Topic: Maybe newbs shouldn't be allowed to work on bikes?

[smonkey]

I definitely need help from some one who knows how this stuff works.

So I had a fault in the wiring going to the indicator lights (turn signal, oil pressure, neutral light, high beam lights) on my '74 CB550 and it was blowing the main fuse. I bought replacement wiring on ebay but got restless in the mean time and decided to try to ride it without the indicator lights and wiring. Who needs those things anyway, right? Evidently the Honda gods never intended for things to work that way. The electric start wouldn't work, the bike wouldn't start from the kick start, and the tail light appeared to be stuck on bright (indicating braking). I gave up and installed the new indicator wires when they arrived. After installing the new wires the electric start works but the bike won't start and is producing no spark.

So my questions are: Did I fry the coils or ignition (I have a Dyna) by trying to run the bike without the indicator light wiring? If so, is there anything else I might have damaged by doing this?

Thanks in advance for any advice and help.

[kslrr]

Most likely you didn't damage anything as the indicater electrics aren't directly related to the start/ignition.  Now, if you messed with the hand controls wiring, you might have openned up the start/ignition circuits.  Do you have a correct wiring diagram?  If not, I believe you can download the entire manual from this site.  Good luck.

[72500john]

almost sounds like your ignition switch may have gone bad and is kind stuck in the park position.

[ekpent]

Sure your kill switch is set to on ?

[singedebile]

almost sounds like your ignition switch may have gone bad and is kind stuck in the park position.

.this

[smonkey]

Still no spark

The kill switch is definitely in the on position. I even tried it in the off position just in case it had somehow failed and gotten reversed.
I'm pretty sure the battery is still good because the starter is turning it over very quickly.
The dyna is 6 months old and has worked well to this point. I had a friend test it with a multimeter and found it to be sending voltage to the coils when the engine turned over so I think it's still good.
I didn't mess with the hand controls but I was in the head light area while installing the new annunciator light wires. I guess I might have messed something up in there although I was as careful as I could be with the wiring. I checked the connections for the black wiring and the black wires with the white stripe inside the headlight bowl. I believe these are the connections for the kill switch and they all looked okay.
I think replacing the annunciator light wires fixed the original problem because it is no longer blowing the main fuse. It was running well until it starting blowing the main fuse. It appears I just traded one problem for another at this point.
I do have a wiring diagram but I'm no electrical genius and am not really sure where to go from here. Assuming the dyna is working properly I'm guessing the problem must be either with the coils, kill switch, or kill switch wiring. Any tips on how to test coils? How often do coils go bad? It seems unlikely that two coils would go bad at the same time (unless I damaged them both somehow) which leads me to think that the kill switch might be suspect.

[ekpent]

Coils are very tough and basically reliable so keep digging around that loom and ignition switch area etc..  Electrical stuff Sucks    At least you know it did run before.

[apex_seeking]

I would look into the ignition switch. I had mine go out last year. I popped a main fuse once or twice and then it went out completely. After replacing the switch, I've not had any issues. It's also pretty cheap and easy to replace.

[smonkey]

Electrical stuff does suck!
That being said I'm happy to report that I think I found the problem. In an attempt to isolate the handlebar cutoff switch and its wiring I connected the black and white wire from the coils with the 5 way black connector in the headlight bowl (I used the turn signal buzzer spot on the connector since my buzzer has been removed). Then I tried turning it over and got a spark! I took the right handlebar switches apart and found one of the soldered connections in the cutoff switch had come loose. Irritating but I'm glad I was able to find the problem. Thanks for all the help and suggestions they definitely kept me thinking.

I should have mentioned before that the ignition switch had gone bad recently and was blowing my main fuse. I couldn't solve that one myself at the time so I had a shop diagnose it and they replaced the switch for me. Since the switch was only a couple months old I figured it probably wasn't the problem this time but 72500john and apex_seeking you guys are totally right that those ignition switches are a common failure point.   

[apex_seeking]

Glad you got it figured out.

[Danno]

that seems to be a problem on 550's that darn switch wire for the kill switch