dead in the water......73 cb500 77 cb550 engine swap

8344 Views 19 Replies 10 Participants Last post by vonvendetta, Mar 17, 2013

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · Feb 16, 2013 (Edited)

2

Land vehicle Motorcycle Vehicle Automotive lighting Headlamp

Land vehicle Vehicle Motorcycle Car Motor vehicle

so the other day i ended up getting the engine to fire on the swap i did around christmas time. dropped a 550 engine into a 500 frame. it ran multiple times for a minute or so each just to get the oil to lubricate the upper end after a rebuild. it was 40 degrees or so the other day so i decided to do it again and everything seemed to work properly (electrical and mechanical). then it just died. i cant get any juice to anything on the bike. the battery tests out good and when put on a charger instantly kicks over to float charging. sitting steady at around 12.3 volts. i replaced all the fuses and still no power or ignition. is there something that i could have fried in the process of running the bike? i took my multimeter to the main fuse and seem to be getting power to the fuse itself so it is somewhere after the main fuse in the system. any information would be helpful at this point. i would go out to the garage and do a full test with the multimeter but its only three degrees out currently and my hands dont want to work properly in this weather. wish i could just bring her into the livingroom to work!!!!

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gene03079

· #2 · Feb 16, 2013

Have you checked the kill switch?

Geeto67

· #3 · Feb 16, 2013

Are you getting power to the main fuse or just continuity?

check the ignition switch and also check that the kill switch is hooked up properly. Put a charger on the battery and make sure it has a full charge (when it is cold out and you have a flat battery it destroys it).

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 16, 2013

battery is on a maintainer 75% of the time and a load test has been performed on the battery itself. the kill switch is new and hooked up properly although i will go into the headlight bucket and see if any of the connections came loose. i doubt it though. and as for the fuse......it is getting power as well as continuity.

goldy

· #5 · Feb 16, 2013

Check the back of the fuse panel itself. Sometimes the wire on the back will break. If that's alright, see if you have power to the ignition switch and kill switch.
Gotta be something simple...don't give up and keep us posted.

crazypj

· #6 · Feb 17, 2013

Probably a tail light fault, something shorted when it fell off

CurbTiger

· #7 · Feb 17, 2013

I thought the kill switch circuit grounds through through the front fen..der. Oh, no fender. That answers it right there.

NE

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 17, 2013 (Edited)

CurbTiger said:
I thought the kill switch circuit grounds through through the front fen..der. Oh, no fender. That answers it right there.

NE

there is a fender on the bike, and the ground isnt through the fender! i dont know why it would be through the fender as from the factory it never was.

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 17, 2013

crazypj said:
Probably a tail light fault, something shorted when it fell off

tail light fell off? the tail light is an axle mount and is still in place.

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · #10 · Feb 17, 2013

goldy said:
Check the back of the fuse panel itself. Sometimes the wire on the back will break. If that's alright, see if you have power to the ignition switch and kill switch.
Gotta be something simple...don't give up and keep us posted.

i though that as well! but i pulled the fuse box off and looked yesterday and all the connection points are in place. did a full continuity test on the fuse box, and every part of the electrical panel and it seems to be fine. im actually thinking that the connection points in the headlight bucket itself came loose. with all the wiring that honda decided to put in the headlight bucket it would actually make sense. ill get out to the garage at some point today and take a peek at it. its going to be close to 30 degrees today so i can handle it haha.

gs1327

· #11 · Feb 17, 2013

It's too cold to spend 5 minutes with a voltmeter.
Maybe the Internet has a voltmeter and can check it for me.
The other day my bike quit on the way home, it might be out of gas. Is there something else I should check before I open the gas cap and look in the tank?

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 17, 2013

gs1327 said:
It's too cold to spend 5 minutes with a voltmeter.
Maybe the Internet has a voltmeter and can check it for me.
The other day my bike quit on the way home, it might be out of gas. Is there something else I should check before I open the gas cap and look in the tank?

-17 degrees windchill isnt easy to work in especially when you only have partial function of your left hand as it is. besides the screen on my fluke meter kept on fogging up and at that temperature the contrast on the screen is pretty close to zero.

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · #13 · Feb 17, 2013

so i ended up taking off the fuse box and checking the connections/solder joints. all were good. removed the headlight bucket and looked for any loose wires and found none. the headlight fuse is showing continuity with the battery positive and the tail light as well. the battery is still holding steady at 13.12-13.20 volts. it seems as if the vast majority of people on here are just posting smart remarks. i never once claimed to be an electrical genius. i asked the question in hopes to be pointed in an area to look so i can better understand different things that could possibly be worng. i figured that if a few people would point in different areas or to different parts i could figure it out. so if you just want to come and post your piss poor egotistical attitude for all to see ....well you are just wasting my time. all i am asking is if anyone knows what areas i should look or start looking.

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · #14 · Feb 17, 2013

the main fuse when the ignition is on is showing no continuity and no power to the battery positive. ill try to trace back to the battery to see where the connection is lost.

photoputz83

Discussion Starter · #15 · Feb 18, 2013

Geeto67 said:
Are you getting power to the main fuse or just continuity?

check the ignition switch and also check that the kill switch is hooked up properly. Put a charger on the battery and make sure it has a full charge (when it is cold out and you have a flat battery it destroys it).

well i ended up pulling the ignition switch off and replacing it. it seems as if the switch that came off the bike finally failed. thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

KeninIowa

· #16 · Feb 18, 2013

even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then...

crazypj

· #17 · Feb 18, 2013

photoputz83 said:
tail light fell off? the tail light is an axle mount and is still in place.

Sarcasm is wasted sometimes.
Basically, the back end looks stupid that short, don't know why anyone ever thought it looked good?

kenessex

· #18 · Feb 22, 2013

crazypj said:
Sarcasm is wasted sometimes.
Basically, the back end looks stupid that short, don't know why anyone ever thought it looked good?

PJ,
It doesn't look any more stupid than lots of stuff on this bike, like the too short rear shocks so the swing arm is at an incorrect angle and the stupid chrome visor on the headlight, not to mention the color scheme.

Ken

crazypj

· #19 · Feb 23, 2013

I could live with the paint, (and probably crash with the shocks

)
If it won't do at least this it's worthless ( the world really does revolve around me

)

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vonvendetta

· #20 · Mar 17, 2013

PLEASE tell me you have a build thread somewhere. I am not the biggest fan of the green but it looks awesome. Getting tired of seeing all the black frame and black tanks. It is great that you went that route for something completely different.

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