Author Topic: CB550 - Issues for beginning rider - Help please! (Read 27126 times)

Maurice · « **Reply #25 on:** May 13, 2014, 06:42:17 AM »

It's your bike man. Hang in there, there is no reason you can't make it run decent with the current setup. Maybe not "as Honda intended" but pretty darn good. You will need some patience though.

Not sure if it was mentioned before, but read the carb FAQ, very useful.

I second the opinion that it sounds like you're running on 2 or 3 cylinders. Could be carb related, but make sure you have spark on all plugs also. Set static timing and make sure advancer mechanism is clean and springs do their job. I guess when you do the 3K maintenance you'll be looking at that.

Most important: take horizontal videos

I thought the airplane reflection moving across the tach glass was cool, nice.

Good luck.

70CB750 · « **Reply #26 on:** May 13, 2014, 06:54:19 AM »

Hang in there, man! Nothing but learning curve, it will all make sense in the end.

Not sure what size plug wrench you need, but sometimes it is easier to shop on eebay or places like http://www.cb750supply.com/products/9/tools than to chase stuff locally.

Is 550 using same sized plugs as 750?

flatlander · « **Reply #27 on:** May 13, 2014, 07:12:49 AM »

it's great that you're up for the job. these bikes are great and even just a little care will pay off big time. eventually you will get to know it like no other, and it will become truly your own.

i've got a friend who went through the same recently. called me with all sorts of questions, day and night. suff like this:
his battery didn't charge properly and he had idle issues. got stranded at night. my phone rings "sorry man the thing died at a red light and now won't start any more. might need a push but now i have this other problem also, the lights went out and won't come on again so probably can't ride it home in the dark?"

he also felt he was let down by the guy who he bought it off. then he started to sort things out himself, found a guy to help him and learn from and never looked back. (that guy is not me - he got a beemer which i'm not familiar with in details although i know what a dead battery means)

Stev-o · « **Reply #28 on:** May 13, 2014, 07:31:19 AM »

Quote from: calj737 on May 13, 2014, 07:03:27 AM

Before you go too far, some other really good recommendation was to start and run the bike while keeping the RPMs up. Squirt each exhaust pipe near the motor to ID any cold cylinder.

This is a real good idea, Cal. If the bike is only running on 3 cylinders, it could be a simple fix such as a fouled plug or bad cap.

Confirm all head pipes get hot after running for 3 min and report back.

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #29 on:** May 13, 2014, 08:47:09 AM »

I just bought a standard 18mm plug socket at Sears for my 750 and it fit fine....is the clearance tighter on the 550 so this will not work?

Nothing wrong with the points ignition but it's just one of the things we need to know to help you. It would help if you had a list of what parts that where put into it. Some aftermarket parts have a questionable reputation so it's nice to know what you are working with.

Koonendez · « **Reply #30 on:** May 13, 2014, 08:49:30 AM »

Awesome. Thanks again I actually don't mind the investigation work that lies ahead so much. It's not being able to ride that's an issue

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Koonendez · « **Reply #31 on:** May 13, 2014, 08:50:53 AM »

Srust: I would love to know because it's been said over and over that it needs to be a thin walled socket which is why I've been careful not to buy any 18mm socket

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BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #32 on:** May 13, 2014, 09:07:22 AM »

Quote from: Koonendez on May 13, 2014, 08:50:53 AM

Srust: I would love to know because it's been said over and over that it needs to be a thin walled socket which is why I've been careful not to buy any 18mm socket

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I take it that you don't have the socket that comes with the bike. They are basically a cheaply made thin walled socket about 5-6 inches long with a hole through the side on one end that you can stick a screwdriver through to get leverage. The only reason I needed the Sears socket is that my bike had sat for 25 years and I needed a big breaker bar on the socket to get the plugs out. On the #2 plug I needed a two foot breaker bar and just about tipped the bike over off the centerstand. Not for the faint of heart.

Since then all I have needed was the one the bike came with. I would try a vintage bike shop or they are always available on Ebay.

bjbuchanan · « **Reply #33 on:** May 13, 2014, 09:21:20 AM »

Go get yourself the cheapest socket you can find, the cheaper the better. The cheap ones are real thin and crappy for anything else BESIDES pulling the plugs. They are nice for that. If it needs some tweaking then file it with a hand file. Basic tools take more time but you can still do the job.

The occasional overflow you get is a pretty good sign you have some crud in your tank. The bike sat and everything settled then you started riding and stirred it up well. The jets in your carbs are tiny, a pilot jet is .040", those tiny grains of rust will clog them right up. Get yourself The Works toilet bowl cleaner for 3$, remove your petcock so it doesn't get eaten, plug the hole with a rubber stopper and shake away. It has a really high over the counter acid content that will eat the rust right up

The carbs are really very simple. Look over build threads and posts using the left hand search bar. There is only 4 things inside you can change, then a mixture screw outside. You gotta know where you are starting. My bet is the guy put some huge jets in the thing to compensate for the pods and that is why you don't need choke to start it up.

bjbuchanan · « **Reply #34 on:** May 13, 2014, 09:26:29 AM »

Another thing too- That exhaust could always be traded with another member on the board, or you could cut/remove the baffle on there and get a muffler with a bend and bolt that in to place.
https://www.denniskirk.com/emgo/right-side-universal-bmw-replica-muffler.p4401337.prd/4401337.sku

The inlet isn't sized right but it is an idea of what I mean. You can search vendors for them.

Koonendez · « **Reply #35 on:** May 13, 2014, 09:30:24 AM »

Bj: thanks I'll check out the eBay links posted above and get a socket ASAP. As for the toilet bowl cleaner do I need to dilute the mix or just empty a full bottle and get shaking? I assume mixing in some cheap nuts and bolts inside helps as an abrasive.

