Now that I have my motorcycle license and have been driving a 250 for two weeks, I’ve been actively looking for a motorcycle to buy. Yesterday someone told me about a 1978 Honda CB550Four K that’s for sale, so I visited the seller and fell in love with the bike: it’s in perfect condition. The seller’s asking $2000 (Canadian) for it, which is steep for a bike that old, but it IS in top condition, and the seller is willing to help me maintain it (although it needs no maintenance now; it’s ready for the road).
I think I’m going to get it.
geez after all these testimonials I think I am going to have to add one of these to my “fleet” of bikes…hey jody wanna sell a bike?
Hi, I also have a cb550, 1976 model, I don’t know how or I’d post a pic. I love my old scoot, I plan on mostly just keeping it stock for longer life span, its my only transportation and me and my girlfriend ride two-up to work and every where else for that matter, it accelerates just fine with both of us and cruises 70mph easy with us. Hope yall enjoy your bikes and ride safe. Remember that solid front disk brake provides little stopping when its wet, so slow down, the after market electronic ignition are available and will increase drive ability, lube the chain every ride or install a auto lube system, they will last a long time, stock tires are best to me, after market uni-filter pods are a nice upgrade but you must re jet the carb, not hard to do, get a shop manual, and read a lot on the net, you will learn, sync the carbs after any improvement also, another not to hard to do, read “dan’s motorcycle repair” site he is a motorcycle guru, also check out ” oldmanhonda” just Google these you will find it, make sure to look on oldmanhonda for the timing instructions, this is a must do once in a while, any other info I can help also just e-mail joecool14u2@msn.com ok remember ride safe and stay alive, oh yeah i live in Georgia, its good to ride here all year, just rain to ride in sometimes, snow and ice are rare, winter usually mild 30-40 degrees
Thanks for the feedback, joecool14u2. It’s astounding how this little ole post is found by folks everywhere, sometimes compelling people to write about their bike. It’s cool reading about others riding and maintaining a similar 30+ year old bike.
I have no idea what “uni-filter pods” are. I get someone qualified to to work on my bike. I’m afraid I’ll start something and then not know how to put it back together, making my bike unrideable.
Well Jody, my girlfriend also has a honda cm250 she rides and she has taken the carb off and taken it apart for service, we would take are bikes to a shop but i have never had money to pay for someone else to work on them so we just follow directions like making a red velvet cake, to the tee, and a lot of reading and research prior to doing the work, but if you are not mechanically inclined or just have the funds then yeah a good shop will usually do a great job of maintaining your bike(given they are honest, I have heard horror stories of bikes shops charging $50-70 just to install a battery), just google any of the stuff i talk about and you will find great information on the net, you have a good bike and really dependable, not fast like these newer bikes or as comfortable as some newer cruiser models but faithful to its respective owner and good for 100,000 miles + according to wikipedia, check it out, its got its on wikipedia page and lots of cool information there to, my bike is at 19878 miles now, factory paint and side covers intack, original seat still fairing well, averaging 45mpg, changing sprockets soon hope mileage gets better, current spockets are 17-40, factory was 17-37, i am installing 18-37, this will lower the rpms at highway speeds, oh yeah, mike bike is pictured on mikes website, its posted under his name up close to top of page
sorry, i meant my bike not mike bike lol type-o, its on the page of others bikes
WOW! This thread has been going for a long time! I’m looking into getting a 79 CB550. I currently have an ’80 Suzuki GS750. Nothing super fast. Just fun to ride.
What should I look for in particular when I’m looking at the 550? People have mentioned the electrical as being an issue. Anything else?
I have no idea what condition it’s in. I’ve heard that it hasn’t been ridden in 3 years.
The seller says that there is a side car that would go along with it. The only thing that it’s missing is the brackets to attach it. Was a side car an option at some point, or would this be an after market kind of thing? I’m looking for something that I could take my daughter out on rides in. Is this reliable enough to do something like that?
The seller is asking $800 US for the whole package. From what I’m reading, that sounds like a pretty good deal. Thanks for any help/advice you can offer!
The CB550 was only made from 1974-78 so I can’t help you on that one.
Hrm… Apparently I’ll need to get some additional information from the guy. Regardless of year, the same questions stand.
Was a side car ever an option? Are there any major issues that I should look for when checking out the bike?
Thanks for any help that anyone can provide!
