Topic: CB 550F Adventure Bike

[strynboen]

on my 400 four..i solderet some bushings on the holder for rear light. to Mount the turn signals..then i have free Space for all stuff

[MD]

on my 400 four..i solderet some bushings on the holder for rear light. to Mount the turn signals..then i have free Space for all stuff

An interesting approach.  I had thought of mounting the brackets on the luggage rack.  Your solution will definitely be considered.

-MD

[strynboen]

have one more...
i had ir re viring a bit...but it vas basis to put the turn sig vires to the rear light vires..so they go together

[MD]

  Carb problems have kept me off the road.

While using the auxiliary tank, I had one carb overfill and drip out.  After connecting the normal gas tank, I have gas coming out of all 4 overflow tubes.  I tried adjusting the floats. I ordered a set of new generic floats and adjusted them at 22, 24, 25, 26mm and still had problems with gas overflowing the carbs.  I had previously replaced the float needle assemblies with non Honda, so listening to the OEM only crowd I ordered a set of NOS Honda float needle assemblies.  I installed the new needles, put the original floats in and set the floats at 22mm. I still have too much gas in the carbs.

I need some help,  I am in Northern MN.

Thanks,

-MD

[MD]

Carb problems have kept me off the road.

While using the auxiliary tank, I had one carb overfill and drip out.  After connecting the normal gas tank, I have gas coming out of all 4 overflow tubes.  I tried adjusting the floats. I ordered a set of new generic floats and adjusted them at 22, 24, 25, 26mm and still had problems with gas overflowing the carbs.  I had previously replaced the float needle assemblies with non Honda, so listening to the OEM only crowd I ordered a set of NOS Honda float needle assemblies.  I installed the new needles, put the original floats in and set the floats at 22mm. I still have too much gas in the carbs.

I need some help,  I am in Northern MN.

Thanks,

-MD

Update,


Reset the floats again today at 23.69mm and got gas pouring out of 3 carbs the 4th started after I had turned the gas off.  I tested the overflow tube on two of the carbs by holding my thumb over the top and blowing into the over flow hose.  I did not detect any leaks to the tubes.

-MD

[riverfever]

Nobody feels your pain with constantly messing with float heights more than this guy. So now you're using Honda float needles and the original floats. I don't have a ton of input here because I'm still learning myself but what catches my eye is your attention to the height of the floats. You tried 22, 24, 25, 26. I assume since you tried 23.69 that you're using a digital caliper? I love the attention to detail but my advise would be to screw all that. When I set mine I don't even use a tool any more. I use the clear tube method and start by figuring out where 3mm below that gasket is and mark bowls 1 and 4. Then I take an initial measurement and start making adjustments to the float. I work on one carb at a time. Minor adjustment then re-check. I'm never worried about the numbers. Just where the fuel is sitting in the bowls. Maybe try this with carb 1 or 4 since they are easier to deal with and see if you can get it dialed in. Then you will at least know it can be done. Does this make sense? I know it sucks but hang in there man.

[MD]

Nobody feels your pain with constantly messing with float heights more than this guy. So now you're using Honda float needles and the original floats. I don't have a ton of input here because I'm still learning myself but what catches my eye is your attention to the height of the floats. You tried 22, 24, 25, 26. I assume since you tried 23.69 that you're using a digital caliper? I love the attention to detail but my advise would be to screw all that. When I set mine I don't even use a tool any more. I use the clear tube method and start by figuring out where 3mm below that gasket is and mark bowls 1 and 4. Then I take an initial measurement and start making adjustments to the float. I work on one carb at a time. Minor adjustment then re-check. I'm never worried about the numbers. Just where the fuel is sitting in the bowls. Maybe try this with carb 1 or 4 since they are easier to deal with and see if you can get it dialed in. Then you will at least know it can be done. Does this make sense? I know it sucks but hang in there man.

I was holding off on doing the clear tube until I got at least 2 carbs not to drip.  I am leaning towards building a jig that holds the carbs.  Then attaching a testing gas tank. 

