Topic: 1975 CB550K1 - Stock-ish Restomod - More Mods

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Had a nice surprise today.  My buddy Philippe at Beringer brought my 550 to the Corsa Moto Classica to promote Beringer Brakes.  Yoshi Kosaka (of Garage Company) put it in their show and it won a (respectable, considering the competition) podium trophy for Best Japanese Bike!

DSCF8779_zpsisyb3fgx by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

[flatlander]

very cool, congratulations! i'd say it deserves it.
lucky for you the judges didn't see the rust on the inside of your rear fender

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

lucky for you the judges didn't see the rust on the inside of your rear fender

Too true! 

[seanbarney41]

dat looks like a real fun thingy

[Scott S]

.

 I still think that is just a lovely bike.

[Stev-o]

.

 I still think that is just a lovely bike.

It is, love the blue.  Congrats Don.

[riverfever]

That's gotta be very exciting Don! Congratulations man. Bike looks tight.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Thanks, guys!

There were some truly fantastic bikes at Corsa Moto Classica , including a Britten V1000 (#10).

Added bonus, Wes Cooley in the flesh.  (Photo below with Yoshi Kosaka of the Garage Company, and Yoshi's Kawi  ZRX race bike)

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I picked up my 550 aka sewing machine on Friday from Beringer.  The bike had been sitting the majority of the last 9 months since being used to prototype their brakes.  The carburetors were bogging at 6200 RPM and it had a faint valve ticking noise.

I took it over to my buddy Jay's shop and got to use his tools to clean the carburetors.  There was no visible varnish, but some funky looking white-greenish residue on the bowls.   The brass didn't look bad either.  I disassembled, cleaned and reassembled them, and surprise no more bogging.  I guess it only takes a little bit of gas turning to ruin your engine performance.  I also adjusted the valves (no broken tappets, Chris!).  2 valves were slightly out of spec, so no more ticking. 

IMG_1551_zpswkqlymrm by Donald Leonhardt, on Flick

IMG_1555_zpsetq6kmhg by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

I also decided to try some new bar-end mirrors.  I didn't like the ugly Emgo rectangle mirror, but I'm not so sure I like the functionality of the bar-ends (having to look around my arms.

IMG_1559_zps2oukdh2b by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr

IMG_1557_zpsdwz0ethk by Donald Leonhardt, on Flickr
The new Beringer brakes are a treat.  I'm going to change out my fork oil to something thicker to help moderate dive.

[nvr2old]

Just curious as to whether or not you also reversed your mirrors so that they sit above the bars as to help with seeing in them better.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Just curious as to whether or not you also reversed your mirrors so that they sit above the bars as to help with seeing in them better.

I'm going to gove that a shot.  That's how they are positioned (above) on my Thruxton.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Just curious as to whether or not you also reversed your mirrors so that they sit above the bars as to help with seeing in them better.

I reversed the mirrors so that they were above the bars instead of below them.  That worked MUCH better.  I took the old sewing machine out for a sunset ride yesterday.  Wow the Beringer brakes are amazing.  Now the bike has modern stopping power. 

I'm going to service the forks and maybe go with a thicker fork oil.

[seanbarney41]

Come on man, might as well pop those race tech goodies in there while your at it. Lol

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Come on man, might as well pop those race tech goodies in there while your at it. Lol

They (gold valve emulators and springs) are already in there.  The braking forces of the Beringer set up are way stronger than any stock brakes (even dual disc) so I'll likely use less viscous fork oil to compensate for dive.

[RAFster122s]

Most run whimpy ATF or 5W fork oil, throw some 15W and that'll stiffen it up.  Or go heavier at 20W if you want it really rigid.

You can actually blend to get inbetween numbers but usually most are not going to see the affects of the inbetween.
Do you know what fork oil you had in there previously?

Your weight or weight your bike will see in load also will impact your fork oil selection.  Running a front windshield or fairing would also influence this.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Most run whimpy ATF or 5W fork oil, throw some 15W and that'll stiffen it up.  Or go heavier at 20W if you want it really rigid.

You can actually blend to get inbetween numbers but usually most are not going to see the affects of the inbetween.
Do you know what fork oil you had in there previously?

Your weight or weight your bike will see in load also will impact your fork oil selection.  Running a front windshield or fairing would also influence this.

Replaced the existing fork oil with 15W (level was a bit low but no signs of leakage or bad seals) and it was much better.  I might end up going with 20W -- I have to ride it more.

[seanbarney41]

Most run whimpy ATF or 5W fork oil, throw some 15W and that'll stiffen it up.  Or go heavier at 20W if you want it really rigid.

You can actually blend to get inbetween numbers but usually most are not going to see the affects of the inbetween.
Do you know what fork oil you had in there previously?

Your weight or weight your bike will see in load also will impact your fork oil selection.  Running a front windshield or fairing would also influence this.

