Honda Cb550F bobber question for motorcycle gurus
With the stock swingarm you won't be able to run anything wider much than a 140 series tire on the back, this is true for both the CB750's and the 550's. In fact, you may run into problems even getting the 140 back there. As you noticed, the wheel is offset slightly in the swingarm already, and the front of the swingarm is very narrow.
If you really want to run a big tire, you'll have to make your own hardtail and fabricate accordingly. You'll then need to run offset sprockets or a jack shaft to get a bigger rear tire on there, as well as building a custom wheel.
Big rear tires are mostly for looks, this would be especially true on a CB550. You don't need the extra tire to put horsepower to the ground, as the 550 only make about 45 hp from the factory. Even totally hopped up 550's don't usually make much more than 60-70 hp, so a large tire just makes the bike turn in really slow.
These guys make a lot of custom parts for the SOHC 4 honda's
http://www.cyclexchange.net/Honda Cafe Page.htm
And if you're not already on here, you should be! SOHC4 forums...
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php
My old ride...
'75 CB550
With the stock swingarm you won't be able to run anything wider much than a 140 series tire on the back, this is true for both the CB750's and the 550's. In fact, you may run into problems even getting the 140 back there. As you noticed, the wheel is offset slightly in the swingarm already, and the front of the swingarm is very narrow.
If you really want to run a big tire, you'll have to make your own hardtail and fabricate accordingly. You'll then need to run offset sprockets or a jack shaft to get a bigger rear tire on there, as well as building a custom wheel.
Big rear tires are mostly for looks, this would be especially true on a CB550. You don't need the extra tire to put horsepower to the ground, as the 550 only make about 45 hp from the factory. Even totally hopped up 550's don't usually make much more than 60-70 hp, so a large tire just makes the bike turn in really slow.
These guys make a lot of custom parts for the SOHC 4 honda's
http://www.cyclexchange.net/Honda Cafe Page.htm
And if you're not already on here, you should be! SOHC4 forums...
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php
My old ride...
'75 CB550