Topic: CB550 Swapping #2 and #3 plug wires?

[DrMark]

GM Gang;
Was tinkering last night with my 1978 CB550 when I noticed the #2 exhaust was cool. Can I swap #2 plug wire to #3 and vice versa to check the wires?  How do I expose the plug connection inside the caps?  Do they pull off or up the wire? I thought a good cleaning might help. I have never played with the wires before....don't want to damage anything. New plugs installed in May....tuned-up at same time by local biker friend. Any thing else I can check?

[TwoTired]

Beware that the ignition wire insulation gets brittle with age. And severe bending can cause it to crack.  This will let the juice leak out before it gets to the spark plugs.    So, in theory you can swap the 2&3 leads, but, you may be sorry you did.

The spark plug caps screw onto the wires clock wise.  Remove them counter clock wise.

Pull plug on the cylinder with the cold pipe. Does it look wet?
Then lay the body on the motor with the ign lead attatched.  Does it spark across the gap?
What do the electrode insulator deposits look like?

Once you've verified the plugs spark then it's time to look elsewhere for the problem.
Compression check and then carburation.
Cheers,

[douglascoolgrey]

Do you have an owners manual? TwoTired is right. You CAN switch the wires, but there are much easier / safer tests you should try first.

[DrMark]

TwoTired...you were right....I unscrewed the caps...cleaned them all up...its running like a charm now....went for a 125 miles ride yesterday....not a single problem. Thanks for telling me how to get them off.

BTW, a .22 cal brass brush...used for gun cleaning worked wonderful for cleaning the inside.

[dusterdude]

oh #$%*,theres the gun thing again.