Topic: 1977 CB550F IDK (first build)

[minimo]

Carbs not synched?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The engine didn't sound like you were revving it up to 10K. 

I have one of those gauges for my 650/550 build.  I'll have to see how you get this sorted out.

[minimo]

Thanks, CB750! I'd appreciate it.

[minimo]

I don't confirm any wrapping of wires. Do you mean to coil the Koso line coming offa the points around the cloth-covered wires?

[minimo]

Hmm, I had it connected to the points  2-3.

I will change that.

[minimo]

I think my battery (Adventure Power - Phantom APP14A2-BS12 / Shorai equivalent to LFX14A2-BS12) has finally given up the ghost. I plug it into the charging station and it has repeatedly given me bad errors after a few minutes of attempting a charge... I've contacted the company (UPG and Shorai) so we'll see if they can do anything. Otherwise, I'll have to get another one of these batteries$$$. I wonder if the issue with my battery not charging while riding has been the battery all along (or even a faulty regulator/rectifier)...

Back to the Koso gauge. Per the instructions, you guys are right, it says to:

Wrap the RPM wire at least 5 times around the spark plug wire; either onto the spark plug wire, on the spark plug cap, or on the coil positive pole wire. For some models with the coil negative wire please tape the RPM wire on the negative wire to get the RPM signal...

When it says to wrap it around "the coil positive pole wire", am I to simply wrap the Koso blue/yellow line around any one of the spark plug wires? Is there a preference of wire? All the wires?

In other news, last night, while getting together with some family, I had what you would consider something like an intervention. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I made the slight mistake of telling my brother about the recent mishap I had with my transmission seizing up (due to my rebuild negligence overlooking the installation of the bearing set rings) and adding the bit about it being "an almost near death experience"... Whoops, my mistake. So, last night, while praising me for the "accomplishments" to rebuild and ultimately taking the bike out for some spins, I had to absorb some serious opposition to continue my rebuild efforts for fear of me hurting myself and potentially others. The point they tried to make clear to me is my inexperience with motorcycles - both riding and rebuilding them - is what has them worried and afraid, suggesting that it's unreasonable to think that I'd "just pick it up" and ride safely regardless of how confident I may be about my riding ability and rebuild prowess. They made some valid points and I sat there and took it all in. They're right, for the most part. I admit that I'm not confident in either riding nor rebuilding but that was the sort of challenge I accepted from the get go. It's been my goal all along to take on the unknown/the unexplored and experience and learn from it what I could - immerse myself in it. My family is beyond convinced that I have reached my goal. I dunno. Ultimately, what sounded to me like the best option (and to them) is to keep this 550 rebuild as my tinkering toy while I look into purchasing a "beginner" bike that I can practice and become more familiar with riding and getting a better feel for motorcycles - a bike with a better guarantee. I realize that I've taken a very backwards approach to this whole motorcycle thing that I've gotten myself into but if I were to rewind to three years ago, when I knew almost close to zero about bikes, I had certainly come a very long way, I think.
I want to thank you all of you for your kind support and friendships so far. I think about what the Honda slogan was back when these bikes were still fresh from the factory - "You Meet the Nicest People On A Honda". I think it holds true even to this day. Friends, the rebuild trudges on.

[seanbarney41]

yep...that is exactly what I tell anyone that wants to get into old bikes.  I know 'cuz I burned up about 3 of my nine on my first bike, a cb350k...

[goldarrow]

I'll try my best to finish my 550 so you could borrow it to carve the corners around Griffith park by spring time

[minimo]

Thanks, goldarrow

[minimo]

An online intervention backlash! Thank you. I like your ideas and tips, calj. Especially the part about coming out to tear out the transmission you just sent... I'd try to sway you into getting my electronics sorted first before we rip out those gears

[minimo]

Modern 500s have equal or more HP, and even modern "small bikes" have more than enough HP to kill you. So I see no deterent to it all. Okay, maybe you don't want to trash your investment if you drop it, but then you know how to fix it, right?

The new bikes these days hardly appeal to me. One sorta caught my eye only because it is so different - the Honda Grom. But damn, that's one ugly bike, kinda in a cool way though. All the others, even the neo-retro cafes, to me, don't have that same appeal and energy that these old bikes have. I have more appreciation for the grit and grime of things, I suppose - a funky, more minimal yet functional design aesthetic. These newer street bikes, the ones that are even referred to as "naked" still have a bunch of molded crap on them that I would probably want to strip off anyway. Before I started on this 550 rebuild, Ryca Motors had just unveiled their Suzuki S40 cafe kits, and maybe that'd have been a better way to go about the "experience" aspect of my journey but perhaps that's more an option for the less adventurous? I like my old CB, and despite its age and semi-nonridability, I'm going to keep with it until I'm at least semi-satisfied with it.

