Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => CB500/550 => Topic started by: Towsejames on August 10, 2026, 10:15:26 AM
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Hi,
I’ve finally got my 550 on the road and riding for the first time with me just in time to catch the last of summer - (since I think 1999). A lot of titivation changing and rebuilding carbs, fork seals, tubes tyres, electronic ignition, servicing and lots of cleaning up.
I am sussing out some teething issues since taking it on short journeys where I live to try and make it reliable. It has broken down on me a few times but nothing a little roadside fix and cleaning up and improving electronic connectors didn’t solve.
However my latest breakdown blew the 15a main fuse losing all electrics to the bike, luckily a spare was there which allowed me to get home - something to note is I rode the bike for about 5-10 mins with the headlights on for the first time when the fuse blew. With this in mind I rode home using only the pilot lamp which seemed to be fine, around 2 mins from my house I switched my headlight back on which lasted the 2 mins home blowing the main fuse again right outside my house. The headlight thing could be a coincidence but they do also seem abit dim even though the bike charges.
Has anyone had the main fuse blow?
My plan is to replace the fuse box for a newer blade type anyway checking for any bad connections along the way.
Thanks for any help
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You haven't got any led bulbs in replacement for conventional items installed have you ?
Just a thought, as if there's failure on some of these they can give a resisitive short to ground, which then puts some demand in capacity on main fuse.
In other words, the headlight then looks like culprit, but it's the diminished capacity giving less headroom that causes failure.
Just a reality check, can be ignored if not present.
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Hi,
I’ve finally got my 550 on the road and riding for the first time with me just in time to catch the last of summer - (since I think 1999). A lot of titivation changing and rebuilding carbs, fork seals, tubes tyres, electronic ignition, servicing and lots of cleaning up.
I am sussing out some teething issues since taking it on short journeys where I live to try and make it reliable. It has broken down on me a few times but nothing a little roadside fix and cleaning up and improving electronic connectors didn’t solve.
However my latest breakdown blew the 15a main fuse losing all electrics to the bike, luckily a spare was there which allowed me to get home - something to note is I rode the bike for about 5-10 mins with the headlights on for the first time when the fuse blew. With this in mind I rode home using only the pilot lamp which seemed to be fine, around 2 mins from my house I switched my headlight back on which lasted the 2 mins home blowing the main fuse again right outside my house. The headlight thing could be a coincidence but they do also seem abit dim even though the bike charges.
Has anyone had the main fuse blow?
My plan is to replace the fuse box for a newer blade type anyway checking for any bad connections along the way.
Thanks for any help
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Hi James,
I had exactly the same thing a few months back with my 350 Four and had to call the AA. The chap replaced the main fuse and suggested following me home in case it went again, well 3 miles up the road it did and he transported me home.
A week before I had replaced the bulbs in the dashboard, tacho and speedo so thought this would be the best place to start. Inside the headlight the wires are a right mess but I methodically checked each circuit and found a bad connection. Repaired the bad one and double checked the others. Put in a new fuse and all has been perfect ever since. I have to say I was somewhat surprised at how disabled the bike was with a dodgy main fuse.
Happy hunting and hope you find it uickly because it is very annoying.
Cheers
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Has anyone had the main fuse blow?
O, yes, over 46 years a couple of times, but not any more since I've made it a habit at the start of the season to clean the ends of the main fuse and the clips that are holding it. If these contacts are not clean or are even slightly oxidised, under circumstances the fuse will blow. Always have a spare with you but do not position it before you have carefully inspected cq cleaned its ends and the clips. The 5A (taillight) and the 7A (headlamp) are still the ones the bike got on 1976 at the assembly line.
In spite of a 60/55 Watts H4, 3 ohm coils in combination with a transistorized ignition, 15A has always served me.
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Check the connections on the back of the fuse box. They can get corroded and increase resistance, leading to blown fuses. Were your fuses old ones? The glass fuses can fail sometimes through ageing. I had one fail, the metal caps just separated from the glass.