-MD


 

[riverfever]

I use my bench vise. It takes a bit of adjustment to get the rack in a position that I like (that's also level and doesn't influence the readings) and then I use my tank (on some boxes) with some longer fuel lines and barbed straight fittings to feed the fuel. The benefit with the clear tube is that you will then begin to see what the impact of each minor adjustment is and that let's you know if you're making any movement at all in the right direction. Right now you don't even know that much man. 

[Bankerdanny]

And you are sure that none of the overflow tubes are cracked? All 4 would be weird, but not impossible. Have you tried pulling a bowl and filling it with gas or alcohol and seeing if it leaks?

[MD]

And you are sure that none of the overflow tubes are cracked? All 4 would be weird, but not impossible. Have you tried pulling a bowl and filling it with gas or alcohol and seeing if it leaks?

I did not try your suggested method.  I did try blowing air through 2 of them.  It will be worth a try.

-MD

[MD]

Tested each of the overflow tubes.  Could not find a leaker. Set the floats a little lower.  Still had issues.

Just to try something different, I lifted the overflow tubes so that their ends were higher than the air intake.   I poured seafoam into the fuel line until it started to drip out of the intake.  24 hours later I  lowered the overflow tubes.  Nothing dribbled out.  I cracked the drain plugs to verify the presence of fuel in each carb bowl.  After connecting the gas tank I found two carbs with steady drips. 

The bike hadn't been started for one and a half months.  After reattaching the throttle cables, tightening the manifold boots and attaching the breather hose, turned on the choke and pressed the starter.  I barked but did not start.  Considering the straight seafoam in the system I was not surprised.  It took a while but eventually the bike got enough cylinders firing to stay running.  I ran it enough to have the bike settle down and get rid of the white smoke from the seafoam.

More to come.

-MD

[MD]

Not riding for two months was getting to me.  I had a meeting in town so I decided to take the bike knowing I was going to have bad fuel economy.  I got about three miles and had to switch to reserve.  I was about fives blocks short of my destination when I ran out of  gas.  Luckily I could coast downhill to the parking lot.  The back tank is not currently connected so I poured gas from the back tank into a cup and poured into the main tank.  Enough to get to the gas station.  When trying to start the bike I did not have enough power left even for kick starting to work.  Eventually I got a friend to give me a jump start.  I made it home about two  hours later than planned.  The good news is that once the bike was running I had plenty of power.  This was not the case last fall.

-MD

[MD]

Won the bidding for a different set of carbs.  Should have them on Monday. 

-MD

[MD]

USPS actually delivered the carbs early.    Inspected each of  the bowls, 3 had a little bit of dark brown varnish smelling gas and the 4th was dry.  I will box them backup Monday and send them to Harisuluv.  I will keep trying to get the original carbs to behave while the new ones get rebuilt. 

-MD

[MD]

Mailed the replacement carbs off today.  With shipping time and labor in consideration, I don't expect to see them back for quite a while.

Put the non-honda floats back in the original carbs.  I adjusted them to 28-29mm.  This puts the bottom of the float near the input of the secondary jet.  The result is none of the carbs are overflowing.  Two have gas in the bowls and two are dry.  Next step will be slight adjustments to the dry carbs.  Once those have gas I will do the clear tube test.

-MD

[MD]

Went to work on the two dry carbs.  After several times on and off the bike got gas in all the carbs and not much spilling out.  Drove to the gas station and filled the tank.  Acceleration  was good so I went on a 50 mile loop about half on gravel.  Clutch cable vibrated loose and one of the windscreen brackets fell off.  Luckily  I was on a paved county road when the bracket fell off the bike.  Did a U turn and retrieved the most essential parts.  It was nice not to spill more gas than I was burning.

-MD

[MD]

It was nice not to spill more gas than I was burning.

-MD

If it would only last.

Today I got the slip stream mount corrected.  The rubber strip between the handle and the clamp blew off into the ditch somewhere, cut a replacement from an old bicycle tube.  A trip to the hardware store to replace the star lock washer and the windscreen was good to go. 

Tackled a couple of electrical issues.  The horn has not been functioning so I ordered a replacement.  Connected the horns wires and now the button makes noise.  Checking the turn signals I noticed that I had cross wired the front signals. Actually I put the signals on the wrong side of the bike.  Had just enough clearence between the windscreen and the instrument cluster to reach the top bucket screw.  Replaced the temporary automotive flasher unit with the small rectangle stock style.

