Author Topic: 1977 CB550F IDK (first build) (Read 174072 times)

calj737 · « **Reply #475 on:** June 14, 2015, 05:09:39 AM »

Must be an omen of one'so future if they were to ride that bike?

minimo · « **Reply #476 on:** June 19, 2015, 08:33:01 AM »

I'm looking for turn signals that couple as running lights (on during operation) and turn signals. I understand these are commonly referred to as "dual fitment" turn signals, usually requiring a third lead - the third lead being the ORANGE/WHITE wire for the left turn signal and LIGHT BLUE/WHITE wire for the right. Currently, I have LED turn signals that are two-lead and only come on as turn signals. Can these be rewired somehow to also operate as running lights?

I like the turn signals found on Shinya Kimura's lastest Faster Son’ Yamaha MT-07:

Notice that Shinya's running lights operate on the tips which probably means that these are dual fitment.
Any idea where I can find these turn signals?

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #477 on:** June 19, 2015, 08:49:03 AM »

Dual filament.

huhb · « **Reply #478 on:** June 19, 2015, 04:12:07 PM »

a dual element circuit may do it. Commonly used for DIY led strip tail light/brake light conversion. Easy to make, i think you could probably buy them for $5 or make it for about 50p. It's just a resistor and a diode. But buying one may be easier if you don't want to worry about soldering and heat wraping.

http://www.radiantz.com/en/products#!/Dual-Element-Circuit-for-Z-Flex/p/39306179/category=10295189

minimo · « **Reply #479 on:** June 21, 2015, 10:54:41 AM »

Thanks, CB750 and huhb.

Driving home late at night, I caught glances of a few motorcycles and they all did not have running lights in the turn signals; the only light noticeable, of course, was the headlight. For some reason I thought it was a DOT requirement to have running lights on the turn signals, particularly at night. Maybe it's not so necessary?

I gotta stop messing with the lights and get this puppy to run already.

goldarrow · « **Reply #480 on:** June 21, 2015, 11:33:04 AM »

Quote from: minimo on June 21, 2015, 10:54:41 AM

I gotta stop messing with the lights and get this puppy to run already.

Yeah...already....

minimo · « **Reply #481 on:** June 21, 2015, 11:38:47 AM »

Maybe I could get your help some day soon, goldarrow. How about turning some wrenches over beers and burgers

huhb · « **Reply #482 on:** June 21, 2015, 09:20:01 PM »

Quote from: minimo on June 21, 2015, 10:54:41 AM

Thanks, CB750 and huhb.

Driving home late at night, I caught glances of a few motorcycles and they all did not have running lights in the turn signals; the only light noticeable, of course, was the headlight. For some reason I thought it was a DOT requirement to have running lights on the turn signals, particularly at night. Maybe it's not so necessary?

I gotta stop messing with the lights and get this puppy to run already.

never heard of mandatory running lights/turn lights for motorcycles. Cars have indicator/running lights though. So maybe that was your mix up. But I've seen some interesting customs that use dual filaments wrapped around the forks.

Overpriced imho

minimo · « **Reply #483 on:** June 22, 2015, 01:51:10 AM »

huhb, I think you're totally right. I'm just completely mixed up with the mandatory-ness of cars vs. bikes...

I've concluded that the only lights I'll maintain will be the headlight, tail light, and the license plate illumination. And once I pass inspection, the Koso gauge will be all nice and blinky, replacing the stock beasts. Back to simplifying things, I hope, and not over-complicating/over-thinking weird sh%t.

The daily grind and travel lately has precluded bike work. Meanwhile, I'm still trying to resurrect the old horn, keeping the rusted connectors soaked in WD40. I want to try to fix the horn I have before I consider buying another one. I read that boiling the horn in hot water yields some success but I'm quite skeptical that will work (even though I'll probably end up trying it). I figure once I loosen up the rust and gunk, hopefully that will clear and loosen up the contacts and a simple adjustment of the screws on the back of the horn will get me a beep.

calj737 · « **Reply #484 on:** June 22, 2015, 05:02:46 AM »

Test the horn by jumping wires directly to the battery +/- terminals. If it signals loudly, you have a wiring problem. If it wheezes and moans, replace the darn thing and be done with it.

If it were a Sandcast, or some unusually rare piece, sure, resurrect it, but they're about $15 and I hope you never use it in traffic anyway.

minimo · « **Reply #485 on:** June 23, 2015, 12:15:56 AM »

The horn is a MITSUBA MB-E and you're right, calj737, "replace the darn thing and be done with it." And yes, good point, hopefully I will never have to use it in any situation.
Meanwhile, I've tried jumping it directly to the battery +/- and I got nothing. Switched the wires and nothing. Fiddled with the screws on the back of the horn and nothing. Soaking it in WD-40 is my last resort and I'll probably get... nothing.
Thanks, calj737. You are my 550 guru.

