Topic: 1978 CB 550k Carb Question

[Vintage Esquire]

I have read most of the posts regarding carb rebuild kits for the 550's, including the search function.  It seems like the 1978 carbs are unique and most rebuild kits won't work properly.  I have checked many websites with no luck.  Where can I find a complete rebuild kit for 1978 carbs?

[Deltarider]

What tell's you you need a rebuild kit?
Have you tried cleaning?

[Tintop]

Sirius carries stuff for the PD 46 carbs. http://www.siriusconinc.com/

[Vintage Esquire]

Deltarider,

You may be right.  I just purchased the bike and it has been sitting in a barn unstarted for 13 years.  The prior owner did not drain the fuel prior to storage, so the carbs are really gummed up.  I will try to clean, but my guess is that much of the internals will be difficult to clean.  It seems that many of the other years' kits are only about $20, so I thought if I could avoid finely detailed cleaning, it might be worth buying new kits.  In my research, I've learned how difficult it is to find parts for the '78 550.

[dRoc]

Sirius carries stuff for the PD 46 carbs. http://www.siriusconinc.com/

I didn't have the best luck with those for my 77 550K. The taper on the slow jets didn't exactly match the stock Honda ones, and though they were pressed in as far as they would go, I had a couple fall out and go swimming in the float bowls. However, the other jets included, as well as the gaskets and everything else in the kit seem to be just fine. Maybe I just had a bad batch.

Sirius' customer service is top notch.

[Bakes]

http://www.siriusconinc.com/pro-detail.php?pid=&product_id=449

[Tintop]

Sirius carries stuff for the PD 46 carbs. http://www.siriusconinc.com/

I didn't have the best luck with those for my 77 550K. The taper on the slow jets didn't exactly match the stock Honda ones, and though they were pressed in as far as they would go, I had a couple fall out and go swimming in the float bowls. However, the other jets included, as well as the gaskets and everything else in the kit seem to be just fine. Maybe I just had a bad batch.

Sirius' customer service is top notch.

+1 on the service.  I didn't have the same problem with my 77's slow jets, they were fine.  Haven't done my 78 carbs yet, but not expecting any issues.

[Deltarider]

The reason I asked, is this: the carbs on my 500 have served over 130.000 kms. Except for float chamber gaskets and the little O-rings around the main jets (K3/4s don't have them btw), no parts have been changed. No floats, no jets, no needles, no seats, nothing. Once I've experimented with #100 main jets, but soon returned to the original #78 jets. It's two years ago now that I've checked all parts for wear. Even with a magnifying glass I couldn't detect any wear.

[Tintop]

The reason I asked, is this: the carbs on my 500 have served over 130.000 kms. Except for float chamber gaskets and the little O-rings around the main jets (K3/4s don't have them btw), no parts have been changed. No floats, no jets, no needles, no seats, nothing. Once I've experimented with #100 main jets, but soon returned to the original #78 jets. It's two years ago now that I've checked all parts for wear. Even with a magnifying glass I couldn't detect any wear.

Quite agree Deltarider. Clean, well maintained carbs can go on forever with simple, basic maintenance.  The only real wear items over time are the needle and needle jet.  Didn't Hondaman say in his book that he had 180K miles on his 750 carbs before he turned the needle jet 180 to compensate for wear.  And their still going.

The bits inside Vintage Esquire's could very likely be very usable with proper cleaning.  As he pointed out though, parts for PD's aren't available everywhere, and it's nice to know where to get something before you need it.

[Vintage Esquire]

All of you have really helped me alot!  I will try and clean it all but it's nice to know that I can get a kit for $42.50, worst case scenario.