Honda Motorcycles Honda Powersports: riding, maintenance, gear, and safety.

'76 CB550 No Spark

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 09-08-2008, 05:34 PM
  #1  
Thread Starter
 
chadheins's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Champaign, IL, USA
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default '76 CB550 No Spark

I'm looking into buying a 1976 CB550 from a guy close by. "It was running when parked 5 years ago" you know the story. Anyway, after looking the bike over and questioning the guy a bunch about it, I find out that he's done a little bit of work to the kill switch on the right handlebar, so I crack it open and take a look. The wiring is kinda jacked up in there. Twisting and some poor soldering.

Black to black, big yellow to little green, red to red, and a small yellow wire that's not connected to anything.

I tried connecting it a few places but still couldn't get spark. What's the wiring supposed to look like under there? Is there a quick way to bypass it all so I don't have to mess with it? In case this isn't the problem, what other places should I check in order to get spark? Everything else looks pretty good on the bike, so I'm hoping once the spark issue is solved, it won't need much more than a tuneup.
In advance, thank you for your responses,
-Chad
Old 09-08-2008, 06:30 PM
  #2  
.RJ
Senior Member
 
.RJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: RIP Craig Jones
Posts: 30,826
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Re: '76 CB550 No Spark (chadheins)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chadheins &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is there a quick way to bypass it all so I don't have to mess with it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, +12V straight to the ignition coils under the fuel tank (black/white wire). Just run a wire from the battery.

If its been sitting... it will need a carb rebuild too, and possibly a fuel tank cleaning.
Old 09-09-2008, 09:32 PM
  #3  
Thread Starter
 
chadheins's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Champaign, IL, USA
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Re: '76 CB550 No Spark (.RJ)

Solved the problem, I opened up the kill switch, the red part and it was all busted up inside. Soldered up the Black and Black/white wires and it runs like a top now. Anyone know how quick these bikes are supposed to be? It feels a little sluggish compared to my CB200T. Doesn't seem right...
Old 09-10-2008, 04:45 AM
  #4  
My Name is Nobody
 
MSchu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 14,438
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default Re: '76 CB550 No Spark (chadheins)

a cb 550 is fairly sluggish(thats a good word for it). but they are great tooling around bikes.
Old 09-10-2008, 05:09 AM
  #5  
cthulward
 
ragnaroek's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: people's republic of CA
Posts: 1,685
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

sorry to spam your thread, but i noticed you're in champaign. surf on over to http://www.ridingillini.com - it's a local forum
Old 09-10-2008, 05:30 PM
  #6  
.RJ
Senior Member
 
.RJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: RIP Craig Jones
Posts: 30,826
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Re: '76 CB550 No Spark (chadheins)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chadheins &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It feels a little sluggish compared to my CB200T. Doesn't seem right...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Carbs, ignition, etc... lots of things can be wrong or out of adjustment on an older bike. Go through all of it.
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
highlandbiker
Honda Motorcycles
1
08-17-2016 04:30 PM
roncar12
Honda Motorcycles
4
02-13-2014 06:10 AM
GSpeedR
Honda Motorcycles
6
04-07-2008 11:30 AM
SGVridgerunner
Acura Integra
9
11-08-2007 01:28 PM
ZexyAccord
Honda Motorcycles
17
08-30-2006 03:29 PM



Quick Reply: '76 CB550 No Spark



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:30 AM.