Author Topic: 1974 CB550 Project: Rust Bucket 1st project for me (Read 8619 times)

Nekneit · « **on:** August 04, 2011, 01:12:59 AM »

I bought my 550 from craig's list. It runs but leaks a bit of gas. I've gone work with some steel wool, changed the oil and done some painting. and then it stopped running. New points on the way should fix it, on their way from ebay. I'm thinking I want to cafe it out but thats a bit down the road, I've got to get it reliable first. I've got new bearings and new fork seals on the way and my front end should be stable and then I've got to tackle the throttle tube (sticks). then on to fixing the gas leak.
Here are some pics of what I'm working with.

The guy I bought it from had a bunch of extra stuff he threw in too. some hard bags, fearing, back rest, rack and the original exhaust.

I painted the gauges and the head light cover. I feel like its coming along and have been having a ton of fun riding and working on the bike.

burnoutking1971 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 04, 2011, 03:40:09 AM »

That is a neat project. I'm working on a 77 CB 550 myself and I have a 78 CB 550 all stock is my driver. I see a lot of potential in your bike, I think it would look neat kinda decked out with the bags and stuff. They look nice stripped down as well. My 77 was kinda snotty when I got it, wheels are icky rusty, Im just going to powder coat them black. Good luck with the project!

Flying J · « **Reply #2 on:** August 04, 2011, 08:31:55 AM »

You linked the thumbnail pictures.

does anybody know if honda sold the fairings and hard bags. These ones have honda jewels on the sides and the honda logo on it. Or did somebody do a custom job?

Nekneit · « **Reply #3 on:** August 05, 2011, 01:13:58 AM »

Big thanks to FFJMoore. Got the beast up and running again today. Replaced the ponts http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280718245287&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT#ht_1100wt_941
and put on a new chain.
Now on to cleaning the carb.

ekpent · « **Reply #4 on:** August 05, 2011, 04:00:15 AM »

Somebody added the badge or jewel on the saddlebag.Looks to be red,if so that is off a 1971 cb750 side cover,only used for that one year. Nice RC header and if those stock exhaust pipes are good you got a GREAT bonus.Looks like a worthy project.

fastbroshi · « **Reply #5 on:** August 05, 2011, 04:17:21 AM »

I've never seen an RC header for a 550, that would definitely be worth shining up. Those bags may be Shoei, I've seen them on one other member's 750.

Nekneit · « **Reply #6 on:** August 05, 2011, 05:45:12 PM »

Ug... Just died on the way home from work today. Had to do the walk of shame for a block

I lost a ton of power just before it died so I'm thinking that I was only running on two cylinders like I was just before changing the points. I'll have to check it out when it cools off. I'm getting closer to just tearing the whole thing apart. I was planning on doing that but not this soon. wanted to wait till I had some more money for the standard cafe goodies (seat, Clubman bars, Air filter option). I'm having fun riding this thing around and tearing it apart means driving my Montero

. Still not decided. Either way I need to get it running again before I tear it apart.

Nekneit · « **Reply #7 on:** August 05, 2011, 05:46:59 PM »

Quote from: fastbroshi on August 05, 2011, 04:17:21 AM

I've never seen an RC header for a 550, that would definitely be worth shining up. Those bags may be Shoei, I've seen them on one other member's 750.

Yea I've got to get my polish on.

Flying J · « **Reply #8 on:** August 06, 2011, 08:06:28 AM »

Is the battery dead? The bike won't run without a battery

Nekneit · « **Reply #9 on:** August 10, 2011, 08:23:44 PM »

Ok my Bike is running funny,after a long ride (30 minutes) when im at a stop light and finally get the idle to come back down the oil light comes on and off and the bike kinda blubbers. Do you think it could be my carbs are jacked up and need to be cleaned and adjusted that is causing the bike to idle weird and then not allowing my oil pump to pump well? Its just my theory and im going to clean the carbs, adjust the floats, and sync them to see if im right.

Danno · « **Reply #10 on:** August 10, 2011, 09:24:15 PM »

ok there are two possibilities if you did not replace the condensers do that
but if you did it sounds like you may be flooding out due to rust coming down from the tank and wedging in the needles and seats
it is also possible that if it is not rust if the bike sat as new fuel goes through the old hoses either bits of varnish are breaking off or the inside of the fuel lines is flaking off etc
i would pull the plugs one by one and note what they look like it will tell you which carb or carbs are affected usually either of the inside two since they get fuel first so contaminents end up there
clean the carbs well and take a match stick and clean the seats for the needles too
also while they are off spray carb clean through the fuel lines to make sure they are cleaned out too
clean the fuel filter in the tank under the petcock (drain it first)
if you don't have a fuel filter or if it is destroyed then put a paper filter in line
these carbs are real fussy about rust even what looks like red baby powder in the bottom of the float bowl can mess with them
feel free to pm me if you want

Nekneit · « **Reply #11 on:** August 10, 2011, 09:30:09 PM »

Very good. thanks for the help. I'll keep you posted.