You can put a side car on almost any bike. Just be sure to have someone qualified and knowledgable do it, it is not something I would do as a do it yourself unless you fit the aformentioned.
I have a 72 750 bmw with a sidecar and my kids love it…but it is not like riding a bike..it is an open air three wheeled car…but it is fun nonetheless….I have a velorex side car which from what I understand is a very lightweight rig….it works fine….
as far as checking out the bike…sorry I am mechanically inept…but I have access to a good mechanic….
good luck…eight hundred sounds reasonable….if the bike is running
I posted about tommyboy’s sidecar before.
I’d love to get a sidecar, but I think I would get another bike JUST for a sidecar, so I wouldn’t have to mess around with removing and installing it.
I haven’t actively looked for one, but a new one is at least a couple thousand in Atlantic Canada (if I can even find one; I’d probably have to order it from Quebec or Ontario).
can anyone post what mpg they are getting? i get 40mpg, better if ride easy worse if riding hard!
I get about 40-45 mpg, but I’m a conservative driver, although that’s mostly city, too.
yeah i just bought a 1978 550 four k 2 days ago gave 400.00 [usa] for it it has 4600 miles on it but it has one problem and i can’t figure it out when i turn the turn singnals off two in the front stays on and when i turn it to the right the left one comes on instead turn it to the left the right one comes on and the 2 back singnals don’t even work at all the bike is in perfect shape but some one try to put a front windsheild on it with lights on it and look like they cut into the original turning singnals wires so i check the fuse box and nothing shot so i’m wonderif the did not burn the switch out does anyone have a idea i can try befor paying a bike shop to repair it any help would be helpfull thaxs
try this link for downloads of manuals, try rewiring yourself, train yourself to do your own maintenance, try these sites for help, oldmanhonda and dan’s motorcycle repair
I have a 1978 Honda CB550K and only have one gripe with it: in 1978, Honda changed the shape and size of the seat in such a way that any number of accessories for the 1971-1977 550s (which are otherwise virtually identical) won’t fit the ’78. These include most aftermarket seats, sissy bars/back rests/luggage racks and some suspension parts. A minor quibble, I suppose, but if you’re planning on customizing a ’78, you may be in for a challenge.
On the other side of the coin, in 1978 Honda redesigned it’s transmission and I believe the revamped version is a bit heftier and more durable than its predecessort–I think the clutch might be slightly bigger as well. The only complaint I’ve ever had with mine has been that it’s difficult to get into neutral when hot, but tightening the clutch slightly helped with that.
Love this site! Started reading comments from 2005 and figured this was a dead site with long-forgotten messages, but they kept getting newer and newer. Ha.
Just bought a 78 cb550 for $650 US from a guy in West Tennessee who evidently scours the South for old Hondas, fixes them up, and then resales them. Said he has sold almost a thousand bikes over the years.
He bought this one from a soldier in Kentucky who was shipping out, and had to sell the bike fast, so he cleaned it up a bit, and posted it on Craig’s List at noon today (Saturday). I just happened to see the ad at 1 pm, emailed him, and gave him my phone number, telling him to call collect. (It was a long distance call to my house in Nashville.) He said he had already had 20 emails in the hour it was posted, but I was the first guy to say he could call collect. Ha. Maybe that is a tip for future bidders?
Anyway, he is delivering the bike later this week, and I’ll post a follow-up, if anybody cares.
Have had bikes since I was 14, except for the last 4 years…so with the price of gas leaping higher and higher, I decided to get back into riding on 2-wheels.
Hope this bike proves to be a good investment. As long as I keep it out of ditches, I should be able to ride it for a few years, and then recoup my modest investment.
I’m sure I’ll have lots of questions for this circle of experts over the next few months.
Best to you and yours. Happy Riding.
Thom
Awesome site. Still posting strong after 2 years! Must be quite the bike. I’m going to pick up a 1976 cb550 tomorrow and if all goes well, I should be riding along in no time!
quit slobbering over junk……… got three harleys and looking for #4
To Hogman You should have gotten it right the first time and got a honda then you would only need one bike.
I have a cb750k full dress king/queen seat and love it. Paid $500.00 U.S. three years ago granted i bought it from my uncle so he was nice to me on the priceing.
