Author Topic: 1976 CB500/550 Project "Squirrel" (Read 279258 times)

calj737 · « **Reply #275 on:** April 20, 2014, 03:07:15 PM »

Actually, Acetone THEN Denatured Alcohol. The DA "dehydrates" any moisture. Pour 2 cups in, swish around really well, then drain.

Follow with compressed air if you wish, but its unnecessary. So is the hair dryer. You could easily treat the tank with RK after 45' of standing time from DA.

riverfever · « **Reply #276 on:** April 20, 2014, 03:24:28 PM »

Red Kote is in and drying now. Seems like coverage was good.

riverfever · « **Reply #277 on:** April 26, 2014, 03:26:18 PM »

Well I put the tank back on the bike, put a few gallons of gas in it, kicked it over and it fired right up. I rode it around the neighborhood for a bit to get it warm and then brought it back to the garage to check the compression. Cylinders 1-3 were at 100 and cylinder 4 was 105. I found the white wire from the alternator was cut so I got that fixed as well. I need to get the carbs vacuum synced now. Snow is coming tonight. Here's a picture from the ride.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #278 on:** April 26, 2014, 05:20:50 PM »

Quote from: riverfever on April 26, 2014, 03:26:18 PM

Well I put the tank back on the bike, put a few gallons of gas in it, kicked it over and it fired right up. I rode it around the neighborhood for a bit to get it warm and then brought it back to the garage to check the compression. Cylinders 1-3 were at 100 and cylinder 4 was 105. I found the white wire from the alternator was cut so I got that fixed as well. I need to get the carbs vacuum synced now. Snow is coming tonight. Here's a picture from the ride.

What a beauty! That tank looks so good. Tune those carbs and get ready to ride the bejeezus out of it -- once that annoying white stuff is melted.

riverfever · « **Reply #279 on:** April 27, 2014, 09:28:26 AM »

When I first got this bike it ran really rich and would foul plugs out. The rebuild/bench sync helped a ton but the plugs still look a bit black. Isn't the point of vacuum syncing the carbs to really dial things in? This will help right?

calj737 · « **Reply #280 on:** April 27, 2014, 12:17:22 PM »

It will/does, but ultimately, you need to have the proper configuration within the carbs for your environment. Jets, needles, clip positions, A/F mixture, etc.

If you want easy and "turn it on and ride" you bought the wrong bike! Got out the final sweat equity in to get the full satisfaction out. Don't worry, lots of help here to get you thru it all.

If you haven't, document the settings of your carbs and start posting those. Re-title the thread with "Carb help" and the experts will come running. Your bikes too pretty not to want to help.

riverfever · « **Reply #281 on:** April 27, 2014, 05:59:07 PM »

Thanks Cal. I'm fine having to get to know the carbs better but will need some guidance.

I went back and looked and found some info. Mains are 100. Idles are 40 (both are the stock brass). Mixture screws are backed out 1.5 turns. Floats set at 22mm. The rebuild kits I ordered came with jets, needles, etc. I did use the new needles but put them in the same clip position as the stock ones were. Here's the stock ones.

There are 5 positions the clips could be in. Mine were in the second position from the tip of the needle.

When I first got the bike, I suspected it was running super rich. There was a lot of smoke out of the tail pipes and the plugs kept fouling out. I started and rode the bike for the first time in a while the other day. I pulled the plugs after a 20 minute ride and some still seem pretty black. Although I don't have any experience, I think the throttle feels sluggish/inconsistent. I'm not sure what to do at this point. Carbs were bench synced but have not been vacuum synced yet but I hope to get that done soon. What are some suggestions for things I should try?

Tews19 · « **Reply #282 on:** April 27, 2014, 07:02:56 PM »

Do you have the original brass for the carbs? I bought a rebuilt kit for an old 550 I had and I replaced the parts with the original parts. New rebuild kits come with shotty stuff.

riverfever · « **Reply #283 on:** April 27, 2014, 07:14:46 PM »

Original jets were used in the carbs. The only pieces I used from the kits were the floats, needles and the gaskets.

Tews19 · « **Reply #284 on:** April 27, 2014, 07:17:06 PM »

Needles are what I specifically was referring too. Sorry I should have stated that.

riverfever · « **Reply #285 on:** April 27, 2014, 07:23:25 PM »

Sorry. I still have those as well. Are you suggesting that I pull the carbs off again and swap the needles?

Tews19 · « **Reply #286 on:** April 27, 2014, 07:27:19 PM »

I forget but which carb bodies do you have? 22a or the 069?

riverfever · « **Reply #287 on:** April 27, 2014, 07:45:53 PM »

I'm sorry I don't know which bodies they are. Where would the numbers be?

