Anyone Know a Mechanic in east sussex knows how to set up a . CB550 Honda poor runni

Robbo1200ADV

Robbo1200ADV

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A Lonf Story , bought a CB 550 for son No 2 in the summer , cosmetically good but Christ has it been a money pit . Had new carb rubbers , carbs cleaned/ overhauled new head + base gasket , loads of helicoils etc . Trouble is it takes loads of choke to start , then ages to warm up then pops and bangs . Will run above 2000 rpm , but no clear power band , Plugs look ok all cylinders running no obvious air leaks . I dont know it the carbs have been balanced with one of those monometers , the 4 dial tool that plugs into the carbs , but can that make a big difference ? I have spunked a fortune trying to help him out sorting it out , but it is not the smooth as chocolate thing that I had in 1980 . His is a K2 CB550 from the USA Motad exhaust as well . Any ideas before I douse it in unleaded :nenau :beerjug:
 
Any ideas before I douse it in unleaded
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I had a similar problem on my 500/4.
It needed condenser(s) - took ages to discover that though. :rolleyes:
Maybe the same problem. :nenau
Good Luck!

(i have a pair of shocks that'd fit that, buried in the shed - you can have them for postage if any use to you.)
 
Ogmios said:
I had a similar problem on my 500/4.
It needed condenser(s) - took ages to discover that though. :rolleyes:
Maybe the same problem. :nenau
Good Luck!

(i have a pair of shocks that'd fit that, buried in the shed - you can have them for postage if any use to you.)
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Thanks will give that a go , did not replace them !! The Shocks are ok but nice to know you have some in case ta !
 
Sorry, can't help with reccomending a mechanic...........It has all the symtoms of an air leak doesn't it?

I think I'd do a quick and dirty plug chop, more to see if the plugs are all the same colour; if one's way out then you know which pot's getting a lean mixture.
The other thing I'd be checking is float heights and that the needle valves (correct term?) are seating properly?

Actually, feck it, I'd just bung it to a mechanic and pay them to experiance the pain of sorting a problem like that :D

Good luck!

Andres
 
Outtomunch said:
…..Actually, feck it, I'd just bung it to a mechanic and pay them to experiance the pain of sorting a problem like that :D

Good luck!

Andres
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I'd go with that idea as well.

Alternatively I'll give you a tenner for it, which will also save you extra cash as you won't need the unleaded for your dousing ceremony.

Good luck with it all.
 
A couple of options from a pal who has some old Hondas

The Bike Shop Ltd, 39A The Mall, Faversham, ME13 8JN Tel: 01795 532 365. Was a Honda dealer for years, now Yamaha.
Gedges, in Hastings 01424 799678
 
Balancing the carbs will make a world of difference to a four cylinder bike. Ultimately it's four 137cc engiines all working against each other unless they're balanced. I'd get them balanced before you worry too much about anything else, you will need to set the timing at the same time, i assume it's points. If you get these right any other issue should show up while your doing it.

If it an American bike the chances are it's going to be set very lean on the jetting. This wont help with the starting or warm up times. Once it's running ok it may be worth looking at the jetting of the equivalent UK bike to see if the jetting was richer, I'd wait till it's running properly before you do this though.
 
Like Og says its well worth a look Gawd know how the bits are in there (the bike Not Ogmios! Mind You ....)

Anyway drop off the points cover start it up and try and get it steady and then check the points for arcing and if its arcing a lot ??? A cheap way of repair if you cannot get the originals easily is to piggyback a Mini car one to the points that are arcing lots

May I suggest a Newtronic Optronic system I did a Wee Honda recently and it exorcised all the demons very fecking nicely

For a CB550 its a HO4 kit £98 +vat + £6.50 +vat post ( I just phoned Roy at Newtronic to check as the website is crap!!! ) 020 740 34334
If a Foreign sounding Fella answers the phone that is "Marek" the accountant decent enough fella but struggles with an Irish accent! : just ask to be put thru to technical I have no connection except I was glad to get that bloody Honda running properly!