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I also have had the exactly same thing happen to me a few times in the past. I nearly always run with headlight on and sure enough that’s enough to blow the main fuse with the extra resistance at the poor fuse connections. Easily sorted with good clean and a little bending of the tabs at the fuse ends. Going to replace with blade fuse box at some stage. Not bothered about originality behind the panel in pursuit of reliability.
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I had this happen a couple of times on the 400. I was advised to check the multi-plug supplying the fuse holder. Sure enough, after 40 odd years all the spade connectors inside were a lovely shade of green. Did not take too long with a set of jewellers files to restore them, and no problem since. The person who told me to look there, also mentioned that with the glass fuses, if it fails with the wire broken inside the glass, then that is usually a short. If it fails because the end cap on the fuse has parted company, as in my case, then that is because it has got hot trying to draw current through the corroded connections.
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Look at the blown fuse and is it
1 melted in the middle with visible"blobs"
2detached at one end and "floating
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Crikey,
I had no idea there could be so many culprits!!
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The answer to my question may tell me WHY it blew and shorten the odds on culprit
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Something odd here. The first pic is confusing. The tank looks like a 550K3 but the side panel badges are off a 550K0-2 not a K3. Totally different. Plus IIRC the 550F has one upper mounting lug going vertical and yours are both horizontal The brake pedal is off a 550F, the 550K has a round tubular type. The clocks are blue faced, so either a 550F2 or a 550K3. The shape of the footrest brackets may clear it up as they are different IIRC between the 550K and the 550F. If the headlight was blowing the fuse why not the 7a fuse? try removing the headlight itself and run without it, see if it blows when the lights are on. If it doesn't suspect the lamp itself, if it does it's a wiring problem on the lighting circuit.
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Looks like rh sidepanel has been "modified" to get at seat lock as well
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Well, the OP hasn't popped in for while so I guess it is not an urgent worry.
He's certainly got enough to look into.
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Something odd here. The first pic is confusing. The tank looks like a 550K3 but the side panel badges are off a 550K0-2 not a K3. Totally different. Plus IIRC the 550F has one upper mounting lug going vertical and yours are both horizontal The brake pedal is off a 550F, the 550K has a round tubular type. The clocks are blue faced, so either a 550F2 or a 550K3. The shape of the footrest brackets may clear it up as they are different IIRC between the 550K and the 550F. If the headlight was blowing the fuse why not the 7a fuse? try removing the headlight itself and run without it, see if it blows when the lights are on. If it doesn't suspect the lamp itself, if it does it's a wiring problem on the lighting circuit.
it’s an F2 frame but your right it’s got some K3 bits on,the panel lugs are the same layout on both k3 and F2 on that side I think it’s the other side that’s different
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Yeah, I knew it was different lug shape but thought it was both sides. I bow to your knowledge on this as I don't have an F2 to compare it too.
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Look at the blown fuse and is it
1 melted in the middle with visible"blobs"
2detached at one end and "floating
It looks blown in half to me, but the replacement which blew right outside my house doesn’t look blown at all despite it definitely being blown. It even has continuity but when ignition is switched on drops volts - I’m guessing it’s slightly touching until load is going through it
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Something odd here. The first pic is confusing. The tank looks like a 550K3 but the side panel badges are off a 550K0-2 not a K3. Totally different. Plus IIRC the 550F has one upper mounting lug going vertical and yours are both horizontal The brake pedal is off a 550F, the 550K has a round tubular type. The clocks are blue faced, so either a 550F2 or a 550K3. The shape of the footrest brackets may clear it up as they are different IIRC between the 550K and the 550F. If the headlight was blowing the fuse why not the 7a fuse? try removing the headlight itself and run without it, see if it blows when the lights are on. If it doesn't suspect the lamp itself, if it does it's a wiring problem on the lighting circuit.
You’re completely right. The bike is a complete mix of 550k3 and 550f parts. The frame is and f but the tank and side panels are k3. I quite like that it’s all made up.
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Thank you for all the replies and knowledge. I’ve been busy at work but did get to have a look.
