Topic: Starting Issue: CB550

[ascri028@uottawa.ca]

74 CB550

Carbs were pretty gunky before completely cleaning them. Got everything back together, Made sure spark was there. Got Points set. Have fuel in the floats.

 The trouble is that there seems to be no fuel in the cylinders.

The starter has decided it will not engage either. It just spins but does not crank over the engine. So i have relied on the kick. It kicks over well, but not even a hint of firing. I added some fuel directly to cyl 4 and 1, but still no firing.

I am stumped, so any help would be very appreciated.

[Dimitri13]

May sound simple and insulting, but battery filled/charged/is it old?

[fastbroshi]

  Probably not the issue, but did you happen to check the float height when you were cleaning them?   You said no fuel is getting to the cylinders. 
  So the plugs are dry?  If so, then it's possible the idle jets are clogged.  Their orifices are so small, it's next to impossible to check with the naked eye.  A bottle of carb cleaner spraying directly through them might work, soaking in cleaner and blasts of compressed air is a sure thing.

[Duanob]

Did you check the petcock, make sure it's flowing. Pull the plugs and make sure you have spark. You will also notice if gas is getting into the cylinders with the plugs out. And if your battery is completely drained your bike won't start either even using the kick start. Gotta start somewhere and work you way through.

[dave500]

give it a push in second gear.

[tjofle]

Simple (but perhaps improbable) fix; Fill up the tank. I once had trouble starting mine, even though there was fuel in the tank. There just wasn't enough to provide sufficient pressure to provide sufficient fuel flow to the carbs. (Note, this was with a suboptimal fuel line routing). After brimming the tank it started right up.

[ascri028@uottawa.ca]

Thanks for the advice.

 I had filled up the tank earlier to make sure there was pressure. I added clear lines to check fuel flow, which there was. I cleaned and tested the petcock earlier yesterday so that was good.

 This bike has not run since i dont know when... Yes, i know, buying an unknown runner is a risk, but the price mitigated that problem.

 Anyhow, I DID get it running. I wasn't sure why I wasnt getting fuel into the cylinders so my process was this:

- Took out a plug, added some oil and starting fluid direct to #4 cylinder
> Didn't start

- Took out all (new) plugs, inspected them, then added a few squirts of oil to each cylinder (worried about old engine not having a good seal at piston rings)
- Left plugs out to let any old gas dry up, and moved to ignition
- Went back through and completely reset the points
- Put the (new) plugs back in, sprayed starting fluid down 3 of the carbs with throttle wide open
- Kicked, and........ Sputter sputter, blaaaaa
> Huge improvement

-more starting fluid, and some twists of the throttle, KICK
> VROOOOOOM

In conclusion, perhaps oil helped create vacuum, and the points were likely out. Let the bike run for 15mins, warmed up, burnt off some old gunk..... I am happy. Thanks again for the help.

[Duanob]

Good news.