Topic: Blinkers and brake issues

[young blood]

Let me begin by stating that I am working on my first bike, a CB550, and while it has been a fun learning experience now that I am getting close to finishing the bike and attempting to fire it up I am having two problems that are slightly confusing me.
My big problem is the aftermarket blinkers I was hoping to put on the bike. I can not figure out how to install them. I am unsure what to do in the front, since the stock blinkers were grounded through the bolt but the aftermarket ones have a ground wire. Also the controls on my bike do not match the wiring schematics because the ones on my bike only have two wires(solid orange and solid light blue) instead of four. The blinkers have two wires, their colors are black and a black/white and I am not sure which is power and which is ground on them either.
I could really use an explanation on how to install them, so far I hooked up the power (orange left, blue right) and ground in a couple different ways and got nothing.   
Am I wasting my time since I should have two more wires coming from the controls??
My other, lesser, problem is that my front brake is not gripping what so ever. The brake lever appears fine, it returns without a problem etc. but the brake itself does not react. I am assuming that although I never emptied all the brake fluid there must be air in the brake lines. Could I be wrong?? I was going to attempt to bleed the brakes to fix the problem, is that a good idea?? 

[JohnG]

do your aftermarket blinker bulbs have 1 or 2 filaments??  In the 70s, running lights were an added capability to bikes like yours.

If dual filaments then the two wires are both hot and there is no ground wire - the physical connection is assumed to do it.

If your bulb is only one filament then one wire is hot and one is ground.

If dual filaments then one is always on - the dimmer of the two filaments. The other is for the directional.

My 1975 and 76 Hondas have green as a common ground color.  Blue  or Blue with a White tracer is one side; Orange and  Orange/white the other side.  It has running lights in front.

Can you get a wiring diagram??

[young blood]

I will check how many filaments there are, thanks for the suggestion. I actually have several wiring diagrams because the previous owner did a hatchet job on the wiring. removing anything he didn't want, including fuses. The ground is green on my bike, left blinker is orange and right is light blue. 

[JohnG]

so you only have one filament then...  Green is ground and orange or blue go to the turn signal circuitry.   Are there still orange and blue leads left from the PO?