Hello everyone. My name is James and I live in Durham, NC. I am a member of ADV rider and use the same name on both sites. I am in the process of selling an 06 R1200GS and am indefinitely babysitting a 75 CB550F.
I a loving this little bike! There has not been much maintenance done to it so I am fine tooth combing the whole bike. I am pretty confident mechanically, still learning a lot electrically, but am a freak and quite meticulous about taking care of the bikes I ride. I would not have taken this thing an hour away from the house as it is. I have spent the last 3 days cleaning lubing, cleaning, cleaning just wanting to make sure it is mechanically sound.
The bike arrived and the headlight wasn't working. It shows less than 1 volt at the plug in, but I still haven't checked the switch. There also seems to be a short in a couple of other wires.
I pulled the tape off covering the wires to the ignition. They have been redone, with clean splices, but the red wire running from the male plug has a 1/4" piece of insulation missing. ? Are these plugs inter changeable with stuff at an auto parts store or will I spend the next two weeks researching for every little piece of electrical restoration I am trying to accomplish? A couple more wires are missing insulation over the rear fender.
I would like to update as much of the electrical system as possible. Many of the wires have major corrosion and I have already broken 2 plug wires just checking the plugs. The wires are so hard you can't tell they are rubber. Yes, new coils and wires next week. I would like recommendations on putting in a blade-fuse system.
I am also interested in replacing a lot of the phillips screws with hex heads or torx heads. Does anyone have a recommendation for sourcing something like a kit for this bike? Can the rear shocks be rebuilt?
That is enough out of me. I will have plenty of questions. If you have any thread recommendations for electrical upgrades I would be very appreciative. Thanks for having me. Once I get this bike back up I hope to meet some of you on the road!