Ride safe everybody.
the prices here seem very reasonable for working condition bikes…I may have to trade in a beemer and get a honda….
just got the 750 k bike out Jody and compared to the 72 750 R it is like a floating spaceship what a great bike to ride…..I have to get the brakes checked on the side car rig so the kids are sad…seriously I am looking at these old hondas…..oh Jody we are working on the Jawa…playing around with it and it actually turned over….after fifteen years….hope to have it road worthy next summer….it is a 1969 jawa california…look up the jawa sidecars…they are interesting….may have to get one for this bike….
My damn CB550 has an electrical problem – the main fuse blows out irregularly. I’ll have to check all the wiring, which I have no idea how to do.
I’ve had the same problem….three months after I bought mine it blew a main fuse. I replaced that and it ran all last summer without a single problem (over 1000 miles). Fired it up this spring and once the Minnesota weather got warm enough to do some proper riding, I blew two main fuses in two days.
I’ve been told by others that old Hondas tend to blow fuses for no apparent reason, and I’ve been unable to find anything wrong with the wiring (I did find a worn spot on a turn signal wire, which I fixed–the last two times it has blown right after I signaled a right turn). I do wonder about the voltage regulator though I am not sure how to test it.
Anyone else have any thoughts? I’ve been trying to find a slower-acting fuse and considering putting a 20 amp in place of the 15 in case it’s just voltage “spikes” that are blowing the main. Mind, I don’t want to blow anything more than the fuse, for obvious reasons.
Thoughts and similar experiences are welcome.
My kz400 is doing the same thing. One thing you could check is to turn the key in on position but don’t start the bike, now feel the main fuse. If it slowly gets hotter as you have the key on then you have something shorting out. If it stays cool for over 5 min with the key on and in run position then putting a heavier fuse on should do the trick. I have not been able to figure out what is going on with my bike. Im thinking my problem has something to do with the on off switch.
Good luck
I’ll try that, Charles. Thanks. It’s running fine now but I fear riding on long trips now in case a fuse blows again (I haven’t replaced the spare yet).
You should buy it!! But if you choose not to, please forward the contact info of the seller as I am interested in that model. thanks.
I should have read the dates more carfully…haha! Anyways how do you like your 78 cb550??
Well, I’ve narrowed the problem with mine down considerably. I pulled the side cover and fuse box cover, then switched the ignition on. The main fuse got so hot within a minute that I’m sure it was about to blow. Then I noticed the tail light wasn’t lit.
I let things cool down, then switched the ignition on, tapped on the taillight twice, and the light came on. After that, I left the ignition on for 10 minutes and the main fuse didn’t so much as get warm.
So tomorrow I’ll take the tail light apart–it’ll be a loose wire or perhaps a problem with the socket. Either way it’ll be easy enough to fix.
All of the rear lighting on the CB550 runs through the main fuse so that might be the best thing to check first. It’s certainly the easiest part of the wiring to access!
So, a word of warning, folks….don’t overlook the obvious! If I’d bothered to see if all of the lights were working in the first place, this wouldn’t have been much of a puzzle at all. With any luck, I’ll be back on the road and reliable tomorrow. Whew!
I have another annoying problem now: on a cold start I have to keep the throttle over 2000 rpm for at least 2 minutes to prevent it from stalling, even with the choke open.
In the good ole days I merely had to open the choke, press the Start button, and that’d be it; I’d then put my gear on while it warmed up; I never had to rev it.
Now I have to keep my hand on the throttle to keep the rpms up else it will stall.
Any suggestions? Maybe the choke isn’t working correctly, even though I had it pulled out all the way.
I am assuming that your throttle is set right. If not then just turn it up a tiny bit. also you could have a clogged air filter but you would notice that all the time. Sounds like something in the carbs.(obviously)
By the way Dave Iam glad that you found out your problem. I hope I can figure mine out soon.
I have owned three. Bought 1st brand new Aug. ’79 $1850.00 Put 41,000 miles on it. Should never have sold it.
Bought a 77 in 89 with 2500 miles for $650.00 sold in 1994 for 1350. never should have sold it.