I have since removed the original fuse box which was a mess of bad soldering and green wires. I have fitted a blade type fuse box now with space for spares and retained the original wiring which looked in good condition and crimped spade connectors to fit on the new fuse box. I then traced most of the main loom back which needed tidying up anyway. (So thought why not) no major shorts, bad connections or damage found as of yet. I’ve cleaned up all the plugs and bullet connectors which were all tarnished and green.
The last bit to do is to look in the headlight and continue to tidy up the loom. I have refreshed the tape with a fabric one I had which looks much tidier.
Yes the bike is a mix of k3 and f parts but it’s how it came and I quite like the look.
I’ll update once I get back on it if anything major is found!
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The one gone in middle was high current, the one that looks good but isnt is vibration or the contact it clips into loose, so they went for different reasons and it could just be coincidence
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Another odd thing. Chain guard is plastic on a k but chrome on an f.
Can I suggest filling the bottom 3 slots in the fuse box with spare fuses, they’ll come in handy if one blows. Say a 15 a 7 and a 5? Or maybe 2 orange and a blue as fitted. Always a good idea to carry spare fuses somewhere.
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Another odd thing. Chain guard is plastic on a k but chrome on an f.
Can I suggest filling the bottom 3 slots in the fuse box with spare fuses, they’ll come in handy if one blows. Say a 15 a 7 and a 5? Or maybe 2 orange and a blue as fitted. Always a good idea to carry spare fuses somewhere.
Ah yes. That is my plan, I will carry 2 spare 15 and a spare 7 for the lights.
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So many minutes of cleaning and tightening connectors and things are looking much tidier. Nothing crazy found except a few questions marks.
First one being the horn. My horn is fed with a pale green wire and another wire earthed to the frame of the bike. There is a black wire that runs with the pale green which was left off. The horn works as it is. The black wire has 12v when the ignition is on. Would anyone have any pics of how their horn is wired for reference.
Also a green terminal connector is left floating behind my flasher relay - I’m not sure if this is spare or meant to be connected somewhere. (Everything seems to work fine).
Finally look at how my pilot lamp is held in! And has been for the past I’d say 20 years or so. Can anyone let me know how this is meant to be. And also does this whole unit need replacing if the headlight bulb blows? Since I can’t see a way of removing a bulb.
Finally at the headlight plug I’m only getting around 8v for dip and high beam is this correct or should this have 12v
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"Finally look at how my pilot lamp is held in! And has been for the past I’d say 20 years or so. Can anyone let me know how this is meant to be. And also does this whole unit need replacing if the headlight bulb blows? Since I can’t see a way of removing a bulb."
Correct in replacing the unit.
These are "sealed" beam headlight unit made as one construction. It's effectively a giant bulb with a front panel incorporating the lens. This, unlike more current units, with separate individual bulb mounted into a reflector and lens arrangement.
Voltage at lamp should be same as the battery float level (12v upwards) and possibly shows with that 8v that it could have resistance on the line between battery and terminal.
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Was the 8 volt reading taken with the headlamp illuminated or is it voltage at the feed wire when disconnected from the bulb?
The earthing of the Headlamp bowl/casing would be my first check.
On my 500 I made an earthing cable up similar to the 400 arrangement to ensure a good grounding, my lamp was not a sealed beam unit, I also fitted an earth strap to the front frame iirc. I fitted a complete Osram LED unit for a Land Rover, not my idea, from a member here (Allan) Not for the purists, good for night riding, Halo side light unit, indicators built in to the unit but not used. Less power consumption than a standard headlamp bulb with around 3 times the light output.
#(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55173861843_e47783556f_w.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2s4wsU4)52670411081_9c2f8607e9_b (https://flic.kr/p/2s4wsU4) by Macabe Thiele (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187487200@N03/), on Flickr
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That is a US sealed beam unit as used on cars and the pilot bulb is not required there so there is no proper fitting, you can fit any 7 inch light and go Halogen(usually H4 bulb) BUT , no matter what Delta says, you need to keep the revs up to charge the battery, you could also fit a standard 500 or 750 unit but not 400
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Continuing on from what Bryan says.
