Topic: 1977 CB550F IDK (first build)

[goldarrow]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.  It will make it that much sweeter once you get it all worked out. 
If i was you, I would do both.  Swap the engine AND keep peeling the onion and repair that one too.  That way you get to ride and have something to wrench on and when its back together, you have a spare!   

I like the way you're thinking...
I'd heed your advice if storage/space weren't issues with where this is all taking place...
calj737, can you give me a sweet friendly deal? Is your engine a '77 550F?

Just one more engine in the garage won't take up too much space, not like you have 6 more bikes sitting on the back burner

[minimo]

Ha! That sounds familiar. I think I've seen such a place, eh, goldarrow?

[minimo]

Gotcha, calj! I'm on it. Thanks!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Make sure that's the only thing all FUBAR.  Otherwise, you may need additional parts from that donor.

[minimo]

Giving my old back a little rest before I jump into crouching tiger mode again - splitting the case.

Circling back to my battery drain issues for a quick minute.

I didn't meter the battery like I probably should have before the last ride but the headlight looked strong for about 20 minutes worth the pavement time and then the mishap... I was parked in a dark area so for the tow driver to see me I kept the lights on for a short while and watched the lights dim gradually - I imagine that's normal considering the size of the battery (?) but just in case my wiring is still a mess, calj737, can you see something here that can be corrected (other than the cramming)?:

Normally, I would have the reg/rect mounted under my electronics tray but I've brought it up to show you. So, just as the instructions say, I connected the new harness directly into the old rect harness, new Grn connects to reg Wht, and new Bwn I ran up to the ignition Blk, as you suggested.

A while back I cleaned up my old solenoid and put wires back that could be mistaken, perhaps. Can you take a look:

I have the thin YELLOW/RED and GRN/RED connected to their corresponding connectors. I imagine there's no specific post that's either left/right or #1 or #2 but on one of the posts I have a thick (4 AWG, I think) red line going to the battery combined with another red (about 8 AWG) that's part of the old wiring bundle. On the other post is only a thick (maybe 8 AWG) black line that connects to the starter. So far so good? Something amiss?

[minimo]

...and from the old REGULATOR, I have an old BLACK and GREEN are loose and not connected to anything. Is this normal? Does black need to tie in the new reg/rect somehow? Green?

[minimo]

Cool on the solenoid. Thanks.

As for the new reg/rec, the wires I have are different from how you have listed. Mine go as follows:

Part of the harness:
3 White
1 Black
1 Red

1 Green
1Brown

Do I have he wrong reg/rec?

[minimo]

Yep, stator harness plug is stock.

[minimo]

I'll try connecting RR Red directly to the battery as you suggest (shorter travel to the solenoid + post, would that be alright)?
RR Red connects to one of the Yellow via the harness.
Black on the RR is part of the harness and that connects to Green on the old harness...

Yeah, I'm confused with the Brown on my RR unit also when ElectroSport doesn't have it listed. Maybe I have an older unit?

[minimo]

Whites are mapped to Y, their BLK is mapped to stock W, their G is stock G, and their RED goes to battery POS, and their BRN is switched 12v

I'll have to wrap my head around that one for a bit. Meanwhile, I've written to ElectroSport so we'll see if they can offer any advice/recommendations. I noticed on their "fitting instructions" page they mention, "Note: Due to part improvements and redesigns, your part may look differant from what is shown."

 

[minimo]

Well, I peeled the case apart and here's what I found:

There are bits of broken teeth from the mainshaft gear stuck in between the teeth of the countershaft gear. The shafts appear to be spinning normal with no wobble. No other gears seem to have been affected.

Looking at the parts list, the damage seems to have only involved the following:

Mainshaft Second Third Gear (22t, 26t) - part #23431-374-000

Countershaft Second Gear (36t) - part #23441-286-020

Shift forks look ok:


All I can say is that something was not right in the shifting at high speed. Ugh.

[enwri]

Ouch. Circlip keeping second away from fifth on the countershaft is my guess.

