Topic: Noobs 1974 CB550 Rebuild

[checkflag]

effing sweet build man. good job.. looks so clean.

[psniff]

It won't fire or it won't crank at all?

If it won't crank, take your multimeter and trace the wires to figure out what's not getting power. Don't trust fuses that look good, test them. Make sure you have 12V at the battery. Make sure you have 12V at each fuse with the key turned on.

If it won't fire, check the four basic components: spark, fuel, air, and compression. If you have those four, you'll have a running engine.

the problem is it wont fire, I put a new battery in, the dyna ignition is spliced into a 12v supply, compression is good, I rebuilt the carbs so I guess ill check them again

[psniff]

Looking good. What rear sets did you order from fastfromthepast? They dont list cb550 rearsets and when I ordered my clip-ons from them they said tarozzi did not make cb550 rearsets only cb500.

I ordered the cb500 rearsets cause the early cb550's have the same frame

effing sweet build man. good job.. looks so clean.

thanks man if only it would run

[Laminar]

Before you pull the carbs again check a few things. After cranking a while, take a look at a spark plug. Is it wet? Then you're getting fuel. Test for spark. You can find a spark tester at an auto parts store for under $5. It's not unheard of to have the ignitions wired to a +12V source that is disconnected while cranking. Can you confirm that the Dyna has +12V while the starter button is pushed?

[psniff]

Before you pull the carbs again check a few things. After cranking a while, take a look at a spark plug. Is it wet? Then you're getting fuel. Test for spark. You can find a spark tester at an auto parts store for under $5. It's not unheard of to have the ignitions wired to a +12V source that is disconnected while cranking. Can you confirm that the Dyna has +12V while the starter button is pushed?

Ok so I jut got a round to checking this, I dont think im getting any fuel, cranked it for a 10 seconds or so nothing on the plugs so i dunno whats up with that. also I checked the 12v supply and the ignition is getting power but I forgot to check if it was getting power when I was cranking it I have the dyna hooked up to the wire that gives the coils 12v so im pretty sure it would be getting 12v when its cranking but i dunno?

[MRieck]

Paul....if the plugs are dry after all the engine cranking I'd say it is a fuel problem. Is there fuel in the bowls? Give a squirt of starting fluid and see if it fires. You can lay one of the plugs on the cylinder etc (so it is grounded), crank the engine and check for spark

[psniff]

mike, im getting spark and there was fuel in the bowls, I took the carbs off yesterday to fix a leak in one of the overflow tubes and nothing seems clogged or at of place, so im really kinda lost right now as to why it wont start. Ill try using the starting fluid to see how that works

[psniff]

So i took the carbs apart again, fixed the leaking float bowls but I also noticed my float levels were off so maybe that was part of my fuel problem. we'll see this week. I just wanna get this thing running before winter

[JeyLux]

some crappy cell phone pics from today.
mounted up the exhaust and put the headlight on. all thats left now is to figure out something for the rear, hook up the brakes and wire up the dyna. then its go time

so what did it take to solve the exhaust collar issue?

[MRieck]

It's running now.

[psniff]

thanks again mike

for those of who you dont know the wires for the dyna coils were hooked up backwards causing it to just sit and backfire, switched them around and started right up

[KB02]

Sweet. Gotta love the easy fixes, huh? 

[MRieck]

Paul...your mailbox is full and I don't have your phone #....call me or email me.
  Mike

[fergie]

The bike looks great, do you have side covers for it? I think side covers and a shortened rear fender and tank badges and you could call it done.

[psniff]

The bike looks great, do you have side covers for it? I think side covers and a shortened rear fender and tank badges and you could call it done.

thanks, yea I just got some sidecovers...I really want to ditch the seat I have on in it and get a bcr seat so we'll see

[joec3613]

Nice work. I really like it. How difficult was it to relace those rims? I want to do mine, but I've never done it before. Love the look of the bike, keep the updates coming!

[psniff]

doing the rims kinda sucked, you just gotta be patient with it. took me three tries to get the back rim laced up right

[traveler]

Where did you source the spokes?

Bike really looks good.

You said Mike did a port job on your head...did you go Stage 1,2, or 3?

How is the power with all of this and the 650 cam?

~Joe

[psniff]

I feel like I got the spokes from TAS classic motorsports. Mike did a stage 1 I believe...I ended up not going with a 650 cam and just went with a stock 550 cam, and I havent ridden it yet (gotta love New England) so I cant really tell you about the power, but the throttle response is really nice

[traveler]

Thanks.

FYI.....Sean at Rock City Cafe Racers could hook you up with a killer carbon fiber cafe seat!  He also does fiberglass and alloy.

He is doing my polished alloy CR750 tank and Alloy seat.

www.roccitycafe.com

Tell him I sent you!

~Joe

[psniff]

so my bcr seat came in last week and I finally got a chance to mock it up. I love the way it looks

[Laminar]

Very nice.

[psniff]

kind of a lame update...put the tank badges on and swapped out the painted forks for some polished ones



All thats left is

-Sidecovers
-Front brake
-Timing
-Carb sync

[traveler]

.......dont forget tailight/license plate!

Bike is absolutely gorgeous!  A real stunner!

~Joe

[psniff]

oh yea...forgot about the license plate
thanks a lot for the compliments, seems like it been forever since I first started this thing