I am not 100% certain, the rim kit for your bike should enable you to fit almost any 7" headlamp unit of choice.
A modern Halogen H4 type bulb will be a vast improvement in light output but would use a tad more watts, you can fit an LED bulb or go completely LED saving watts with more light output.
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Ted a standard 7 inch will fit in those rims, i have done it when you used to be able to rumage in breakers yards, one thing you do have to think of is that car lights dip down and left with a distinct cut off whilst motorcycle ones tend to dip straight down with no cut off
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I have a Land Rover Series headlamp in mine with a H4 bulb fitted. Works fine. I do not use a pilot bulb, it is not a legal requirement and I cannot see the need for it unless parking on a dark road which I never do.
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Unless they have changed the wording the side,pilot, light is the obligatory light whilst the headlight was optional, although i know the test changed to all fitted lights must work which brought car reversing lights in
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certainly when I had MOTs, they advised that if present, the side light must work but if it has been removed, not required, a bit like indicators. There might be different rules for vehicles post 1986, not sure, but for this age, that is what I was advised.
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The nice thing about the Halo side lamp is it's bright enough to double up as a DTRL.
I have an LED rear lamp as well so riding on side lamps hopefully makes me more visible.
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That is a US sealed beam unit as used on cars and the pilot bulb is not required there so there is no proper fitting, you can fit any 7 inch light and go Halogen(usually H4 bulb) BUT , no matter what Delta says, you need to keep the revs up to charge the battery, you could also fit a standard 500 or 750 unit but not 400
Sir, according to my parts list even the CB550K3 model for UK had the 60/55 Watts H4. I myself never had a problem with H4, 3 Ohm coils and homebuilt transistorized ignition. In the riders reports in my archives - in total 40 times around the globe by the respondents - nobody reported a problem. It has never been a subject in the French nor in the German forum. It is a non existent made-up problem that nobody here knows of. Creating problems has always been a good strategy to profile yourself as expert. You can even sell books with it. But... it may have been become a problem since people began more tinkering their bikes - prolonged idling - than using the bike, it was meant for: riding. The mere idea that Honda wouldn't have been capable of fitting an adequate charging... You disappoint me. A simple calculation - will tell you the charging system is more than adequate. And I have pointed out more than once it is up to the rider.
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What wattage h4 is best to use?
Also I like the idea of the led option but hate the colour of anything blue or white and want the traditional halogen output colour, is this possible?
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60/55 Watt. Best in the market is the Philips Extreme Vision Moto or its predecessor the Vision Plus. Osram Nightbreaker is also good. Best LED is the expensive Osram Night Breaker Led Pro, but I don't know if there is enough space in the bucket.
Or if you worry about that not existent problem and provided your reflector has a Ba9s socket you can opt for what I have suggested our friends across the pond.
That 'park light' aka 'city light' or 'pilot light' or 'position' light has little use, but... can be made useful. This is what I tried out for you guys.
In the headlamp bucket I disconnected the brown PLUS wire from the position light and replaced it by a black wire to a spare black connector. Yes, there are.
I then put a switch in the green MINUS wire to the position light. I can now bring on the position light without the tail- and instrument lights. The added switch is hidden in between the speedo- and the tachometer, where it is hardly seen, so the classic looks of my bike are preserved.
In the headlight reflector I replaced the OEM Ba9s 4 Watts position light bulb by a dito 21 Watts halogen one (see pic), which you can now use as DRL. The bulb is a bit yellowish which is better noticed and highlights you're a biker.
During the day you can switch to your new DRL. All the rest remains off. Saves fuel and extends lifespan of bulbs. Realise that especially the little instrument lightbulbs do not live long and it is quite a hassle to replace them. With the taillight off, brakelight will be better noticed. The same goes for high beam flashes when you slide the PA switch. On entering a tunnel you simply slide the stock RH switch from . to 'P', which adds tail- and instrument lights. Exiting the tunnel you slide the switch back to ..
