This video is great, I found many issues on my bike solely because of this video... the throttle body was install improperly, the vacuum tube wasn't connected to carbs, (just bought the bike)
I have removed and installed the carbs on mine over 20 times. Its easy with velocity stacks. Less than 5min. Once you get the factory airbox back on it can be tricky. You put the air box boot chamber first then wiggle the carb in from the left side and push in the accordion boots back as you go. Then tighten the box and chamber in place. Use JIS screw drivers on Hondas. I just got the parts i have been looking for to go back to factory. Going with PODs was the previous owners mistake. Causes all sorts of tuning issues. What i can figure it what goes to the bottom two holes on the air filter box. I think one is just a drain but not sure of the other. The connector in top of the engine routs down to the airbox intake chamber boot to the little sideways slanted tube as a vacuum kine i guess. Anyone know for sure?
I did remove all the screws, removed all the jets and cleaned and replaced all parts w/o replacing with new stuff. I wanted to see if I could open things up and check the condition before I ordered and replaced.
Well, I haven't uploaded part two yet-mainly because I couldn't get my bike started after I put the carbs back on. With the help r pm, I managed to start her up today. I wasn't getting adequate spark-so I checked all the plugs, cleaned them and re-gapped them as well. I did notice that plug wire #2 didn't really make a great connection with its spark plug boot-so I swapped out the boot from cylinder #1-(also trimmed about 1/4 inch off the ends of the plug wires to start fresh). Had to hook up my bike battery (tested at 11.6 volts) to the car, removed the air box and sprayed some carb cleaner in the carbs, and after 2 spits and groans-she started right up!! I'm going to get a new battery and replace all the plugs next. In the meantime, I'm diving in to the front calipers, they're kinda stuck.
I tackled the frozen front caliper today-I filled up the master cylinder (knowing I'd be losing quite a bit of fluid once I got this process started, didn't want it to empty and draw unnecessary air into the lines). I removed the two bolts attaching the caliper to the wheel, took the rear pad/caliper off, then I put a bucket under the caliper/piston half and gently squeezed my brake lever repeatedly. This caused the piston to push out the brake shoe, and also the piston (along with the brake fluid in the caliper). I cleaned up the piston and the shoe (just the outer metal part) with Brake Cleaner and 400 grit sandpaper-as well as cleaned out the inside of the caliper. It was pretty nasty, but not the worst one I've seen on UA-cam. I put the pieces back together, lubricating the piston with brake fluid first. Then, I just pumped the very spongy brake lever about a million times, then bled the caliper-then repeated this process until the brakes came back to life and the front wheel moves freely. Thanks again to r pm for his unbeatable coaching.
What a great video. You did a great job. You communicate very well. I watched it out of boredom with nothing to do at home because it's winter time over here. That hose off the top of the head is not a vacuum line it's basically a breather tube, vent. Those carb gaskets you don't really need to replace them. I've taken tons of bowls off and put them right back on. The gas level in the bowl never gets up to the seam anyway. You did a great job, I enjoyed it.
Thanks Robert-I appreciate the feedback. My bike still sits idle, as I couldn't get it to start after putting the carbs back on. It is a work in progress for sure. Much to my surprise, when I took off the seat, the original tool kit was fully intact. Nice find! Cheers!
Eddie Kilgallon I'm a gear head 45 years in making. Have a 74 550. email me or I can email you my phone number, give me a call and I'll walk you through it over the phone.
...and now we know why all the new bikes are electronic fuel injection! But for sure, lots of these carb bikes still around and will be for another 100 years probably.
R Pay for sure! There is something pretty cool about being able to work on these bikes with common tools. She just turned 44 yrs old-wish everything was built with this kind of staying power. Cheers!
@@EddieKilgallon yep mine too! I have a '78 Honda CB400 Hawk II. She is mint too...I bought a replacement set of carbs off ebay for $35 (!) and am rebuilding it completely at a leisurely pace as a back up. Then switch out the carbs on there today and then refurb. that set. Carbs seem to be the main thing to pay attention to so having a backup set can probably save me a lot of headaches.
Not to be that guy but you can download a PDF of the owners manual for your bike which list the steps on how to remove your top engine/carburetor. Very useful to have too since Honda Manuals give you a general idea though nothing specific I might add. Just be sure to find the one that includes yours.
