Tag Archives: 1977

Exhaust for SOHC Honda’s 1969-1978 The SIDEWINDER

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
14 Jan

I have been getting a lot of compliments on the 4 into 1 Exhaust I manufacture called The Sidewinder, this really is a great performing system that not only fits well, it sounds crisp and is a true Performance pipe.

These power houses are available in Raw steel, for that Industrial Look, or you can wrap them with Heat wrap for your Custom look, but also I get these Cerakoted in Ceramic and have a Choice of Colors of Black, Silver, Titanium and Burnt Bronze.  These are designed to fit the HONDA CB750K CB750F inline Four Models of the SOHC size, that’s from 1969 up to 1978.

Also , the advantage of this system is that you can still run with your center stand attached as these pipes wrap to the right hand side of your engine and clear the oil pain, the second thing is you have a totally clear access area to your Oil filter housing, which makes for easy oil changes and filter swaps etc.  A really well made system that is affordable and pretty easy to fit, even on your own.  I have done this many times and so glad I went this route, the whole system itself is about 13 pounds so easily lighter than the stock version.

These are all made right here in California and ready to fit to your bike and get you back on the tarmac, these are held into the Cylinder head by floating Flanges, so no more messing around with either half shims or them finned pinch clamps, simply bolt on with 8X35mm Bolts or if your head has studs, then these just slide right on into the ports and simply tighten sequentially.  I use a Stainless Bolt to attach the tail pipe to the header, as springs tend to jump off over bumps, mostly made for the track, so a tried and tested method is a high quality stainless bolt that I supply with the system.

Yes these do come with a Baffle and I do not add any packing to it, I like the 95 Decibel output but if you feel it is a tad loud for your area, then any local Motorcycle shop sells the fiberglass packing or use some steel wool and wrap around the baffle and refit until required sound is found.  No other sound like this, other than a 30 year old Yoshi.

The Photos I have shown are Raw steel, but Ceramic coating is available but takes 10 from order as I take it out to the company to do their coating but worth the wait, I do not store any in house coated, only because we get the odd Earthquake and don’t want to scratch anything if they moved when we get a shaker here.

I personally Pack these systems and send them out to you, I help Over sea’s Customers on the duty form, so you don’t get any silly fee’s, remember, I have been doing this almost 23 years, so know my way around the shipping forms. I packed these in a 16x16x21 double walled box and make sure that it doesn’t move when in transit.

Let me know if I can help you with one of these systems for your Machine, be it Stock, Custom, Café Racer. Brat. Tracker or a Dailey parts Runner, this exhaust will give you more pep and looks pretty cool too.  It breathes so well you will be stoked at the velvet tone that it emits at the rear end.  Looks Great and value for money, way better than the Chinese stuff that’s out there.

I am super stoked at these systems and have many repeat Customers from all over the states and the globe, I love to hear from customers that really do enjoy the burble that these 4 into 1 exhausts make and the throttle response is second to none. All would suggest you up jet 2 sizes on the main, but that’s it, these run so good.

If you need any more information, please drop me a line at carpy@carpyscaferacers.com or call or even text me on 714-598-8392, thanks for checking in and hope that you enjoyed this page on the Sidewinder Exhaust.

Raw Steel System : $380

Cerakote Coated :    $480

HONDA 1977 CB550F Super Sport for Sale $5999

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
04 Jan

Sometimes  in your life of buying and selling Motorcycles ,you come across a Diamond in the rough, and here is one that I wasn’t going to purchase at first but something told me to go and see it , as I had no photos of it.  I am so glad I did, this was a one owner machine that was purchased in 1977, it did have a Rear Luggage Rack with sissy bar attached and a Chrome front crash bar, but took that off, although the owner bought it new in 1977 and had the dealership fit them to the bike upon purchase.

(I can supply you with them if you require as they are still hung up in my Barn.)

This is a very nice machine and has 11,000 miles on the girl which is super low for a 45 year old Motorcycle, the old fella used it to go to work and that was it, I purchased the bike and have had it in storage for a couple of years, but seems a shame to keep it locked in and thought that it was time to let somebody else have some fun with it.