Bought a 1978 in 2001 for $1200.. had 2349 original miles, still have it , never going to sell it I hope, D’oh. it now has about 3200 original miles. Buy the factory workshop maual. Most things can be done easily. Carry Spare fuses of all the needed sizes.
mine blew fuses also, i fixed it with a 5/16″ bolt for a fuse, has run know for nearly 9000 miles with out a blow fuse, never have got around to seeing why the fuse blowed, maybe when i pull it apart one day to rebuild it, oh jody, about the choke thing, new plugs, spark plugs i mean and clean the points a bit will help, amazing how good my bike run after installing new plugs, try the Champion RA8HC, it runs great in my bike, the ngk plugs tend not to last too long, as posted before try the air cleaner, and run high octane as you can get plus try one full tank of gas plus one can of “sea-foam” walmart sells it here, autozone and most parts stores carry it, it cleans out the jets well and don’t seem to harm anything, just dump it in gas tank fill it up with gas and ride it out, might want to use it beginning of season and once at season end, just make sure you ride it all out after putting it in, don’t want it sitting in there for months, and if that don’t help try adjusting the valves and setting the timming, basic full tune-up time i quess, i tune mine a lot and keep it running daily so hard to say how often you need to do it, i adjust the valves about every 4000 miles, when i do that i set points and timming, possibly resynchronize the carbs at that time, but i clean the plugs and file the points every 1000miles, and i change the oil every 1500miles or so, adjust the chain every 2000 miles if needed and check oil and lube chain daily, hope this helps
If you can do all that jody can you teach me….
thanks joe for all the info…I now own an “older” bike and have just ordered the manual, perhaps in a vain attempt to become more knowledgeble with the mechanical aspects of riding a 70 s era motorcycle
Maintaining one of these is a bit like a trip back in time, to the days when working on ignition meant setting points and “fuel injection” meant spraying starting fluid into the carburetor. Every time I have to do some adjusting on my machine I’m grateful for my misspent youth, part of which was misspent variously riding and working on a series of mini-bikes driven by lawnmower engines.
I have the Clymer manual on 4 cylinder Hondas, which is not as comprehensive as the Honda shop manual but a lot cheaper–and covers more than the Haines manual which is available at the same price (original Honda shop manuals….be prepared to lay out $100 or more). It’s a great start, but I have to say that the various tips and tricks one finds on various Internet forums are indispensible.
My electrical problem proved to be hilariously simple–so simple I overlooked it for some time. I had narrowed it down to the tail light assembly and so was going over all the wiring etc. with a multimeter but couldn’t find a single problem. The tail light never came on when the ignition was switched on but came right on if I tapped on the housing.
You guys know where this is leading, right? I finally took the lens off and tried tapping on it. Sure enough–bad bulb. Tapping on the assembly brought the broken ends of the filament together enough that the bulb would light, and the next bump shut it down again.
Replaced the bulb and haven’t had the slightest problem since.
Incidentally, that was the OEM bulb that I replaced. Just to be on the safe side, I’m going over the whole bike and replacing all of the rest of the bulbs (they’re standard and can be gotten at K-Mart). However reliable they may have been all this time, getting rid of any 30 year old bulbs that may still be on the bike just seems like good preventive maintenance.
I heard recently that every four cylinder Honda made in 1978 was delivered with a factory defect in the form of a hole that was drilled just a bit too large in the #1 carburetor (if your bike drips when you forget to shut the fuel off and you think you’ve got a stuck float–chances are you don’t). Apparently there is a replacement screw available from Honda which will fix the problem easily and lead to a smoother-running bike in the process. Has anyone else run into this?
New problem! The choke is stuck. I pulled it up this morning and now the damn thing won’t go back down. Maybe that’s part of my original problem of it stalling before it’s warm. I DID clean the spark plugs and adjusted their gaps last weekend, which helped a little.
How the hell do I unstick the choke, though? Googling “cb550 choke stuck” returns this stupid post as its first hit!
Sounds like its time for a carb clean.
i have a 1976 honda 550Four, awsome bike. 50 mpg, drive it all summer long.
you can get most of yer parts on ebay. be prepared for the clutch cable to snap on ya. have one on reserve. also keep a spare tiretube and a can of fix-a-flat handy. enjoy
don’t use fix a flat it will wear out your tires quickly from the inside
jody, sounds like the linkage is jammed against something on choke
Great site!
I have a 78 cb550 which I got for free this summer. I’ve put about $1200 in parts & do all my own work. I love my bike (it’s my first) but wouldn’t mind a bit more power & windshield for highway travel (maybe on my next bike).
