Topic: '76 CB550 No Spark

[chadheins]

I'm looking into buying a 1976 CB550 from a guy close by. "It was running when parked 5 years ago" you know the story. Anyway, after looking the bike over and questioning the guy a bunch about it, I find out that he's done a little bit of work to the kill switch on the right handlebar, so I crack it open and take a look. The wiring is kinda jacked up in there. Twisting and some poor soldering.

Black to black, big yellow to little green, red to red, and a small yellow wire that's not connected to anything.

I tried connecting it a few places but still couldn't get spark. What's the wiring supposed to look like under there? Is there a quick way to bypass it all so I don't have to mess with it? In case this isn't the problem, what other places should I check in order to get spark? Everything else looks pretty good on the bike, so I'm hoping once the spark issue is solved, it won't need much more than a tuneup.
In advance, thank you for your responses,
-Chad

[bender01]

Well show a pic of the whole bike. If its only that bar switch they can be found . Is it a K or an f model. Whats the price? If its cosmeticaly nice and inexpensive to you and it turns over go for it. Im sure you can bypass that switch to get it running and tuned up but it is a safety issue that you might want once...

[HondaMan]

Go into the headlight and connect black to black/white to bypass the KILL switch to permanently ON. Then try for spark. If the bike's been sitting that long, the points may be rusted enough to make for no spark, also.

[chadheins]

I took apart the kill switch and it was totally messed up in there. Everything was broken and torn to shreds so I just soldered the black and black/white together and now it runs like a top. Anyone know how quick these bikes are supposed to be? It feels kinda sluggish compared to my CB200T... doesn't seem right. I'm gonna take it on the highway tomorrow to see if I can get it up to speed.

[HondaMan]

The 550 power profile has a big emphasis on smooth, not on sudden. The throttle Honda used has to be turned a LOT to get the carbs open, so keep that in mind. That was part of their philosophy back then, the 750 is the same. Most modern bikes have quicker throttles, like 1/3 or 1/2 turn to full open. I think the 550 is a little over 3/4 turn to full open.

[bryanj]

On a vry good day 105 mph is maximum but it takes a long time to get there, OK there are bikes out there that have tuned speedos and say they are going faster, but i am talking realistic now