The bike is all Original other than the battery, even the tires are original, a rare find these days, I did remove the carbs and go through them a couple of years back, but it has been stored in my Barn with my other machines and I have quite a bit of work and thought it was time for the old girl to have some fun with another owner.

Now, this is not a showroom condition bike, its a bike that was used for a few years for local commuting, but its a rare find for sure, I need to give her a clean up as she is dusty from sitting inside, this was never outside.

To be honest, it would not take much to make this machine Mint, and go in shows with some tlc, its a much loved machine and I know that you will love just looking at this unmolested 1977 Machine.
The 1977 CB550 F2 is a fun and nimble machine and will sneak up on many machines, its responsive and great center of Gravity, makes for some really enjoyable riding on this inline four marvel.

A great Machine that reflects that awesome era when I was a teenager, I remember having a sales Brochure on my bedroom wall as a kid, amongst other notable motorcycles of that era and this brings back so many memories just looking at the bike.

I do have the Title for this too and numbers match the title, so you are all good there, its not been on the road since I have owned it as I have kept it in my Barn with the other bikes and I think its time to offer this to the public as I am sure there are many like me that love these 70’s Iconic Machines.

This Four Stroke Transverse Four Cylinder, SOHC Motor with 2 Valves per Cylinder, and a Bore and Stroke of 50.85 x 50.6mm with a 9.0:1 Compression is a little powerhouse to be honest. It has produces 50 HP/36.5kW @8500 RPM, with a Max Toque of 43.1 Nm/31.8 LB-Ft@ 7400RPM.

I did work on the carburetors and fit a New battery but, that’s it, a lovely condition for its age and nothing cut off or broken on this amazing Honda 550F inline four cylinder.

If you want to capture the late 1970’s in mid size Motorcycling, then this really is it, sitting on this reminded me of when I saw one in the dealership when I was 15 years old, after finishing my bag of chips, me and my mate used to just hang out in the shop looking at the new bikes that had come out, dreaming of the day we could own one.

Be a shame in a way to see it go, but as long as someone gets as much enjoyment out of is as I have, that is all I ask, a rare find these days and I am certain it will turn heads and have many questions asked about it where ever you take this Honda.

If you need more photos or information about this 1977 CB750F Honda, you can email me at carpy@carpyscaferacers.com or you can call or Text me on 714-598-8392 and have a chat.

Thank you for looking and hope you like the photos that I have taken of the bike, its a great color too, this weighs about 421 in dry weight and has 18″ wheels, so a nice height for most riders.

Flash Back Friday

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
31 Jul

Just a quick old Video when I had a Bigger shop that did Cafe Racers and Hot Rods, but am so much happier doing MY own stuff and not relying of other people, so have a great weekend.

 

MY exhaust, kicks ass at Barber Race Track.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
02 Jun

Hey Gang

It is always good to hear from Customers and their stories of how they enjoy our parts here at Carpy;s Cafe Racers, none less than this fella, William Lundy.

He purchased one of our performance 4 into 1 exhaust systems and simply jetted and off he went, he raced his little 550 with some of the big boys.
So- I thought I would share with you, some of the email that he sent to me today, I am so stoked that he likes what we sell here at the shop and I knew he would be happy.
Enjoy:
Peace and Grease
 
CARPY

 

 

Hello Carpy,

So to start the exhaust really does rule. It all started when I got this quite large package at my door step and unboxed the glory that is the Carpy Exhaust. I immediately went about coating it with black ceramic spray from my local auto parts store. not the best option I know but I was under a tight budget. After the coating dried I began to fit the new exhaust. I was immediately impressed with good the welds were and the one piece design. once I got the old pipes off(4into2 no baffling) I slid the new part into place with ease. everything fit extremely well and I had the exhaust on and ready to go in a matter of about 15 minutes. So i started my bike up and immediately noticed all four pipes were leaking. Stupid me forgot to throw in new exhaust gaskets. So off came the pipes and around another 20 minutes later i had a monster exhaust setup. 
 
