1974 Honda CB-550 K0

CB550 - 1009763

1974 Honda CB-550 K0 (first year). Engine Number: CB550E-1009841. 5536 miles. This was a "barn find" I purchased a few years ago. I had planned to do a complete museum quality restoration, but unfortunatley must sell it as-is due to lack of finances. I had the painting done a couple years ago (done in the earlier color sceme with CB-500 side cover emblems), new Honda exhaust installed, new battery and the carbs & front brake system refurbished. The paint mix I chose uses a brilliant (bright) copper flake base coat and will 'change hue' depending on lighting conditions, but very closely compares to the Honda Candy Gold color in person. It looks the lightest in these pictures with direct sunlight. The inside of the tank is clean. It still has the original tires on it, but they obviously should be replaced due to age concerns. They hold air fine and I have been riding the bike with them. The sprockets look very good, but would suggest replacing the chain, again for age concerns. Very nice overall condition and it still has most all of the original yellow 'torque-check' paint on the various bolts & fasteners. The bike starts instantly, idles, shifts and runs perfectly. All lights and horn work. The two minor things it needs mechanically is a petcock re-build (slow leak) and exhaust stud repair. I found out that one of the exhaust studs was missing when replacing the pipes - it appears that someone had attempted to remove the broken stud, but failed to do anything more than start to drill out the stud. It will take someone with the appropriate skills & tools to fix it properly. That exhaust does not leak at the head and is holding with the one stud. The bike is largely unrestored and will have the typical corossion here and there and by no means am I representing it as new, immaculate or perfect condition. For those that have had professional paint jobs like this done and have recently purchased a new set of Honda exhaust for this model, you will know that the median price for these items is over $1500 alone (just paint & new pipes). This model is definatley a 1974 model (mfg date 10/73), but it was titled as a '73 model. I have seen this several times before and is most likely due to the misunderstanding about the manufactured date shown on the frame. I do not have a tool kit, owners manual or mirrors for it. Winning bidder is responsible for any & all shipping quotes and arrangements - I am just the seller, not a shipping company. Very reasonable reserve. Another sad but true "my loss -your gain" situation. On Jan-08-11 at 08:06:02 PST, seller added the following information: I forgot to mention that I have replaced the right side handlebar switch. Pretty obvious in the pictures. The original starter button broke when I first touched it. You can definatly see the difference in the switch colors in a couple pictures. The left switch is 'grey' and right switch looks new. An interesting note about the yellow 'torque check' paint on these early Hondas - My first job with a Honda dealer back in the early seventies had me doing "set-up" and putting the bikes together from the crate. They always had me remove this yellow paint from any & all bolts/fixtures as it was thought to be unsightly (I agree). I had a couple toothbrushes and used a can of electrical contact cleaner and would remove all the yellow before rolling the bikes to the show room. Now people make a big deal out of it and really want to see that original 'torque-check paint on these old Hondas. To think I removed it from well over 1000 bikes when I was setting them up from the crates!