When I got Buster, I thought of a bunch of things to work on or check.  Here's my list:

Cam chain tensioner        Done
Gap plugs                       Plugs replaced
Valve tappets                  Done
Points                            Done (Thanks Karl!)
timing
chain slack                     Done
sprockets                       Done-just inspected, they look ok
turn signals not blinking
Tach bulb
Tire pressure
Fork oil
Springs
Adjust rear shocks
Air cleaner                      Done, just inspected, looks ok
clean carbs                     An ongoing saga, but they are clean.
sync carbs
Clean petcock filter

On Thursday, May 27, I took it across the street to Karl & Norm.  Karl, in about 5 minutes, diagnosed a bad plug.  On Saturday, May 29, I replaced the plugs.

On June 1, I started trying to figure out what the deal is with it not taking the throttle.  Seems to be bad if I open it quickly.  Could be carbs-float bowls sticking, or maybe timing.  If I open it slowly, it's ok.  I also raised the brake pedal, checked the slack in the chain, and looked at the rear sprocket.  Everything looks good.  Rode it some more that evening, and throttle response is getting better.

Rode it to work June 3.  Part of the eBay description said that the starter switch was sticky.  I've had it for a week, and noticed it myself.  This morning, I started it & the starter motor didn't disengage.  I turned the motor off, the starter was still going.  Turned the key off & took it out-still going.  I disconnected the battery and it finally stopped.  Hooked the battery back up, kicked it twice, and off I went.  Throttle response is much better.  Another tank of gas & the rest of the Gumout should fix it.

Got to put the rest of the Gumout in today, as I ran out of gas at 150 miles.  Flipped to Reserve, but no good.  Fortunately I was still in town, near the intersection of Plymouth Rd & Murfin, and not out in the country somewhere, where I had planned on riding over lunch.  Pushed it to the BP station & put 4.25 gallons into a 4.4 gallon tank.  Apparently I used the reserve up too.  Took 3 kicks to start, but I was off & running.  This makes me think that the tank & petcock are ok.  If there was crud floating around, I'd expect to see something bad happen as the gas got low.  Anyway, once I got going, it ran great.  Although, I did notice that the right front running light is out.

Rode to Grand Haven & back.  From Ann Arbor, round trip was about 350 miles.  First, no power at high speeds.  Speedometer is inaccurate, but at around 70 mph and 4500 rpm, it just won't go any more.  I kicked down into 4th gear, and was able to accelerate more, to about 5500 rpm.  In other gears I can get rpm higher.  As I got off the highway & was coming through town, I heard a slapping kind of noise when I pulled out from traffic lights.  Also, I didn't burn any oil up on the way there, but when I got back home I found some oil on the left side cover, and a drop on the engine, so it's leaking around the head gasket now.  Need to watch that.  After the ride, I smell like stinky gas.  This makes me think that fuel is getting into the engine, and coming out the exhaust.  I think the carburetors are ok, since fuel is getting in, and this smell may indicate a valve or ignition timing problem.  On Sunday, once I got home, I tightened & lubed the drive chain, adjusted the cam chain, checked the air filter (looked clean enough), and adjusted the rear brake so it grabs faster. Before I left, I ordered a Clymer's manual for it.  Once that gets here, it's time to do the valve clearance adjustment.  A final note on the trip-it was fun, & the bike ran better on the way home than on the way out.  Gas mileage was bad, though, at around 25 mpg.

Why do my clothes smell like gas?  Did some poking around, and found this thread on SOHC4.net, http://sohc4.net/Forums/tech/cb550tech/344841064677.  About halfway through the list of posts is this quote "SEE IF YOUR OIL SMELLS LIKE GAS!!".  Seems like a good idea, and sure enough, my oil smells like gas.  Valves not closing?  Rings leaking?  Neither are good.  Talked to Karl again, and he suggested that the carbs are the problem-float height, float needle stuck maybe.  Fuel isn't being restricted, but rather there's too much getting in.  It's seeping past the rings, getting into the oil.  Thins the oil out, so now it can make its way through the gasket.  Makes sense, plus it's easier to fix than tearing the engine apart.  I think this explains all of my symptoms.  Valves & timing are now on hold until I get the carbs sorted out.  Then an oil change.  For now, more Gumout to see if that can improve things until the manuals come.