Good news and bad news guys...cranked her over and warmed up the exhausts. Here is the culprit that isn't heating up. Don't know cylinder numbers yet so maybe someone can help me

Also I found where the leak is finally starting here is the shot

Also here's a shot of my headers and I was assuming the tape or whatever he used is probably not the best solution but let me know your thoughts

Here is the inside of my tank

Hopefully this will give you guys a starting point to point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance

Koon

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bjbuchanan · « **Reply #36 on:** May 13, 2014, 09:39:53 AM »

Safety Tip- Put your overflow hoses on the bowls. Thats what the nipples are for on the bottom of the bowls. Rout the hoses out near the swingarm to the right side so gas isn't dribbling and pooling on your engine

Go to autozone and get windshield washer tubing. Cheap, effective and flexible. It doesn't need to be fuel resistant, it won't have a lot of fuel going thru it, it shouldn't have any

LesterPiglet · « **Reply #37 on:** May 13, 2014, 09:45:21 AM »

That tape was just used for holding the collets in place during assembly, not a problem.

Bankerdanny · « **Reply #38 on:** May 13, 2014, 11:33:44 AM »

That's about as clean a tank as I have seen. Before you put anything in it (and I used The Works when I did my tank, but I had 25 years of evaporating fuel in mine) remove the petcock and the internal screen screen filter and see what it looks like.

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #39 on:** May 13, 2014, 12:09:36 PM »

From what I can see that tank looks good. If the rest of it looks that good just clean out any sediment and move on. Get a little light in there and check for the filter on the petcock and replace if needed.

flatlander · « **Reply #40 on:** May 13, 2014, 12:37:46 PM »

what's also helped me in the past to dislodge stubborn crap making the floats stick:
close the petcock and run the engine until it stops, sucking the carbs dry. if that doesn't help do it again then tap on the carb bodies as calj737 says. don't be too soft on them but use something that doesn't hurt them. i used a lage monkeywrench wrapped in a towel.

if you want to see schematics of all the parts, go to cmsnl.com. they are expensive for parts but looking at the diagrammes is free.

strynboen · « **Reply #41 on:** May 13, 2014, 01:08:18 PM »

yes... cms ate costy but the parts are kvality..and often orginal parts... like them better then david s...

Koonendez · « **Reply #42 on:** May 13, 2014, 01:29:00 PM »

Awesome thanks for the tips. I will try sucking carbs dry tomorrow and give them a tap as well just to be cautious. If I get any luck with with heat on the 4th exhaust ill report back. Then I'll proceed to draining tank and checking on the condition of the petcock. Here is a picture of my inline fuel filter

Hoping petcock filter just needs to be cleaned and a quick treatment of the tank and hopefully I can remove the inline fuel filter. Just worried about some small rust debris clogging carbs

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Koonendez · « **Reply #43 on:** May 13, 2014, 01:30:42 PM »

I should add that when looking at the fuel in the gas line I don't see a lot of debris if any in the line. Hoping whatever little debris that was in there or collected over the winter is all trapped in the filter for now

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Stev-o · « **Reply #44 on:** May 13, 2014, 02:15:17 PM »

Quote from: Koonendez on May 13, 2014, 01:30:42 PM

I should add that when looking at the fuel in the gas line I don't see a lot of debris if any in the line. Hoping whatever little debris that was in there or collected over the winter is all trapped in the filter for now

Pull the petcock and drain the tank, then you will know for sure.

Koonendez · « **Reply #45 on:** May 14, 2014, 09:37:29 AM »

Ok update...

I ran the engine and let the carbs go dry with the petcock off. I also gave the 4th carb where the exhaust was cold a love tap and now there's heat coming off the exhaust.

Here are two videos of the tach. The first was the immediate effect after the process.

The second is after I adjusted the big idle mixture screw in front of the carbs clockwise a bit to try and settle the revs a bit. It does idle on its own but comes close to dying after the hanging rev drops. It doesn't die but the idle is around 1500 and the response is lagging a bit. It still does get stuck around 3K though.

Let me know your thoughts.

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Maurice · « **Reply #46 on:** May 14, 2014, 09:52:09 AM »

Doesn't sound bad at all, now all cylinders are firing. If there was crap in the carb chances are there's still some in there. I wouldn't rule out the need to overhaul the carb, just an overall cleaning.

Runaway revs like this seem to point to leaky boots. Spray some WD-40 around the boots and listen for RPM changes - doesn't matter where it's idling at. It will likely slow down with WD-40. It did IME.

Next up after that is a good sync'ing.

After that you'll probably have some more tuning to do, don't worry

Horizontal video: much better. No airplane though, oh well...

Koonendez · « **Reply #47 on:** May 14, 2014, 09:58:00 AM »

Awesome. Yeah still need to do 3K checklist. Will savage eBay for a new set of carb boots unless you guys know a good online seller. Also will pull carbs to do a good cleaning. Will pull tank to check petcock and remove inline fuel filter.

Thanks calj737 and flatlander for the tips on getting the carb freed up. So glad to feel heat off the exhaust now.

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Koonendez · « **Reply #48 on:** May 14, 2014, 10:00:02 AM »

Will WD-40 settle the issues or is it a way to investigate leaks?

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Maurice · « **Reply #49 on:** May 14, 2014, 10:16:06 AM »

WD-40 will just tell you there's a leak or not. Quite frankly it's likely. Are the boot clamps tight? I got new boots for '77 carbs on partzilla ~~lemme find a link~~. Not cheap but alright price.

Also there's o-rings between the manifolds and head, make sure you replace them also. Diagram here.

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Author Topic: CB550 - Issues for beginning rider - Help please! (Read 27126 times)