Have also done the 60kph to nothing in about 20 feet when the bolt holding the front sprocket came out, the sprocket came off and jammed in against the swingarm, locked solid, broke a tooth off it. Much easier to fix. Just as lucky not to be a smear on the road.

[minimo]

That's a good guess on the circlip, enwri. I'm going to to pull the gear sequence apart and get a closer look at these gears as well as the clips and washers in between them. Yeeouch on your sprocket falling off. A smear on the road though sounds a lot worse. Glad we are safe now to tell the tale.

calj737, wasn't sure what you were sending but I kinda assumed the shafts were all part of the surprise?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[minimo]

Awesome kindness, calj. Thank you!

[minimo]

Got a reply from ElectroSport:

The parts wires are as follow:

3 white -> stators 3 wires in any order
black-> ground
red-> battery positive
green->field coil.  this is the power wire that will turn on/off the rotor
brown->switched 12v+ this is the wire through which the regulator monitors battery voltage in the bike, and decides to turn on/off the rotor.
So long as its wired as listed above it should work.

I had the RR Green connected to the old regulator White (from the Grn/Blk/White combo of wires). Is that the same as "field coil"?

[minimo]

I'm gunnin' to get this bad boy back out again.

Following up, ElectroSport replied to my question re: RR Grn to old reg White:

Yes, that should be correct.  Assuming the white wire has not been modified, that is the OEM wire that carries current into the rotor.

Wiring, for the most part on my bike is stock so that should do it. Still not clear on the recent adaptation of RR Brown to Ignition Blk...

[minimo]

Simple enough maybe even for me.
Thanks for following through on this with me, calj737!

[minimo]

Yes.

So I see it this way:

Electrosoport           Stock
WHT                         Yellow
WHT                         Yellow
WHT                         Yellow
BLK                          Green
GRN                          White
BRN                          Switched 12v
RED                          Battery POS

I received a confirmation from ElectroSport that this is correct

[minimo]

Be careful of what you order via eBay...

The spirit animal has gotta go, unfortunately, and I have a feeling it's going to uncover some bondo patch jobs. Can't wait to soda blast this bad boy


Is there an easy way to pop the gas cover? I doubt that my key will work to open it. Will I have to drill out the key hole?

[jonda500]

those locking flaps usually work with any key!
John

[minimo]

those locking flaps usually work with any key!
John

It worked! Thanks, John.

or any screwdriver...

I'd use a chemical stripper first on that tank. Then soda blast it. If there's Bondo, you're in for some work grinding it out. I use Roloc discs on an air grinder. And use a dust mask.

Good on the tips, calj737. I'll definitely go the chemical route first - how could I forget.
Fingernail tapping all around the tank, so far I can tell that it has not been Bondo'd. But we shall find out for sure.
I wish I hadn't coated the inside of my original tank with Por-15 sealer. I'd have tried to pound in some knee indents first before coating it, which is the plan I have with this tank purchase.

[minimo]

Studying the parts schematic and piecing together my engine I discovered that a couple of parts were missing from my last rebuild:

#1 - 13491-283-000 RING, BEARING SET, 57MM
#2 - 13492-283-000 RING, BEARING SET, 52MM

I'm going to guess and go ahead and accept that my omission of these measly parts from my last rebuild was the reason for the recent engine/transmission mishap. I imagine that not having these bearing set rings installed, what with road and engine vibration and plain old shifting of gears would cause the whole transmission assembly to move and shift beyond its limits, getting caught up in other gears in some very bad ways.

Lesson learned - don't forget these bearing set rings!

[strynboen]

just one qest.
..have you often left ower parts.. .
in a other thread somone faund nr 37 (small roller) on his tabel ,,after he had finished the build..he opend the engine and korrekted it..and no harm vas done...

[minimo]

Yeah, now first-hand fear motivates me to make sure I don't forget anything, especially any of those pesky needle bearings. I've made sure to get some grease into those cavities to make them stay in there.

So when it's time to lower the top into the lower part of the case, is there an easier trick to align the shift forks so that they correspond with and land into the gear slots? Is there a default position? I remember this being slightly challenging.

[enwri]

just one qest.
..have you often left ower parts.. .

Not anymore I'd hope,