Turns out I didn't actually get Gumout, I got Lucas.  Two people at Murray's recommended it.  Dumped a whole bottle in the tank with some high test gas (per Uncle Don) to see if the performance improves.  When I clean the petcock, I also want to see if I can figure out why I have no reserve setting.  Saw a picture on the internet of a petcock with a tube sticking up, presumably for the On setting.  Once fuel gets below that, it's time for Reserve.  Is my tube there?

Bob came down to do some riding on Saturday, June 19.  He passed his cycle test the day before.  We rode for about 50 miles, south of Ann Arbor.  Took Lynn for a ride later that day on Buster.  Turns out an extra person, plus my rear brake adjustment, causes some drag on the rear brake.  Not noticeable at first, but definitely gets worse as it heats up.  I need to loosen it to ride 2 up.  So far, I've ridden about 700 miles on the bike, with no significant improvement in the throttle/gas/performance situation.

Monday, June 21.  First day of summer.  It rained.  Rain is forecasted for the next 4 days.  A perfect time to figure out what's going on with the carburetors.  I drain the gas from each float bowl, and #2 has maybe 3 times the gas in it as #1.  #3 & #4 are closer to #1, but seem to have more gas also.  This is great!  Too much gas in one (or more) of the carbs is a perfect explanation for all of my symptoms.  Now, why?  I took off the tank, took off the overflow tubes, took off the airbox, disconnected the throttle cables, and took off the carbs as a set.  Tuesday, the weather is beautiful.  I ride Brewster to work, and when I get home I set the carbs up on a bench to check the float heights.  First each bowl comes off-they look clean.  I prop the carbs up on an angle so that the #1 float tang is pushing on the needle, but not closing it.  Then I lay my level across them to make sure that #2, #3, and #4 are level.  I adjust the 3 floats to be the same height as #1.  Put the bowls back on.  After a call with Uncle Don, it sounds like I can put the tank at a higher level, hook it up to the fuel line, and fill the bowls.  Then, I can check the gas in each.  If I'm the same as I was before, or close to it, then I have a needle & seat problem (or opportunity for learning).  If I get the same amount of gas, or close to it, I can put it all together and go for a ride.  Wednesday, the weather is beautiful.  Looks like the rain will hold off until the weekend.  Did my test, got the same amount of gas in each bowl.  Reassembled the bike.  Managed to break something electrical, since now my oil light, neutral light, and high beam indicator light are all dead.  Anyway, much to my amazement, the bike started and ran, but there is no improvement in performance.  Not good.  Likely I have a needles & seats problem.  My question is, how can I test for this other than by replacing them?  Is the amount of gas in the bowls a test for only float height, or is it just a test to see how much gas gets through?  Regardless, Buster runs again, only a little worse than before (electrical).  Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Friday, June 25.  Did my float height adjustment really work?  Clymers says to get another drain screw, drill a hole in it, attach a brass nipple, then attach a hose.  Can't find a screw to fit, so I got 8 feet of tube with an outside diameter slightly smaller than the screws.  Cut it into 4 pieces and wrapped electrical tape around one end of each piece.  Drained the bowls, took out the screws.  Screwed the taped end of each hose into the bowls, and turned the petcock on.  Surprisingly enough, my float height settings worked.  So now I know that's not the problem.  To get the screws out, I took the bottom of the airbox, and the air filter, off.  Per Bodi's thought about a bad filter or warped box, I rode around the block with the bottom & filter off.  No change, so I think that's not the problem either.  I'm having a hard time believing it's a needles & seats problem because I've never had gas overflow.  The seal is only bad when the bike is moving?  Possible, but how likely is that?  Regardless, the next step is probably a carb rebuild kit-unless Clymers or Haynes can give me a tip about adjusting the high speed jets.

On Saturday the 26th I took the tank off to check the valve clearances.  Got 6 of 8 covers off with a socket, but couldn't get the socket and wrench on the two inside intake covers.  Didn't have the right sized wrench either.  One trip at a time I'll get the tools.  Bought the right sized wrench (17mm) at Sears ($10.00), got the covers off.  Got out my special valve feeler gauges (already bent) and they don't go small enough.  Looked at my other new set of gauges-also too big.  Asked Karl if he had a set I could use.  Also too big.  Asked Norm-same thing (although I did get a glimpse of the airplane he's building).  My fourth set of feeler gauges now has the right size to set the valve clearances.  One trip at a time, one tool at a time.

