Topic: Proud new owner of a 1976 Honda CB550 SuperSport...

[PheNam]

...and a complete rookie when it comes to motorcycles and repair. Full disclosure, I will probably be relying on all of your help as I start my journey into the murky and highly suicidal task of repairing and upgrading my bike so please be patient with me.

Aaaannnnd so the pain begins...

My bike wouldn't start the other day while I was out riding because the battery was dead and I was nowhere near an outlet so I could just trickle charge it. So instead, I purchased a new battery making sure the Voltage and Amp/hr would work and proceeded to install it. Now I thought I had made sure that the leads were going to the right +/-, but immediately upon connection, I could see smoke and smelled burnt wire. I can only assume that I reversed the polarity and melted some wires. Now the bike won't even turn on, and when I hooked the old battery back up, the battery started heating up like crazy. After talking to some seasoned motor heads, I am going to take a look at the wires and see if there is some damage. I know of one spot for sure where a wire is melted exposing the line. I have been told that it should be an easy fix by splicing a new wire in, so I will keep you folks up to date once I get the bike to my garage to fix on. Hopefully it will be a super simple fix and I will be up and riding for the holiday weekend.

Any general words of wisdom or advice?

And does anybody have a list of tools that I should look into investing in?

[flybox1]

nice bike 
check all fuses, connections, and the back side of the fuse block (a known melting spot)

[calj737]

List of tools:
Multi-meter for troubleshooting electrical issues
Metric wrenches, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12-18mm. Some sockets too.
Manuals - you can download those from elsewhere on this forum, and
A book written by member, Hondaman. It's listed for sale on the forum main page. Very worth the $ I promise.

Here's a link to an electronic parts fiche for your reference and assistance:
http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-cb550f-super-sport-550-four-1976-usa_model467/partslist/

[dave500]

from reversed polarity your rectifier might be damaged and you probably will have burnt the main green earth wire which runs within the loom,youll have to unwind all the tape and look for burnt through areas.

[Duanob]

Nice F model! I miss mine already I just sold it a couple of months back.

This site has some good useful info and electrical parts.

http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/index.html

Go to the FAQ page for diagnostics. If you need connectors and fuse baxes he has all that too.

[Tripod]

Congratulations!  Nice looking bike!

[Stev-o]

Welcome and what a bummer.  It can be fixed...

[rb550four]

Welcome, nice looking machine. Almost everything in a 550 can be fixed, especially here on this site.
One thing to remember about the 550, everything about it makes sense so if you have to use excessive force or find something as simple as the battery overflow tube on the wrong side,or you having to fold wires backwards to get them on the terminals, you are probably doing something wrong and you should download or purchase a shop manual to guide you through your first 550. good luck and welcome.

[PheNam]

I appreciate the support. I took a look at the wires. They were melted so I removed the existing insulation and wrapped them in electrical tape. After connecting the battery, the wires were heating up so I will replace the whole wiring harness. I need your help, I need this replaced as well see attached. I don't think it comes with the wiring harness. What is it called?

[PheNam]

Here's the other side.

5 wire rectifier?

[dave500]

that's the rectifier,you might consider replacing the regulator aswell with a more modern combined electronic rec/reg?

[Deltarider]

Dave means 'rectifier'. (He types with his elbows, which is a shame for his posts are good.)

[PheNam]

I understand. I have used my forehead on occasion.

[dave500]

fixed.

[PheNam]

While I am waiting for a rectifier and rectifier repair harness, my friend raised a concern I wanted to sound out among you guys. The bike has been down for nearly two weeks and will probably be so for another week, though I am praying to be up and riding by this weekend. I haven't really had an opportunity to look inside the tank, but I am going to assume that there is some rust in it. Having said that, should I be putting some stabilizer in there? When is it necessary to put some in?

[goldarrow]

don't waste your money on fuel stabilizer.  instead, spend that on good stock fuel filter and clean the tank and carbs.

[PheNam]

I will definitely get to it, thank you!...but that is after I get the bike up and running again, which requires a new rectifier and rectifier harness at the bare minimum, and possibly replacing the wire harness as well...

So I pose the question again, should I be worried about the state of the fuel that is in the bike which hasn't been running for almost 2 weeks? And how long can I not worry about the state of the fuel?

[goldarrow]

Fuel should be fine. I park my bikes months at a time and fuel don't go bad

[nhg2112]

+1

3-4 mos is my usual max time for fuel. Closer to 3 for the older engines, 4 for the newer ones. Stabil is cheap...

[Bankerdanny]

if you can get ethanol free gas it will keep longer than the E10 that is common many places. Pure gas should keep over a typical winter with no issues, ethanol gas should probably have some stabilizer added if it is going to sit a few months.

[Bankerdanny]

And when you put it away for long storage (more than a couple months) fill the tank to help prevent rust and shut off the fuel and run the bike until it dies, then drain the remaining fuel out of the bowls to keep the bowls and jets from gumming up.  Use a little care and you will not need to go through the carbs again for years.

[Stev-o]

+1... a month or even two should not be an issue with the bike sitting. But, if you think there is rust or sediment in the tank, by all means drain it and flush it out well. You don't want any crap getting in your carbs. And as Gold Dude suggested, check/replace your stock fuel filter.

[PheNam]

Nice F model! I miss mine already I just sold it a couple of months back.

This site has some good useful info and electrical parts.

http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/index.html

Go to the FAQ page for diagnostics. If you need connectors and fuse baxes he has all that too.

Thank you guys for all the help. I replaced with new rectifier from Oregon Motorcycle Parts and the bike was was running but having trouble idling and making a ominous knocking sound - I will post a video later today or tomorrow.

Now besides the tools, what else do I need? I just bought some forks from eworth and will replace them within the next few weeks if I have the time. Or what would you guys recommend. I hope to have a garage where I can work on my bike over the winter, but for the time being, I work on my bike in the backyard.

[calj737]

Two things:

The "knock" you hear may well be an indication that the carbs need to be vacuum synchronized. You need a set of vacuum gauges to perform this, or someone/shop to do it.

When you replace the forks, it's a great opportunity to also replace the steering head bearings at the same time. These are in the neck of the frame, and there are sets at the bottom and the top. Most people replace the stock steel balls and races with tapered bearings from All Ballz. You can get a set for your exact model. Knock out the old races and tap in the new. Reinstall the steering stem, tighten down the stem, then install forks. Adds about 2 hours total to a fork replacement task, but well worth the effort and safety of doing it.

[Tews19]

Nice bike Phenam! I'm in Milwaukee and if you want some help hit me up. Shoot you can bring it here and we can "putz" with your bike. Knocking may be the cam tensioner as well as the carbs needing to be sync d. I have a synchronizer as well.