1979 CB750 Not running

Posted by vintagehondaguy on
URL: http://vintage-and-classic-hondas.81.s1.nabble.com/1979-CB750-Not-running-tp4051229.html

Hello fellow CB750 enthusiates. First let me start out by saying that I am new to this site and am not very familiar with bikes in general. I am pretty handy working on cars and I understand that these older Hondas are not very complicated to work on so i plan to do most if not all of the work on my bike in the future. Anyway I purchased my fist bike last October, a 1979 CB750 Limited Edition with just under 12,000 miles on it. I rode the bike a few times after buying it before putting it away for the winter and it seemed to run very well. I recently took it out and discovered that during my first ride the bike ran a little sluggish but nothing really too noticeable. A week or so later I decided to take it out again and ir ran fine until I got about two or three miles down the highway and the bike began to lose power almost as though it were running out of fuel. I pulled over and checked the tank and it was fine. I tried to start it and it would crank over but would not start. I tried cranking it until i finally killed the battery. Well needless to say I had to have the bike towed home. When I got home I decided to connect the battery to my charger but I noticed that the positive battery post had melted and the cable bolt was loose. I summized that the cable bolt must have been loose to begin with and so it was likely that it was arcing out and overheating the post thus melting it. Well I replaced the battery with a new sealed fully charged battery and started the bike. The bike ran rough at first but then smoothed out. I decided to take the bike out again and the same thing happened minus the battery post melting. The battery is not completely dead as I do have lights but not enough juice to turn the engine over. Can someone out there tell me if this sounds like an electrical problem or a mechanical issue or fuel problem?. The fuel in the tank is fine but i'm now wondering if maybe i have a fuel delivery problem or something electrical that may be the cause. I would appreciate any input or suggestions as to how to proceed with diagnosing the problem. Thanks