Replaced the existing fork oil with 15W (level was a bit low but no signs of leakage or bad seals) and it was much better.  I might end up going with 20W -- I have to ride it more.

hi, be aware that fork oil weight ratings are not necessarily consistent from brand to brand, so when tuning with fork oil always stick to the same brand

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Most run whimpy ATF or 5W fork oil, throw some 15W and that'll stiffen it up.  Or go heavier at 20W if you want it really rigid.

You can actually blend to get inbetween numbers but usually most are not going to see the affects of the inbetween.
Do you know what fork oil you had in there previously?

Your weight or weight your bike will see in load also will impact your fork oil selection.  Running a front windshield or fairing would also influence this.

Replaced the existing fork oil with 15W (level was a bit low but no signs of leakage or bad seals) and it was much better.  I might end up going with 20W -- I have to ride it more.

hi, be aware that fork oil weight ratings are not necessarily consistent from brand to brand, so when tuning with fork oil always stick to the same brand

Thanks.  I'll keep that in mind.  I used Race Tech's recommendation.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

My little reliable sewing machine let me down today.  I was enjoying a great ride up though Palos Verdes when the bike stalled. 

Without a multimeter on hand, my buddy and I pulled the tank and (on the side of the road) we rewired the coils (after finding a break where the wire got crimped to the connector), got her started, then it stalled (another bad connection).  Replaced all the connections to both coils, got it started and off we went.  Returning home, the bike stalled, and then after waiting a few minutes refired, ran and then stalled again (4 times).  Then nada.  We were fairly close to home but not enough -- had to truck her home.  I'm debating a re-wire.

[RAFster122s]

Check your battery voltage...
could have charging system issue with wiring it to drop the voltage feeding your coils until it bogs/stalls out because of weak spark.  Battery could recover slightly then boost up again after bike dies.  Were you kicking or starter? If kicking it could be undetected.  If using the starter, then never mind...it would have struggled or died.

Squirrel thread I think had a link for a good ratcheting crimper.  You want to use one as it makes a gastite mechanical bond in the crimp which is far superior to soldered connections.
Stat checking your voltages to various components and you can see the drops for each path you are choosing between ground and that point.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Charging is not the issue. The issue was the connections to the coils. At least initially. The battery had plenty of voltage and fired the bike with little effort with the stater once we fixed the connections to the coils. After that, who knows. It was a short we couldn't find since we were at the side of a road.  Luckily, I wasn't alone and had a mechanic friend riding with me.  Unlucky for us, we couldn't find the bad connection and I don't carry spare wire, a crimper, connectors and a multimeter with me. The point was that the crimps were poor and the wire was brittle. I am just debating running new wire and connections where absolutely needed versus more.

[riverfever]

Sorry to hear about this Don. I know how frustrating that can be. Did it look like a small rodent had been chewing on things?

Seriously, I'll be interested to see what you decide to do when addressing the problem(s).

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Sorry to hear about this Don. I know how frustrating that can be. Did it look like a small rodent had been chewing on things?

Seriously, I'll be interested to see what you decide to do when addressing the problem(s).

It was frustrating because once we cut of the bad crimps, stripped and reconnected the wiring to the coils, the bike ran great.  It started immediately and made good power.  I ran it for another 15 miles and then it died.  I pulled the tank and me and my buddy looked at all of our connections (looked fine).  After waiting a couple minutes the bike fired and ran (I got on it and rode for another few miles), and then repeat.  We looked at everything but couldn't find the issue so we trucked it home. 

[nvr2old]

Does the bike die like turning a light switch off..?  If so this may not be a solution, but if it loses power, sputters, and then dies time after time, it might be something as simple as a clogged air vent in the gas cap.  If so, you might try riding it with a loose gas cap and see if it displays the same problem.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Does the bike die like turning a light switch off..?  If so this may not be a solution, but if it loses power, sputters, and then dies time after time, it might be something as simple as a clogged air vent in the gas cap.  If so, you might try riding it with a loose gas cap and see if it displays the same problem.

I checked the cap; it appears to be venting fine. 

It is definitely a wire issue.  When it first died, I pulled the tank and saw that one of the wires was severed at the crimp to a connector.  The other crimps looked bad too.  We stripped back the wires with a knife and reconnected them to the coils. The bike then fired and ran great.  I rode it for about 15 minutes before stopping to get something to drink.

When I restarted to ride home, the bike ran fine for about 10-15 mins before it started missing (you could feel the power fluctuate) and then the engine altogether stalled.  I was on a downhill grade, so I pulled in the clutch and coasted for about two minutes and re-fired the bike.  It did the same thing, running on all four for about 4-5 mins, then started missing, and then stalled.  Repeat 2 more times.  I pulled to the side, removed the tank and we looked for loose wiring or bad connections.  This time the bike would not fire at all. 

I suspect it is a break in a wire (under the insulation).