Here is where I celebrate the Honda CB 500/550, a machine I greatly admire. My favorite of all the 70s sohc fours, with the fours themselves my favorites of all Hondas. This bike and I have a lot of history. I owned one at almost the beginning of my career as a mechanic (selling it with over 92,000 miles on) and now near the end of it I am again enjoying one. In between I have seen, serviced, restored, rebuilt and yes--loved countless others (including a few CB550 engine rebuilds for customers the last few years). I will try to put some to-me important facts together for those who appreciate this model as much as I do. Here are some of the things I want to talk about:

Should you really put on Dunlop Gold Seal tires? Why was the bike changed to a 550? Is the 500 really inferior to the 550? Is the charging system inadequate? What about silicone brake fluid? Do four-into-one exhausts actually do anything? Does the cylinder head really need to be milled? Did you know there is a carburetor crisis? What about cylinder compression? What about ethanol? How easy is it to install hazard flashers? How critical is the rocker shafts issue? What about replacement 500 clutch pushrods? Where does the rubber washer go? What's significant about the plated rocker arms?