Topic: 76 cb550f project

[firebane]

Good luck man. Hoping for the best, but prepare for the worst. Remember, it's still February so lots of time before the riding season.

Later, dj

My DT175 is good to ride

[Darren Jakal]

Then you are covered!

[firebane]

Ok so I got the bike to finally run off of starting fluid so plugs and caps helped there. The amount of dirt that came out the pipes was pretty impressive lol.

Also turns out that 5.5mm fuel line is the proper size for the pickup

Now on to the photos and from what I can see this isn't too bad and probably mainly just a lot from condensation but definitely water was in there but who knows how much.

Filter Housing


Pan and no its not purple just bad light

[754]

Is that rust on the kicker gear ?
You mean the pipes actually had dirt inside ?.  You mean actual dirt or silt.? Not just black or rusty crud ..
Can you look around in there with a flashlight ? Did you have clutch cover off..
 Not sure but did you mention before about a cylinder having rust ?

[firebane]

Is that rust on the kicker gear ?
You mean the pipes actually had dirt inside ?.  You mean actual dirt or silt.? Not just black or rusty crud ..
Can you look around in there with a flashlight ? Did you have clutch cover off..
 Not sure but did you mention before about a cylinder having rust ?

Haven't checked the red stuff yet but looked up inside and it looks clean.

LOL yes dirt and clumps of it.

Haven't pulled clutch cover yet.

Cylinders aren't  rusty just moisture on top of them

[firebane]

Had a chance to take a look and that redness seems to be ingrained into the steel and when looking at pictures of that area from other builds it seems normal.

So I will drop some new oil and filter in and get it running then probably do one more oil change. Might even throw a bit of seafoam in but we will see.

Probably not going to do much until I get the rest of my throttle stuff in so I don't have to use a pry bar.

[firebane]

Cleaned up all the oil parts and put new oil in the bike. I can now pretty much get it to run on starting fluid but not able to get to run on its own fuel.

I have had the carbs apart and cleaned the passages (perhaps not good enough) and set the floats but 1 and 2 have a tendency to overflow so will look at float adjustment again.

I am unable to get the brass screws out of the bowls so that is next in line and unfortunately still having starter issues and it gets stuck and won't turn over.

What should I be looking at in the ways of the bike not running on its own fuel? On the #1 carb when I pulled the main jet parts of the carb body broke off so I am doing this with removing as little as possible.

[firebane]

So not much in the way of updates as its been cold enough to house penguins in my shop but it has started to warm up.

This allowed me to do some work last night and finally got the float bowl drain screws to be removed with a lot of heat and patience but still need to replace one of those. Found out also I am missing all of the main jet holders but found harisluv on Ebay selling those so will be getting those. Also found the clip for the float jet missing and will need to be replaced.

During all of this decided to remove the slow jets to find they were horribly plugged and will either need to be cleaned very well or replaced and in doing this I found that if you take a can of compressed air and blow into the holes for the slow jets you will find out how messed up your air screws are lol; my #1 air screw was completed seated.

[firebane]

Alright so got the bike running and running on more than ether but still have some issues as the bike will seem to run out of fuel then not run. Getting the bike going still takes a bit and overflow in 1 and 2 puke out badly.

Also the other issue is the sheer amount of backfiring while the bike is running and not sure how to cure that yet.

I figure a few good short runs to heat up stuff should help but will also be throwing the replacement spark advance unit in and see if things change.

Also not running the reg/rec yet but plan to hook that up to hopefully allow some basic charging

[calj737]

Alright so got the bike running and running on more than ether but still have some issues as the bike will seem to run out of fuel then not run. Getting the bike going still takes a bit and overflow in 1 and 2 puke out badly.

Also the other issue is the sheer amount of backfiring while the bike is running and not sure how to cure that yet.

Backfiring is a pretty strong indication of bad timing/spark at the wrong time. Double check that your coils are wired correctly to the ignition, and that the plug wires are routed to the correct coils. It may also help with the "running" on something other than starter fluid.

[firebane]

Alright so got the bike running and running on more than ether but still have some issues as the bike will seem to run out of fuel then not run. Getting the bike going still takes a bit and overflow in 1 and 2 puke out badly.

Also the other issue is the sheer amount of backfiring while the bike is running and not sure how to cure that yet.

Backfiring is a pretty strong indication of bad timing/spark at the wrong time. Double check that your coils are wired correctly to the ignition, and that the plug wires are routed to the correct coils. It may also help with the "running" on something other than starter fluid.

Blue connected and yellow connected as per harness.

At the coils if you sat on the bike blue wire is on the right and yellow on the left. Leads for yellow run to 2/3 and leads from blue run to 2/3

[firebane]

Well swapped blue and yellow and went from pops out exhaust to out carb so I know it was right.

So I think I will be pulling the carbs again and checking things over again.

[Darren Jakal]

Keep at it. Spring is here, ha!

dj

[firebane]

Keep at it. Spring is here, ha!

dj

Yah I need to get some small parts for the carbs. I am missing the leaf springs for the floats and a couple of main jet holders. I will be talking to OMC to see if they have anything otherwise ebay

[Darren Jakal]

Give Don at Universal Cycle a try also. Never know.

[firebane]

Give Don at Universal Cycle a try also. Never know.