I have the same problem with the engine racing for no reason once the engine warms up. That’s usually a clue there’s an air leak in the intake system. Check the rubber boots that join the carbs to the head – they tend to crack over time. Here’s how to check for air leaks. With the engine idling, spray quick-start fluid around the boots one spot at a time. You’ll find you hit a spot where the fluid makes the engine run a bit faster. That’s your leak. Quick-start is good because it evaporates quickly & leaves no residue (WD-40 will work, but leaves a slick spot).
Your next job is to patch the hole. You can either give it a dab of silicone or replace the boot ($8 each). The rubbers tend to go bad on these old bikes, so you might as well replace them. However, you probably want to the work yourself since $85/hr for shop rate adds up fast.
I own a 76 550 SS. It runs, but Im working on it. This will be my first bike in about 15 years, I gave it up for a girl and more resposible life. God Im an idiot.
Im going to mildly cafe my bike, i.e. Clubman handle bars, 750 swingarm, ditching the front fender and triming the rear fender, bullet turn signals, little handle bar mirrors, smaller brake light but with LED so its brighter than the old one, possibly a steering damper, cross drilling my front rotor for better stopping in the rain, newer more open exhaust, and Uni-pod filters. Nothing drastic and no mods for the engine other than the rejetting, pods and exhaust. Dont want to lose the gas milage.
The only big things Im going to do are cosmetic. Satin Black paint, Satin Red power coated rims, Brass electro-plating on random small pieces, mat stainless steel spokes, possibly adding a second rotor to the front, chin cowling and buell style fairing.
Love my bike, just so you know it weighs in at 450lbs dry, which means no gas. For a 550 with 50 factory horsepower, thats heavy. But you will never have more fun riding an older bike than the 550, nimble and quick, but not kill you fast and KZ sled streering, stable and sturdy, and cool looking when done right.
I ride mostly in the city and only on the highway to visit my sister and the random rode trip. Will post pictures when I finally finished. Oh and one last thing, I turned my air filter box into storage for fuses, inner tubes and my gloves.
Ride safe everyone and try to take a rider course, even if your experienced. You can actually learn alot and teach some newbies while your in the class.
What a great site! I first came across it while doing my research/homework shopping around for my first bike, and sure it enough, I have come to purchase a 1976 CB550 Four.
My problem is also the tail light (Dave, perhaps I could gain from your insight?). The running tail light will not work but the brake light will. I’ve replaced the bulb, and quite honestly don’t know where to find the fuses yet. I had a more exprienced rider friend ride it home from the seller’s house (the weather was quite nasty and he was far more comfortable with the notion than I would have been). Turn signals and brake lights worked, but no taillight. So warming it up didn’t work, nor did the ‘tapping’ it received through the course of the ride home succeed in kicking it on.
Is it possible I just got a great deal on a lousy wiring problem?
Any help appreciated! (off to find that fusebox now) :)
If I haven’t mentioned it before, ALL 70s Honda CBs are notorious for blowing fuses for “no apparent reason”. If you have a light actually refusing to come on, however, and a bulb change hasn’t fixed it, you probably have a loose, shorted, or disconnected wire. The fuse box is under the left side cover–can’t remember offhand if the tail light and the brake light are on the same circuit but I don’t think they are. Fortunately, if yours hasn’t been messed with, the wires between the fuse box and the tail light are only about two feet long and are color coded–so it’s not hard to locate the brake light wire and at least check it for continuity (if you end up replacing the wire do yourself a favor and replace it with a wire of the same color for “next time” should it occur!). If that checks out ok, take a look at the brake light switches–I once had the linkage to the rear switch pop off and couldn’t for the life of me figure out why the brake light came on only when the front brake was engaged until I looked at the pics in the manual and thought about it a bit. I suppose it’s possible that one of the switches is worn out as well, though I’ve never heard of it happening. They do “stick” on occasion, but supposedly can be cleaned with WD-40 or “tuner cleaner”. Just make sure to let the switch dry out a bit before you test it after squirting it full of either!