I also just went back down and looked through my box and need to make a correction. I used the stock idle jets (40). I used the replacement main jets (100) and replacement needles, valves, valve seats, and air mixture screws. The reason I didn't use the replacement idle jets is because they were really smaller. I think used the replacement stuff because I was concerned about the o-rings on the old stuff.

calj737 · « **Reply #288 on:** April 27, 2014, 07:53:32 PM »

Look closely at the sides of the carb bodies, on both sides, on all 4 carbs. There should be a number cast into the side indicating the model #.

riverfever · « **Reply #289 on:** April 27, 2014, 08:07:01 PM »

The ONLY numbers I see are 627B.

calj737 · « **Reply #290 on:** April 28, 2014, 03:21:59 AM »

That's the model number for your carbs. All parts you ever buy for those carbs need to be for that model.

You can also look through the manual for "stock settings" for those carbs. 500 engine but a 550 frame, right? Do you also know the engine year (doesn't matter as much really)?

riverfever · « **Reply #291 on:** April 28, 2014, 04:16:03 PM »

One thing I did see in the manual for those carbs is that the air screws are supposed to be out a turn +- 1/8 and I know mine are more than that.

riverfever · « **Reply #292 on:** April 28, 2014, 08:03:22 PM »

Tonight I noticed that there isn't much difference in the new tail light with the lights on and when hitting the brakes. With the stock light the difference was much more noticeable. The light I installed is not an LED. What might cause this?

2strokeTrush · « **Reply #293 on:** April 28, 2014, 08:54:07 PM »

Quote from: riverfever on April 28, 2014, 08:03:22 PM

Tonight I noticed that there isn't much difference in the new tail light with the lights on and when hitting the brakes. With the stock light the difference was much more noticeable. The light I installed is not an LED. What might cause this?

Wires backwards ?

calj737 · « **Reply #294 on:** April 29, 2014, 06:00:38 AM »

Or a poor ground to the tail light from the rear brake light switch?

riverfever · « **Reply #295 on:** April 29, 2014, 06:28:15 AM »

I'll check the wires again when I get home tonight but this issue is the same with either brake. Strange. The gigantic stock light works like a second sun.

riverfever · « **Reply #296 on:** April 29, 2014, 05:49:50 PM »

Figured out the brake light issue. The second filament was not getting lit in the new light but that bulb works fine in the stock light. Ended up taking the light apart and found a shady connection internally. Thanks everyone.

riverfever · « **Reply #297 on:** May 05, 2014, 07:48:59 PM »

I still haven't vacuum synced the carbs yet but I'm going to hold off on that until I get another issue sorted out and that's really weak spark. The motor still runs very rich. I can smell it and when I pull the plugs they are soaked with fuel. Tonight I checked the coils and they seem good (both tested right at 4.6 ohms). The wires are in really bad shape though. Badly dry rotted and 2 and 3 came apart at the boot. Using an inline spark tester showed very weak spark. So I guess I have a few options.

1. Use wire splicers and put in new wire and boots. This seems like it would be a great idea if I was looking to turn this bike around and sell it quickly but that's not really the case here.

2. Buy stock coils (saw them on 4 into 1) for about $100 and new boots. Probably not as bad an option as #1 but then I may have to worry about this issue later on down the road again.

3. By Dyna coils (again saw them on 4 into 1) for about $150 and get new wires and boots for #175ish and probably have a more reliable setup with some longevity. Is this about right? Am I also correct in assuming that this improved spark will make quite a bit of difference in motor performance because the hotter/better spark will burn more fuel and maybe I won't be having a rich condition anymore? Again...still learning so sorry for the stupid questions.

Tews19 · « **Reply #298 on:** May 07, 2014, 08:59:17 PM »

Get dyna 5 ohm coils on ebay. Should be 115.

riverfever · « **Reply #299 on:** May 08, 2014, 07:51:06 PM »

These are the ones I was going to get.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dynatek-Coil-5-ohm-Dual-Output-Coil-Honda-CB500-CB550-CB-350-400-500-550-69-78-/140792245936?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20c7df2eb0&vxp=mtr

These are the wires I am looking at getting.

http://www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDetails.aspx?itemDescription=Dyna+Ignition+Wires+8mm+suppression+core+%28grey%29&item=DYDW800

Can I run the boots that come with these wires? I'll also get fresh plugs. Thanks.

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Author Topic: 1976 CB500/550 Project "Squirrel" (Read 279258 times)