It, it lives.

[SeaCat]

So this morning I was down at the local shop and picked up the parts I needed. I got home and started working.

The float bowl was removed from Carb. number one. I cleaned things out and reseated the gasket. The bowl was put back on and the gas was turned on. After watching it a bit I started cussing up a storm. There was still gas pouring out. Then I looked closer and saw it was coming from the drain. Hmmmmmm.

Off came the float bowl once more. Out came the floats and the needle valve. Working carefully I cleaned things up and after replacing everything closed it back up. Lo and behold no more leaks.

Then the plug wires were pulled and replaced. Everything was carefully checked as I put the wires back on. When I fired up the bike it ran like a dream. Talk about a wonderful sound. I checked the pipes and found them heating up nicely. Standing I accidently bumped against the throttle and heard the engine slow down. When it did the engine started missing again and one of the pipes started cooling off.

Thinking about it I'm getting an idea. Could it be the engine is idling too slow? It is supposed to idle at the fairly high speed of 1000 RPM after all. (Yes that is fairly fast for an engine to idle.) I reach down and find the idle speed screw and give it a nudge. The ingine speeds up a bit and starts sounding a lot better. No coughing, no snorting and no bucking.

Okay it's time to give it a bit of a road test. I grab my gear and roll out of the drive. The bike is handling nicely from the get go. I hit the main road and roll on the throttle. Oh sweet music to my ears as the bike efortlessly accelerates as I shift through the first and second gears. I'm winding it out, wringing it out for a bit of a run. I'm in second and doing 45 MPH and the bike isn't even breathing hard as I grab the brakes and bank into the first right turn. Oh man talk about a sweet turn. I carve it right down the line I want and straighten the bike up before rolling on the throttle again.

Oh sweet jesus but the bike is handling like an absolute dream as I rumble through town on my short jaunt. At one light I'm sitting there waiting for the light to change when a couple of sport bikers pull up beside me. They're sitting there looking at me on my custom and smiling as they rev their engines. I don't say a word, I don't need to. When the light changes I roll on the throttle as I ease out the clutch and just plain go. I'm hitting the gears without effort when I glance in my right hand mirror and see,,, nothing. At the next light I ended up waiting for a bit before they came up beside me again.

The looks on their faces was priceless. They hadn't expected to be blown off the line by a cruiser.

By the time I got home the sky was growing dark and my smile was trying to crack my face in half.

I think I'll be fixing my tach tomorrow to see just where the engine is idling at.

Somehow I think the Beast lives again.

Cat

 

[starrkers]

Tentative, very quiet YAY!

 

[SeaCat]

Tentative, very quiet YAY!

I quite agree. I'm not hanging my tools up yet.

I have to find me a handheld tach so I can adjust the idle. (The Tach. on the bike starts at 1000 RPM so it's not a big help.)

I'm hoping this is the problem.

Cat

 

[Handprints]

This thread is bringing back nearly 20 year old memories of a month with a borrowed Ninja and a girlfriend who lived an hour's worth of empty country roads away... Then I look out the window at Shanghai traffic and remember that the past is probably best left in the past.

Still, I vaguely know the guy who runs Exile and there's always time for a mid-life crisis.

Best,
H

 

[Weird Harold]

I quite agree. I'm not hanging my tools up yet.

I have to find me a handheld tach so I can adjust the idle. (The Tach. on the bike starts at 1000 RPM so it's not a big help.)

I'm hoping this is the problem.

Cat

An automotive tach/dwell for an eight cylinder engine should work just fine -- the readings for a four-cylinder are just double the reading you'll get in 8 cyl mode -- it will read 500 rpm when the bike is doing 1,000 rpm.

 

[JackLuis]

Just in time to enjoy the weather!

Withe the bike fixed you should be in 7th heaven.

Keep the shiney side up and avoid the bugs.

 

[SeaCat]

Okay so this morning we head down to the local store to get me a handheld Tach. Okay it's not just a tach, it's an Automotive Multi-Meter which just happens to have a tach. built into it. (The local store happens to be on the other side of town. 25 miles in heavy traffic each way.) $35.00 later and I'm out the door.

When I finally get back to the bike I hook the Tach. up, set it for a four cylinder engine and fire up the bike. I ignore the tach as the bike warms up and settles down a bit. Once the engine is warm I turn my attention to the tach.

Hmmmmm, it's showing 500 RPM. That's not what I wanted to see but it's not unexpected. I start tweaking the idle adjustment screw and watch the RPM's slowly climb. I can hear the engine start smoothing out as the RPM's pick up. I'm liking this.

I'm liking it even better when the engine speed reaches 950 RPM's and the engine is running like a champ. (Okay so there's a bit of smoke coming from the front of the engine but I expected that. There is a weeping oil leak around the Cam Chain Adjusting Screw. Annoying but not a big problem. I can ride several hundred miles before I notice a drop in the oil levels.)