Put he bike on the center stand and turned on the gas to check the carbs.  Three were overflowing again.  Drained excess gas out of each bowl and tapped them, then drove to fill up the tank.  After filling the tank, went for a 30 mile run and topped the tank off again.  Got 23.33 miles per gallon.   

It looks like I will be pulling the carbs again this week.  The floats at this point are within .5-1 mm of shutting the flow of gas off completely.

-MD

[MD]

I need to think of something other than drippy carbs so I ordered the 20mm ammo cans for the panniers.  My goal in mounting them will be 1. easily removed.  2.  minimal additional framing added to the bike for mounting the panniers.  3. keep them close as possible to the bike.

-MD

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

MD,

My buddy Jay went this route with his 450. He even mounted solar charging cells from a backpack so he can charge up his devices on the go.

http://www.lossaengineering.com/blogs/bikes/16887919-1970-honda-cl450

[MD]

MD,

My buddy Jay went this route with his 450. He even mounted solar charging cells from a backpack so he can charge up his devices on the go.

http://www.lossaengineering.com/blogs/bikes/16887919-1970-honda-cl450

Nice looking bike.

-MD

[MD]

  Received the rebuilt carbs.

  Box was damaged.


Luckily the only damage was  the choke lever was bent.    easily fixed.

After getting the carbs on the bike, I tackled changing the plumbing to the auxiliary tank. 



I had previously tried using a T where the stainless H fitting is located.  The fuel lines stuck out and hit my leg.  I am suspicious that the NAPA fuel lines might have been putting grit in the carbs so I placed the a filter between the line and the carbs.  I ordered new fuel lines with the carbs.  I first measured the lines from the carbs directly to the peacock on the tank.  The extra line was cut to join the Y and H fittings.

Hopefully the rain dries up tomorrow afternoon so that I can install the intake boots and fire up the bike.

-MD

[MD]

Work got in the way of the best laid plans.  So a day later than planned I got the intake boots on.  When putting the main tank on I discovered I still have plumbing issues to work on.  The Y fittings are causing the tubing to bend to tight.  What I really need is a fitting shaped like this.
 

End result is I disconnected the  aux tank and connected only the main tank.  The bike fired up easily and did not take long to warmup.  Thanks harisuluv.  Idled near a thousand.  Took a six mile run.  Tomorrow I'll put some miles on and see what kind of mileage it gets.

-MD

[MD]

Put some serious miles on the bike today.  It performed well.  In the Twist of Wrist video they talk about being gentle on the throttle if you decelerate in a corner.  On a straight road with the new carbs when cutting the throttle swiftly you can feel the rear tire fish tail.  With the bike on the center stand, I tried wiggling the tire top and bottom so the new bearings are holding up well.  I also tried left to right and did not get any wobble so the swing arm also appears to be in good shape.  The road taken today has a lot of twisties most cautioned at 35mph.  Without dragging or severe leaning the bike felt secure at an indicated speed of 55-60mph.  Of course I was being steady with the throttle.



Checked mileage,  33.2 m/g  averaging 60-65mph indicated speed. 

-MD

[Bankerdanny]

That's not very good mileage. With a similar windshield and bigger load on my 550 I averaged mid 40's during the 2011 Relay Rally and broke 50 on one long highway stretch, and that was running steady 70mph.

My current F bike, which doesn't currently have a windshield, gets anywhere from mid 30's like you to mid 40's. It really depends on the headwind. 40'ish is my typical average.

[MD]

That's not very good mileage. With a similar windshield and bigger load on my 550 I averaged mid 40's during the 2011 Relay Rally and broke 50 on one long highway stretch, and that was running steady 70mph.

My current F bike, which doesn't currently have a windshield, gets anywhere from mid 30's like you to mid 40's. It really depends on the headwind. 40'ish is my typical average.

Bankerdanny,

Before the bike took the 20+ year sabbatical, mileage was in the thirties.  On your bike that was running in the 40s do you remember the engine/carb combination?  Where you running stock sprockets?  Do remember what tires you were running?  How accurate was your speedometer?

Thanks for your feedback.

-MD