Back to 2 paragraphs above, why don't the carbs overflow when the bike is still?  BECAUSE THE GAS IS OFF!!!!!  Monday night I figured this out, and raced to the garage.  Put the bike on the center stands, put a cup under the overflow tubes, and turned the gas on.  Sure enough, Tuesday morning, gas in the cup!  Hurray!  Proof that at least one needle & seat pair is not sealing!

Wednesday, June 30.  Weather forecast is 82 & sunny.  Buster & I leave the house for work, get around the corner, and Buster dies.  Electrical problem.  No headlight, no nothing.  Related to the electrical problem above?  I expect so, but not sure.  Pushed him home.  Reminds me of the time Uncle Don helped me push the other 750 home across the Grand Haven drawbridge at around 3:00 am after I broke the key off in the seat lock.  Once I got home, my mother asked why we didn't just put it on the trailer & tow it home.  No trailer this time, but only about half a block to push.  I worked on Buster tonight.  Next I think I'll solve the mystery of the Sphynx.  Turns out he died because the main fuse blew.  I think a clip that holds a wiring harness together got dragged across the contacts.  This is the harness that came undone the first time I took the carbs off, and is the reason that my front gauge lights were not working.  I think its retaining clip touched across contacts, and blew the fuse.  Two mysteries solved.  I got the carbs apart, and the needles definitely look worn, so I feel pretty good that this is the problem too.  Now I just have to order new parts & I'm back in business.  I hope.  While I have it apart, I should try adjusting the valve clearances too.

Now it's Wednesday, July 7.  Needles & seats for the 1976 model year are only made by Honda.  No aftermarket parts.  Bill's Honda in Spring Lake had one in stock, so I bought it over the 4th of July weekend.  When I got home, I compared it to the ones that I took out, and they match.  So far, so good.  On Tuesday, I went to Nicholson's here in Ann Arbor to get the rest of them.  The diagram is really bad, but the part number matches the one that I had from Bill's, so I'm pretty sure I'm getting the right parts now.  Ordered 3.  They'll be delivered in 5 business days, so it looks like Buster will be running by next Wednesday.  Since I have the tank off, I should check the valve clearances, right?  Much easier with the right tools.  I checked all 8 valves, and adjusted the two inboard intakes.  Tightened them.  I'm not convinced that the hand tools I have (screwdriver, 10mm wrench, feeler gauge) can get as accurate as the specs.  For example, when I tighten the locknut on the set screw, did it move?  More than a thousandth of an inch?  Anyway, I feel better knowing that I checked them, and as far as I can tell they are good.  I'll have a look at the jets tonight to make sure they are the right size and to see if there is any adjustment on them.  Main jets are 115, slow jets are 40.  A link off of the carbs rebuild page shows main jets as 105.  Too big?  Could be.  I wonder where the needle clips are too.  Need to determine what the real jetting should be, and examine the needle clips.