Then came the tuning.
my bike…the be completely honest is a real snotter. It looks like a turd and is beat up as anything. But…beneath the rugged exterior lies the monster. I am running a completely stock engine minus the cam chain tensioner and complete lack of electric or kick start. Also running stock carbs. With my carbs I had to play a little with the jetting. I found that for the bike and fuel that I use (sunoco 110-the purple stuff) i was running a little higher jetting than most and with a stock airbox. Not because I chose to keep it but because of budget. It is thrift shop racing team after all. The bike runs just a bit rich with normal pump gas but with the racing fuel it is spot on. 
 
once I had the jetting right for my setup it came to the choice of to keep the baffling or to not. i had already noticed an increase in my bottom end due to now having some back pressure on the motor and was really torn on what to do with the baffling. so what i did was simple. went to the local back road and broke it loose. I could scream at top end with the baffle out but i lacked the power to launch out of the corner. most likely due to my stock airbox. but with the baffle in I had the bottom end I was looking for and a pretty tip top upper end. I wasn’t so worried about top speed in reality though due to most of the track around here not having enough room to really get the bike all the way through the gears. 
 
So once I had it all sorted I fit my belly pan around the exhaust, safety wired the bits and was off to the first race of my career and best track on the east Barber Motorsports Park with the WERA sportsman series. 
 
Being as this was my first race i was forced to attend race school which was extremely informative and helpful. After some simple instruction we were set to hit the track for a practice run. I donned my suit and lined up ready to go. As I screamed through the first couple of corners it was apparent that the old bird still had some fight. I was ahead of a 1999 gsxr-750 and pulling into the corner. After exiting the museum corner and heading onto the back straight disaster struck and I had smoke and small flames coming from my ignition switch. a wire had come down and hit my motor exposing the metal inside and shorting out my system,popping the fuse and sent me back to the pits on the crash truck. 
 
Thankfully my great pit crew consisting of David Hurst and Charles Gault both riding RD yamaha’s got me fixed up while I was in class and had me ready for the next practice. The rest of the day went great and I was dropping seconds like crazy on my lap times. 
 
The next day was race day. I was set to compete in the clubman class due to it being a non vintage race day and that being the only class I would fit in without getting destroyed by modern bikes. As I pulled up for practice I see my competition. A bunch of 250 ninjas and cbr’s that I knew were brand new and highly tuned. my only chance was to hang back and see what lines these guys were running. 
 
After practice I was pretty certain that my only chance to get these guys was my ability to blast out of a corner and pull them on a straight. so when it came time to race I had two goals, Don’t be last, and try to run up front through the first couple corners.  I was gridded dead last due to points and was ready to go. the flag went up and I shot off the line like a bat outta hell leaving a thin black line and my tire about three inches off the ground nearly all the way into turn one. Ahead of everyone. As i was breaking into turn five i didnt’t see anyone near me and I went about my business, looking through the fence upon exit to see that the pack was just now making it into five. the rest is history. I twisted it up and never let up leading the races to a win by 8 seconds. 
 
The bike had seen better days and there wasn’t an engine part of foot peg that wasn’t ground to a powder or throwing sparks. But the exhaust is what really shined. the crowd from the paddock said you could hear me coming through the trees at turn 17 a thundering roar followed by a modest hum of the competitors as The bike meandered sideways onto the straight away. 
 
After each of my practice runs and races I was sure to get a few guys either modern bike riders or vintage fellows scooting over to my pit on their pit bikes to see just what was so darn awesome about the ride. I heard nothing but great remarks about the sound and performance. I was told the exhaust sounded like “the hounds of hell screaming in your ear waiting for you to mess up” from a guy I was “hounding through a few corners before a pass. Everyone got a napkin with the site…. carpyscaferacers.com -carpy exhaust, written on it. 
 
I hope you enjoyed the tale of the race and i will attach some photos and give you updates as the season progresses. now it’s time to find new pegs and a charger cover for a replacement! 
 
-Will Lundy