Don't have an account yet? You can create one. As a registered user you have some advantages like theme manager, comments configuration and post comments with your name.
Joined: Nov 30, 2011 Posts: 25 Location: POLK CITY
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:27 pm Post subject: 77 CB550 electrical issues
After a short ride on this newly aquired 550 it stopped running just as I pulled up to my garage.
It had lost all electrical power. Battery ok, fuses ok, so I went to the front and removed the switch, took it apart (wow those little springs are hard to find when they hit the floor) put it back together and got my electricty back. Took it for a short ride and bingo, lost everything again, only this time I'm 3/4 of a mile from home. It was an uphill push all the way.
This time I wiggled the connectors under the seat an power returned. Pulled the connectors apart and low & behold CORROSION, inside the connectors.
My question is; what is the best way to get rid of it? No, not the bike, the corrosion. Thanks
Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1143 Location: Greensburg Pa
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:40 pm Post subject:
Corrosion is all too common on old bikes. As a rule, when I get another "vintage" bike, I clean ALL the connectors during the restoration. For the round bullet connectors, I use Tarnex on a pipe cleaner and fine sand paper, then put a nice coat of dielectric grease on them.
..........Paul _________________ �77 CB550f
�77 CB750a
�78 GL1000
�80 CB650c
�75 GL1000-finally finished
�79 KZ200
68 CB450K1-taking up all my time
Joined: Nov 30, 2011 Posts: 25 Location: POLK CITY
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:00 am Post subject:
I cleaned all of the connectors, gave each a dose of di-electric grease and felt like I was on track, however when I turned on the ignition, I got nothing. So I started probing around and found my power loss at the fuse box. I had already done a continuity check across each fuse and they checked out ok, but when I removed the main fuse one of the metal ends fell off. This was one of those great moments of discovery that we all love. Moved the spare fuse into that slot and got power.
It looks like it was making just enough contact to read OHMs but not enough to carry the amps.
Perhaps my problem will help someone else down the road or maybe, next to the road.
Thanks for this great site, I have learned a lot just by reading posts from the past......
Bill
Last edited by cyclemanbill on Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:23 am; edited 1 time in total
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You can attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