Today is Monday, July 12.  On a whim, I called the local dealer on Saturday to see if my parts were in.  They were supposed to call me, but just in case, I thought I'd check in.  Sure enough, they were in.  Better yet, they matched the one that I had already.  The weather was great on Saturday, so a fine day to put Buster together & get him back on the road!  I had been tinkering with him a little bit off & on through the week.  One of the things that I learned was that his stock main jets were 105, not 115.  I have 115's.  Another thing that I learned was that the clip on the needle jet should be on the 4th groove.  I looked into the throttle slide to see if I could figure out where it was set at, but couldn't, so I had to tear one carb completely apart.  Disconnected the choke linkage, took off the intake boot from
#1.  Figured out that I had to take the mounting bracket that all 4 mount to in order to get just 1 off, so I took the rest of the intake boots off, then removed the mounting bracket from all 4 carbs.  Pulled #1 away from the rest, disconnecting the fuel line and another hose between #1 & #2.  Next, the throttle slide cap same off, and the throttle slide slid out.  I still couldn't see where the clip was.  The top of the slide, where the throttle position is controlled, is held on by 2 screws.  Took those out, and the needle falls right out.  The clip is on groove 4, where it should be.  Now I can reassemble everything, measure how far the needle sticks out from the carb body (with the needle holder & main jet removed), then compare the other 3.  If they're all the same, I'm ok.  They are.  I'm ok.  Plugged #1 back in to the rest of the assembly, and reattached the choke control arm.  It's easier with the mounting bracket out of the way.  Remounted the carbs, made sure that the throttles all moved easily.  Dumped my cigar ashes out of #3, as a big chunk dropped off while I was
attaching the bracket.  Put the intake boots back on as best as I could.  Not sure if they're aligned right.  Next time I do this, I should mark each one against the carb with a marker or paint to make sure they're all pointing in the right direction again.  This was my Friday might job.  Everything is back together, waiting for the needles & seats.  Started that assembly job, and it went amazingly well.  All of the parts fit, I had just the right number, didn't crush anything, or break anything, or lose anything.  Had some difficulty getting them back onto the bike, I think because the intake boots weren't in the perfect position.  This made it tougher to get them onto the intake ports.  After that, the throttle cables.  Next, the top of the air box.  This turned out to be the hardest of all, I think because the intake
boots were keeping the carbs in a position that wasn't where they were before.  This took a while to get together, but eventually I did.  At this point, I replaced the main fuse that blew the last time I rode, and tried the lights.  Everything still lit up, so that means I didn't undo the wiring harness like before.  While moving Buster around, the carb overflow hoses fell out of the frame, so I routed them back into position, then installed the bottom of the air box with the air filter.  Plugged in the overflow hoses, and reattached the gas tank.  Now for the moment of truth.  I've been patting myself on the back for my newfound mechanical mastery, but would it run?  I kicked it a couple of times-nothing.  Choked it, kicked a couple more times, and it came to life!  Amazing!  After all that tinkering, and time sitting around, it still worked.  A tribute to Honda's engineers more than my ability.  Took it for a ride up the street, everything's ok.  Grabbed my helmet, rode it about 4 miles.  Still good.  Grabbed my wallet, rode about 45 minutes through town, and on the highway.  Much improved, but still not right.  New main jets are next, but overall it is running better.  And, I can ride while the parts are on oder.  Also, I don't have to take the carbs off to change jets-just drain & remove the bowls.  I'll order new main jets this week.  In the meantime, the weather forecast is rain.

Today is Monday, July 19.  Uncle Don & Aunt Sharon came to visit on Sunday.  Uncle Don  held his hand by each exhaust pipe, and then I did the same.  It feels like the exhaust coming out of 2 & 3 has less pressure behind it than 1 & 2.  Why is that, I wonder?  Could be a compression problem, but it also could be that 2 & 3 are fired from one coil, and 1 & 4 are from the other.  I think.  Can't remember.  After he left, I rejetted the carbs from 115 to 105.  Rode it up & down the street, and it seems like there's some improvement.  It started to rain, so I couldn't go any further.  Rode on the highway today at lunch, and it still won't go very fast.  A difference now is that I can get it to go faster when I downshift into 4th, but in 5th it still doesn't want to accelerate much past 70 or so.  Overall another slight improvement, but not the quantum jump I was hoping for.  In any case, the fuel mixture shouldn't still be too rich.  I'll change the oil now, and next up is the ignition timing.  After that, all I'm left with is a compression problem.  That's not so good.

Wednesday, July 21.  My family left me again.  Per Uncle Don's suggestion, I adjusted the air screws on the carbs.  All the way in, then back out a turn.  Each one was something different.  I also took off the points cover & watched what happened when the bike revved.  Saw a lot of sparking across the points that fire 2&3.

Today is August 6.  I've been on the road for the last couple weeks.  Did some work here & there in between trips.  Replaced condensers, tried it out and ran out of gas.  I'm getting concerned because my gas mileage is getting worse, and I'm still not going fast on the highway.  Where is the gas going?  Talked to Jerry at work yesterday, and he mentioned the oil.  I thought about this, and figured out that maybe, if the oil had been thinned out by so much gas leaking down, some oil could leak back up.  This would make it run like a two stroke-gas & oil together.  If this is the case, then fresh oil should help a little bit.  Changed the oil last night.  Couldn't find a filter, so just changed the oil.  I think I'll get some gas treatment and see what happens next.  Oh, I also redid the cam chain adjustment, since the first time I didn't set the engine in the right position-15 degrees past TDC for cylinder 1.  Set that up, then loosened & tightened the cam chain tensioner.

