Hi Nighthawk Riders! My name is Brian Larimer. Last winter I became the proud owner of a '86 700SC; the frame had been modified (not in a good way) and the engine was not running. As the entire rear half of the frame was compramised, I decided this one was getting chopped (for the purists I am sorry, please note the bike was already well past restoration when I acquired it for $50) any usable OEM parts (including the body) were sold off and the vast majority of raw materials were either already in my shop or available locally on the cheap. I think I had maybe a total of $500 into it, including new tires, after I sold off the OEM parts I wasn't going to use (although I still have a clean tail available!) The bike was configured for riding Stampede 7. If you're unfamilair with The Stampede, it is a yearly chopper 'ride' of around 3000 miles. The qualifications to enter: 1) No rear suspension of any kind, hardtails and strutters only. 2) No rubber engine mounts (replaced mine with alloy slugs) 3) No windshields or fairings of any kind. 4) No hardsided luggage, bags, or tour boxes of any kind. 5) No chase trucks. Chase trucks are defined as any vehicle not in the race. Yes, this is a hellish endurance run not for the faint of heart. My bike features: Hardtail converted CB700SC chassis with drop out section on left for OEM style rear end service, Mountain bike coil-over damper used for seat spring (made it ride like a GL!) 'attack bars' (T-bar bolts to OEM 7/8 clamp) Twin high output headlamps, trailer trash taillight moulded into custom sissybar, 4 into 2 bank matched headers with snuffornots, heated grips, heated vest output, radar detector, a '75 CB550 fuel tank, Rockstar can oil breather catch can, and 19" front wheel from CB750. The forks were flipped 180 degrees and swapped side to side, allowing a CB750 speedo drive to be used; the TRAC control bar and caliper were removed entirely. A CB750 rotor was turned down approximately 3/4", allowing a '78 Goldwing caliper to mate up to the (normally right side, now on the left) fork tube. A pair of M10 washers were required to space the caliper correctly to the disc centerline. (Please note although done on the 'cheap' I have access to a full machine shop, a couple land speed racers, and a couple of seasoned bike building partners, DO NOT TRY ANY OF THIS NONSENSE AT HOME UNLESS YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED MACHINIST AND MOTORCYCLE BUILDER; ANYONE WHO MAKES THESE KIND OF MODS IS A FOOL AND DOES SO OF THIER OWN VOLITION AMD AT THIER OWN RISK) OK, so enough about the bike. I had a lot of problems starting with hitting an armadillo. I wont get into details, but this led to a chain of events eventually resulting in my #3 carb flooding (badly) and eventually the #1 con-rod let go and stuck it's big end out the back of the case. Race over, bike dead in SC. (irony?) So. Fast forward to today. I find out next year a new rule is being added. Engines must be under 550cc OEM configurations. (Unless you run a flathead or brit power, haha) So, I have a very nicely configured open road chopper in need of a 550cc shaft drive engine. (Alternately, I build a CB550 or CB550SC chop and just get another 700 for this bike and use it for my daily rider) DOES ANYONE KNOW, I MEAN REALLY KNOW: 1) 550 v 700 physical size? Obviously the 700 is bigger. Exactly where and by how much? One would think it's wider, maybe taller. They look REALLY similar in pics, buy I've never seen to two engines side by side in real life to measure and eyeball. If the engine is just narrower, it would make the swap a breeze. 2) 550 v 700 output shaft size and configuration? The same size and splines and fastening method? They sure look similar. 3) 550 v 700 engine mounting? Again, they sure look similar! If there are minor differences at certain points, brackets can be made or modified, the critical spots are the engine mount near the shifter and the two forward mounts. The two rear brackets also look similar but could be modified, albiet with a little more hassle) 4) 550 v 700 exhaust flange spacing? I spent a lot of time developing these headers. They are huge, and maybe even to big for a little 550, don't know yet. I might run a turbo, which would require another custom exhaust, no big deal, but time consuming to be certain. ANY INFORMATION OR INPUT WOULD BE APPRECIATED. Likewise if anyone has a 700 and or 550 motor they would be willing to measure for me; also anyone in or around Northern CA, I happen to need a running CB700SC or CB550SC engine. Just saying.
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