So now that it has been adjusted tomorrow morning I'll be taking it for another short run around the block to give it a test. Depending how that turns out the wife and I will be going for a bit longer ride later in the day.

Cat

 

[wildehafer]

I have to ask: what bike do you have?

So glad to see it's all fixed up and you're raring to go.

I've recently converted to motorbikes after being in a cage for 30 years.

Even selling the car to fund my next bike purchase, once I'm off the restricted period on my license.

Motorbikes - the most fun you can have with your pants on!

 

[SeaCat]

I have to ask: what bike do you have?

So glad to see it's all fixed up and you're raring to go.

I've recently converted to motorbikes after being in a cage for 30 years.

Even selling the car to fund my next bike purchase, once I'm off the restricted period on my license.

Motorbikes - the most fun you can have with your pants on!

Hey there,

I have a 1981 Honda CB750c. (A straight four engine, the same one used on many Sport Bikes.)

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj79/Seacat_01/Edbike1.jpg

When it's running right it's an absolute blast to ride and has plenty of power to haul both me and my wife.

Cat

 

[wildehafer]

Hey there,

I have a 1981 Honda CB750c. (A straight four engine, the same one used on many Sport Bikes.)

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj79/Seacat_01/Edbike1.jpg

When it's running right it's an absolute blast to ride and has plenty of power to haul both me and my wife.

Cat

Lovely bike and a nice set up!

Can see you touring on that for many hours.

I'm hoping to pick up a Ducati ST4s (with a bit of luck) in May next year for my commuting, touring and just plain thrash around the countryside needs

 

[JackLuis]

Seeing the bike reminded me of a 750 Bemer I had. So smooth and so quiet until I put some Dunstall pipes on it as the factory muffles were too expensive and the old ones rusted out.

I was goin to work one moning, do about 80 on the freeway and flashed a VW that was in my way.
When the sky behind me lit up with a bubblgum machine. Scared the shit out of me!

The Cop asked me how fast I was going and I said 65, 'cause the VW had slowed me down. He gave me a slow stare and wrote me up for 65. Thank God because if he had clocked me at 80 I'd have been walking the 12 miles to work for six months.

I still miss my Bemer. <sigh>

 

[DesertPirate]

Good Job Cat!
Hope you have nothing but fun with it now

 

[SeaCat]

I'm hoping this is the fix that is needed. Tomorrow morning I'll be replacing the Tach. Cable for the bikes Tach. When that is done I'll see if the bikes tach reads the same as the handheld.

If it does then I'll be a bit happier.

Then comes the ride test. The first test will be me alone on the short, (3mile) run around the block. I'll most likely do this a couple fo times to check how it runs and how it responds. If it works well and sounds right then the wife and I will take a bit longer ride to check things out. Maybe ten miles to test it.

AS I said I'm hoping this fixes the problem. We shall see.

Cat

 

[SeaCat]

Well color me confuzeled.

I replaced the tach cable this morning. One of the easiest jobs I have done on the bike since I bought it.

I fired up the bike and started grumbling. The tach was reading 2K not the 1K I wanted to see. I readjusted the idle and the bike started running like shit once more.

Okay so now I pulled the carbs, something I really didn't want to do. It only took me 45 minutes to get the job done. Once it was out I took apart carb. number three and once again cleaned everything. Putting it back together once more I carefully checked it over. Every jet was checked over to make sure they were clean. Now it is back together and sitting on the patio table.

I'll put it back on the bike tomorrow morning and see if that changes things. If it doesn't then it will be time to do more checking to see if I can find out the problem. Needless to say this is driving me up the wall a bit.

I will however find the problem and fix it.

Cat

 

[Weird Harold]

Well color me confuzeled.

I replaced the tach cable this morning. One of the easiest jobs I have done on the bike since I bought it.

I fired up the bike and started grumbling. The tach was reading 2K not the 1K I wanted to see. I readjusted the idle and the bike started running like shit once more.

Not confuzzeling at all.

The Tach cable drive gear is the wrong one, or the tach itself has been replaced and is the wrong one. The double RPM reading is why the bike was idling so low before you adjusted it with the hand-held tach.

The hand-held is the correct reading and the bike's performance improvement when set to that standard confirms the correctness.

 

[SeaCat]

Not confuzzeling at all.

The Tach cable drive gear is the wrong one, or the tach itself has been replaced and is the wrong one. The double RPM reading is why the bike was idling so low before you adjusted it with the hand-held tach.

The hand-held is the correct reading and the bike's performance improvement when set to that standard confirms the correctness.

Oh I wish that was the true situation.

Unfortunately I took the bike for a run this morning. I wrung it out. We're talking I had the engine RPM's up to 7K on more than one occasion. (The bike redlines at 9K.)

