Topic: Successful M/C & Caliper Overhaul and new Electric Problems

[dagersh]

Hi All,

Thanks to all the great advice and stories here, I finally had the courage to rebuild the Brake System on my '75 CB550F.  I was able to clean out the caliper and MC, and replaced the innards of the MC.  The caliper piston was very usable and I reassembled everything with Dow Corning Vacuum grease.  I used new SS lines from HEL (Big thumbs up to their service and work).  Everything went together without a hitch.  I replaced the stock bleeder with a Speedbleeder and using their bleed system, everything went smooth and my brakes work great, with excellent feel at the lever.  So I give a huge thanks to everyone who went through all this and was kind enough to share their experience.

I cannot reccommend the Speedbleeder and their "Bleed-Bag" high enough, as long as the bag is held at the height of the handlebars, the bleeding is effortless.  I also used copious amounts of crumpled tin foil to clean out the caliper and MC resevoir.  The tin foil is softer than the metal of the components, and can be shaped nicely to clean out the caliper seal groove without danger of scratching.

So, now the bike drives great, but I lost my headlight!!!!!  Everything was working before I did this work, and everything else works perfectly - Blinkers, horn, tail and brake lights.  There are no stray wires in the bucket and I have juice going to all the fuses save the headlight 7 amp.  I checked that the actual sealed beam works in another bike, and its fine as well.  The solder joints behind the fuse box look clean and strong and the fuse clips are very clean.  When I checked the tailight fuse in the headlight slot, it did not work, and the suspect headlight fuse worked fine for the tailight.

Can anyone give a lead on where to look next?

Thanks,

Gersh

[dagersh]

Sorry to bump, but I can't figure it out!  Anyone, Anyone?  Bueller, Bueller?

[KB02]

Hmmmmm... It is a conundrum, no doubt about it...

Well, since you are not getting any power to the fuse, I would say that this should be your starting point as you work back towards the battery.

The first thing that comes to mind is to check for continuity between the power source side of the fuse and the frame. If you have some, then the power wire might have frayed and grounded out somewhere (do this with the fuse out)

Other than that it's just a matter of checking connections and wires.

Hope this helps.

[dagersh]

Thanks for the heads up KBO!  Yeah, I am trying to keep in mind that this is all a learning experience! 

Anybody know if there is a headlight cut-off switch when using the starter?  Looking at the wiring diagram, the Red/Black wire goes into the right hand Stop/Run/Stop button.  My starter button has imploded, and I have been kicking the bike to run it - maybe I should have mentioned this before

If this is the case, perhaps the switch has broken in the headlight "kill" position.  I have another RH switch to replace the broken one, but I wanted this to be a Winter project.  If I am going to rip it apart, I would like to know if this is a good candidate for the problem.

Thanks all!

Gersh

[dagersh]

Alright - So when in doubt, read the owners manual!  The headlight does indeed shut off when the starter is turning.  I took apart the switch, and sure enough, the starter button plastic housing was smashed (which I figured, so no surprise).  Now the question is can I bypass the headlight interuption circuit by connecting the Black/Red wire coming from the fuse box to the Yellow/Red wire which handles the interuption?  Everything else still works, and the bike starts right up with the Kicker.

Thanks,

Gersh

[KB02]

Should be able to, yes. I did on mine when I replaced the controls with all after market.

[dagersh]

Success!!!!  Having determined that the headlight was shut off when using the starter, I disassembled the right hand switch unit and using a tester determined that the BK/R and Bk when connected would give me back my Headlight, and everything else was working fine.  When I jumped the Y/R to the black, my starter kicked over just fine, so I isolated the Y/R with electrical tape, and connected the BK/R and BK.  Voila! A running bike with a fully functional headlight including Low and High Beams!

Of course, I will replace the whole RH switch unit with a working one, but I get to ride tomorrow!  Can I get a hallelujah!

Gersh