cb550 k3 lives again

[mickwinf]

Had to share this with you guys, my k3 started up today for the first time since 1982! Only for a few seconds with easy start, but it goes! This gives me motivation to go out into a cold garage to continue the restoration of this bike, aparently it was abandoned in 81/82 then purchased by the previous owner, who restored lots of bits over the years but never finished it, i bought it as a pile of bits.Hopefull it might be ready for summer.cheers, Mick

[Yoshi823]

Those plug leads are a bit long...have they been extended?

On my CB550s that i've had over the years I used the long straight plug caps on #2 & #3 cylinders, with long angled ones for #1 & #4 cylinders, with the ignition leads looped back over the cylinder head as standard. This stops rain from affecting the leads & keeps them away from hot exhaust pipes.

[Bryanj]

Replying here to the other post as this will come to you,

The K3 was a VERY cold blooded beastie and if stood for a long time was always a swine to start but got better with use. A Fully charged battery is a must and usually kickstart and catch the throttle, DO NOT try and get an even tickover till its increadibly hot and if you set it at about 1200 then it will still stall when cold

[Spitfire]

Nice to hear that another SOHC has been brought back to life, great stuff.

Cheers

Den

[mickwinf]

thanks for advice and encouragement guys, will keep trying.Yoshi those leads are a bit long,new coils had extra long to suit different bikes i guess,i will trim to size when the f*****g thing goes!

[mickwinf]

haha success!!! it runs! cleaned plugs charged battery, lots of kickstarting and eventually it kept going.at last.Still not quite right, not firing on no 4 cyl spits back through carb, but so happy !! Cheers to all who offered advice and encouragement will keep you posted. Regards, Mick