When I pulled into the parking area I sht the bike down and checked the exhaust pipes. Numbers one, two and four were too hot to touch. Three on the other hand was cool enough I could grab it. It just wasn't firing at all now.

I checked and the carb does have gas in it. The plug is sparking. I'm confuzled but I will figure out the problem.

Like I said I pulled the carbs and cleaned that carb again. I inspected everything before putting it back together.

Tomorrow morning I'll put the carbs back on and see what that does. If that doesn't fix the problem I'll check the coils by moving a couple of wires. (Each coil fires two cylinders.)

We shall see what happens.

Like I said I will find the problem and fix it.

Cat

 

[SeaCat]

OKay so now I'm not just confused, I'm also frustrated as hell.

I put the carbs back on and fired up the bike. No change. Number three just isn't firing even at 2K RPM.

I sweapped the coil leads and that had no effect which tells me the coil is good.

Okay, so this is what I have done so far. (If you're not mechanicly minded or are already bored skip this part.)

Compression Test:
Cyl.#1 170psi. Cyl.#2 170psi. Cyl.#3 185psi. Cyl.#4 180psi.

Plugs and wires have been replaced. Coil tested.

Carbs cleaned. Carb.#3 cleaned twice. (Carbs have not been synchronized however.)

Intake boot checked for leaks. (Sprayed with WD-40.)

The Carb. is getting gas as there is gas in the float bowl. When I pull the plug I can smell gas on the plug even though it doesn't look wet.

Today when I was running the engine it seemed to backfire a couple of times through the carb. (A short sharp hissing sound accompanied by misting of the WD-40 sprayed on the boot.)

I honestly don't know what to check next.

Cat

 

[Weird Harold]

Plugs and wires have been replaced. Coil tested.

Carbs cleaned. Carb.#3 cleaned twice. (Carbs have not been synchronized however.)

Two things I'd check:

1: hook up an inductive-pick-up timing light to the bad cylinder's plug wire: That will tell you if you're getting a spark. If there's not enough spark to reliably trigger the timing light, you've got a points/distributor type problem.

2: if you can swap carburator positions, swap carbs one and three to see if the problem moves with the carb or stays with the cylinder.

This is the type of problem a cracked or defective distrubutor cap causes in cars, so I'd be looking for the equivalent sort of problem on your bike.

Can you synchronize the carbs with the cyclinder not firing? Could that carb be far enough out of sunch to cause this problem?

 

[SeaCat]

Two things I'd check:

1: hook up an inductive-pick-up timing light to the bad cylinder's plug wire: That will tell you if you're getting a spark. If there's not enough spark to reliably trigger the timing light, you've got a points/distributor type problem.

2: if you can swap carburator positions, swap carbs one and three to see if the problem moves with the carb or stays with the cylinder.

This is the type of problem a cracked or defective distrubutor cap causes in cars, so I'd be looking for the equivalent sort of problem on your bike.

Can you synchronize the carbs with the cyclinder not firing? Could that carb be far enough out of sunch to cause this problem?

Harold,

Plenty of spark. I already checked that by checking both the plug and the coil. (The plug is fired by a coil which fires another spark plug at the same time. In this case plugs 2 and 3 are fired by the same coil. I crossed the wires and had the same results. This tells me the coil and the spark is good.)

I might be able to shift carbs but that would be a last ditch effort. One that may have to happen though. We shall see.

As for sunching the carbs with that cylinder not firing, I don't know.

One of the guys on a motorcycle board, who has worked on bikes like this one, hasa suggested that the backfiring through the carb may be due to it running way too lean. That could cause that cylinder not to fire as well. I'll check that tomorrow by enriching that carb and seeing what if any effect that has. (To enrich you have to adjust the Synch. Screw. I think. That screw is attached to the throttle body. I believe that if you screw it in you enrich that carb by opening the throttle a bit more. We shall see.)

Cat

 

[DesertPirate]

Harold,

Plenty of spark. I already checked that by checking both the plug and the coil. (The plug is fired by a coil which fires another spark plug at the same time. In this case plugs 2 and 3 are fired by the same coil. I crossed the wires and had the same results. This tells me the coil and the spark is good.)

I might be able to shift carbs but that would be a last ditch effort. One that may have to happen though. We shall see.

As for sunching the carbs with that cylinder not firing, I don't know.

One of the guys on a motorcycle board, who has worked on bikes like this one, hasa suggested that the backfiring through the carb may be due to it running way too lean. That could cause that cylinder not to fire as well. I'll check that tomorrow by enriching that carb and seeing what if any effect that has. (To enrich you have to adjust the Synch. Screw. I think. That screw is attached to the throttle body. I believe that if you screw it in you enrich that carb by opening the throttle a bit more. We shall see.)

Cat

Opening the throttle would add air and lean it out.