Topic: 1977 CB550F IDK (first build)

[minimo]

Collect them all! (Though I think I'm missing a 14mm wrench and a thinner flathead screwdriver... Thin-walled spark plug wrench will come in handy too)

[minimo]

Maiden voyage checked off the list! Woo hoo! She idles great and zips better than imagined! So well worth the whole journey up to this point. I could be done with the build and it would be fine - that satisfying.

A couple of things off about the ride though after several trips around the block:

1) drips of oil on left cover (rider's left). Thinking it could be the gear shift seal.


2) a bit of foot finessing when gear shifting. I gotta push up/down - off and on for it to shift - could be the clutch?

What a feeling though. Thank you all for the help and insight into this wonderful experience. Onward!

[minimo]

It was a leaking oil switch assembly. It was spouting like a geyser. Swapped it out with a Duralast PS123 from the local AutoZone (thanks for the heads up, goldarrow) and no more leaks :-)

Other than the difficulty shifting gears, the only other beef I have is with my Shorai lithium iron battery - it dies very quickly and I imagine at this rate I can get only a single ride in and I have to keep charging it. I've tendered it in STORE more since I haven't been running the bike for days/weeks and the maintenance with the battery so far is giving me some doubt on this purchase. Though it's likely that my electrical is shorting at some point in the wiring or something is probably drawing too many amps (i.e. headlight and gauges - other lights are LED so very minimal amps drawn from those). I'll contact Shorai and see what they say about some of the issues I've been having with what should still be considered a relatively new battery.

Can't wait to get back on the road on this beast! Love it!

[Bootsey]

Good work, hope the few small kinks are easy to sort out.
Need to put up some photos of the finished product!

[calj737]

IF you're draining your Shorai, then I suspect the BLACK wire form your Reg/Rec is not wired correctly. Is yours stock or an aftermarket? The BLACK needs to be wired into the KEY switch BLACK circuit somewhere to detect the battery status. It could be you're not re-charging the battery while riding as a result.

[minimo]

Thank you, Bootsey! The bike is still a work in progress but pictures will be coming soon.

Oh, calj737 - the astute one. I believe that you are onto something...

So after all this time it wasn't my battery; it was ME? How was I supposed to know about the BLACK wire when the only instructions that came with my ElectroSport regulator/rectifier (ESR240) were:

Attach 6-pin plastic connector to old rectifier plug in.

Loose brown wire will attach to black wire previously going to old regulator (switched 12+)

Loose green wire will attach to white wire previously going to old regulator (field coil output).

I will try extending the reg/rect BLACK to the KEY switch BLACK in the next couple of days and report back.
Thanks so much for the tip.

IF you're draining your Shorai, then I suspect the BLACK wire form your Reg/Rec is not wired correctly. Is yours stock or an aftermarket? The BLACK needs to be wired into the KEY switch BLACK circuit somewhere to detect the battery status. It could be you're not re-charging the battery while riding as a result.

[calj737]

Per your product instructions, it would be the Electrosport BROWN to be extended to key BLACK, right? As long as your new Reg/Rec is getting a proper reading from the switched 12v, it should provide accurate info to charging the battery status. It sounds to me as though the battery recharge is "out of the loop" on your charging system. Make sense?

To verify before you do anything: charge the battery fully. Take a voltage reading at the battery terminals. Probably going to be ~13.8v

Now start the bike, and take readings at 2,500, 4,000 and 5,000. If the voltage is NOT increasing, then the BLACK/BROWN circuit is not communicating to the Reg/Rec/Battery. Fix that link, and you're golden!

[minimo]

I'll try metering the battery but revving at those specific increments will have to be arbitrary since my tach is out of commission

I have a feeling that the way that it is wired now - reg/rect BROWN connected to old regulator BLACK - the voltage will not increase...

I'll try this out before I go to work this AM, if I get a chance. Otherwise, more on this when I get a chance in the next couple of days.

Thanks, calj737!

[calj737]

Just use a decent level of "ear tach" and you should be good enough. I have never used my tach while riding as a primary indicator. I always drive by feel and sound of the engine. You can tell when the motor is about to dump off and that you need to shift, and for changing confirmation, just idle, measure, then wind it up to about where you think 4,000-5,000 is and take a reading. Its close enough for the moment.

