76 cb550 $250 find!

R

Ryan66

Been Around the Block
So i got a non running but everything is there 550. Guy wanted $300 but he said since i made the hour drive he'd knock it down $50. Needs a carb cleaning and some electrical work. ill make anohter post with my electrical findings. Im a noob to these bikes and electrical. Has a brand new rear tire no rust in the tank and virtually no rust on the bike.
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Ive got the seat off tank off and looking at the wiring. EVerything is connected but damn im imtimidated. I know nothing about wiring. Like i said one blinker worked and the brake light worked. the headlight has no bulb. Guess i should replace bulbs first? the battery is toast but the guy i got it from had it hooked up on the charger and got enough juice for lights. all the dash lights worked also. When you put the left blinker on i think the right blinker came on. Right blinker switch made a noise almost like a horn noise but the horn button worked but sounded different. any ideas?
 
A good battery and make sure it is well grounded. (both battery leads are clean)

A good place to start is to slowly and systematically go through every connection you can one at a time, disconnect, clean the crud off the connector with wire brush or sand paper, thin coat of dielectric grease and then reconnect.

Also look for any wires that appear to go to the frame. These are ground wires and their connection to the fame also needs to be similarly cleaned.

Track down the wiring diagram for your specific model/year and reference it in case you find anything that was disconnected before you got it.

Electrics are nothing to be scared of, but they do require patience in abundance.

Other than that, they are extremely logical so try to channel your inner "Spock".

Nice find!

And keep the photos coming...
 
I found an animated diagram on sohc4.net.. Gonna try and use it. So far i havent found anything unplugged or cut. a good sign
 
So over the weekend i got all my wiring checked out. All bulbs and lights have power going to them so thats good. Even hit the starter button for good measure and it turned over. Came home from work today and had an itch so scratched it by removing the carbs. Id say not to shabby for a bike that hasnt been touched in god knows how long. Only got one apart right now. Hell it still had gas in it when i took the bowl off!
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Im gonna leave the carbs as four for now for ease of re installing. What can i soak them in after i take the jets and everything out? Want to get them somewhat clean. 50/50 simple green?
 
Boil them in lemon juice for 10-15 minutes.
It smells REALLY funky but everything comes out spotless.
 
Everything needs an entrance and an exit, just think of that with electrics, it will make it more simple :)
 
I used to think of electrics as like a pipe carrying electrons from one place to the next. Made it easier to get my head around those pesky electrons.

Now that I'm older, if not necessarily much wiser, I realize that wiring is there to move the magic blue smoke around. Let it escape and nothing works, so you have to make it easy for that smoke to move from one place to another. Clean connections are the place to start and switch connections too.
 
Do a Search using the site's search function for 'CB550 manual' and you'll find a nice quality PDF copy of the Honda Service manual for your bike.

Nice score - should clean up well and it sounds like it's not going to take much to get it fired up.
 
Sonreir said:
Boil them in lemon juice for 10-15 minutes.
It smells REALLY funky but everything comes out spotless.
Click to expand...
What kind of ratio do you use juice to water? and are rebuild kits needed after boiling them? Probably should just get them anyways
 
Go to the dollar store buy a large pot and a $10 worth of lemon juice. I boiled it outside on the side burner of my BBQ. You could also use a small metal garbage can and a camp stove. Whatever you do don't boil it in the house or near the house. I used some tie wire to be able to pull it out of the boiling mess. Make sure you have a full can of wd40 to soak it after you pull it out.
 
Great find! Hats off to you for taking the leap of faith. Everyone one here including myself will probably tell you they were a little overwhelmed with the amount of things you might have to do with a bike you know nothing about but your biggest hurdle is just going to be research, finding a service manual, and reading it. I've read mine tons of times.

Take it one item at a time, don't stress and it's problems will soon be fixed. You'll soon be a natural wiz. :)
 
Yep its coming along. Just nice to be able to ask alot of questions on here and not get scolded for it. Ive been doing a little everyday to it.
 
Bike is def gonna nickle and dime with all the little stuff it needs to be rideable. Not to mention all the cafe parts i want to put on it
 
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