The rest remains the same, so when darkness falls, just sliding the standard switch to 'H' (headlight) brings on the 60/55 Watts H4 and switch off the DRL (or leave it on).
The arrangement is simple and the cost minimal. Some prefer a LED for that Ba9s socket. Problem is I have not seen a Ba9s LED that spreads its light as nice as a halogen bulb. The ones I have seen are just disappointing dots (see pics).
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What wattage h4 is best to use?
Also I like the idea of the led option but hate the colour of anything blue or white and want the traditional halogen output colour, is this possible?
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Not all LED lamps are blue, once you have tried a decent LED lamp the traditional lights look quite yellow.
I have used Night breaker bulbs on our previous cars, great light output, they often fail quite early.
This is anecdotal evidence, I'm not saying it's a fact, just my experience, my dip beams would fail after about 18 months.
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What wattage h4 is best to use?
Also I like the idea of the led option but hate the colour of anything blue or white and want the traditional halogen output colour, is this possible?
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If you do want to stay with non LED bulbs, this Hella unit has a good lens structure and beam pattern.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176287167008?shprz=EBAY_GB_131090&_ul=GB&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&toolid=20006&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338986375&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9217597&adtype=pla&customid=CjwKCAjws_DTBhB_EiwAXZknGZp9yeIu73BosllX1NNQBEwuJtNOBgUwcyk7j1ycp0IDeOvmdfzvqBoC_YwQAvD_BwE|null|null&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=24080271004&gbraid=0AAAAADcddnaPOX4iO0eJ7xZQG9SjrQ134&gclid=CjwKCAjws_DTBhB_EiwAXZknGZp9yeIu73BosllX1NNQBEwuJtNOBgUwcyk7j1ycp0IDeOvmdfzvqBoC_YwQAvD_BwE
The focus of good quality and verified manufacturing for LED bulbs is almost entirely toward the more blue part of spectrum, that I can see.
The yellow offering appear on temu etc I'd not bother with.
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I've always rated Hella headlamps.
The best 7" headlamp units I ever owned that would fit in a Lucas bowl were Carello Pajods, they were fitted to E-Type Jaguars as an upgrade by enthusiasts.
Back in the late 1960s-1970s the fashion was for Concave lenses like Cibie.
The Pajods were convex outer glass to the point of being almost bug eyed with a parabolic reflectors, fantastic dip beams cut off.
Carello Biode were very similar if not the same - used pairs fetch over £300 on flea bay.
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The best headlight by far and tested by magazines back in the late 70s was the Cibie Z beam. The beam pattern was really good on dip but like a laser on high. They used light meters to get the beam pattern and on full it was extremely long, right down on the floor and shaped like a pencil, very narrow. Even with a normal H4 bulb in it it was phenomenal. I put an LED bulb in mine for a comparison test. The beam pattern was almost identical but the light output went through the roof. From a dingy sort of yellowish light to a pure white light. I did some pics if you want to see them. The LED bulbs were around £50 a pair a few years ago. All my mates converted to them after seeing one in my 1300. They went from struggling on dark country roads on their Harleys to being able to travel at whatever speed they wanted.
Oddly enough I just bought another 7” Cibie Z beam unit the other day, just in case mine gets broken or stone chipped.
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Cibie, I always think of Oscar's & Super Oscar driving lights from the Monte Carlo era of Mini Coopers that were disqualified on a lighting technicality by the French in 1966. No surprise that Citroen ended up winning, BL who were 1,2&3 were disqualified as was the Ford in 4th place.
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If in doubt cheat. Or if you’re French surrender just in case.
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Cibie, I always think of Oscar's & Super Oscar driving lights from the Monte Carlo era of Mini Coopers that were disqualified on a lighting technicality by the French in 1966. No surprise that Citroen ended up winning, BL who were 1,2&3 were disqualified as was the Ford in 4th place.
Ted, I have a distant memory telling me that at the time, French registered cars had to have yellow headlamps, but the Citroens that won by default were said to have white lights.