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #486 on:** June 23, 2015, 06:54:23 PM »

Quote from: minimo on June 23, 2015, 12:15:56 AM

And yes, good point, hopefully I will never have to use it in any situation.

the only thing more fun than riding motorcycles is honking your horn while riding motorcycles..."Hey buddy"=honk honk
"hey honey"=honk honk honk "#$%* you"=hhhoooonnnnnk

minimo · « **Reply #487 on:** July 03, 2015, 03:26:32 PM »

Beep beep!

New Nikko 12V horn. Had to clean the contacts on innards of the horn button - lots of dirt/grime build up (not the source of the original horn not working) - and the honk is loud - freaked me out the first time.

minimo · « **Reply #488 on:** August 02, 2015, 02:19:48 PM »

Work lately has been a major time-suck; finally got a weekend to work on the bike.

To start things off, I ordered a brand new tach cable ('cos the old one snapped) and I go to screw it on the back of the dial and realize the darn thread nipple had broken off. Another useless purchase. Oh well. Anybody want a tach cable?

I then started to tidy things up in the electrics cavity under the seat. It's such a clutter. Times like these I wish I had a Motogadget setup. Anyway, I figured it'd be a good opportunity to also setup the regulator/rectifier. So I made a bracket and was able to mount the unit using an existing hole under the base of where the gas tank meets with the seat. I've read and I imagine that these reg/rect get very hot so I plan on leaving this mounted the way it is and exposed to allow the heat to dissipate. Here's a bad pic:

Next up, as I tidied up the electronics some, I decided to take one of the dud vacuform runs from a previous attempt at making an electronics tray and used that as a cap to keep the wires/harness/etc all contained, like so:

I then moved onto the thing I'd been looking forward to for a while and worked on mounting the rear fender.
Since I'm aiming toward a quasi-Brat style, I figured I'd try and give the rear fender that traditional stubby look. So with my trusty Makita grinder, I chopped away at my stock fender...

I modified it some more - basically chopping off that "T" end - and poked a hole under the rear hoop (centered) to match another hole I had made in the center somewhere on the rear fender, to act as a pivot point. I then proceeded to cut a strip of cardboard to mock up the approximate length and shape of a bracket to mount the other end of the fender and came up with this:

I'll admit that I had to get through a few attempts to finally settle on the one. Aligning the rear fender just right is kind of a pain. I think it's still slightly skewed but I'll accept it for now and move on.

So now that the electrics and rear fender are all set up, I started to mask it all down in preparation for some good times with fiberglass resin. Yay! What better way to spend a hot summer day in my toasty garage than to suffer with some stinky and itchy...

Stay tuned to see how this "pans" out ;-)

minimo · « **Reply #489 on:** September 03, 2015, 07:03:36 PM »

I'm desperately looking around my manual and fiche but outta sorts on where this apparent fuel line connects from under/top of the tank (and I assume it latches onto the small hook on underside of the tank, along the frame). This is a separate line from the one coming from the petcock, right? It's a bit wider...

Jeez, I'm almost there. I even have unleaded ready to pour.

Oh, and there's an insert for another tube coming from the head cover... Where does this drain off to? I'm cornfused.

calj737 · « **Reply #490 on:** September 03, 2015, 07:57:52 PM »

The tube under the tank is the overflow from the filler neck. Fuel will drip thru the tube and is directed away.

The outlet on the breather cover originally connected as a crankcase breather to the air box. Many use the original tubing and install a small pod-type filter on it after induction changes.

minimo · « **Reply #491 on:** September 04, 2015, 03:04:05 AM »

Thanks, cal! Copy on the fuel tank overflow tube. I'll just use the old tube and run that off to the side. I'll contend with that crankcase breather outlet later if I must.

minimo · « **Reply #492 on:** September 04, 2015, 09:06:38 PM »

Wanted to report that the bike started!!!
Woohoo! Nothing quite like the feeling of the Honda rumbling thunder under my ass.
Thanks to Goldarrow for all the support and making that happen.
The bike is, however far from perfect, of course. Still quite a ways probably...
Some notable things about the bike.

Leak of oil on the head cover (right side). No CRUSH WASHERS! I'll be ordering those.

A faint click sound when the motor is turned by hand - probably about every 1/4 rotation.

Clutch at handlebar doesn't engage with the plates. When clicking into 1st gear, with clutch fully in, bike jerks into gear and sputters off... Hmmm. Goldarrow tried his hand at adjusting the clutch cables but noted that the clutch lever and the clutch at the handlebar felt tight. Minimal adjustment could be made via the clutch cover screw adjustment.
I'll be popping this off (while the bike rests on its left side so the oil rests on that side) and inspecting clutch plate order and clutch adjusting lever etc.