[minimo]

Onto somewhere here Re: my regulator/rectifier. An email from ElectroSport:

I noticed the pin out of the rectifier connection was not as I expected it to be.  Looking in the connector, locking tab on top it appeared to me as:

A/C  empty  Ground
A/c    a/c       dc+

but it was expecting it to be:

dc+   empty  ground
a/c      a/c       a/c

This might be why you had no charging voltage at battery.  Can you confirm if your bikes harness had the d/c output in the top row or was it in the bottom?

Well, how about that?
Here's what my stock rectifier harness looks like:

This is how I purchased the ElectroSport reg/rec w/ locking tab on top:
dc+   empty   gnd
a/c      a/c       a/c

The ground and dc+ were switched!
This could have been the issue all along!

[minimo]

Confirmation from ElectroSport:

Yep, that was the problem then.  Your red wire, which is the large wire with the woven brownish sleeve over it, was previously attached to one of the a/c input wires from the ESR240.  And the esr240 d/c output was attached to a stator wire. 

This was a mistake that I'm confident was made by us and not by you.  It also explains why despite having power coming from the stator and some working diodes you had no increase in voltage at your battery.  I will send to you a new ESR240 later today, this was a mistake with the parts assembly and not a failure of the part from use over time.

Wonder if this also had anything to do with killing my battery??

[minimo]

In whatever case, have to say that ElectroSport is pretty awesome to fess up to their mistake AND ship me out a correct replacement. They've been very responsive to my emails and I will gladly do business with them again (as well as with Shorai Battery company).

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

That kind of candor is increasingly rare.

[firebane]

Confirmation from ElectroSport:

Yep, that was the problem then.  Your red wire, which is the large wire with the woven brownish sleeve over it, was previously attached to one of the a/c input wires from the ESR240.  And the esr240 d/c output was attached to a stator wire. 

This was a mistake that I'm confident was made by us and not by you.  It also explains why despite having power coming from the stator and some working diodes you had no increase in voltage at your battery.  I will send to you a new ESR240 later today, this was a mistake with the parts assembly and not a failure of the part from use over time.

Wonder if this also had anything to do with killing my battery??

The problem with these types of batteries is that if you get them below a certain voltage they are usually dead weights. If you do your google foo'n you'll see there are a lot of people who have made then door stops because of this.

Its advised if anyone is thinking of going to this type of battery that you have ALL new electronics (reg/rec) and that your charging system is in 100% working order as to not kill the battery.

Since your bike was not charging properly you nuked the battery and got lucky with a replacement.

[minimo]

Yes, it is recommended, especially with these smaller Li-Fe batteries, to check and meter them occasionally so they don't fall below the "red zone".

Per Shorai:

Having a voltmeter is beneficial for recovery. For reference, Nominal Voltage to crank: 13.2V.  Full Charge: 14.4V.  Do Not allow to fall below: 12.86V (Red Zone)

[minimo]

Yo, strynboen!

[strynboen]

yes nice...

[minimo]

Just sold the ol' signal buzzer on eBay!
Fare thee well!

[minimo]

[enwri]

Going by the chart, my 77 750 was : Rare model,               ( didn't know this at the time )
                                                        : Older restoration,      ( at least whoever straightened the fins and welded up the alt. cover and gearbox did it well )
                                                        : No time to complete, ( Did buy a 16t 630 front sprocket from a local bike shop, he said it had been there since the 80s )
                                                        : Low mileage.             ( 62000 km on the gravel rashed clock when it stopped, put 76000km since, only it knows what happened in between)
                                                        : Clean,                        ( It rains for three months straight usually )

[minimo]

Fab'd up a quickie mount for the Koso gauge. It's flimsy. I'm sorta at odds with it 'cos it's in line with the stock key ignition yet I'd really like to sink the gauge into that void by between the top tree and the headlight by slanting it down more toward the back of the headlight.
What do you think?




Also fabricated a quick tail light mount - even did a little welding Fairly pleased with how this came out. Just hope the license plate clears the rear tire in an extreme bounce situation.



More updates real soon. Developments in getting the bike registered have taken place (more details about that later) and I will be scheduling a bike inspection very soon with the highway patrol.

Happy Holidays!

[goldarrow]

This one hella fast bike! 5800rpm with ignition off!

[minimo]

Whoa, weird! I didn't even notice that. Wtf