Danno · « **Reply #12 on:** August 10, 2011, 09:32:23 PM »

I really doubt that there is a problem with the oil pump the 550 uses a high pressure system
what usually happens is the sensor located on top of the oil pump under the chain cover either has gunk in it or it is just plain bad but while you are messing with the sender you can put an oil pressure gauge in its place and take a reading that will probably make you feel better (make sure it reads at least to 80psi)
I am not saying it is unheard of for the oil pump to go bad or wear out but these bikes are notorious for going 100,000 miles if taken care of properly they do have a lot of things that need to be maintained though

Nekneit · « **Reply #13 on:** August 15, 2011, 09:49:40 AM »

Just got a bunch of goodies in the mail. thanks to dtmmil for a nice set of tappets. Got four carb rebuild kits from "rusty riders" on ebay for $50. Time to go to work. hopefully this will fix all my issues.

Flying J · « **Reply #14 on:** August 16, 2011, 11:50:39 PM »

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/CB550K0-1974-USA/part_53056/

Nekneit · « **Reply #15 on:** August 17, 2011, 02:14:00 AM »

Found this nice little surprise from the PO today while cleaning my carbs.

the guy must have used a screw driver to loosen the carbs up. Thanks buddy

.
J helped me smooth them down so we could pull them out and replace it with one from another set of carbs that came with the bike.
Thanks FJJMoore

Danno · « **Reply #16 on:** August 18, 2011, 08:31:08 PM »

looking at those carbs if you were going to reuse them I would give them a simple green bath then a lemon juice bath and finaly an evapo-rust bath then they would look good enough to use
yikes on the slider darn PO will get you every time

Flying J · « **Reply #17 on:** August 18, 2011, 09:32:06 PM »

Thats not a bad idea danno. Then we can hit them with the soda blaster im going to get.

orange550 · « **Reply #18 on:** August 19, 2011, 03:27:23 PM »

Those Russ Colin pipes are incredible. I've seen them on the odd 550, but they are very rare. Wish I could buy one today!

Danno · « **Reply #19 on:** August 19, 2011, 06:53:57 PM »

the soda blaster Idea really makes these carbs look awesome without polishing once the baths are done make sure the carb linkages are not worn sloppy

fmctm1sw · « **Reply #20 on:** August 19, 2011, 07:00:27 PM »

Man... the "project" bikes you guys are finding are in far better shape than anything I've found. I've always had to do a LOT of work.

m00ntan · « **Reply #21 on:** August 19, 2011, 07:58:06 PM »

Quote from: Nekneit on August 05, 2011, 05:45:12 PM

Ug... Just died on the way home from work today. Had to do the walk of shame for a block
I lost a ton of power just before it died so I'm thinking that I was only running on two cylinders like I was just before changing the points. I'll have to check it out when it cools off. I'm getting closer to just tearing the whole thing apart. I was planning on doing that but not this soon. wanted to wait till I had some more money for the standard cafe goodies (seat, Clubman bars, Air filter option). I'm having fun riding this thing around and tearing it apart means dispersing my Montero . Still not decided. Either way I need to get it running again before I tear it apart.

My thoughts, replace the condensers, or run the bike in the dark and look for sparks across the point gaps. Clean the plug caps out. Cut the ends of your wires. If your wires are too short, you need new coils. Get a altmeter and test your coils at the plug ends.

Cleaning carbs is always a good thing for a new bike, but those caps and wires need to be renewed every 30 years or so. And clean, reliable spark can make carb tuning much more pleasant.

Nekneit · « **Reply #22 on:** August 21, 2011, 01:14:54 AM »

Replaced the Spark plugs, all new jets and what not from carb repair kit (kept old needle on recommendation from FFJ), New gaskets on carb bowels, set float hight. Now I'm soaking in some simple green over night to make em carbs look more prettier. Bench sync tomorrow and hoping to take a long ride. New air box boots in the mail so I'm using a loaner pod kit from FFJMoore till they get here. I'm needing to ride

.

Nekneit · « **Reply #23 on:** August 21, 2011, 11:24:22 PM »

Trying to sync the carbs but I can't get the idle to stay consistant. It's all over the place. Some one said something about making sure that the slides are in the correct spots. that there are 2 different sets of slides, one for each side of the carb. has anyone heard this? The idle was erratic before I cleaned the cards and it appears that nothing has changed. Any suggestions?

fastbroshi · « **Reply #24 on:** August 21, 2011, 11:40:19 PM »

You might be starting with idle screw too far in, or maybe that's correct but the slides are adjusted wrong from the get go. How far did you dismantle the carbs? Even if you didn't totally dismantle them, doing a quick bench sync might be the way to go.

If you're not familiar, this process will get you real close to a good carb sync. So it would be rideable, but to get it perfect you'd need a Carbtune or some other tool to balance all the carbs together. Do a search for "flashlight method" on here, it should turn up.

And no, there should only be one set of slides, or throttle valves (?). They're the grey cylindrical pieces that slide up and down in the carb.

Have you ruled out ignition problems? That would be easier to rule out or fix vs. carb work. Just so you're not taking the carbs on and off 20 times, I'd look at the ignition first if I were you. You did say you put on new points after all.

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Author Topic: 1974 CB550 Project: Rust Bucket 1st project for me (Read 8619 times)

orange550