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namelesspenguin

namelesspenguin

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hey guys, my name is Justin. i just picked up my first bike yesterday. its a '75 Honda CB550F. doesnt run, brakes need rebuilding, missing throttle cable, amongst other various bits and pieces. but it also came with a box of extra parts and other goodies. im pretty excited to have this as my first project bike. im a diy home mechanic with experience mainly with Miatas and RX-7's. im looking forward to tearing her apart and building back up as my own cafe racer. cheers.











 
Welcome Justin, unfortunately we have to call you penguin since the name Justin is already taken ;)

Looking forward to seeing what your plans are for the bike.
Where in So Cal are you?
 
welcome
but it is riding season why are you going to tear it apart ?
that is the number one mistake you will just get burned out
my suggestion is get it safely,reliably on the road and ride it for the summer
spend some money on some good shocks,change the fork oil etc
besides you need to get it running first so you can asses what kind of engine work it may need
 
Mr_Dunev said:
Welcome Justin, unfortunately we have to call you penguin since the name Justin is already taken ;)

Looking forward to seeing what your plans are for the bike.
Where in So Cal are you?
Click to expand...

penguin is fine. im gonna assume your name is Justin(?)
i live in rialto.
 
xb33bsa said:
welcome
but it is riding season why are you going to tear it apart ?
that is the number one mistake you will just get burned out
my suggestion is get it safely,reliably on the road and ride it for the summer
spend some money on some good shocks,change the fork oil etc
besides you need to get it running first so you can asses what kind of engine work it may need
Click to expand...

you may be right. ive been considering to just get it runnning but i figure if im gonna dig into it, might as well take it apart and do it all at once. i dont think ill get burned out, my previous miata project took almost a year. plus, i have other things to keep me occupied (a wife!!!)
general tune up, shocks, forks, brakes, etc. is all on my current to do list. thanks for the input though.
 
I second xb33bsa. Get it running and riding reliably first then tear into it. Other projects be damned. :D
 
namelesspenguin said:
you may be right. ive been considering to just get it runnning but i figure if im gonna dig into it, might as well take it apart and do it all at once. i dont think ill get burned out, my previous miata project took almost a year. plus, i have other things to keep me occupied (a wife!!!)
general tune up, shocks, forks, brakes, etc. is all on my current to do list. thanks for the input though.
Click to expand...

no you are making the most common mistake in that thinking
you stll need to get ikt running well before you tear it down
it is far easier and more practical to get it running perfectly now than later
if you are going to be doing things like painting parts and polishing and whatnot you are far better off not trying to tune and troubleshoot a machine that is all pretty,spilling gas on paint and fiddling with shit getting it all scratched
get all the tuning, wiring and running issues taken care of ride the bike a bit gives you more time to think on the mods
then you have super confidence on the teardown and pretty making because you have all the troublesome shit fixed already
 
xb33bsa said:
no you are making the most common mistake in that thinking
you stll need to get ikt running well before you tear it down
it is far easier and more practical to get it running perfectly now than later
if you are going to be doing things like painting parts and polishing and whatnot you are far better off not trying to tune and troubleshoot a machine that is all pretty,spilling gas on paint and fiddling with shit getting it all scratched
get all the tuning, wiring and running issues taken care of ride the bike a bit gives you more time to think on the mods
then you have super confidence on the teardown and pretty making because you have all the troublesome shit fixed already
Click to expand...


*thumbs up*
i guess thats why im a noob. thanks.
 
so small update

took the carbs out for inspection/cleaning. they were horrible! took them completely apart and cleaned them throughout. the number 3 slide was stuck from all the old gas buildup inside. after disassembly and cleaning, I replaced all the jets and gaskets and reassembled. now I just need to sync them before replacing back on the motor.

I also removed the previous owners horrible wiring job (aftermarket ignition) that kept blowing the main fuse. so with a little hope ill get this thing up and running before too long.

im gonna take the advice given and get some miles under my belt. especially seeing as this is my first bike. come winter time, then ill be more compelled to tear down/modify/replace/upgrade bits and pieces here and there. especially since I just picked up swingarm, rear shock, and linkage from a cbr600f2 for a monoshock conversion ;D

sorry no pics
 
good for you on getting it running and enjoying it
but big mistake doing that conversion you will ruin the handling with the extra wheelbase and putting a single shock on a bike is a waste of time unless you know exactly what you are doing and don't use a worn-out oem Honda shock absorber
you will be way better off and have a BETTER MOTORCYCLE sticking with the stock swingarm and geometry and doing SANE performance upgrades
check and replace if needed swinger pivot bushings
spend the money you save on trying to convert to a single shock and buy some good quality rear shocks like gas works performance or hagons or FOX and get some gold valves for the forks and a fork brace
re-sell the swingarm and rear shock,cover your losses, it is a silly mod for posers
 
so im kinda reaching my wits end with the wiring. anyone in socal willing to come help with cb550 wiring for a few hours? im willing to compensate with beer and pizza. let me know.

a little insight so you know what your getting yourself into if you do decide to help out. the wiring has been butchered to all hell. no blinkers front or rear, tail light or gauges. some relays have been removed as well. starter and its accompanying wiring has been removed. the main 15A fuse has been melted and a new 15A fuse has been spliced in. all this was already done when I purchased the bike. I have all the wiring/parts that have been removed in a box.

anyone in?
 
I found this bare minimum wire diagram for a CB750 on sohc4.net. I'm going for this minus the electric start. Wouldn't it be pretty much the same thing? I know the 30A fuse would change to 15A (right?).

My question is, what would this wiring diagram look like without the starter switch, starter, and starter solenoid? where would the wires for the voltage regulator and brake switch go without a starter?
 

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  • SOHC750wiring.pdf
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Get in touch with Matt over at Sparck Moto. He can build you a custom harness, and help you with any questions you have.
 
Just a side note to keep in mind when you get to the modification stage. That stock exhaust looks to be in fairly good nick. If you plan to install an after-market exhaust, that stock exhaust is worth a fair bit of money as they are pretty hard to come by.
 
8ball,

thanks for the advice. I do plan on getting something similar to the Mac 4-1 exhaust.


I got in touch with Matt for Sparck Moto and he helped me out with my electrical woes. That man is a genius!
 
With help from Matt from Sparck Moto and research on the interwebz, I came up with this basic wiring diagram for my CB. Can you guys give it a look and check if everything is correct? Any help would be appreciated.

 
Your running light needs to be wired in before the headlight switch so its on with both high and low.
You will also want a kill switch wired in there.


Like this:
 

Attachments

  • 550 min wiring-20140912-092940708_zps7i3tj9tn.png
    550 min wiring-20140912-092940708_zps7i3tj9tn.png
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