[minimo]

Gave it a try this AM.
Metered the freshly charged battery at 13V+. Started the bike with no problem - first try. Got her revved up and read fluctuations 12.42V and up. Then, the readings would go incrementally lower. I had a fan pointed at the engine all the while but fiddling with the idle screw eventually cause the engine to sputter off. Got a few more ignitions from her and then the power very quickly diminished - headlight and instrument panel lights grew dim and the readings here were about 10.70A - not enough juice to turn the engine over...

What do ya say, calj? Wire the new BROWN to the KEY BLACK as you said?

[calj737]

Definitely.

[minimo]

How is the BLACK at ignition different from the BLACK that I had the reg/rect BROWN connected to previously? I ask because I metered BLACK @ ignition with the old BLACK that I had BROWN connected to and there's continuity.

[minimo]

Also, I'm having a hell of a time figuring out a clean way to splice a line into the existing BLACK ignition line at the harness.

[minimo]

Here's a glamor shot of my bike.


A buddy was kind enough to lend me his clutch assembly and clutch cover to help troubleshoot some of the gear shifting issues I was having and sure enough that did the trick. I took it for a spin at night and got all the way up to fifth gear (no freeway). I then felt something in the clutch, like it didn't quite engage, and one clink then a thunk and all of a sudden the rear wheel froze up and I was skidding at around 35 mph. Good thing I learned about counter-steering in the motorcycle training course.
With 10 percent battery life on my cell phone (what's with me and batteries lately?) I had to get a tow service out since my AAA doesn't cover towing motorcycles.

Tonight could have been a lot worse.

[calj737]

Sounds like your chain broke perhaps then wrapped up around the axle? Did you happen to examine the left side? Any oil leaks, or out of ordinary appearances?

Measure the voltage on the BLACK from the ignition. It should be the same (less 0.5v) as the battery. If thats where you had the BROWN wired, then you should be charging, providing you have the Reg/Rec installed properly.

When you get a chance, some good clear pictures of your left side electrical panel.

[minimo]

No oil leaks. The only thing out of the ordinary as far as outside appearances was the rear wheel was skewed to the rider's right, the sidewall rubbing against the brake stopper arm slightly.

Could not get the bike into any gear. Thinking it had something to do with the clutch assembly I popped the cover and found that the right side looked normal.

Nothing really out of the ordinary under the left crankcase cover. No oil spill.

I'm afraid of the worst case scenario is having to take the engine off the frame again and peeling it back from the header on down... Before I begin to do that I'll pop the bottom cover off first to see if any parts have fallen down there. calj737, you suspect the cam chain?

calj737, I'll get those pics to you today. That's the innards (wiring) of the turn signal switch assembly, right?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[calj737]

Not cam chain, drive chain. But you answered that I guess.

As for electrical, I'd like to see under the left side panel where your fuse block is and Reg/Rec to see what you're wiring looks like.

[minimo]

Re: left side panel - well, I've done away with side panels and have relocated (crammed) electrics under the seat. I'll do my best to lay stuff out for your eyes to see how I've routed things.

[goldarrow]

Glad you're ok and didn't crash.  I wonder if your wheel locked up is related to gears are being difficult to shift as you mentioned earlier. 

I've got 650 motor to drop into your frame if you're up for it

[minimo]

Thanks, goldarrow. I didn't crash and managed to skid the bike off to the shoulder of the road - even managed to keep the engine running somehow. I imagine it'd been worse had I taken it out during the day when there's more traffic on the road that I took (around Griffith Park/Travel Town). But, I feel a mix of exhilaration from the ride and a bit bummed; still determined nevertheless.
The gears were shifting fine and smooth for a while. Like I mentioned, I even got it up to fifth gear. But, I'm thinking maybe the clutch cables could have been more snug - I say this after I loosened them a little bit before the darn mishap last night. But as far as I can tell, the clutch looks fine and unscathed. I'm afraid it's something to do with the transmission, possibly.

I appreciate your 650 engine offer. I'm going to investigate my engine some more but I will keep that in mind. Thanks!

[calj737]

By the way, after your transmission mishap, would the bike recover to NEUTRAL by shifting or clutch pulled in? Did it roll freely afterwards by operating either? Or is it completely gear-locked now?

[minimo]

Totally gear-locked, I'm afraid

What do you think, calj?

[goldarrow]

Case can be split without tearing down top end

[calj737]

with rear wheel raised, can you even cycle the kickstarter?

[minimo]

Nupe. Pretty darn stuck
What now?