The Honda CB550 is a

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

made by

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

from 1974 to 1978. It has a

four-cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

wet sump Within piston engines, a wet sump is part of a lubrication system whereby the crankcase sump is used as an integral oil reservoir. An alternative system is the dry sump, whereby oil is pumped from a shallow sump into an external reservoir.Wet sum ...

engine. The first version, the CB550K, was a development of the earlier CB500, and like its predecessor, had four exhaust pipes, four silencers and wire-spoked wheels.

Model development

Compared to

's 1969

dry sump A dry-sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in four-stroke and large two-stroke piston driven internal combustion engines. The dry-sump system uses two or more oil pumps and a separate oil reservoir, as opposed to a conve ...

CB750 The Honda CB750 is an air-cooled, transverse, in-line-four-cylinder-engine motorcycle made by Honda over several generations for year models 1969–2003, plus 2007, with an upright, or standard, riding posture. It is often called the original ...

, both the CB500 and the CB550 were much smaller and lighter. The CB550K shared some visual similarities with the CB750, and it fitted into Honda's four-cylinder range as its mid-capacity bike. From 1975 to 1977, a second version of the CB550 was offered, the CB550F "Super Sport". The CB550K and CB550F were sold alongside each other, sharing a similar engine, instruments, lights, wheels, brakes, and frame. The CB550F has a lighter four-into-one exhaust, slightly flatter handlebars, and a different fuel tank without chrome trim. The CB550F is part of the Honda Super Sport range, along with the CB400F, an CB750F. The F (aka F1) was succeeded by the F2, which had an additional flash decal on the fuel tank and deletion of the fork gaiters. Both CB550F and CB550K models had a

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

rear brake and a single front disc brake, although each fork slider had a bracket for a brake caliper. The CB550K went through some minor iterations, the last being the CB550K4. Closely derived from the earlier CB500, the CB550's engine was the largest factory boring of this cylinder block; and when the CB550 was replaced in 1979 by the broadly similar

Honda CB650 The Honda CB650 is a standard motorcycle produced from 1979 to 1985. It featured a four-cylinder, SOHC, air-cooled, wet sump engine, with two valves per cylinder. The CB650 was a development of the CB550, itself derived from the even earlier ...

, a completely new engine design was necessary. ''Cycle Test'' magazine recorded a time of 14.47 seconds at in a September 1975 test of the CB550F Super Sport. The engine output was at 8,000 rpm and torque at 7,500 rpm, with a curb weight of and average fuel consumption of . 1976 Honda CB550SuperSport cropped

References

{{Honda_motorcycles (1970s) CB550 Standard motorcycles