I bought my 1978 CB550K in 2006–paid $1000 for it with 16,000 miles on the clock and it came with a complete parts bike (minus only the frame) so I expect to get plenty of use out of it yet! It is the first bike I’ve owned while actually licensed, though as I lived out in the country when I was younger I learned on a KZ175 and a CB350, both of which were ridden mainly on trails and very quiet rural (dirt) roads. The 550 weighs around 400 pounds not including the fairing and felt “heavy” to me the first couple of days I rode it but that went away so fast I couldn’t believe it (I believe it is the same frame as the 350–just a bigger engine). I highly recommend something in this displacement/horsepower class as a “starter” bike–it’s got enough behind the throttle that running with highway traffic is not a problem, but not so much that a bit too much wrist from a standing start will leave you on the pavement while the bike goes its merry way. It’s heavy enough that crosswinds pass almost unnoticed, but light enough to dance its way through ruts and grooves in a dirt parking lot or driveway.
Obviously, these are not touring machines, but with a throttle lock or “rocker” you should be plenty comfortable for short to medium distance cruising (pads on the grips will spare your hands wonderfully as well). I’ve had no trouble at all running a 75 mile or so round trip with two up and a full backpack. Technically that overloads the bike by around 100 pounds, but it’s never complained.
Some of the Harley guys may laugh, but I’ve got plenty of friends with hogs and get a lot of respect from all of them. After all, when you’re riding a 30 year old bike, you’re almost certainly doing all of your own wrenching and know the true meaning of the words “old school”. They can get away from the stoplight a lot faster than I can, but they never seem to mind waiting for me to catch up.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have the offer of a friend (my test driver) to help out with the wiring issue (he’s quite the accomplished gearhead), and he has asked me to get a recommendation from you as to which manual has the best wiring diagram (or if there’s anychance you might have one you could scan and email directly). Any direction to offer on that?
Thanks again
for the advice and the utter lack of condescension – truly appreciated.
Not sure that I can give you a definitive answer, there. The Clymer manual I have has a complete schematic of the electrical systems for all of the 1970s CB series. Being a schematic, however, it just shows which wires connect between which points–it doesn’t show how they’re run along the frame of the bike. It does, however, identify the color of each wire and the factory wiring is quite well color-coded so once you have that you shouldn’t have any trouble as long as your wiring is original. Just find the right colored wire and follow it!
Must admit that I am far from expert on electrical matters myself and am especially terrified of intermittent problems as they can be a nightmare to track down (basically, you have to figure out what makes the assembly fail….not always easy!). I will say though that as of the end of my third season with the CB550K, I have yet to have a problem that the manual and a bit of time studying the bike could not solve. I honestly can’t imagine that they were manufactured with the idea that a fair number would still be on the road after more than 30 years, but everything I have ever had to work on or adjust has been reasonably accessible and seemingly well thought-out in every way.
Just dreading the day when I’ll have to adjust valve tappets….for some reason, that scares the heck out of me.
Hi Jody,
I just googled “1978 Honda CB550K” and got a hit on your July 8th 2005 post.
Did you ever buy that ’78 Honda CB550K? I have one that I paid $400 for. It’s not been restored, but I am interested in having it restored. I would also like to get an appraisal for it in it’s present condition. Please reply if you have any info.
Thanks very much ! Take care now.
Hi klausjack,
I moved your comment to the related post (instead of the Marley and Me post).
I paid $2000 Canadian for mine back when I made this post in 2005 – it was in excellent condition and ran perfectly. Three years later now and it’s had some problems: new tires, new chain, lots of tuning… and now there’s some electrical problem that’s beyond me – the bike is partly taken apart in my garage now. I think I’m going to sell it.
Before I bought the bike I had it assessed: it was valued at $4000, but then, the bike was in perfect condition with low mileage (around 20k). It’s still in very good if not excellent condition.
Does anyone out there know how similar the Honda CB550 and CB750 frames are?
I have a 1976 CB550K that needs a new seat, and am looking at a seat from a 1974
750K…I’ve heard frames are similar, but not sure if they’re identical enough to
interchange seats. Any insight is appreciated.
Contact any Honda motorcycle dealer – they should be able to tell you. The original Honda mechanic manuals are around on the net somewhere as PDFs, too – they might give some indication. Good luck.
I just bought a 1975 Honda CB550 for 1,250 and its only got 5,100 miles on it. these bikes are steals for the money.
I am wondering…I want to put a 160 to 180 rear wheel, for better cornering, and want to change the swingarm. Does anyone have any comments/recommendations on what swingarm I should use, if I need to offset my transmission, the pit falls, if its even possible, if Im an idiot for even thinking about it…