Hey All!
About a month ago I bought a CB550 with barely 9000 miles on it from a guy who could no longer maintain it...For only $200. Bike was in excellent condition (by the looks) but did not run. Previous owner Said he ran the bike but was too old to actually drive it. His son said that last time he had it running it would have sudden kicks when accelerating the throttle. And there was a ticking sound coming from the engine, he described it as a diesel engine wanting to start type of noise. No idea what he meant. okay so i brought this machine home and started to operate.
Upon opening the gas tank i discovered that someone had lined it with a ceramic coating which was not peeling, and it immediately hit me that that was the problem of the kicking. That coating was peeling off and going in the carbs and clogging them. upon further investigation i noticed that the entire green ground wire in the wiring harness had ate itself up, and someone had done a botched job at putting in line fuses on the bike. the rectifier was completely corroded and just looked like it was done for good. The starter was pried open like someone was repairing it but just gave up. SO.....Heres what i did so far
1. Removed gas tank, sent it off to get cleaned, got it back
2. Removed Carbs (pain in the ass) sent them to get cleaned, got it back
3. Removed wiring harness, to recontruct the green ground wire, got that back
4. Got a new rectifier/regulator that fits from DIME City Cycles
5. New modern indicators, installed
6. took care of any minor rust situations
7. New battery
8. Cleaned it up as best as i could
Now heres the problem: when i put everything back together, im not getting any power. YES the battery is charged. i can turn the key and everything in the back of the bike works. Tail lights/ rear indicator. But i am not getting any power to the front like the ignition, dash, front lights...i can though get a slight squeek from the horn. but thats it. i had a voltage meter handy: i have power coming from the battery and into the regulator/rectifier and leaving as well...then it just disappears and i cant trace it. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS BIKE!?!?!?!?! Help.