Yeah those guys are good up there and I visit them lots.

[rb550four]

Just found this thread.
Flood bike possibility....Don't start it. You'll just waste any good part left in it.
Been there before, a few times.
Flood mud, fine silt, does not rinse off. If you even suspect it, tear it down and clean each piece thoroughly, then do it again. ( parts cleaning tank of some sort and air compressor needed)
The fine silt will adhere to every surface, load up in every machined pocket and passage in the head ,oil journals, pump, load up rings,bearings, and get into every moving part. Every part needs a thorough cleaning individually.
 Of course the transmission is the same way and will destroy your work should you decide to only clean the head and piston topically. Since engine and trans share the same oil pool , the tranny will infect the engine...cases must be split, all pieces removed, all surfaces thoroughly cleaned...every piece washed and blown individually, twice. There's no working short cuts for clean, it takes time to do it well. If you fail at clean , your bike will fail....every part individually twice. Or you are just wasting your time,energy, money and ruining the possibility of ending up with a completed ,dependable machine.
  This is your chance to learn everything you ever wanted to know about the 550, your chance to break it down , clean it out , replace what's needed, put it all back together. You can do it, don't be scared. Tons of help here, good people here who know how to help. Do it right, and be proud to ride it.

[firebane]

Just found this thread.
Flood bike possibility....Don't start it. You'll just waste any good part left in it.
Been there before, a few times.
Flood mud, fine silt, does not rinse off. If you even suspect it, tear it down and clean each piece thoroughly, then do it again. ( parts cleaning tank of some sort and air compressor needed)
The fine silt will adhere to every surface, load up in every machined pocket and passage in the head ,oil journals, pump, load up rings,bearings, and get into every moving part. Every part needs a thorough cleaning individually.
 Of course the transmission is the same way and will destroy your work should you decide to only clean the head and piston topically. Since engine and trans share the same oil pool , the tranny will infect the engine...cases must be split, all pieces removed, all surfaces thoroughly cleaned...every piece washed and blown individually, twice. There's no working short cuts for clean, it takes time to do it well. If you fail at clean , your bike will fail....every part individually twice. Or you are just wasting your time,energy, money and ruining the possibility of ending up with a completed ,dependable machine.
  This is your chance to learn everything you ever wanted to know about the 550, your chance to break it down , clean it out , replace what's needed, put it all back together. You can do it, don't be scared. Tons of help here, good people here who know how to help. Do it right, and be proud to ride it.

As I have 2 bikes I am not afraid to run the bike as is and see what happens. If a tear down becomes necessary well we go that route.

[firebane]

So I spent some time with the carbs tonight and started looking at #4 and found a few interesting things I need to watch for on the other 3.

First in the float bowl area on the roof are two holes but they don't seem to go anywhere but had crud in them.

Second I found a very small passage on the air filter side that was plugged which feeds to the air screw.

Will be doing more cleaning on the weekend.

[RAFster122s]

Harrisluv does carb rebuilds and might have some spare leaf springs for the carbs to sell you...

It is foolish to not take RB's advice as he speaks from experience. Even if you gave little for it, better to take the time and do it right rather than risk it.
If the market were to turn and the cb550 be worth 3-4x its current price in 4 years or less would you risk this motor that way?
I used to own a car and when I did it was over 40 years old. It was slated and stated by collectors to be likely worth a lot more in the future as it was a gem that many had ignored. A move or two and I was not able to move the car to AZ as it had been in the middle of a rebuild with the motor out when I lost a job. When I had the new job I was about 2000 miles away. Movers won't touch a car that is not driveable. So, I ended up parting out the car and junking the shell. Only to discover after having done so the cars had gone up about 2.5 times their former value in less than 4 years time.  I regret that action.

David

[firebane]

I am not disregarding anyone's advice and will just deal with what comes my way. One way or another I have plans for the motor but I want to get it to a state I am happy with.

Haris does have carb parts but shipping from the US to Canada is stupid but I have found someone to supply me with parts again.

I appreciate all feedback and in regards to your 3-4x cost statement yes I would because if I rebuild the motor the bike will be worth even more. I don't do things half way and make sure it's done right from the start.

[firebane]

Project is still around just had to take a break.

Went to do some things today and found I some how lost a float needle :-(

[firebane]

This is why I say we shall never give up on these old bikes. A lot of testing and trying went into this but with new oil and new needle floats I can start this bike with about 3 kicks since the starter has crapped out.

I know the bike is idling high which I have fixed but shortly after this run the bike started puking oil from either starter hole or oil pump.

Without much ado

[firebane]

Ok so I need some help in determining something.

Is my presumption of bench syncing the following:
1) Back out idle adjustment screw so it no longer touches
2) Lower all slides down as far as they will go
3) Take one carb to be master say #2 and then adjust the idle adjustment screw so the 1/8 bit will just fit under the slide
4) Proceed to use slide adjustments on #1, 3, 4 till they equal #2

The reason I am asking for is that this does not seem to be the case for me and I'm thinking I have something out of adjustment elsewhere. What I find is that I need to use MORE throttle to hold the bike at an acceptable RPM range and can't manage this with the idle screw cause it bottoms out.

[CBGhia]

Do you have all of the mixture screws all set 1 1/2 turns out?  Did you clean all the pilot jets really well?