.

Next day was a dry Saturday, so I cleaned the bike down, bought new rear wheel bearings, a set of plugs and did an oil change. One MOT, tax and insurance later and it was ready for the road. Aside from a bit of a rattle it ran quite nicely, after three years on a CD175 it felt right out of this world.

The bike only started pulling with 6000rpm on the clock, so in six months I collected three speeding fines, so I had to ease up a little. The clutch slipped so I soon got fed up with eight grand and 30mph in second and replaced the plates and springs. I enjoyed the odd thrash with the likes of RD250s - the Honda stayed with them to eighty then gradually cleared off. I found the bike really enjoyable to ride and loved the noise it made.

That year I did 10000 miles without a single hiccup and no oil changes or any kind of maintenance, just the odd clean and adjustment of the drive chain. At Christmas I changed the plugs, I was amazed the old ones still worked there was so much snot on them. The slight leak from the head gasket, after I’d hit 9500rpm racing a RD350, did not affect performance at all. I even removed and washed the oil filter but it was clean as a whistle. I worked seven days a week every week and had no time for routine maintenance.

Before the next MOT I cut three inches of rusted end off the exhaust and silver soldered in an end plate made up at work, replaced the front tyre with another Roadrunner and the front wheel bearings, brake pads and shoes. It passed so I had another year's riding ahead. Another 4000 miles and the rear wheel bearing had gone, as had the drum. I picked up a used wheel with nearly new shoes and tyre for a tenner. The only problem, that the rear sprocket was smaller, the new gearing slowed up acceleration but saved quite a few bob on longer runs when fuel economy improved. Top is heavy going up hills but I’d tempered my riding style, so it wasn't too bad.

Coming home from work one evening I went over a particularly nasty pot-hole and didn’t notice that the fuel line had come adrift. I got a strong whiff of petrol, looked down and went to turn it off and whoosh! I was riding a bonfire. I slapped on the brakes, switched off and leapt off. All I could do was reach under the bike and switch off the fuel tap. I was lucky, as I always wear full leathers I didn’t get burnt at all. A van had stopped and the driver jumped out and the put the flames out with an extinguisher. Much to my surprise, I turned on the ignition and it fired up. Only some plastic had melted.

Next day I looked the bike over and figured out the damage - new loom, gaiters, indicator lenses, HT leads, coils and fuel line. A quick look at the Free Ads in UMG and I found someone with all the parts I needed and more; cost £30. Funnily enough, I bought all that stuff but because the bike didn’t seem any the worse I haven't yet got round to fitting any of it.

Even when my mileage increased to 600 miles a week the bike still didn’t let me down. Coming home one night a pick-up dropped a couple of bricks in front of me as I was happily running along a dual carriageway at 80mph. No time to avoid them, I had to hold on and ride over them. I bounced over one brick and went into a beautiful tank slapper. I closed the throttle and tried to steady the bike before I ran out of wobble space. The bike gradually settled down as we bounced onto the grass verge and I pulled over to the service lane to inspect the damage. Two bolts had sheared on the front brake assembly, the rim had a small flat spot and two indicator stalks had snapped out of their mounts. That cost me £40 for bits from a breaker.

Mileage is now at 57000. Recently the electrics have started to play up. One coil died, the back bulb keeps popping and I’ve had to replace both sets of points, although I hadn’t touched them in 30000 miles! The neutral switch no longer works, the handlebar switches play up, the rear mudguard is badly rotted and the gearbox is starting to whine on the overrun so I'm going to lay it up soon and rebuild it.

In summary, I’ve found the CB550F1 the toughest, most durable machine I’ve ever owned; not as quick as many but who needs 140mph on British roads? I've neglected it abysmally and it never left me stranded once. Handling was good but I may put twin discs on the front next time round.

M. Alexander