Hello everyone, i am new to the forum as well to the vintage motorcycle scene (however i have been around dirt bikes/ATVs since i was little - even racing them at one point in my life). I am in the process of restoring/building my 1978 CB550. So the goal is to get it running pristinely as well as give it that cafe look, and im juggling both of them at the same time, while trying to enjoy it (riding) as much as possible.
The background to my situation - the PO put new cables on, which is awesome, but also left the clutch out of wack. My mechanic buddy adjusted it the best he could on the handle bars, but said he would need to dive in deeper to get it fully corrected. However, he is a full time mechanic, and a musician, so he doesn't really have time to help me out - and most shops this time of year are not only expensive as
, but also backed up several weeks. Therefore, i am tempted to do the work myself. Plus, half the enjoyment with these vintage bikes is figuring out the problem and fixing it. Although i do not have much mechanical experience, I want to learn to work on these bad boys, because it is my new obsession lol. I am pretty quick at learning, and have been doing a good amount of research (however i am not great with terminology - for lack of a better term... newb)
With that being said, the issue at hand, is what i believe to be either transmission or clutch, which is where you guys come in handy. My bike becomes very difficult to put in neutral while i am stopped, although while rolling or turned off, it goes in just fine. From my understanding, that is just an issue with the clutch. Sometimes i also, while switching gears, land in false neutrals (mainly between 2/3 and 4/5), which from what i've read is a pretty common issue with vintage Hondas. Recently though, it has been falling out of gear (riding in second, then suddenly drops to neutral), or even shifting to the wrong gear (ie - when i shift up, sometimes it feels like it doesnt shift or possible even shifts down, then eventually clicks into gear).
I have read a post in the past (i think it was on this forum, but it may have been another), where a guy was having a similar problem, and he opened her up, and it was simply the spring that was attached to the shifting lever. It had worn out, and eventually broke. HE then made a new one himself, and according to the post, never had issues with it again.
So my question is... is this a transmission issue, or a clutch issue or both. I found a good deal on a whole transmission set, and was thinking that i should just go a head and pick it up. But if this is not the issue then i would rather just grab the parts necessary.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated - i need help figuring out what parts to get so i can begin the process of fixing it. Thanks for your time, and i hope to hear back from someone with more knowledge than i possess.
Please enlighten me!!!