Buster is weird.  Since the last update I've been riding him, but his gas mileage has been dropping consistently from tank to tank.  It's a mystery.  On Sept. 12, we gave him a washdown.  To celebrate, he quit running on 3 of 4 cylinders.  I pushed him back to the garage from the patio, convinced there was an electrical problem.  Checked him out on Thursday, Sept. 16.  Pulled a non-firing plug, laid it on the engine & watched it spark.  Also, it looks wet.  Drained some gas out of a non-firing cylinder's carb bowl-there's gas there.  Cleaned the plug off, put it back in.  Still nothing.  Pulled it out-it's wet & shiny.  On a lark, changed it with a plug that I took out back when I first got Buster.  Suddenly, it works!  Changed the other two, one at a time, and each time the cylinder started firing.  Now he's all better, and running better than ever.  I think I fixed a symptom, not the underlying problem.  I'm also seeing oil all over the engine, so I think the oil is leaking everywhere.  In part, into the cylinders, where it's fouling out the plugs.  Teardown this winter?

Took him for a ride Thursday night after swapping the plugs.  He gave a cough, then felt better.  A lot better.  On Saturday Lynn & I rode him to the Michigan game (we won by 3), and he did really well on the highway .  I had him easily up to 70, and he had more to go.  I've been riding him pretty steadily for a week now (weather's been beautiful!), and he is behaving like I expected him to when I first got him.  I won't dare tear him apart now.

It's October 1.  Buster is running really good.  I have over 100 miles on his current tank, and I can still see gas in it.  Plus, he's really shiny since I've been cleaning & polishing for 4 days.  Now, though, there's an obvious oil leak through the valve cover.  So for the winter, here's what needs to be done:

Valve cover gasket
New front tire
Oil change with a filter this time
Air filter change
Fix the starter switch on the handlebar
Fix the petcock so I have a reserve again
Set the timing

Weather got ugly, then in the last week of October got nice again.  On Tuesday morning, I thought I'd drive Buster to work.  I pulled him out of the garage & coasted to the end of the driveway.  I had both feet off the pegs, so I used the front brake to slow him down.  The driveway tapers as it comes to the sidewalk, and I had swung wide coming out of the garage to get between the Explorer in the garage & the truck in the driveway.  The leaves were piled high, and the ground was wet.  The front wheel went off the cement, hit the leaves & grass & mud, and with just the little bit of brake pressure locked up & slid.  I nearly dropped him right there.  A sign of things to come. 

It was cold that morning, and Buster takes some coaxing when it's cold.  I kicked him a few times, then switched to the starter.  He sputtered a little bit, but wouldn't start.  I kept at it, but then all the lights died.  Turns out I blew a fuse.  I couldn't find another one, so I pushed him back into the garage & went to work.  Came home for lunch, found my fuse, stuck it in, turned the switch on, and the fuse immediately blew.  On Thursday, I got some new fuses.  After work, I put a new one in & it held.  Tried starting him-no luck.  Worked up a good sweat trying to kick him, and hooked up the battery charger to keep the battery alive.  My neighbor, Karl Farago, walked across the street & said it sounded like there was no spark.  He's usually right, so I started tracking down spark.  Plugs looked bad, so I cleaned them up.  I took the end caps off of the plug wires & saw spark there, but the plugs weren't firing consistently.  Half an hour later, Karl came back.  He suggested having a look at the points.  They were in pretty bad shape.  Fortunately, I ordered an extra set from when I changed condensers, just never installed them.  Karl changed the points and gapped them for me.  We started Buster back up, and Karl tinkered with the gap until all of the plugs were firing (more gap means a better spark, but tears the points up faster).  I took him (Buster) for a ride that night, and he ran great.  Hopefully this clears up the mystery running problems for good.  Karl was pretty confident that the new points would make a world of difference.  Now that he's running again, I can change the oil & filter, since it's going to be in the 40's and rainy for the next week and a half.  After that?  Probably snow.  He's still pretty shiny though!

On Saturday, October 30, I went for a long ride.  Got some new oil & new spark plugs.  Came home, changed the air filter-the air box won't close completely.  Changed the oil, and sheared a chunk of my thumb off getting the crankcase bolt out.  Rounded the head off of the bolt that holds the filter on-from what I've read I'll have to Dremel the head off to get it apart.  Finally, changed the spark plugs.  The first one I took out looked great.  The next three looked not so great.  Black, in fact.  Not fouled-yet, but on their way.  My theory is that oil is leaking through the head gasket.  More winter fun.