This bike has a serious grumble that I love.

Here's a Periscope of the engine start at, eh hem, the first kick:
https://www.periscope.tv/w/aLphpDM4NDA2NTl8MXpxS1ZtRWt5ZG54QjqeJRm078zoFCvKmiC5Ng1HtJOW-fEBolMAFZxBWp8V

minimo · « **Reply #493 on:** September 08, 2015, 03:29:54 PM »

Honda part #90485-001-000 CYLINDER HEAD COVER THRUST WASHER calls for an ID 6.5mm (OD 10mm). Will this washer via McMaster Carr do? Nobody seems to sell these exact ones; very hard to come by.

goldarrow · « **Reply #494 on:** September 08, 2015, 03:38:28 PM »

Did you get a chance to open up the clutch cover and see if anything wrong in there?

minimo · « **Reply #495 on:** September 09, 2015, 11:21:09 AM »

Goldarrow, I have not yet. Won't be able to while out of town for a week

Definitely keep you posted on that - gotta see about how to lay it down safely (stator side)

minimo · « **Reply #496 on:** September 19, 2015, 05:08:37 PM »

Clutch and kickstart pedal are acting funny so decided to take a peek...

"It puts the lotion in the basket."
Rather, not enough lotion in this case. I drained the oil so there was some residual that poured out when I popped the clutch cover off but upon close inspection, the basket looks totally dry, as does the kickstart pedal - should this be the case? There's still some assembly lube/grease in some of the areas in/around the clutch assembly and the plates look a little dry. A good opportunity to take the assembly off, take the plates out, measure them, and study the breakout schematic to make sure I have the right sequence going with the plate order - specifically the placement of the riveted metal dual plate, Plate B. It should be "at the fourth position as counted from the clutch center." Looks like that could be right but I'm going to make sure. Any other tips here with regard to this disassembly/reassembly would be appreciated especially while I have this part popped open at the moment B-)
The kickstart pedal is a bit of a mystery. It was actually working fine until the clutch cables were being fiddled with... But since the kick was slipping I thought perhaps the spring inside had come off the stopping edge on the case but it hadn't. Looking into this a bit further...

Meanwhile, I picked up some new jets to hopefully work with my setup:
#108 Mains - Honda # 99101-393-1080
#40 Slow Jets - Honda # 99124-076-0400

They were also able to help me source OEM copper crush washers for the side cylinder head cover brackets - Plate A & B - where the 6mm bolts go ("Oh yeah, those are just yer regular 6mm copper washers, no problem!")

Picked up these parts from Honda of Glendale (CA) and it's the first time I've ever been called a hipster; by an old-timer. Maybe it was my unkempt scruff or oversized beanie... But anyway, the older clerk kinda said it disdainfully so I wasn't sure if I was supposed to take offense to it or whatever. I told him that he was halfway there with his grown moustache and the hipster-talk kinda ended there... But what is a "hipster" these days anyway?

minimo · « **Reply #497 on:** September 19, 2015, 09:13:21 PM »

So, took out all the clutch plates and examined them. They're new EBC plates with zero mileage so as expected, they measured with no wear nor score marks. I also noticed there's one tiny stamp marked "1" on just one of the teeth, on a single side (otherwise, both sides are seemingly identical), so I made sure to align the markings and keep them all facing in the the same side and direction. As for the metal in-between plates, I lined these up as best I could taking note of the notches and lining all those up. I also made sure that the Plate B - the riveted double plate - is now in the fourth position from the center just as in the parts diagrams. I knew the steps up to here would be solid, which I hope they are.

Make a long story short, rather than torque the clutch lifter plate bolts down all the way (to about 7 ft/lbs), I backed them off evenly about 2.5 turns on each. I wasn't getting much success with the bolts all the way down but now after backing them off a bit, I buttoned up the clutch cover, adjusted the cable, lined up the dots, and adjusted/tightened down the clutch lever screw/nut and now squeezing in the clutch feels good like it should.

Fingers are crossed this works.

Next up, pulling off the carbs (after I figure out how to leak out some of the gasoline still filled inside of them) and rejetting!

minimo · « **Reply #498 on:** September 20, 2015, 01:00:07 AM »

Like panning for gold. More like specs of Hondabond and tiny globs of coagulated grease. Signs of some microscopic shards of metal but still this was an early first run of oil since I had to investigate my clutch...

goldarrow · « **Reply #499 on:** September 20, 2015, 08:37:54 AM »

Good to see that the issue was in the clutch plates, not something else worst.

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Author Topic: 1977 CB550F IDK (first build) (Read 174072 times)