Same year and model as mine.. Airbox was completely disgusting - clogged with all sorts of crap. I just changed the sprockets and chain after having completely gone through all the electrical to get my lights working.. Next are the carbs - points and camchain! Thanks for the video!
Thanks! I decided to remove my carbs after my bike started running funny-almost like the clutch was slipping, as it kinda bogged down going from 2nd into 3rd, etc. I noticed that pipes 2 & 3 were cold, so I thought I should take the carbs off and see if anything obvious was wrong. Nothing mechanical-so I put them back on and now the bike won't start at all. So right now I have a nice museum piece. Let me know how your carbs look after you pull them. Cheers!
you could use a sawzalll to cut through the frame to get that tube out of the way above the carbs and it might prove beneficial to remove the motor to get better access to the carbs!
whats up eddie how hard is to clean the carb i have the same bike but model 77 and really need to clean but i have no experience and what about the sincronization?
Hey Harry-my carbs came off, cleaned up well, went back on-haven't synced in yet-I'm having issues getting it started-have to troubleshoot that-I know that originally, carbs 2& 3 ran cold-looking at the coils.
those problems start later you clean the carbs? and thats what i want to avoid i found in ebay the sync tool but i dont know how to sync them this is my first bike
Perfect video. My 1976 is the same color.
They are sweet bikes! Glad you enjoyed the video-Cheers!
This video is great, I found many issues on my bike solely because of this video... the throttle body was install improperly, the vacuum tube wasn't connected to carbs, (just bought the bike)
how do you reassemble 1975 cb550 carburetor to air box?
"UNLOOSENED" - Where did you learn that word?? - i assume that would translate to TIGHTEN
It is actually a proper word, around since the 1400s, which means the same thing as loosen.
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unloosen
Nice video...how did you get them back in.
I have removed and installed the carbs on mine over 20 times. Its easy with velocity stacks. Less than 5min. Once you get the factory airbox back on it can be tricky. You put the air box boot chamber first then wiggle the carb in from the left side and push in the accordion boots back as you go. Then tighten the box and chamber in place. Use JIS screw drivers on Hondas. I just got the parts i have been looking for to go back to factory. Going with PODs was the previous owners mistake. Causes all sorts of tuning issues. What i can figure it what goes to the bottom two holes on the air filter box. I think one is just a drain but not sure of the other. The connector in top of the engine routs down to the airbox intake chamber boot to the little sideways slanted tube as a vacuum kine i guess. Anyone know for sure?
please make more videos about this if you do any other maintenance work
For the carb bowl, did you loosen and take off all of the screws? I’m super new to these bikes
I did remove all the screws, removed all the jets and cleaned and replaced all parts w/o replacing with new stuff. I wanted to see if I could open things up and check the condition before I ordered and replaced.
Well, I haven't uploaded part two yet-mainly because I couldn't get my bike started after I put the carbs back on. With the help r pm, I managed to start her up today. I wasn't getting adequate spark-so I checked all the plugs, cleaned them and re-gapped them as well. I did notice that plug wire #2 didn't really make a great connection with its spark plug boot-so I swapped out the boot from cylinder #1-(also trimmed about 1/4 inch off the ends of the plug wires to start fresh). Had to hook up my bike battery (tested at 11.6 volts) to the car, removed the air box and sprayed some carb cleaner in the carbs, and after 2 spits and groans-she started right up!! I'm going to get a new battery and replace all the plugs next. In the meantime, I'm diving in to the front calipers, they're kinda stuck.
My front calipers are stuck too. Rusted shut/open. Master Cylinder is empty. Video on this one? Will you need to sync your carbs?
I tackled the frozen front caliper today-I filled up the master cylinder (knowing I'd be losing quite a bit of fluid once I got this process started, didn't want it to empty and draw unnecessary air into the lines). I removed the two bolts attaching the caliper to the wheel, took the rear pad/caliper off, then I put a bucket under the caliper/piston half and gently squeezed my brake lever repeatedly. This caused the piston to push out the brake shoe, and also the piston (along with the brake fluid in the caliper). I cleaned up the piston and the shoe (just the outer metal part) with Brake Cleaner and 400 grit sandpaper-as well as cleaned out the inside of the caliper. It was pretty nasty, but not the worst one I've seen on UA-cam. I put the pieces back together, lubricating the piston with brake fluid first. Then, I just pumped the very spongy brake lever about a million times, then bled the caliper-then repeated this process until the brakes came back to life and the front wheel moves freely. Thanks again to r pm for his unbeatable coaching.
ua-cam.com/video/EkS0ed3xEoc/v-deo.html
you will never make it as a politician.... your too honest.