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Cibie, I always think of Oscar's & Super Oscar driving lights from the Monte Carlo era of Mini Coopers that were disqualified on a lighting technicality by the French in 1966. No surprise that Citroen ended up winning, BL who were 1,2&3 were disqualified as was the Ford in 4th place.
Ted, I have a distant memory telling me that at the time, French registered cars had to have yellow headlamps, but the Citroens that won by default were said to have white lights.
Micky you are right about French Cars needing yellow headlamps back then, I remember my Dad having yellow plastic covers for the headlamps of his Vauxhall for when he drove through France to Spain.
What you say about the Citroen having white headlamps sounds typically French, as did the reply from Charles De Gaulle "Non" when we tried to join the EU.
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Back when the first Goldwings came out, we had a "shop" one and fitted a Marchall headlamp unit to it, now this had seperate main and dip bulbd like the halogen spotlight bulbs.
Sneakily wiring the dip bulb into the pilot circuit meant that both bulbs were on on main beam, plus having a "rally" shop in town high wattage, highly illegalof course, bulbs could be had which meant 200 watt ish on main beam, god help anybody who left their main beam on comming towards you!
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My CB500K2-ED came with a Hella H4 reflector, model: 1A6 002 395-071. What I particularly like, is that the lens is flat, which gives your bike a serious and classic look. It has an extra Ba9s socket for a position light. It is not an expensive one and back then was also fitted on the VW Golf in Europe. Still available and cheap.
Best DRL in my opinion is a not too bright yellowish headlight like in the pic. European research has established yellow is best noticed. The CB550K3 in France had the best. It came with a yellow Phlips 60/55 Watts H4, Honda partnumber: 34901-371-621 which according to CMSNL is on 185 other Honda models. Price a bit hefty: € 37,46 but might be cheaper in France.
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envious about the Cibie Z headlamp. In the 1980s I had one on my CB350. It was excellent beyond compare. Sadly, the reflector corroded eventually and I have tried in vain to find another. Examples for sale seem either corroded, or very very expensive.
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My Peugeot 504 GL had those wonderful trapeziumshaped Cibié headlamps. Never had better. Guess what US legislators forced Peugeot to do. Peugeot had to replace them by inferior sealed beams! But hey, you now had 4 lights and 4 is more than 2 right?! ;D
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envious about the Cibie Z headlamp. In the 1980s I had one on my CB350. It was excellent beyond compare. Sadly, the reflector corroded eventually and I have tried in vain to find another. Examples for sale seem either corroded, or very very expensive.
I paid £80 for it, in extremely good condition as well. I bought a pair just before the coma last year, however when they were delivered they were the smaller type, might even be 5.75” to suit the 400, bit not the concave type, convex like the z beam 7”. No idea where the wife’s put them, I was already feeling ill so I wasn’t particularly interested in looking at them too closely. If they are 5.75” I may sell them to 400 owners.
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Strangely enough, after a 75 mile faultless ride this morning with three good stops I pulled into my drive and suddenly everything went dead.
My initial thought was that perhaps i should have initiated the reserve setting for the fuel. Not the case as there was plenty of fuel. I checked the battery and was getting a 13.3V reading. The next step was the main 30amp fuse and found it had blown. Cleaned the contacts and inserted a new fuse and all is well but just wondering if there could be any cause for such an event?
Cheers
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30amp is way too high. 15 is more like it.
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30amp is way too high. 15 is more like it.
Ok I understand that but what would make a 30amp fuse suddenly blow; it would have been the same with a 15 amp
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What blows a 30 would certainly blow a 15, that’s not the point though. There is a risk of melting wires or even starting a fire by fitting a 30. It takes a lot to blow one so the heat build up can mean a disaster. Not as bad a fitting a nail but best to stay below 15 and stay safe. Any bulbs blown? Or what was working when it blew.
