Hi everyone. Have a 1974 CB550, fixed her up and have been riding her around without too many issues. Went for a ride today (nice and chilly, so I got to try out my riding long johns), and after stopping for gas before heading home, the starter decided to quit on me. Kickstarted just fine (it's saved me more than I'd like to admit) and the battery's good. I don't believe it's the solenoid, I replaced that a year ago, and the started motor was trying to run. As it is, pressing the button the starter got power and made a brief attempts to move, but simply couldn't spin the crank. I'll do a few more tests to confirm, but if it's the motor for sure would it be better to find a replacement or a rebuild kit?
It's very rare for these starters to fail: in fact, I have seen just one in the 50 years I've been working on them.
Much more likely on the 550: the battery is low on power. This can come from many things, like having Dyna Ignition aboard, or a halogen headlight of more than 40 watts' power, or just a poor-quality battery, like Champion or Bikemaster. The 500/550 has a small alternator output, and if electrical items are not kept to a minimum and/or the bike is not kept well revved (4k minimum RPM while cruising, and 5K+ is a good idea), or if the bike is left idling for long periods of time with the lights on (many of them can't be turned off, thanks to the US DOT) then the battery runs down. Then it acts just as you're describing.
So...I'd suggest putting it on a trickle charger (not more than 6 amps charge power for these small batteries) for at least 10-12 hours, then try again. If the starter works then, you'll know it's not one of the things causing you the grief.
It is VERY common for someone to sell the CB500/550 bike to someone else because they got tired of the electrical issues and didn't know what to do about them: you will find it many times in the posts here.
There are 'fixes' available, though. If it has the Dyna electronic ignition aboard, this is the #1 cause of this very issue when the 500/550 bikes are used for in-town riding at in-town speeds. You can substitute LED headlight and taillight to try to help, then learn to keep the engine wound up more than you may like, or just change out the Dyna ignition for something less power-hungry. If you don't wish to use points (because right now we are having BIG problems with the condensors that go with them, worldwide) you can try the Tytronics electronic unit, but it is Chinese-made. If you go to points again, you can also install my Transistor Ignition to make those last [essentially] forever (or until you decide to quit riding altogether), but this will take some mechanic work, likely in replacing the existing spark advancer with one that still has a points cam on it (this was removed and discarded if you have Dyna Ignition now).
In any case, hang in there, we can talk you thru it. There's lot of others here who have already gone thru the 'low battery' issue with that bike and came out with a reliable ride.