What a great video. You did a great job. You communicate very well. I watched it out of boredom with nothing to do at home because it's winter time over here. That hose off the top of the head is not a vacuum line it's basically a breather tube, vent. Those carb gaskets you don't really need to replace them. I've taken tons of bowls off and put them right back on. The gas level in the bowl never gets up to the seam anyway. You did a great job, I enjoyed it.
Thanks Robert-I appreciate the feedback. My bike still sits idle, as I couldn't get it to start after putting the carbs back on. It is a work in progress for sure. Much to my surprise, when I took off the seat, the original tool kit was fully intact. Nice find! Cheers!
Eddie Kilgallon I'm a gear head 45 years in making. Have a 74 550. email me or I can email you my phone number, give me a call and I'll walk you through it over the phone.
Are you on sohc4 message board?
Yes, eddiek
Is that your '78 CB550?
...and now we know why all the new bikes are electronic fuel injection! But for sure, lots of these carb bikes still around and will be for another 100 years probably.
R Pay for sure! There is something pretty cool about being able to work on these bikes with common tools. She just turned 44 yrs old-wish everything was built with this kind of staying power.
Cheers!
@@EddieKilgallon yep mine too! I have a '78 Honda CB400 Hawk II. She is mint too...I bought a replacement set of carbs off ebay for $35 (!) and am rebuilding it completely at a leisurely pace as a back up. Then switch out the carbs on there today and then refurb. that set. Carbs seem to be the main thing to pay attention to so having a backup set can probably save me a lot of headaches.
Not to be that guy but you can download a PDF of the owners manual for your bike which list the steps on how to remove your top engine/carburetor. Very useful to have too since Honda Manuals give you a general idea though nothing specific I might add. Just be sure to find the one that includes yours.
Thanks Smoke-I'm going to test my coils next.
Same year and model as mine.. Airbox was completely disgusting - clogged with all sorts of crap. I just changed the sprockets and chain after having completely gone through all the electrical to get my lights working.. Next are the carbs - points and camchain! Thanks for the video!
Very helpful and informative video, thanks for the upload.
Gonna take a stab at my CB 550SC carbs any day now and this was amazing.
Thanks! I decided to remove my carbs after my bike started running funny-almost like the clutch was slipping, as it kinda bogged down going from 2nd into 3rd, etc. I noticed that pipes 2 & 3 were cold, so I thought I should take the carbs off and see if anything obvious was wrong. Nothing mechanical-so I put them back on and now the bike won't start at all. So right now I have a nice museum piece. Let me know how your carbs look after you pull them. Cheers!
I’ve got a 81 cb650 I’ve got to clean the carbs on
I’m having problems removing the airbox
Is there a sequel to this? Says "to be continuted.."
Just taken delivery of a CB350f and needed to do the same, only thing is mine's full of crud. Many thanks for the guidance and insight...
Good luck with your project Bill-if I can do it, anybody can!!
i genuinely though removing the carbs from the bigger 550 would have been easier than the 400 but looks like its not lol
It was a little tricky-but if I could do it, surely anybody could!!
Are you local?
you could use a sawzalll to cut through the frame to get that tube out of the way above the carbs and it might prove beneficial to remove the motor to get better access to the carbs!
I broke my sawzall blade trying to get the back wheel off. Thanks for the help though-I didn't even think of that option.
whats up eddie how hard is to clean the carb i have the same bike but model 77 and really need to clean but i have no experience and what about the sincronization?
Hey Harry-my carbs came off, cleaned up well, went back on-haven't synced in yet-I'm having issues getting it started-have to troubleshoot that-I know that originally, carbs 2& 3 ran cold-looking at the coils.
those problems start later you clean the carbs? and thats what i want to avoid i found in ebay the sync tool but i dont know how to sync them this is my first bike
+Harry Postres I actually took the carbs off thinking they might be gunked up-but they were in really good shape-so my problem lies elsewhere.