Topic: Someone explain to me the battery opp 76 550

[messeduptriple]

K I know I was told before but forgot why the battery can die so quick on these older bikes?? I was trying to start it tonight at work and ut almost completely died out..I have a nice lil system now on getting the 550 to fire up and it does good.. but seems like if I forget to have the gas switch or something like that and I keep trying to start it...then figure the problem the battery is crawling on its last limb. Why is this? ??

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[lucky]

K I know I was told before but forgot why the battery can die so quick on these older bikes?? I was trying to start it tonight at work and ut almost completely died out..I have a nice lil system now on getting the 550 to fire up and it does good.. but seems like if I forget to have the gas switch or something like that and I keep trying to start it...then figure the problem the battery is crawling on its last limb. Why is this? ??

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Because you keep grinding on it and do not give the required 5 minutes of rest between start attempts.

[messeduptriple]

K I know I was told before but forgot why the battery can die so quick on these older bikes?? I was trying to start it tonight at work and ut almost completely died out..I have a nice lil system now on getting the 550 to fire up and it does good.. but seems like if I forget to have the gas switch or something like that and I keep trying to start it...then figure the problem the battery is crawling on its last limb. Why is this? ??

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Because you keep grinding on it and do not give the required 5 minutes of rest between start attempts.

k ...but why  does it drain the battery so fast?? Its a brand new battery. 

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[78 k550]

I have had a bad battery out of the box. Only way to tell is to have it load tested.

Paul

[Stev-o]

Never have an issue with my 550.  Seems to crank much faster than the 750's

[HondaMan]

Several questions, which might help with the diagnosis:
1. What is the battery voltage, like, when you come out in the morning after it sat all night?
2. Do you have: a.) a halogen headlight, b.) Dyna 3-ohm ignition coils, or c.)Dyna S ignition? Any of these will severely lower battery power on the 550.
3. What brand of battery is it, and how old is it? If it is, for example, Wlam-Mart, "Champion", Bikemaster, or any other "Made in China" battery, it will be very poor at heavy usage, like electric starting. They use too much impure recycled lead, which leads to both low storage capability and short life. Right now, the Yuasa (in lead-acid) or any of the AGM batteries will work better in that particular bike.

The 550 is alternator-challenged, to be polite about it. There are probably over 1,000 posts here about how to solve this problem.

[TwoTired]

K I know I was told before but forgot why the battery can die so quick on these older bikes??

Perhaps you should quantify what you believe is "quick"?

I was trying to start it tonight at work and ut almost completely died out..I have a nice lil system now on getting the 550 to fire up and it does good.. but seems like if I forget to have the gas switch or something like that and I keep trying to start it...then figure the problem the battery is crawling on its last limb. Why is this? ??

Do you start the bike with the lights on?

When is the last time you fully charged the battery?

When was the last time you checked the the charging system voltages at various RPMs?

[messeduptriple]

K I know I was told before but forgot why the battery can die so quick on these older bikes??

Perhaps you should quantify what you believe is "quick"?

I was trying to start it tonight at work and ut almost completely died out..I have a nice lil system now on getting the 550 to fire up and it does good.. but seems like if I forget to have the gas switch or something like that and I keep trying to start it...then figure the problem the battery is crawling on its last limb. Why is this? ??

Do you start the bike with the lights on?

When is the last time you fully charged the battery?

When was the last time you checked the the charging system voltages at various RPMs?

I do start with the lights on
.
They go on when I start automatically.  Last time I charged it was about 2 weeks ago overbite on trickle.  The last?  ...uhmmm never did.

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[messeduptriple]

Several questions, which might help with the diagnosis:
1. What is the battery voltage, like, when you come out in the morning after it sat all night?
2. Do you have: a.) a halogen headlight, b.) Dyna 3-ohm ignition coils, or c.)Dyna S ignition? Any of these will severely lower battery power on the 550.
3. What brand of battery is it, and how old is it? If it is, for example, Wlam-Mart, "Champion", Bikemaster, or any other "Made in China" battery, it will be very poor at heavy usage, like electric starting. They use too much impure recycled lead, which leads to both low storage capability and short life. Right now, the Yuasa (in lead-acid) or any of the AGM batteries will work better in that particular bike.