Anyway Also If you lift the carbs off to check the jets AND needles settings You should do a basic setting of the throttles A rough way is to screw the tickover screw up until you can insert a drill off say 1.5 or 2mm into the main orifice and then adjust the rest of the orifii so that they are all the same, While you are there have a rough check that they open fairily simultaneously

Then before refitting!! Reduce the tickover screw so that there is a smidgeon of light visible under the butterfly and no more

and refit

You can fine tune them afterwards
 
I had the same problem with my 750 f1. It was the pilot jets blocked due to it being stood for years. I spent a long time trying to clean mine out only to find the are available at David Silver Spares about 2 quid each. Screwed them in and the bike idled straight away like a dream....
 
The smudger said:
I had the same problem with my 750 f1. It was the pilot jets blocked due to it being stood for years. I spent a long time trying to clean mine out only to find the are available at David Silver Spares about 2 quid each. Screwed them in and the bike idled straight away like a dream....
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Update I bought a set of carb synch vacuum gages , but the carbs fitted have no lock nut/adjuster on the carb inley to change the pressures ? looks like it has USA carbs or CB650 carbs . The gages all seemed about the same though , no air leaks found , and greased all the cables / choke cable etc . Cleaned out the base of the airbox and it runs a bit better . The new capacitors also seemed to help . He should have had my 1100 when I offered it to him !!!
 
Robbo1200ADV said:
Update I bought a set of carb synch vacuum gages , but the carbs fitted have no lock nut/adjuster on the carb inley to change the pressures ?
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there must be a way of balancing them. aren't they under individual covers on a cb550?
 
Robbo1200ADV said:
Update I bought a set of carb synch vacuum gages , but the carbs fitted have no lock nut/adjuster on the carb inley to change the pressures?....
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Does this translate into "there is nowhere to screw in the vacuum gauge probes?" or, "there are no balance screws on the carbs?"

As Cookie says, I think they are under the top covers on the CB550, the 500/4 was different.

Annoyingly, I blitzed the atic earlier this year and threw out loads of old Haynes manuals.... the CB550 manual being one of them :blast
 
Yes, remove the 2 screws on each carb body, the adjuster for each carb is under there :thumb2

It will be a screw and lock nut, remember to allow for the backlash when tightening the locknuts. 4's are fairly easy to balance, however the 6 cylinder CBX was a complete barsteward to get all 6 in sync.... have fun :D

i-CPnS8pr.jpg
 
Paul G (BHT) said:
Does this translate into "there is nowhere to screw in the vacuum gauge probes?" or, "there are no balance screws on the carbs?"

As Cookie says, I think they are under the top covers on the CB550, the 500/4 was different.

Annoyingly, I blitzed the atic earlier this year and threw out loads of old Haynes manuals.... the CB550 manual being one of them :blast
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yes I could screw the rods into the inlet manifolds and connect up , there was no adjuster on the inlet visible as shown on the clymer manual I have . I looked in the top of the carb and there was a lock nut there , but assumed it was attatched to the top of the carb piston/ needle holder , and thought leaving the cover off would cause an air leak .Will try again next weekend !!


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Paul G (BHT) said:
Yes, remove the 2 screws on each carb body, the adjuster for each carb is under there :thumb2

It will be a screw and lock nut, remember to allow for the backlash when tightening the locknuts. 4's are fairly easy to balance, however the 6 cylinder CBX was a complete barsteward to get all 6 in sync.... have fun :D

i-CPnS8pr.jpg
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Many thanks Paul
 
If they aren't in the tops as shown, look for a small screw with a 10mm nut around it somewhere near the tops of the carbs.

One of my favorites was the old CB750/4's, folks used to bring them too me with what sounded like bottom ends that were about to explode, the 'commotion' was simply each cylinder fighting with the others with a noise similar to someone shaking a tin box of spanners :D Once all the carbs were balanced the motors would sound soooooo sweet.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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