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Today I took mine on a good ride, 50-60miles or so. This was with the new fusebox and cleaned up connections. I’m happy to say all was well. Me and my brother attended Hornsea bike show, me on the 550 and him on his 1976
Kawasaki z650. I did have a hiccup when the bike started misfiring and cut out, luckily I noticed the choke had knocked on, a quick switch back into the off position and all was well. A good blast using all the electrics including the headlight and everything seems well.
Only thing now is I think I need some new clutch plates as it felt funny by the end of the day requiring some adjustment and occasionally slipping slightly.
All in all though, after over 20 years off the road it’s back cruising again.
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I hope you did not take up the slack in the clutch cable while the engine was still hot, I think most of the 4's develop some slack when warmed up. When it has cooled off the slack disappears, meaning if you had tightened it when hot you could have clutch slip.
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I have around 3-4 full clutches for the 550. You want a set of plates, steel or friction?
Just pay the postage.
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30amp is way too high. 15 is more like it.
Thank you for confirming as I only replaced the first one with what was already in there. Even the Haynes manual doesn't appear to give guidance on fuse ratings but that doesn't surprise me. In the last 50 years I have never found a Haynes Manual to be useful: it only gets you into deeper trouble because it gives the impression it is thorough but they are pretty much all useless.
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IIRC it's onex15 amp in the main fuse and 2x7 amps in the lights and tail.
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The models with 3 fuses had: 15A (main) 7A (head) and 5A (tail).
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30amp is way too high. 15 is more like it.
Thank you for confirming as I only replaced the first one with what was already in there. Even the Haynes manual doesn't appear to give guidance on fuse ratings but that doesn't surprise me. In the last 50 years I have never found a Haynes Manual to be useful: it only gets you into deeper trouble because it gives the impression it is thorough but they are pretty much all useless.
Maybe that was a bodge by the previous owner because it was blowing 15A fuses?
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It's a bad bodge then, you risk a fire doing that.
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30amp is way too high. 15 is more like it.
Thank you for confirming as I only replaced the first one with what was already in there. Even the Haynes manual doesn't appear to give guidance on fuse ratings but that doesn't surprise me. In the last 50 years I have never found a Haynes Manual to be useful: it only gets you into deeper trouble because it gives the impression it is thorough but they are pretty much all useless.
Maybe that was a bodge by the previous owner because it was blowing 15A fuses?
That sounds very likely because there have been a couple of iffy things that I discovered.
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I think you need to start from scratch with an ampmeter that can handle 30ish amps put in circuit DO NOT USE THE STARTER!!!!
Dissconnect everything then start carefully reconnecting and wiggling(technical term!) all the wiring and connectors to see if you can get a high current draw.
Primary suspects from years of problems are :-
Idiot light bulb holders
Wiring under seat
Indicator wires through stems
Rats nest in headlamp
Wires through the bars
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That's useful information, thank you.
OK, so I have done as you suggest and replaced the fuse again and turned everything off. The battery is reading 13.3V.
Ignition on - no problem
Headlight on both dip and full - no problem
Horn - no problem
LHS indicators - performing as expected
RHS indicator front bulb just stays on and doesn't wink and the RHS rear bulb does not light up at all. I swapped bulbs and it isn't the bulb so first area of suspicion!
Front brake lever operates the stop light with no problem but footbrake does not operate the brake light so second area of suspicion!
Kick started the bike and she runs as expected but the two identified areas of suspicion remain the same.
During these checks nothing appeared to blow the fuse again which is perhaps disappointing.
If any of the above suggests anything to anyone and can possibly narrow down the areas to attend to next it would be really appreciated.
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Both those items have wiring under seat.
Rear brake light switch first connectors are in the rubber boot where yellow and blue wires from points join into loom, bulb should light if black and green/yellow joined, if yes new switch if not wiring.
Indicator will be either light blue or orange and connect in big rubber boot under seat near to seat support accross frame, first use a seperat earth wire from ind body to batt neg, wouldnt be first time a slightly loose mounting stopped on working!