The 550 is alternator-challenged, to be polite about it. There are probably over 1,000 posts here about how to solve this problem.

battery voltage never bothered to check./ Bosch led  headlamp /ignition coils?? Don't know a thing about/ battery was bought at my local honda shop ..forgot what it was called..need to run out and look at it quick


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[dave500]

look at it slow so you remember what it is and dont run you might trip over.

[TwoTired]

I do start with the lights on

An F model has no lighting off switch, a K model does.  But, you keep us guessing what it is you have.
The F model had a a headlight interrupter coupled to the starter button.

If you want accurate information.  You have to give us accurate data to work with.

Good luck!

[messeduptriple]

I do start with the lights on

An F model has no lighting off switch, a K model does.  But, you keep us guessing what it is you have.
The F model had a a headlight interrupter coupled to the starter button.

If you want accurate information.  You have to give us accurate data to work with.

Good luck!

I have a "k " model. The way it was wired up I dont have an off switch for the headlamp. I did replace all control switches with new aftermarket controls . Only thing I can adjust is the hi lo beams.

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[Stev-o]

TT - I have a '76 550K (3/76 build date) with all stock wiring. It does not have a headlight off switch. Which years did? My K4 has one and I think it is a great feature, I always have it off when cold starting.  Thx

[TwoTired]

TT - I have a '76 550K (3/76 build date) with all stock wiring. It does not have a headlight off switch. Which years did?

According to the Shop manual wire diagrams, all years prior to 76 for K models.  My 72 (500), 74, and 75 does.

Many states made it a law that motorcycles had to have the headlight on at all times when operating.  I'm not sure when that law was made mandatory.  Perhaps 76?  But, that is why head lamp switches were phased out here in the states.

I never had a 76 Cb550K.  But, model year details get very obscured when owners change what it was into something else without relaying the info during an operational query.

Anyway, if there is no separate headlight on/off switch, then the starter button removes the 4-5 amp head lamp load during start operation.  This helps the battery keep the voltage up for the ignition to spark more vigorously.

If the new controls didn't allow for this, then poor starting is possibly an owner induced feature.

Cheers,

[bollingball]

1)Its a brand new battery. 

2)I do start with the lights on
 
3)Last time I charged it was about 2 weeks ago overbite on trickle.

4)1)The last?  ...uhmmm never did.

5)battery voltage never bothered to check.

6)Bosch led  headlamp

7)I did replace all control switches with new aftermarket controls

1) Does not really mean much except you may have some warranty

2) With all the rewiring you say YOU have done you should be able to wire in the headlight off while starting circuit. If not ask how better yet study a print for a bike that has one. Did you have the diode before you rewired the bike?

3) And the reading were?

4) You need to learn how to.

5) Do you have any test tools. How on earth did you change all your wiring without doing a voltage check? I guess you could. But why?

6) LED please give a model number? I may try one what is the current draw high and low and what does the pattern look like on both at night?

7) Did you do it of have it done?

After you get all the information ask for by TT and HondaMan then we can make progress. Sounds like a low battery. But why is what we have to and can find out.

edit: Don't know what happened to answer 6 but I changed it.

Ken

[messeduptriple]

1)Its a brand new battery. 

2)I do start with the lights on
 
3)Last time I charged it was about 2 weeks ago overbite on trickle.

4)1)The last?  ...uhmmm never did.

5)battery voltage never bothered to check.

6)Bosch led  headlamp

7)I did replace all control switches with new aftermarket controls

1) Does not really mean much except you may have some warranty

2) With all the rewiring you say YOU have done you should be able to wire in the headlight off while starting circuit. If not ask how better yet study a print for a bike that has one. Did you have the diode before you rewired the bike?

3) And the reading were?

4) You need to learn how to.

5) Do you have any test tools. How on earth did you change all your wiring without doing a voltage check? I guess you could. But why?

6) LED please give a model number? I may try one what is the current draw high and low and what does the pattern look like on both at night?

7) Did you do it of have it done?

After you get all the information ask for by TT and HondaMan then we can make progress. Sounds like a low battery. But why is what we have to and can find out.

edit: Don't know what happened to answer 6 but I changed it.

Ken

I had someone rewire the whole setup for me.

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