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Thanks Bryan,
Since my last post I have now discovered that the winker relay is shot so new one is ordered. I also traced the wire from the rear brake switch and found a black wire completely severed. As it is impossible to get at I am now in the process of removing the complete air box and all associated paraphernalia. What a nightmare to get at.
Whether either or both of these were the cause of my blown fuses remains to be seen but it's always nice when you do actually find a fault.
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If the black from the loom touched anything metal that would blow your fuse as black wires are 12v positive when key is turned on
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If the black from the loom touched anything metal that would blow your fuse as black wires are 12v positive when key is turned on
The offending black wire that almost certainly has to be the culprit.
Just as an aside, I purchased a repro winker relay from David Silver for £18.50 delivered whereas they wanted £51.50 for a genuine part, the differential being just too far apart.
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I have around 3-4 full clutches for the 550. You want a set of plates, steel or friction?
Just pay the postage.
Very interesting! I’ll send you a message
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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That wire definately looks like its rubbed through on something
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If the black from the loom touched anything metal that would blow your fuse as black wires are 12v positive when key is turned on
The offending black wire that almost certainly has to be the culprit.
Just as an aside, I purchased a repro winker relay from David Silver for £18.50 delivered whereas they wanted £51.50 for a genuine part, the differential being just too far apart.
For what it's worth, I have fitted the (hopefully!) attached digital flasher unit to both my 400 and GB250. It will operate with either filament or LED bulbs, or even a mix of the two, the flash rate remains the same. Like yourself, the initial reason for this being an original OE flasher for the GB250 was only available from Japan at £112 plus carriage. The only downside I have found so far being if a bulb fails, the unit just carries on regarldless at the same flash rate. I found that it fitted into the rubber mount on the 400 quite qell.
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OK, I am now completely stumped.
With the help of you fantastic guys I have rectified all of the problems I had. I found a broken black wire from my footbrake cable and repaired it. I discovered a problem with my indicator flasher unit so ordered a new one which arrived today. I replaced my 30 amp main fuse with a 15 Amp as per your good advice. I put everything back together and before installing the new flasher unit I ran a check. Apart from the RHS flasher not working everything was as expected. Whilst she was idling nicely, I disconnected the old flasher unit and installed the new one only to find that the bike immediately stalled.
I realised straight away that something had gone but found that the fuse was still intact. I now have absolutely no idea what I have caused but the fuse is fine but there is absolutely no life whatsoever in anything although the battery is still reading 13 Volts.
Any thoughts please because if it's not the fuse then I haven't got a clue what to do.
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Check the voltage both sides of the fuse then at red wire of switch when turned off then black wire of switch tirned on.
What you are doing is checking for 12v at every junction point from battery onwards, wouldnt be first time a wire got accidentaly unplugged or a damaged wire, or switch, coincidentaly gave up
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Check the voltage both sides of the fuse then at red wire of switch when turned off then black wire of switch tirned on.
What you are doing is checking for 12v at every junction point from battery onwards, wouldnt be first time a wire got accidentaly unplugged or a damaged wire, or switch, coincidentaly gave up
Bryan, you are a gem my friend. Whilst I hadn't intentionally separated some connectors when I moved the assembly I must have inadvertently separated a connector which I have just discovered and all is now well.
I owe an awful lot of you guys a pint each for the help you give. Thank you
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People are frightened by electrics but if you are methodical its actually easy, long distance diagnosis is not very easy and i find if i give precise instructions on testinga lot of people disapear off on a tangentand i am afraid at this point i tend to give up and go quiet, you are at least listening!!!
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People are frightened by electrics but if you are methodical its actually easy, long distance diagnosis is not very easy and i find if i give precise instructions on testinga lot of people disapear off on a tangentand i am afraid at this point i tend to give up and go quiet, you are at least listening!!!
In fairness to people Bryan, I think you are so right that electrics is frightening but I equally agree that methodical approaches are the way to go. I agree that long distance diagnosis is very difficult. The point that needs to be recognised here is that kind and helpful people like yourself, with immense knowledge, also have the patience to help "us idiots" and I for one cannot thank you enough.